ical developments during this period are likely to increase and accelerate, transforming and improving a range of human experiences and capabilities while also creating new tensions and disruptions within and between societies, industries, and states. During the next two decades, several global economic trends, including rising sovereign debt, new employment disruptions, a more complex and fragmented trading environment, and the rise of power- ful companies, are likely to shape conditions within and DEMOGRAPHICS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT between states. These structural drivers may redound in unpredictable ENVIRONMENT ways, affording some coun- tries the opportunity to rise to these challenges and ECONOMICS even prosper, while others, burdened by a con昀氀uence of less supportive trends, will struggle. Shifting global de- TECHNOLOGY mographic trends almost cer- tainly will aggravate dispari- ties in economic and political opportunity within and between countries, strain governance, and fuel pressure for global migration during the next 20 years—a pressure that will increase friction between states. State and nonstate rivals will compete for dominance in science and technology with poten- tially cascading risks and implications globally for economic, military, diplomatic, and societal security. Many governments may 昀椀nd they have reduced 昀氀exibility as they navigate greater debt burdens, diverse trading rules, and a broader range of powerful state and corporate actors exerting in昀氀uence. Meanwhile, Asian economies appear poised to continue decades of growth, at least through 2030, and are looking to use their economic and population size to in昀氀uence international institutions and rules. A MORE CONTESTED WORLD 15 Image / BigstockPhotos | Bigstock | Pexels | Chuttersnap / Unslpash