GeoStrategy Initiative Analysis and Events

Technology Policy in an Age of Unknowledge

By Peter Haynes

Technology evolves so quickly that government regulations are outdated from the day they are written. Policymakers should consider the thirty-year-old insights of an obscure British economist for a map to the new approach we need to regulating technologies.

The Future Can’t Wait

The future of global development is dependent on connecting people with diverse expertise and making futures analysis at the policy level implementable on the ground, concluded a panel of experts speaking at the Atlantic Council on December 17 for a public event on “Building the Future of Global Development.” The event also marked the official […]

Beyond the Horizon: Understanding the Future for Better Development Today

By Kathleen Mogelgaard

On December 17, 2013 the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Foresight Initiative of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, will host the launch of the highly anticipated book The Future Can’t Wait (PDF). Read on for an a preview […]

Harnessing Disruption to Move Forward with Biotech

By Dina Fine Maron

As biotechnology evolves, it’s easier to imagine a future where a steak dinner would be produced in the laboratory and cell parts are replicated via 3-D printer. Scientific American is constantly exploring these frontlines of science and innovation. And this week I moderated a thought-provoking panel exploring how biotech and ICT (information and communications technology) may reshape the […]

Getting to Fusion – A conversation with Strategists

By Jeff Lightfoot

Emerging technologies are empowering both states and non-state actors in the second decade of the 21st century. Yet these new capabilities exist in – and challenge – an interstate system that is still largely defined by international law and a Westphaelian heritage. If the world is to achieve the fusion scenario outlined in the Global Trends […]

Opportunities Emerging from Biotech and ICT

By Peter Engelke

Ramez Naam, author of The Infinite Resource, opened the Strategic Foresight Forum’s Bio-ICT session by pointing to the many opportunities emerging from biotech and ICT. We are much better now at encoding, printing, and editing genomes now than we were even a decade ago. This leads to big opportunities. First, we can apply biotech to […]

Harnessing Disruption for Global Prosperity

A new report and two days of dynamic discussion — in the room and online — explored the challenges and opportunites the US and the world face in the upcoming technology revolution. The opening debate and each session were recorded. You can watch via the playlist below. Council experts weighed in with their initial reactions […]

A New Model of International Governance: Why Cities Will Lead the Way

By Jeff Lightfoot

Deputy Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center Jeff Lightfoot reflects on the urbanization panel at the 2013 Strategic Foresight Forum.

Confronting the Challenges of Food, Water, and Energy

By Peter Engelke

Senior Fellow with the Brent Scowcroft Center Peter Engelke comments on the second panel of day two of the Strategic Foresight Forum, Building Up Resilience: Can the Upcoming Food-Water-Energy Crises Be Avoided?.

Opportunities Abound but Challenges Lurk on the Horizon

By Jeff Lightfoot

Deputy Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center Jeff Lightfoot comments on the first panel of day two of the Strategic Foresight Forum, The Challenges and Opportunities of the Third Industrial Revolution.