How technology, people, and ideas are shaping the future of global security

  • Report

    New Perils for Global Health Security

    There are two main threats to global health security. The first is the presence of slow-burn problems that may not receive enough attention—until it's too late. The second: emerging technologies that have beneficial uses but can also be weaponized.

Artificial Intelligence

How Artificial Intelligence Could Affect the Risk of Nuclear War

Speed

Can Humans Survive a Faster Future?

3D Printing

Four Ways 3D Printing May Threaten Security

Millennials

Millennials Worry Less About National Security Than Baby Boomers Do—for Now

About the Project

Understanding Distant Dangers

Rather than looking at the national security headlines of the day, Security 2040 explores big-picture trends that cross industries and borders—and are shaping the security landscape over the next 20 years.

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

The Security 2040 team comprises experts from diverse fields such as nuclear strategy, economics, and anthropology. A multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach helps us better understand the far-reaching security impacts of complex trends and technologies.

Shaping Security Policy

What should policymakers and industry leaders be planning for in the next 20 years? Security 2040 brings lesser-known security risks to the forefront, and generates useful findings and recommendations to help decisionmakers stay ahead of the curve.

Security 2040 Work

Publications

Blog Posts

  • What the Speed of Life Means for Security and Society

    Mar 6, 2019

    Dozens of technologies with the power to transform human life, from 3D printing to cognitive implants, could become as ordinary as a cellphone by 2040. Society will have to adapt, on the fly, in ways it never has. The speed of life itself could pose a security challenge.

  • Downloadable Guns and Other 3-D Printing Security Threats

    Jul 31, 2018

    Americans may soon be able to legally access blueprints for 3D-printed guns. The growing opposition to these weapons shows that potential security threats do not have to be inevitable. The security challenges inherent in 3D printing could be addressed, while the development of industry norms can still be shaped.

  • What Keeps Millennials Awake at Night Could Change Over Time

    Jul 30, 2018

    Millennials are less worried than baby boomers about national security topics and more worried about kitchen table issues, such as making ends meet each month and paying off debts. But this may have less to do with the fact that they are millennials and more to do with the fact that millennials are young.

  • Will Artificial Intelligence Undermine Nuclear Stability?

    May 1, 2018

    In the coming years, AI-enabled progress in tracking and targeting adversaries' nuclear weapons could undermine the foundations of nuclear stability. The chance that AI will someday be able to guide strategy decisions about escalation or even launching nuclear weapons is real.

Related Work

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