Interaction with UK, MOD Team on Global Strategic Trends and Implications

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A British team from Development of Concepts and Doctrine Centre of UK Ministry of Defence led by Brig. Matt Holmes made a presentation on ‘Global Strategic Trends: Setting the Strategic Context for Defence and Security’ and interacted with the VIF faculty on 10th February, 2014. Brig. Holmes explained at length the strategic trends and their trajectory over a period of 20 to 25 years which was considered somewhat as a very long period by the VIF analysts especially where it may not be possible to extrapolate trends in a linear manner. Point about some wild cards or unexpected events upsetting the entire projections were also emphasized. The UK team mentioned that it had worked with and drawn on a similar project by the National Intelligence Council of the US i.e. Global Trends 2030: Alternate Words. During the interaction, the VIF faculty mentioned adding of some additional trends like increasing radicalization and fundamentalisation which would continue to impact the defence and security policies of the nations. The overall objective of the interaction by the UK, MOD team was to validate their findings through peer view.