Cold War

Each year since 1985, the editors of THE FUTURIST have selected the most thought-provoking ideas and forecasts appearing in the magazine to go into our annual Outlook report. Over the years, Outlook has spotlighted the emergence of such epochal developments as the Internet, virtual reality, and the end of the Cold War. Here are the editors' top 10 forecasts from Outlook 2008:

On 6 February 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would create a new military command for Africa, to be known as Africa Command or Africom. The Bush administration wants to significantly expand its security assistance program for regimes in Africa that are willing to act as surrogates, says Daniel Volman. It also reflects the growing alarm at the efforts of China to expand its energy supplies in Africa and to extend its political influence on the continent.

Soviet era foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze on Wednesday warned world leaders not to let the row over US plans to place a missile shield in Europe escalate into another Cold War. "We must not repeat the mistakes of the past, we must not allow another Cold War to happen," Shevardnadze said as he presented the German version of his political memoirs, "Thoughts on the Past and the Future", at the Frankfurt Book Fair. "It is my moral duty to make this warning. We must not allow the upset about missiles and anti-missile systems to escalate.

US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has announced the conduct of major war games under Vigilant Shield 2008 (VS-08). Vigilant Shield 2008 (15 to 20 October, 2007) is designed to deal with a "terrorist" or "natural disaster" scenario in the United States. The operation will be coordinated in a joint endeavor by the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. Yet, VS-08, which includes a massive deployment of the US Air Force resembles a war-time air scenario rather than an anti-terrorist drill. The VS-08 war games extend over the entire North American shelf. Canadian territory is also involved through Canada's participation in NORAD. (See Nazemroaya, October 2007) These war games are being conducted at an important historical crossroads, amidst mounting US pressures and threats to actually declare a "real war" on Iran.

In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the U.S. Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate "important individuals" such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Despite consistent Kremlin claims that Moscow isn’t trying to resurrect the Cold War, a landslide of Soviet-style actions over the last few weeks is doing a pretty darn good job of indicating the exact opposite. One of the frostiest events was President Vladimir Putin’s announcement a little over a week ago that Russia’s nuclear bombers were resuming regular long-range patrols on a “permanent basis” after a 15-year hiatus. In fact, British Tornado and Norwegian F-16 fighters had already escorted the newly-started Russian flights off their coasts going back to mid-July - and the Americans launched to meet the Russians en route U.S. bases on Guam earlier this month.

Envision an aircraft carrier in the sky. Drugs that can immediately prepare soldiers for duty at high altitudes. Prosthetic limbs with something approaching real sensitivity. The Pentagon has.

Where does the SCO fit in the "new cold war?" The question can take different forms. A variant would be, "Is the SCO turning into a NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]-like military alliance?" The core issue is the extent to which Russia and China would have common concerns and shared interests in the period ahead as the chill continues to deepen in Russia's relations with the West.

A CIA report on terrorist threats described a "Group of the Martyr Ebenezer Scrooge" that planned to "sabotage the annual courier flight of the Government of the North Pole" imperiling "Prime Minister and Chief Courier S. Claus."