The future in 2108 is likely to look a lot different from today, even more so than 2008 looks different from 1908. Things that happened in 1908 include the still unexplained explosion in Tunguska, Siberia; the fourth Olympiad in London, the introduction of the Ford Model T, and the around the world tour of the U.S.'s Great White Fleet (the U.S.'s first global military demonstration). Out of the last 100 years, the U.S. has been involved in major global military conflicts for 34 of those years with each conflict enhancing the technological capabilities of the military organization.
Tomorrow's world will be driven by the continued growth of computing power; the pervasiveness of telecommunications; the search for clean efficient energy sources; the rise of Asian economies and their technological power; the search for food and clean water sources; acclimation to a changing climate; and a truly global economy. With its extensive resources and infrastructure, the U.S. is likely to a major player in many of these areas, but possibly not the lead player it has held in many of them for the past 60 years.
Tomorrow's world is also likely to be determined-as it has throughout human history-by military conflicts. One or more of the drivers of change in tomorrow's world mentioned above could also be drivers for the use of military force. In the overall military arena, the U.S. is likely to hold onto the major role it has held in the past. With the U.S. military's infrastructure, continued massive technology investments, and an expertise built upon its historic involvements, the ability to quickly impose a military presence throughout the world is likely to continue and as such likely to be used.
Technology will play an increasing role in building these capabilities in conventional, nuclear, and even space-based capabilities. And despite all the rhetoric about keeping space free of military weaponry, a military establishment has always succeeded throughout history by holding onto the "high ground."
