Defense Report Sees Environmental Warfare, Corporate Armies and Robot TakeoverDaniel Taylor An updated version of the report was published on June 30, 2014. Titled Global Strategic Trends out to 2045, the report outlines a future in which globalization limits countries freedom of action, alternative currencies challenge the establishment, environmental warfare and viruses delivered via insect-machine hybrids. In the MoDs previous report, the think tank saw the emergence of a global elite, a powerful network of individuals and institutions that sits above the level of individual states and influences the global agenda Off The Grid: Alternative currencies like Bitcoin are viewed by the MoD as a a disruptive trend that will make tracking economic activity and taxes a significant challenge to the establishment because of their anonymous nature. Corporate Armies: In response to the increasingly bankrupt state, the MoD predicts that private security will gain more power. Private companies are also likely to provide many of the security functions currently provided by the state, with states increasingly contracting out their monopoly on force. The Minnesota town of Foley replaced its police department with private security in 2011. Some wealthy neighborhoods in California are hiring private security as budget cuts reduce the number of police officers on duty. Human Augmentation and Robotics: Advancing technology will eventually enable humans to enhance our abilities well beyond their natural limits.Future technologies may make it possible for people to radically alter their identities by using a range of physical and cognitive enhancements, says the MoD report. Major social disruption is the inevitable result of automated systems replacing humans. Unmanned systems are increasingly likely to replace people in the workplace, carrying out tasks with increased effectiveness and efficiency, while reducing risk to humans. This could ultimately lead to mass unemployment and social unrest. Insect-Machine Hybrids: We could also see sophisticated environmental warfare, capable of spreading plant and human diseases by insects or insect-machine hybrids. Crops and cattle could be destroyed, as well as people being incapacitated or killed. FBI agent Carmine Nigro attended a conference held at MIT on May1, 2014 thatdiscussed synthetic biology. He is quoted by the New York Times as saying, These technologies [synthetic biology] do not just pose a risk to individual buildings or cities, but if cleverly deployed, can reduce our population by significant percentages. Daniel Taylor is an independent researcher, activist, and webmaster of oldthinkernews.com. You can find out more about him and his site HERE 