Earticle

In November, the USA's National Intelligence Council released its 2020 Project Report, which included alternative scenarios for Korea as well as virtually all the worlds' countries. The scenarios were explored using the International Futures simulation, a complex, multidimensional and multipurpose computer model and database under development for the last 35 years. This paper examines the Korean case from the perspective of four key dimensions of national security: development, democracy, peace, and unification. A transformation in the "power" of decision-making is taking place today, a feature of globalization that has not been the focus of media or academic attention. It is emerging as a new phenomenon, far from fully developed, yet one which already promises far greater social responsibility and social justice for average people worldwide. Korean society thus should benefit both from the trends in national security indicators and changes in the global decision making ethos. Korea's greatest immediate challenge, of course, remains relating to the North in such a way as to promise long term unity with a minimum of political and social dislocation to the advantage of both North and South. The trends in security indicators and global decision making increasingly strengthen the opportunities to meet this challenge successfully.