Each year in a series of Congressional hearings, the Director of National Intelligence testifies on the US Intelligence Community’s assessment of worldwide threats. On February 9, 2016, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper provided this year’s first unclassified testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee where he described the current state of intelligence and national security issues facing the United States.
Director Clapper began his opening statement with a characterization of global trends in which “unpredictable instability’ has become the “new normal.” He went on to highlight the geographic dispersal of violent extremism, regional political instability and the growing refugee crisis particularly in Europe. In addition, the IC’s assessment points to environmental challenges such as climate change, technological innovation resulting in growing cyber threats, and increasingly assertive adversaries as contributing factors to the erosion of global stability.
Taken together with the DNI’s oral and written statements, this resource—organized by both regional and subject area insights—provides an overview of the IC’s Worldwide Threat Assessment for 2016.
