Individual empowerment is perhaps the most
important megatrend because it is both a cause and
effect of most other trends including the expanding
global economy, rapid growth of the developing
countries, and widespread exploitation of new
communications and manufacturing technologies.
On the one hand, we see the potential for greater
individual initiative as key to solving the mounting
global challenges during the next 15-20 years. On the
other hand, in a tectonic shift, individuals and small
groups will have greater access to lethal and disruptive
technologies (particularly precision-strike capabilities,
cyber instruments, and bioterror weaponry), enabling
them to perpetrate large-scale violence—a capability
formerly the monopoly of states. (See pages 67-70 for
further discussion.)