26 MAY-JUNE 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL and foresight practitioners from 72 countries on their expectations for the next 10 years. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they expect the world in 2036 to be worse off than it is today. Fifty-eight percent expect China will surpass the United States as the world’s leading economic power within a decade, and 70 percent anticipate China will attempt to forcibly retake Taiwan. More than 40 percent foresee a multifront world war erupting before 2036. Seventy-one percent of respondents expect the United Nations to become less influential over the coming decade, with similar majorities forecasting declining influence for the World Trade Organization and other postwar multilateral bodies. World Factbook Gone On February 4, the Central Intelligence Agency announced that it has retired The World Factbook, one of its oldest and most widely used public intelligence publications. First launched in 1962 as the classified National Basic Intelligence Factbook, the reference guide evolved over decades into an unclassified, public resource. It was renamed The World Factbook in the early 1980s and went fully digital on the CIA’s website in 1997. The site provided country-by-country data on geography, population, economics, government, and security, and included more than 5,000 copyright-free maps and photographs, many taken by CIA officers themselves. The Factbook served as a reliable, centralized source for country statistics, often described as the “gold standard” for demographic and economic data. Educators, librarians, journalists, and researchers voiced concern when it disappeared from the web. Teachers reported scrambling to adjust lesson plans, while newsrooms began searching for alternative databases. Since then, all available data from the 2020 version of the website was downloaded, archived, and made available for public use by independent AI researcher Simon Willison at https://simonw.github .io/cia-world-factbook-2020/. The CIA’s announcement, “Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell,” offered a brief history but no detailed explanation for the end of this 60-plus-year institution. The agency did not indicate whether the content would be archived or replaced. Unresolved Questions About Havana Syndrome The death of Michael Beck on January 25 has renewed attention on anomalous health incidents (AHI) and their toll on U.S. government personnel. Michael Beck, a former National Security Agency (NSA) counterintelligence officer, died on January 25. Beck is widely considered the first federal employee to report symptoms later associated with Havana syndrome, having experienced a sudden neurological episode during an overseas mission in 1996. Beck was 65. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at age 45 and continued working for the NSA until 2016, when he became too ill to work. His workers’ compensation claim was ultimately denied. AFSA extends its heartfelt sympathy to Beck’s family. Like many diplomats affected by AHI prior to 2016, Beck struggled to obtain relief under the HAVANA Act while continuing to serve his country. After years of sustained AFSA advocacy, legislation was recently enacted to extend eligibility to those injured before 2016. The question of what causes AHI remains officially unsettled. A 2025 U.S. intelligence community assessment concluded it was very unlikely that a foreign adversary was responsible, but two of the seven agencies that reviewed the case reached a different conclusion. This last March, the House Intelligence Committee chair called the assessment “flawed” and alleged a “cover-up,” and the director of National Intelligence, CIA director, FBI director, and heads of the NSA and Defense Intelligence Agency all agreed the assessment should be withdrawn. A separate investigation by CBS News’ “60 Minutes” reported that the Department of Homeland Security had acquired and tested a Russian-made directed-energy device, concluding that the microwaves it emitted produced symptoms consistent with those reported by affected personnel. The U.S. government has not confirmed those findings. More than 200 U.S. government employees have reported AHI symptoms since 2016, including Foreign Service members serving at diplomatic posts worldwide. AFSA continues to advocate for affected members. n This issue of Talking Points was compiled by Mark Parkhomenko.
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