Since 1997, the U.S. intelligence community has published the unclassified “Global Trends” report every four years to assess different scenarios for our global future and their likely impact on the United States. We can state confidently, having all served in senior national security positions in the U.S. government, that these reports provide a rare impetus for policymakers to shift their focus from their daily inboxes to the strategic threats on the horizon.

They also provide a platform for U.S. officials to compare assumptions with foreign counterparts, enhancing international cooperation and deepening shared understanding of our uncertain future. However, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has decided to kill the forthcoming Global Trends report and dismantle the unit that wrote it, accusing its authors of pushing a “political agenda that ran counter to all of the current President’s national security priorities.”

Since 1997, the U.S. intelligence community has published the unclassified “Global Trends” report every four years to assess different scenarios for our global future and their likely impact on the United States. We can state confidently, having all served in senior national security positions in the U.S. government, that these reports provide a rare impetus for policymakers to shift their focus from their daily inboxes to the strategic threats on the horizon.

They also provide a platform for U.S. officials to compare assumptions with foreign counterparts, enhancing international cooperation and deepening shared understanding of our uncertain future. However, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has decided to kill the forthcoming Global Trends report and dismantle the unit that wrote it, accusing its authors of pushing a “political agenda that ran counter to all of the current President’s national security priorities.”

The reality, of course, is that the decision to cancel the report and eliminate the group that wrote it was itself politically motivated. The intelligence community’s job is never to endorse a president’s priorities but instead to provide unbiased analysis and warning. Doing away with the Global Trends report, combined with other steps that the Trump administration........

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