The NIC's goal is to provide policymakers with the best available information, that is unvarnished, unbiased and without regard to whether the analytic judgments conform to current U.S. policy.

The Global Trends analysis provides a basis for long-range strategic policy assessment for the White House and the Intelligence Community.

Congress may at times request that the NIC prepare "specific estimates and other analytical products" to inform "consideration of legislation", according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

[2] The NIC's Strategic Futures Group, under the direction of Maria Langan-Riekhof, led the publication of the "Global Trends 2040" report, working with 18 organizations that make up the United States Intelligence Community.

[12] Developed in consultation with "non-governmental experts around the world," the report examined possible scenarios evolving out of global trends shaping international politics and economics.

Particular emphasis was put on the increasing role of China and India on the global stage, as well as the evolution of radical Islamic terrorism worldwide.

At the beginning the Presidency of Donald Trump in January 2017, the Obama administration released its report titled, "Global Trends 2035: Paradox of Progress", which "highlighted the risk of a pandemic and the vast economic disruption it could cause.

Efforts to contain and manage the virus have reinforced nationalist trends globally as some states turned inward to protect their citizens and sometimes cast blame on marginalized groups.