Annual Global Threat Assessment

Key Chapter Title List

1. Introduction
2. Expanding National Security Threats Driven by Advanced Technology
3. The U.S. Homeland and Southern Border
4. Growing Cooperation Among U.S. Competitors and Adversaries
5. China
6. Russia
7. Iran and Its Proxy Forces
8. North Korea
9. Latin America
10. Terrorism
11. Southeast Asia
12. South Asia
13. The Middle East
14. Africa
15. The Polar Regions
16. Foreign Intelligence Threats
17. Advanced Technology
18. Global Health and Biodefense

Document Introduction

This report is the public version of the annual global threat assessment submitted by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, to the U.S. House Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee on May 11, 2025. The report aims to clarify the current and future global security environment for Congress and the American public, pointing out that the threat landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace. It emphasizes that the core mission of the Defense Intelligence Agency is to provide the nation with superior decision advantage by delivering world-class support to warfighters, acquisition communities, and national security leaders.

The report begins by stating that the United States is facing an increasingly complex national security threat environment. Beyond traditional military modernization, developments in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum science, microelectronics, space, cyberspace, and unmanned systems are rapidly altering the nature of conflict and the global threat landscape. The report reveals a key trend: U.S. competitors and adversaries are deepening cooperation by providing each other with military, diplomatic, and economic support to circumvent U.S. instruments of power. Simultaneously, transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups are exploiting geopolitical conditions to evade authorities. Advanced technologies also provide foreign intelligence services with new means to target U.S. personnel and activities.

The main body of the report systematically analyzes threats by domain and geographic region. The section on the U.S. homeland and southern border assesses multiple threats from strategic competitors and non-state actors, including long-range and novel missile capabilities designed to erode U.S. competitive advantages, threats targeting networks and critical infrastructure, as well as activities by transnational criminal organizations, drug cartels, and terrorist groups exploiting ongoing migration flows at the southern border. The report then provides an in-depth analysis of major state actors: China (covering military modernization, nuclear capabilities, space and counterspace capabilities, cyberspace capabilities, Taiwan and the South China Sea issues, and global military operations), Russia (focusing on the trajectory of the war in Ukraine, military capabilities and modernization, cyber and space capabilities, weapons of mass destruction capabilities, destabilizing activities, and global presence), Iran and its proxy forces (including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis), and North Korea (focusing on its military modernization, missile and WMD development, and space and cyber capabilities).

At the regional level, the report assesses security dynamics and challenges in Latin America (with a focus on outreach activities by China and Russia), Southeast Asia, South Asia (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan), the Middle East (Syria, Iraq), and Africa (North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central and Southern Africa). Furthermore, the report specifically discusses geopolitical competition in the polar regions, foreign intelligence threats, the dual-use risks of advanced technologies, and global health and biodefense issues.

This assessment is based on information available as of May 11, 2025. Its core value lies in providing a systematic threat framework produced by a top U.S. military intelligence agency. It not only identifies specific threat actors and regional hotspots but also highlights two fundamental trends driving the evolution of the threat landscape: technological convergence and adversary collaboration. It offers professional readers an authoritative and rigorous baseline analysis for understanding current and near-future international security challenges.