December 11th, 2009

Exercise Solemn Challenge will allow participants to consider a posited strategic future. Scenario elements derive from open source Intelligence Community forecasts and other research on the future strategic environment and are shaped by trends and drivers that may interact to present national security challenges and opportunities over the next 20 years (e.g., globalization, demography, the rise of new powers, the decay of international institutions, climate change, and the geopolitics of energy). To the extent feasible, exercise scenarios will leverage the key security challenges identified in the 2008 National Defense Strategy. The purpose of the exercise is to solicit input and recommendations from Congress and other U.S. Government departments and agencies. Through the course of the exercise, participants will be challenged to consider: 1) how interagency planning groups and Congressional committees can best prepare for the future; 2) what traditional and new national security capabilities will help create the flexibility demanded by the spectrum of future conflict; and 3) how to best engage the capabilities of the military, the U.S. Government, Congress, and international partners in the future security environment.