The US Marines have tried to project trends and scenarios 15 to 30 years into the future. They had guidance from professional science fiction writers.

They created a detailed baseline projection of a more urban world population and then had two alternate scenarios. Then they created narrative stories that considered conflicts within the baseline or alternate projections.

They projected demographics and then they projected technology.

The alternate scenarios are 
* a world of water scarcity 
* a world where China and India are near peers of the United States in economic and military power