The global economic crisis is now the biggest US security concern as it is likely to cause instability in a quarter of the world's countries, according to Dennis Blair, chief of US intelligence agencies on Thursday.

"The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications," Blair said in testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Blair, Director of National Intelligence, said that "statistical modeling shows that economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they persist over a one to two year period."

Social unrest in Europe and former Soviet nations has highlighted the security risks unleashed by the global crisis, and many poorer nations are not ready to deal with it, he said.

Meanwhile, a wave of destructive protectionism is possible, the intelligence chief said, noting there is the deeper menace of tit-for-tat trade barriers going up.

Blair was presenting the US intelligence community's annual threat assessment, a report including the findings of all 16 US intelligence agencies and serving as a leading security reference for policymakers and Congress.

"Time is probably our greatest threat," Blair said. "The longer it takes for the recovery to begin, the greater the likelihood of serious damage to US strategic interests."

The director also said that global coordination is essential to rebuild trust in the financial system and to ensure that the crisis does not spiral into broader geopolitical tensions.

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2009)