I think tanks will always be around. Who's going to cover all of the open ground between cities and towns? Effectively engage enemy vehicles and withstand a fair amount of punishment in return. Yes technology is getting better at destroying them from fairly decent distances. Infantry AT weapons are definitely improving but not to mention the tank's armor and defense technology and vision capabilities. The Israelis are working on a type of AT-Round measure that creates a sort of "force field" around the tank and detonates RPG's and the like. In urban combat, tanks can act as mobile building busters while medium and light vehicles like the Bradley and Striker are much better suited to some degree, but no real vehicle is not suited to the intensity of warfare that is urban combat. We saw that example in the battles of Stalingrad, Berlin, in operations against defensive positions in the fluid battles of North Africa, and main offensive operations like Goodwood, Kursk showed how they could flop on their heads against a dug in and determined enemy while the battle of 73 Easting showed how powerful a technological superior and motivated armored force can demolish an enemy force of about near equal size on the battlefield. I haven't really been able to study the Arab-Israeli Wars but from what I do know, the tank played a dominant role and crucial role in the out come of a majority of the wars that took place between both sides.

Obviously I was looking at conventional warfare between two waring nations like what we saw recently in Georgia of sorts. Right now, the main and dominate warfare is one against a group of people who could strike at any moment. This type of warfare negates any advantage a modern day tank may have such as the Abrams, the Challenger, or the Leopard. The way in the war in Iraq has been flowing was that when the fighting was at its peak in '04-'05, tanks were good in demolishing, rather quickly, enemy strongholds and buildings, but as the fighting has subsided, we see light vehicles and IFV's doing most of the heavy lifting while tanks are kind of collecting dust. In Afghanistan, they have a better chance due to most of the fighting taking place in mostly open terrain at decent ranges where a tank's main gun can effectively come into play.

I hope these were easy for you guys to follow. I always feel like I'm all over haha.