Almost three weeks ago, the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes against Iran. Whether this will be a short or a long war is the question on everyone’s minds. Considering there are many more questions ranging from what’s to come of the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint to how the conflict is impacting and involving nations like China and Russia, for this week’s live discussion we have focused entirely on Club member questions.
GPF Analysts Kamran Bokhari and Andrew Davidson joined Chairman George Friedman for an in-depth discussion on the war, where Club members asked about important themes such as Iran’s protracted war strategy, U.S. military imperatives and what the IRGC would consider ‘victory’ in the conflict.
Earlier this month, we explained in our 2026 Forecast that the U.S. cannot maintain hostilities with a country on which it depends economically. Neither can China. In this week’s ClubGPF live discussion, János Csák, Former Minister of Culture and Innovation in Hungary, joined Chairman George Friedman once more to give a European perspective on the US' National Security Strategy as well as GPF's new 2026 Forecast, specifically our prediction that the United States and China will reach economic and military accommodations.
Sudan's years-long civil war can be traced back to the fall of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Though it still rages on, with the attention of the Western world focused on places like Ukraine, Gaza and the United States, the struggles in Sudan have become the war the world has forgotten. What continues to drive the conflict, were does it stand now, and how can it finally be resolved? Senior Analyst Hilal Khashan and Analyst Ronan Wordsworth joined host Christian Smith to examine it all for our latest episode of ClubGPF Podcast+.
As tensions rise between Washington and Moscow, a new chessboard emerges—not in Eastern Europe, but in the Caribbean. From the US' war on drug cartels to Russia’s quiet buildup of influence in the region, old Cold War strategies are resurfacing in startling ways. For this week's ClubGPF live discussion, GPF Chairman George Friedman and GPF Analyst and Army veteran Andrew Davidson dove into the recent US deployments off the coast of Venezuela and the broader strategy of the U.S. in Latin America.
The United States, China and Russia are the three main powers of the current era that are vying for dominance on the global stage, all with their own sets of imperatives and challenges. In this month's ClubGPF live discussion, GPF Chairman George Friedman examines the three nations and the main issues they currently face: culture wars and political division in the US, a declining economy in China, and a frozen war in Russia. In our Q&A session, Club members asked about George's new book on geopolitics and the moon, the role of Southeast Asian countries in larger state actors, and how Russia could still be a great power as it continues pressing on with its war with Ukraine.
The evolution of both Palestine and modern-day Israel goes back centuries, its roots in the Ottoman Empire, to its evolutions during WWI and WWI to the emergence of modern Zionism and Arab nationalism. In this week's Club discussion, GPF Chairman George Friedman examines this complex history including his own personal history, plus Israel's struggles with strategic depth, what the future holds for Palestinians and Israelis.
GPF contributor Kamran Bokhari recently wrote that massive geopolitical change has come to the Middle East in the form of the attack on Gaza, a weakening of Iran, paralyzing of Hezbollah, the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria and much more. Considering all these developments and the way in which Israel's actions are driving events in the region, we've brought Dr. Bokhari back to the podcast with host Christian Smith to discuss Israel's wider strategy and what he predicts for the future.
Our theme for this year's Annual Forecast was A World Without an Anchor. As George Friedman explained earlier this year, historically, nations did not conduct themselves without aligning with or getting their bearings in relation to a power system that drove the world, an anchor. Now that we are more than halfway through 2025, this week's ClubGPF discussion is a chance to take stock of where nations are lining up, and where things will go from here.
In our Q&A Session, Club members asked about the geopolitical strategy and Trump's intentions for Greenland, how much the US needs Canada to help it control the Arctic, and Ukraine's interest in joining the EU.
