Russia has been one of the most involved foreign powers in the Middle East over the past 15 years. But with the war in Ukraine, its attention has been turned elsewhere. Meanwhile, many in the West hoped that the massive sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 would be enough to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. And as rumors of an impending Russian recession loom, the Kremlin may be starting to feel the pressure.
The recent escalation between Israel and Iran was not unexpected. As George Friedman recently wrote, there was never a possibility that Tehran could avoid detection or that the Israelis or the Americans would not destroy the nuclear facilities before they went operational. In this week's live discussion, George is joined by GPF contributors and Middle East experts Hilal Khashan and Kamran Bokhari to examine the situation and all its complexities within the region and beyond.
In simpler times, the decision of the Kurdistan Workers Party to lay down its arms and disband after 40 years of conflict with Turkey would have dominated global headlines. In reality, though, the agreement between the PKK and Ankara became just another development in an already rapidly changing picture for Middle East and global geopolitics. On this episode, GPF contributing analyst Kamran Bokhari joins Christian Smith to understand how this all fits together and what it could mean for Turkey in the more than 30 million Kurds in the Middle East.
It's hard to find a region facing as much widespread turmoil as the Middle East, both historically and in the modern world. As Geopolitical Futures' contributing analyst Hilal Khashan predicts, the Middle East will continue to oscillate between established and rising regional powers, with more turbulent times ahead. Hilal joined George Friedman for this week's live discussion to focus on the Middle East, and to break down the US imperatives in the region, following Donald Trump's historic visit.
Just a few months ago, Canada’s conservative party appeared a dead cert to win the country’s general election. But since the resignation of Justin Trudeau and the souring of relations between the US and its northern neighbor, the polls have quite literally flipped. Meanwhile, tariffs, border issues and suggestions of US troops in Mexico are creating concerns to America’s south. Like much of the world, North American geopolitics looks very different to six months ago. On this episode of the podcast, we continue our series on Trump’s second term in office as we look at the geopolitics of North America with GPF’s director of analysis, Allison Fedirka.
With our recent live discussions resulting in a variety of questions we did not have time to answer, this month's discussion was an opportunity to focus on your questions first. Topics ran the gamut of US politicians and their attitude towards Russia, whether there are countries capable of threatening the US Space Force, growing US-China tensions, and much more.
From the U.S., to Europe, China, the Middle East and Russia, relationships are being restructured due to changing geopolitical forces. In this week's live...
As the world watches the Transatlantic Alliance continue to strain, America’s allies to the West are wondering what it all means for them. Analysts Victoria Herczegh and Ronan Wordsworth join host Christian Smith to discuss what Trump's second term means for Australia, AUKUS, and the Indo-Pacific at large.
Winston Churchill's profound quote, "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see", is an apt perspective on geopolitics. For this week's Club session, U.S. Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter joined GPF Chairman George Friedman for a history lesson on America's first national security strategy, established during the Reagan administration in the 1980's. As the Vice Admiral pointed out, it is history that informs the present.
What does Donald Trump’s return to the White House mean for America’s relationship with the world’s most populous country? GPF contributor Kamran Bokhari joins host Christian Smith to map the trajectory of U.S.-India relations since Trump's first term in office, and to discuss the major forces at play going forward.
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. This was the case, for example, in the world wars of the last century, and the Cold War. As George Friedman and Senior Analyst Antonia Colibasanu discussed in this week's Club session, things have changed, and various nations are testing each other.
