HomeFrom the Desk of George Friedman

From the Desk of George Friedman

Dignity in Our Time

George Friedman - July 23, 2020

I went once to the funeral of a friend, a soldier. He had died an ordinary death, a car crash that left his parents in agony. I remember his father standing stock-still with an expressionless face. I thought for a moment that he was indifferent, but upon further consideration I realized he chose to be […]

The Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales

George Friedman - July 22, 2020

The British recently finished building two new aircraft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales. Last week, Britain announced that one of...

The Future of Coronavirus: A Modest Proposal

George Friedman - July 16, 2020

George Friedman’s thoughts in and around geopolitics.

The Truth About the US-China Thucydides Trap

George Friedman - July 14, 2020

We remember Thucydides as a historian thanks to his documentation of the Peloponnesian War, but we often forget that he was also a philosopher....

Facing Our Past

George Friedman - July 2, 2020

Perhaps the one unmistakable truth of the human condition is that we all live in the past. We are born in a place to...

The ‘Spies and Commandos’ of Afghanistan

George Friedman - June 30, 2020

The media exploded late last week with reports that Russia had paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. and Afghan troops. The plot was...

Beethoven and Now

George Friedman - June 25, 2020

I know nothing about music. I can’t play an instrument, nor can I read music. My singing appalls even me. Yet music has defined...

Putin’s New History of Europe and the Rehabilitation of Stalin

George Friedman - June 23, 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to argue that World War II, and much of the suffering wrought by it, was the responsibility not just...

History and Decency

George Friedman - June 18, 2020

When I was a child, I learned that history moves forward, sometimes gently and sometimes brutally, but that I had no control over what...

Recession or Depression

George Friedman - June 16, 2020

In March, we declared our 2020 forecast null and void. The COVID-19 pandemic had essentially rendered it irrelevant. The question we posed in March...