HomeFrom the Desk of George Friedman

From the Desk of George Friedman

George Friedman’s Thoughts: Deep Geopolitics

George Friedman - February 6, 2020

Geopolitics is, on the surface, about the relationship between nations and geography. At a deeper level, it is about nations and necessity and predictability. But the fundamental question is what we mean by geography. Geography is about place; it is about the forces that converge on, shape and compel the individual to act, and to […]

The Geopolitics of the Novel Coronavirus

George Friedman - February 4, 2020

Geopolitics is a fairly slow-moving process that unfolds in predictable ways. This is usually the case. There are then moments when a wild card...

George Friedman’s Thoughts: From the Carpathians to Virginia

George Friedman - January 30, 2020

Last week, I wrote about two brothers who lived as enemies and stopped speaking to each other. They believed, and others concurred, that the...

The Fragmentation of the European Union

George Friedman - January 28, 2020

At the end of this week, the United Kingdom, the second-largest economy in Europe, will exit the European Union. Meanwhile, Poland is under intense...

Methodology and Empathetic Analysis

George Friedman - January 23, 2020

I have spent a great deal of time trying to lay the groundwork for an approach to understanding the relations between nations. I was...

Russia’s Puzzling Moves

George Friedman - January 21, 2020

Over the past few weeks, two odd things have happened in Russia. The first is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has restructured the government....

Returning to the Beginning

George Friedman - January 16, 2020

In recent weeks, I have been writing on the very ordinary but precious moments of my life. I wrote about the complexity of my...

Evaluating the Importance of Recent Events

George Friedman - January 14, 2020

There are moments when the entire world seems to be coming apart, as if Armageddon itself were upon us. Public attention tends to be...

George Friedman’s Thoughts: On Vacations

George Friedman - January 9, 2020

As you read this, I am lying on a lounge on a tropical beach, living in a pseudo hut with a private pool and...

Iranian and American Strategies After Soleimani

George Friedman - January 6, 2020

Iran has expressed outrage at the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, and has announced a resumption of its nuclear...

Iran and the United States: What Comes Next

George Friedman - January 6, 2020

In order to understand the current confrontation between Iran and the United States, we might begin with the Persian-Babylonian wars. Alternatively, we could begin...