George Friedman is the CEO and chief intelligence officer of Stratfor, a private intelligence company located in Austin, TX. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Wed, 08 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT Wed, 08 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Several years ago, I wrote a series of articles on a journey in Europe. It was intended both to be personal and to go beyond recent events or the abstract considerations of geopolitics. This week I begin another... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/05/08/geopolitical-journey-nostalgia-for-nato-n1590627 8cf5be5e-5a1e-42cb-8777-a93e6c9af657 Wed, 08 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT The civil war in Syria, one of the few lasting legacies of the Arab Spring, has been under way for more than two years. There has been substantial outside intervention in the war. The Iranians in particular, and the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/05/01/redlines-and-the-problems-of-intervention-in-syria-n1583524 aca39622-7ddb-42c7-9359-1be5be076a8d Wed, 01 May 2013 04:01:00 GMT By Rodger Baker Vice President of East Asia Analysis Read more: China and North Korea: A Tangled Partnership | Stratfor China appears to be growing frustrated with North Korea's behavior, perhaps to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/04/21/china-and-north-korea-a-tangled-partnership-n1574088 6e4a29fb-3b37-46f8-bedf-0b349e50caaf Sun, 21 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT The identities of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing -- Chechen brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 -- appear tentatively to confirm several of Stratfor's suspicions. From this... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/04/20/boston-bombing-suspects-grassroots-militants-from-chechnya-n1573519 6397d124-fe4a-4cba-835f-26aa0d095281 Sat, 20 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT An era ended when the Soviet Union collapsed on Dec. 31, 1991. The confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union defined the Cold War period. The collapse of Europe framed that confrontation. After World... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/04/03/beyond-the-postcold-war-world-n1555919 4464d4fa-c99e-41da-93e8-3e5c54abbc18 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 04:01:00 GMT The European economic crisis has taken different forms in different places, and Cyprus is the latest country to face the prospect of financial ruin. Overextended banks in Cyprus are teetering on the brink of failure for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/03/28/europes-disturbing-precedent-in-the-cyprus-bailout-n1550927 862ef825-2859-42db-bbc1-acafce040373 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT U.S. President Barack Obama is making his first visit to Israel as president. The visit comes in the wake of his re-election and inauguration to a second term and the formation of a new Israeli government under Prime... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/03/20/a-new-reality-in-usisraeli-relations-n1543105 fb9b2b2c-d871-4a5b-9185-61f5baf085cd Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT On Jan. 29, I wrote a piece that described North Korea's strategy as a combination of ferocious, weak and crazy. In the weeks since then, three events have exemplified each facet of that strategy. Pyongyang showed its... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/03/13/considering-a-departure-in-north-koreas-strategy-n1532151 49518569-7cf0-4f0e-a846-b860bb771126 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:01:00 GMT The global financial crisis of 2008 has slowly yielded to a global unemployment crisis. This unemployment crisis will, fairly quickly, give way to a political crisis. The crisis involves all three of the major pillars... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/03/06/europe-unemployment-and-instability-n1526533 907d13c2-ebd9-4cf2-8c07-dcf676b645ae Wed, 06 Mar 2013 05:01:00 GMT Airstrikes by unmanned aerial vehicles have become a matter of serious dispute lately. The controversy focuses on the United States, which has the biggest fleet of these weapons and which employs them more frequently... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/02/20/hellfire-morality-and-strategy-n1515561 a155b9af-9114-4b20-8345-f83b8661fbaf Wed, 20 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT By Lauren Goodrich and Marc Lanthemann The future of Russia's ability to remain a global energy supplier and the strength the Russian energy sector gives the Kremlin are increasingly in question. After a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/02/17/the-past-present-and-future-of-russian-energy-strategy--read-more-the-past-present-and-future-of-russian-energy-strategy--stratfor-n1514271 9d0304ee-1350-4e37-a821-19837b7afa2e Sun, 17 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT By Reva Bhalla Vice President of Global Affairs As U.S. President Barack Obama's second-term foreign policy team begins to take shape, Iran remains unfinished business for the U.S. administration. The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/02/16/usiranian-dialogue-in-obamas-second-term-n1513839 22567304-7f32-4b81-b2fa-b040734ed8ec Sat, 16 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT North Korea's state-run media reported Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the country's top security officials to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," which has been widely... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/01/30/ferocious-weak-and-crazy-the-north-korean-strategy-n1500644 90ee879f-4d56-4652-b320-8d1143aab56b Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the United States would transfer the primary responsibility for combat operations in Afghanistan to the Afghan military in the coming months, a major step toward the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/01/20/avoiding-the-wars-that-never-end-n1493111 806df098-baae-402d-94b7-b20c2c8d755c Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT Last week I wrote about the crisis of unemployment in Europe. I received a great deal of feedback, with Europeans agreeing that this is the core problem and Americans arguing that the United States has the same problem,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/01/09/the-crisis-of-the-middle-class-and-american-power-n1485148 0cfc0e02-5c22-4725-9ec2-86244449f062 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT The end of the year always prompts questions about what the most important issue of the next year may be. It's a simplistic question, since every year sees many things happen and for each of us a different one might be... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/01/05/europe-in-2013-a-year-of-decision-n1479469 83203e85-f5f2-42a8-bb69-04787bd24a79 Sat, 05 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT A borderland is a region where history is constant: Everything is in flux. The countries we are visiting on this trip (Turkey, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland) occupy the borderland between Islam, Catholicism and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2013/01/03/geopolitical-journey-part-2-borderlands-n1477932 8ef34273-9315-447d-abeb-70a09ac13970 Thu, 03 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT The United States came into being through mass movements of populations. The movements came in waves from all over the world and, depending upon the historical moment, they served differing purposes, but there were two... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/12/26/the-geopolitics-of-immigration-n1473948 9500cd14-7f69-455d-8313-57c276c631ce Wed, 26 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT By Reva BhallaVice President of Global Affairs The state of Israel has a basic, inescapable geopolitical dilemma: Its national security requirements outstrip its military capabilities, making it dependent on an... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/12/23/the-israeli-periphery-n1472816 c09dad34-7913-4cb6-8271-90ef5b458e57 Sun, 23 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Immediately following the declaration of a cease-fire in Gaza, Egypt was plunged into a massive domestic crisis. Mohammed Morsi, elected in the first presidential election after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, passed... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/12/07/egypt_and_the_strategic_balance f6ded7a3-ddf8-4b35-9212-5115a24877ef Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT Last week was spent obsessed with Gaza. In the end, nothing changed. A war was fought without an Israeli ground assault but with massive air and rocket attacks on both sides. Israel did not have the appetite and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/12/02/gaza_catalonia_and_romantic_nationalism b63ddd7a-35ab-40e5-a47f-2117ab9a48af Sun, 02 Dec 2012 05:01:00 GMT President Barack Obama has won re-election. However, in addition to all of the constraints on him that I discussed last week, he won the election with almost half the people voting against him. His win in the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/11/15/us_foreign_policy_room_to_regroup ded04791-7e7c-4a13-8ab1-d2c52649df86 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT The United States held elections last night, and nothing changed. Barack Obama remains president. The Democrats remain in control of the Senate with a non-filibuster-proof majority. The Republicans remain in control of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/11/08/the_elections_gridlock_and_foreign_policy 2ae9f3ce-7d16-403e-bb40-e71a1a14c20f Thu, 08 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT The U.S. presidential election will be held a week from today, and if the polls are correct, the outcome will be extraordinarily close. Many say that the country has never been as deeply divided. In discussing... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/11/01/us_presidential_elections_in_perspective 0af57ca6-306a-48a8-b6e7-c09c5706db7c Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:01:00 GMT Monday night's presidential foreign policy debate probably won't change the opinion of many voters. Proponents of President Barack Obama are still convinced that Mitt Romney is a fool and a liar. Proponents of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/10/26/the_purpose_of_presidential_debates a48bbb34-c59b-4147-91b5-8df46a8b9389 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT The Obama administration's efforts to counter the threat posed by al Qaeda and the wider jihadist movement have been a contentious topic in the U.S. presidential race. Political rhetoric abounds on both sides;... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/10/19/defining_al_qaeda 60d6d648-521c-4a8e-9108-69bbd988df1f Fri, 19 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT Over the past weekend, rumors began to emerge that the Syrian opposition would allow elements of the al Assad regime to remain in Syria and participate in the new government. Rumors have become Syria's prime... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/10/12/the_emerging_doctrine_of_the_united_states 98b87b87-abca-4923-89a9-0b009bd578e7 Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT Sept. 29 will mark 40 years of normalized diplomatic relations between China and Japan, two countries that spent much of the 20th century in mutual enmity if not at outright war. The anniversary comes at a low... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/09/27/understanding_the_chinajapan_island_conflict bfae49f2-c18a-4be5-903a-df25beff9b07 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Last week, four American diplomats were killed when armed men attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The attackers' apparent motivation was that someone, apparently American but with an uncertain... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/09/19/from_gadhafi_to_benghazi e5cadf51-dc95-4674-8fae-072ccc113679 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT For the past several months, the Israelis have been threatening to attack Iranian nuclear sites as the United States has pursued a complex policy of avoiding complete opposition to such strikes while making... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/09/12/war_and_bluff_iran_israel_and_the_united_states 14ba56a7-6d5e-4907-b497-c9d0563c5118 Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT The end of Labor Day weekend in the United States traditionally has represented the beginning of U.S. presidential campaigns, though these days the campaign appears to be perpetual. In any case, Americans will... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/09/06/character_policy_and_the_selection_of_leaders 8ee11688-699e-473a-9082-083ca4523166 Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Polish national strategy pivots around a single, existential issue: how to preserve its national identity and independence. Located on the oft-invaded North European Plain, Poland's existence is heavily... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/09/03/polands_strategy 3600ab83-c8d0-4bd2-873f-6353edb561ee Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT A few years ago, I wrote about Mexico possibly becoming a failed state because of the effect of the cartels on the country. Mexico may have come close to that, but it stabilized itself and took a different... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/08/22/mexicos_strategy 7ccfed2c-11ba-4935-8eae-42994af1131e Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Crises are normally short, sharp and intense affairs. Israel's predicament has developed on a different time frame, is more diffuse than most crises and has not reached a decisive and intense moment. But it is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/08/16/the_israeli_crisis 0567f90b-0823-457e-aaa5-ad603dadcd02 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT Louis M. Bacon is the head of Moore Capital Management, one of the largest and most influential hedge funds in the world. Last week, he announced that he was returning one quarter of his largest fund, about $2... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/08/08/financial_markets_politics_and_the_new_reality 6bc7b428-dd70-4629-a659-1969edf7e26d Wed, 08 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT The American presidency is designed to disappoint. Each candidate must promise things that are beyond his power to deliver. No candidate could expect to be elected by emphasizing how little power the office... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/08/02/the_election_the_presidency_and_foreign_policy a97e830d-79dd-45a0-9a78-4de5c347d630 Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:01:00 GMT We have entered the endgame in Syria. That doesn't mean that we have reached the end by any means, but it does mean that the precondition has been met for the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/07/26/consequences_of_the_fall_of_the_syrian_regime 64cb13b1-4e5c-433c-a543-6d24fc936418 Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT Over the past week, the latest phase of U.S.-led sanctions against Iran has dominated the media. For months, the United States has pressured countries to curtail their imports of Iranian crude oil and is now... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/07/04/negotiations_behind_us_sanctions_against_iran e9bb8c44-4516-4a15-9945-bd1f09135d82 Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:01:00 GMT Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Israel on June 25 for his first state visit since retaking the presidency. The visit was arranged in mid-May, and so at least part of the agenda was set, given events... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/06/28/putins_visit_and_israelirussian_relations dc6dcd12-0f42-443d-9e18-dff0d4671f9b Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT Europe and the financial markets watched intently June 17 as Greece held general elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti all delayed... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/06/20/the_futility_of_european_elections 1292d29a-a65a-4e3d-8332-65d98a5f95ce Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT Eurozone countries on June 9 agreed to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to stabilize the Spanish banking system. Because the bailout dealt with Spain's financial sector directly rather than... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/06/13/spain_debt_and_sovereignty 0deacf52-1c1c-441e-8f21-81f6aa47b5f8 Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT The U.S. military for years has debated the utility of counterinsurgency operations. Drawing from a sentiment that harkens back to the Vietnam War, many within the military have long opposed counterinsurgency... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/06/06/the_end_of_counterinsurgency_and_the_scalable_force a97db332-f35a-4abd-a7e0-9522a66cc2d1 Wed, 06 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT The Egyptian presidential election was held last week. No candidate received 50 percent of the vote, so a runoff will be held between the two leading candidates, Mohammed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq. Morsi... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/06/03/the_egyptian_election_and_the_arab_spring 1b94dd1e-ac61-40a0-8181-a90c202b71ad Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, ranked in the top 10 in gross domestic product per capita. It is one of the most isolated major countries in the world; it occupies an entire united... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/05/24/australias_strategy 2c513283-6a82-49f4-8b87-2aca44aad845 Thu, 24 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT New political leaders do not invent new national strategies. Rather, they adapt enduring national strategies to the moment. On Tuesday, Francois Hollande will be inaugurated as France's president, and soon after... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/05/16/frances_strategy 246a1dcd-d4b0-4801-82e4-135540e9d88d Wed, 16 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Britain controlled about one-fourth of the Earth's land surface and one-fifth of the world's population in 1939. Fifty years later, its holdings outside the British Isles had become trivial, and it even faced an... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/05/10/britains_strategy 399f4c07-adfd-4c61-8080-c9611b287ad4 Thu, 10 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT This week, Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a third term as Russian president. Putin's return to the presidency was not unexpected; he was never really unseated as Russia's leader, even during Dmitri Medvedev's... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/05/09/putins_evolving_strategy_in_europe b9bc03c9-224d-4809-a775-db370ed5de5a Wed, 09 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Britain controlled about one-fourth of the Earth's land surface and one-fifth of the world's population in 1939. Fifty years later, its holdings outside the British Isles had become trivial, and it even faced an... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/05/02/britains_strategy cf2438a6-3193-435d-998e-ae6c3ce25dab Wed, 02 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 reversed a process that had been under way since the Russian Empire's emergence in the 17th century. It was ultimately to incorporate four general elements: Eastern... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/04/25/russias_strategy db6dc74b-1560-4fe1-aeb3-9c96a06ee095 Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT Turkey is re-emerging as a significant regional power. In some sense, it is in the process of returning to its position prior to World War I when it was the seat of the Ottoman Empire. But while the Ottoman... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeFriedman/2012/04/20/turkeys_strategy 28e6cfc8-2100-4d9b-959b-165d78bd03d8 Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT