Name George Friedman Role Political Scientist | ||
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Books The Next 100 Years, The Next Decade, Flashpoints: The Emerging, America's Secret War, The coming war with Japan | ||
The truth behind the Vietnam War | George Friedman Interview
George Friedman (born February 1, 1949) is a U.S. geopolitical forecaster and strategist on international affairs. He is the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, a new online publication that analyzes and forecasts the course of global events. Prior to founding Geopolitical Futures, Friedman was chairman of Stratfor, the private intelligence publishing and consulting firm he founded in 1996. Friedman resigned from Stratfor in May 2015.
Contents
- The truth behind the Vietnam War George Friedman Interview
- George friedman part 1 december 3 2013 bon mot book club vancouver
- Early life and education
- Career
- Personal life
- References
George friedman part 1 december 3 2013 bon mot book club vancouver
Early life and education
Friedman was born in Budapest, Hungary to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust. His family fled Hungary when he was a child to escape the Communist regime, settling first in a camp for displaced persons in Austria and then emigrating to the United States, where he attended public schools in New York City, and was an early designer of computerized war games. Friedman describes his family’s story as “a very classic story of refugees making a new life in America." He received a B.A. at the City College of New York, where he majored in political science, and a Ph.D. in government at Cornell University.
Career
Prior to joining the private sector, Friedman regularly briefed senior commanders in the armed services as well as the Office of Net Assessments, SHAPE Technical Center, the U.S. Army War College, National Defense University and the RAND Corporation, on security and national defense matters.
Friedman pursued political philosophy with his early work focusing on Marxism, as well as international conflict, including examination of the U.S.-Soviet relationship from a military perspective. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he studied potential for a U.S.-Japan conflict and co-authored The Coming War with Japan in 1991.
In 1996, he founded Stratfor, a private intelligence and forecasting company, and served as the company's CEO and Chief Intelligence Officer. Stratfor's head office is in Austin, Texas. He retired from Stratfor in May 2015.
In The Next Decade, Friedman argues how the U.S. administrations of the 2010s will need to create regional power balances, some of which have been disturbed. Friedman conceptualizes successful U.S. management of world affairs not by directly enforcing countries, but by creating competing relationships, which offset one another, in the world's different regions. For example, in the past, Iraq balanced Iran, and currently Japan balances China. Friedman asserts this is the decade where the US as a power must mature to manage its power and balance as an unintended empire and republic.
Friedman has a new book titled The New American Century: Crisis, Endurance, and the Future of the United States which was scheduled for release on January 9, 2018, the release date was subsequently moved to October 9, 2018.
Personal life
Friedman is married to Meredith Friedman (née LeBard), has four children, and lives in Austin, Texas. She also coauthored several publications, for example The Coming War with Japan.