Many years ago, prior to Obama, I subscribed to a geopolitical news service called, Strafor. A neologism for Strategic forecasting. It was really a breath of fresh air to read. At the time it was way more than I could afford, but I made the sacrifice of other things and paid for it. And it continued to be a great source of proper news, in a way sort of like the CBC was prior to Trudeau Senior in Canada. Then along came Obama and suddenly Stratfor was just as much a propaganda organ as everywhere else.
I wasn’t the only one to notice this. According to a woman that ran a radio podcast thing I was on frequently back in the day, various high ranking US military officers had reported the same observed transformation.
The man who ran STRATFOR, George Friedman, has apparently moved on to form a new agency called Geopolitical Forecasting. I am giving it a trial run for a month to see what I think.
Here is a video interview he did on the Iran war. And yes, it is very much in the style of STRATFOR. FWIW I also read his book, The Future of War, which is a riveting read. And he explains a little in this interview what he got right and what he didn’t see coming.
For those that like rage bait, gossip level politics or the kinds of active measures that support whatever position you hold on the US Iran war, or on Israel or the US or Iran, you will be disappointed. This will feel very vanilla. Very ‘just the facts ma’am’.
Personally I find it refreshing.
‘In his summation of how we got where we are’ Friedman seems to be reporting from a perspective which has been informed by various neocon talking points…
Here’s a much more realistic (true to reality) and amusing source of info – bit of a long read, but well worth the time:
https://no01.substack.com/p/so-much-winning
Excellent and one of the best assessment I have heard on this conflict with great insights as to the Russian and Ukrainian conflict as well.
I pass on an other assessment that touches of the most vital results of this conflict:
Iran was among the ten most powerful and influential countries in the world, strategically located, and over forty years invested a trillion dollars to build the largest terror enterprise on earth.
Israel and the United States dismantled that enterprise within a month. The combination of Israeli audacity and American power neutralized this Islamic terror power quickly, decisively, and elegantly.
George Friedman is probably the best. His protégé Peter Zeihan is more flamboyant and sensationalist but his books have probably been the most prophetically useful in predicting and mapping the end of the post-WW2 ‘Pax Americana. To put it in popular terms, shit’s about to get real.