How do rainfall patterns in China contribute to U.S. tensions with North Korea? How do otherwise worthless hunks of rock in the South China Sea simultaneously affect global energy prices, U.S. aircraft carriers, and Saudi Arabia? And what significance do east–west flowing rivers in the United States have on the level of the yuan?
Questions like these are better answered when investors understand the convergence of geography with history, politics, economics, and societal imperatives. Without an able guide through the tangle of geopolitics, spurious analysis is common. George Friedman, founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, is acknowledged as one of the world’s most able guides of both political science and geopolitics.
Friedman is the author of several acclaimed books, including The Next Decade: Empire and Republic in a Changing World; The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century; and Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe. He has a history of being right when many others are wrong and a history of being predictive when many are reactive.
Through his weekly newsletter, Friedman describes what is happening, why it is happening, what will happen next, and — perhaps most importantly — he often provides a uniquely trenchant view of critical events that disagrees with conventional wisdom. Some of his recent work has explored topics such as how the distribution of China’s population presents challenges for its relationships with North Korea and the United States.
Previously, Friedman was founder and CEO of Stratfor, a subscriber-based private intelligence organization that published reports and analysis where Friedman and others discussed topics such as the China–Japan conflict over islands in the East China Sea and the way that geographic features such as rivers have shaped economic development and the evolution of foreign policy in the United States.
Attendees at the 2017 CFA Institute European Investment Conference in Berlin will have an opportunity to absorb Friedman’s intelligence and wisdom about some of the most important geopolitical issues facing investors in the current environment.
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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.
