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George Friedman Biography

George Friedman

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.

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George Friedman Quotes

Constraint theory defines for you what outcomes are possible and what outcomes are impossible. It also eliminates wishful thinking.

Constraint, Impossible, Outcomes, Possible, Thinking

I'm not a journalist. So I didn't down and let Assad charm me. I didn't walk away and say "my god he's got an Apple computer and he really likes Beyonce so he must be a liberal. "

Apples, Computer, Down, Down And, God, Likes

When you're young and going to war, it's a genuinely exciting moment. You are going to risk yourself. On the battlefield, you are suddenly free. You realize: I'm here, I'm in it. Exaltation. Suddenly you're hit by another extraordinary feeling: my God, I can be killed. And: will I embarrass myself? It's like you're in a kaleidoscope and all of these extraordinary feelings are zipping by.

Feeling, Feelings, Risk, War

Recent presidents have gone off on ad hoc adventures. They have set unattainable goal because they have framed the issue incorrectly, as they believed their own rhetoric.

Adventure, Goal, Gone, Issues, Set

The poets think about war more than the social scientists.

Poet, Poets, Think, Thinking, War

By the 20th century, war ceased to be an encounter between two armies. It became an encounter between two societies, because a factory worker producing a gun or a bomb is as deadly as a pilot.

20Th, Army, Deadly, Gun, Pilot, War

When I get asked the question, "Do I want to loan you money?" I want to know, how much do you earn? How much do you owe? What is your net worth? When people talk about countries for some reason they only ask how much did you earn and what's your debt?

Asked, Country, Debt, People, Question, Worth

The important thing in war is that there is an element of rage, but you must remain very distant from it.

War, Important, Elements, Remain, Element, Thing

The British bombed German cities [during World War II] to keep the workers awake at night. So instead of dropping one bomb, we sent a thousand planes and, yes, we took out the factory sometimes, but we also took out the city. It reached the point where we wanted more efficient ways to destroy a city. The result was nuclear weapons.

Bomb, Cities, Night, Point, War

A century is about events. A decade is about people.

Century, Decade, Events, People

Constraint theory argues a number of things. First, that the impossible has to be identified. Second, that the actor is then constrained by circumstances to act a certain way. For example, should we invade ISIS? Can we invade ISIS? What would it take to invade ISIS? Once you ask that question you discover the price of that option and then you take a look at American politics and see that the country is probably not prepared to invest the 2 to 3 million people that it would take to defeat ISIS and the insurgency afterwards. All right, so that's not going to happen.

Country, Isis, Numbers, Politics, Probably, Things

War to me is very much like sex. You can develop a theory that says sex is primarily for the exchange of genetic material, or that it's a celebration of life, or you can make up 50,000 theories about why human beings have sex, all of which are in some sense true, all of which by themselves miss the point. Because the answer is extraordinarily complex. It may be for fun, it may be for reproduction, for financial reasons, any number of things.

Celebration, Fun, Like, Sex, War

A research division develops marketing material for its deal makers. We have no policy position. If you have a policy position you can't possibly forecast.

Marketing, Division, Research, Forecast, Material

Well the most likely emerging countries are Japan, Turkey, and Poland. So I would say Eastern Europe, the Middle East and a maritime war by Japan with the United States enjoying its own pleasures.

Country, Japan, States, Turkeys, United, War

Success looks like you sitting here pretty confident that an armed brigade isn't going to come pouring in here and blow your head off. Which I don't think is your major concern. Therefore, the United States' foreign policy is successful.

Armed, Blow, Come, Concern, Successful, Thinking

Germany is the new pig. Germany depends on exports and its markets are drying up. When the Germans start getting 10% unemployment, 15% unemployment, which is the real variable, how are they going to handle it?

Depends, Germany, Handle, Pigs, Real, Start

The warrior must continue to make decisions in the face of extreme circumstances. He cannot afford to get angry or frightened.

Continue, Decision, Faces, Make, Warrior

The United State has a net worth against which our debt is a joke. . . we wrote in 2008 the United States is going to come out of this recession fast. The Europeans are going to fragment. The Chinese are going to be cremated. Why could we come out of it? Why has all economic theory been proven wrong? Because we're rich and we could afford it.

Chinese, Debt, Theory, United States, Worth

What is American strategy first of all? So American strategy is to command the seas, right? The foundation of our power is sea control. Nobody can invade us, but we can invade them.

Command, Firsts, Foundation, Invade, Sea

In a way, we can have a much easier discussion about the future of technology than we can about why a young man kills another man in a war.

Discussion, Men, Technology, War

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