by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | March 15, 2015

Excellent speech by George Friedman (below) given at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.  Mr. Friedman reveals many overlooked dynamics which can provide the listener deeper insight into the EU’s chances of success or failure, the rise of nationalism and the key role Germany will play.  He underscores  a key US strategy to keep Russia and Germany separate and in conflict, fearing a combination of Germany’s financial and technical strength combined with Russia’s vast resources and workforce would threaten the existing US hegemony.

Since Greece cannot pay their bills, Mr. Friedman postulates that Greece will eventually offer to pay some portion perhaps 60% in Greek drachma telling Germany to take it or leave it.  They can have a partial payment or have zero and of course Germany will be forced to take this deal to get something and to keep the contagion from spreading to Portugal, Italy and Spain.  Owing a lot of money, Mr. Friedman explains actually puts Greece in a more powerful position than Germany since Germany needs the EU to sustain its massive export business which represents 50% of its GDP of which 25% goes to the EU; and Greece at this point cannot pay its debts. He speaks to the long held hatreds and rivalries amongst the member states, the rise of nationalism and Europe’s history of settling their differences with bullets.  Explaining the dynamics of Europe, the EU, Greece, Ukraine, Germany, the USA and Russia, he makes some interesting predictions based on his unique analysis.

Despite his apparent acceptance of US war propaganda, you can still benefit from his insightful and informative analysis. Of course you should know I can’t agree with some of the default positions of the sponsor (The Chicago Council on Global Affairs) regarding Russian aggression against Ukraine, and I would presume George Friedman shares this position with the Chicago Council though it was less clear from his speech.

As informed and thoughtful as Friedman is, he seems oblivious to the clandestine history and machinations of the CIA, USAID, Soros, etc. which is designed to destabilize targeted countries like Ukraine through so called ‘Color Revolutions’ using operation Gladio tactics informed by US Geopolitical Policies. He may be very aware that the US is the real culprit in the Ukraine conflict, but holding his cards close to the vest; otherwise, he wouldn’t be invited to speak at places like the Chicago Council.  After all, we must blame what the US is doing in Ukraine on Putin to be accepted by the establishment. He seems to agree with the US’s foreign policy overall, but does warn that the US should only occupy nations by force as a last resort and never get into nation-building as in Iraq.  Better that the US orchestrate fights and heighten divisions amongst power structures than get stuck in unwinnable, protracted conflicts.  Despite my criticisms, and his obvious poor grasp of economics, I found his speech enlightening, brilliant and well worth the view.

Important to note: There is a history to Mr. Friedman’s company, Stratfor, that deserves additional attention, so I have added a link to the Stratfor email leaks below which reveal a murky side to Mr. Friedman and his company; but for now, sit back and enjoy his excellent, though myopic speech.  Friedman’s company, Stratfor, had its emails leaked to the public by Jeremy Hammond via Wikileaks. Much condemning information was discovered as a result.  Here is just one example:

From Wikipedia: “Some emails reveal that Stratfor had been partnering with Shea Morenz, a former Goldman Sachs director, along with other informants, in order to profit from what could be considered insider trading. Stratfor planned to use the intelligence it gathered in order to profit from trading in several worldwide markets. They created an offshore “share structure” known as “StratCap” during 2011, in order to avoid insider trading allegations. The offshore entity, set to launch operations in 2012, is outwardly independent of Stratfor, but CEO George Friedman told his employees that StratCap is secretly integrated with Stratfor.”

Jeremy Hammond is a political activist and computer hacker from Chicago. He was convicted and sentenced in November 2013 to 10 years in US Federal Prison for hacking the private intelligence firm Stratfor and releasing the leaks through the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

George Friedman, “Europe: Destined for Conflict?”

COMPLETE Event Summary by Richard C. Longworth

Small excerpt from Mr. Longworth’s summary linked above: “Friedman is concerned with Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s aggression and the American response to it. But most of his speech dealt with the crisis within the European Union. In this drama, the central player is not Russia but Germany.”

George Friedman Bio

George Friedman is the founder and chairman of the private intelligence and geopolitical forecasting corporation, Stratfor. Friedman is a regular contributor to discussions on international intelligence issues for major news and radio networks including CNN, Fox News, and NPR. He is the author of numerous books on warfare and intelligence, including The Next Decade, The Next 100 Years, America’s Secret War, and The Intelligence Edge. He received his bachelor’s degree from the City College of the City University of New York and his PhD from Cornell University. – See more at: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/event/europe-destined-conflict#sthash.NNeJfWMu.dpuf

Additional Links…

2012–13 Stratfor email leak

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