George Friedman

George Friedman (2017)

George Friedman (born February 1, 1949 in Budapest ) is an American geostrategist and security expert, political scientist and publicist. He founded the private consulting firm Stratfor in 1996 and stepped down as CEO in May 2015. In 2015 he founded the company Geopolitical Futures . Among other things, both companies prepare geopolitical forecasts, the influence of which on the foreign policy orientation of the USA is controversial.

Life and career

Friedman comes from a Jewish family who survived the Holocaust and fled communist Hungary via Bratislava to Vienna at the end of 1949 . The family of twelve later emigrated to the USA, and their father, a printer, followed suit in 1952. At first the family lived in the Bronx, later in Queens and Long Island.

Friedman studied at City College, City University of New York and received his PhD from Cornell University in 1976 .

Friedman then taught for two decades as a professor of political science at Dickinson College in Carlisle , Pennsylvania , where he studied Marxism and the Frankfurt School . During that time, he also trained commanders in the U.S. Forces, Office of Net Assessments , SHAPE Technical Center, U.S. Army War College , National Defense University, and RAND Corporation on security and national defense issues.

In 1996 Friedman founded the private "Intelligence Corporation" Stratfor in Austin, Texas , which deals with security issues, geopolitics and strategic forecasting ("Strategic forecasting" = Stratfor).

Hacker attack 2011

The hacker attack , presumably by Anonymous , on the Stratfor website on December 24, 2011 and the subsequent publication of millions of e-mails and customer data meant a serious setback for Friedman and his company, which he did through security measures, personnel reinforcements and a new one Web presence tried to make up for it. At times there were rumors that Friedman would resign because of the attacks on his company, but his spokesman denied that Stratfor would not be intimidated.

Publications

He is the author of several books, including The Next 100 Years, America's Secret War, The Edge Intelligence and The Future of War. Friedman once said of his work in a video clip on the Stratfor website: "Journalists explain what is happening in the world, we at Stratfor explain what will happen. "

Explanation

“Well, the primary interest of the United States throughout the last century - that is, in the First, Second and Cold War - has been the relationship between Germany and Russia, because combined these two would be the only power that could threaten us - and therefore make sure that doesn't happen. "

The Next Hundred Years (2009)

In his 2009 bestseller, The Next Hundred Years , Friedman predicted that the 21st century would be all about American supremacy. He does not see the USA in decline, but rather on the verge of a grandiose rise. The military and technological strength of the US would be underestimated. He designs the future in detailed global scenarios.

The next ten years (2010)

In his book The Next Decade: What the World Will Look Like , Friedman also outlined future scenarios for the European Union (EU) and Germany in 2010 : In his review in Deutschlandradio Kultur, Andreas Rinke summarizes what he believes are key statements by Friedmann: by 2020 The importance of the EU and the euro will decrease considerably. A more powerful Germany will slowly turn away from the EU and the USA and seek close cooperation with Russia in return. Against this background, it is the task of future US presidents to play off the EU partners against each other in order to contain Germany and to maintain close relationships with selected German neighboring states such as Poland and Denmark .

Positions

Future of Germany

In January 2016 Friedman painted a gloomy picture in which Germany was trapped in a threefold vortex: socio-cultural challenge from large numbers of immigrants; Ties to a "dysfunctional currency and free trade area"; Export dependency.

US presidential election 2016

Friedman felt the election was less important than the 1860 or 1968 election. He saw the interests and perspective of the lower white middle class as key to Trump's success. His “mistakes” would not be perceived as such by them. Trump's remarks about Megyn Kelly that she might just be "having her days" (allegations of sexism), and about John McCain that an arrest is not heroic (discrimination against veterans) does not appear offensive to this class. In his entire appearance he appears as a member of this group. Regardless of how the election ended (Friedman was more likely to expect Clinton to win), the election campaign shows a structural change in society: the middle class is not poor, but is characterized by fears of relegation. This leads to a reorientation of politics, which unfortunately is not noticed by the elites either in the USA or in Europe.

Personal

Friedman is married to Meredith Friedman, née LeBard. You have four children and live in Austin, Texas. Meredith Friedman is the vice president of her husband's company, responsible for international affairs and communications. She has contributed to several of his publications, including a book on a possible future war between the US and Japan.

Fonts (selection)

• The Political Philosophy of the Frankfurt School . Cornell University Press, 1981, ISBN 0-8014-1279-X .
• The Coming War With Japan . With Meredith LeBard. St Martins Press, 1991, ISBN 0-312-07677-0 .
• America's secret war: inside the hidden worldwide struggle between the United States and its enemies . New York: Anchor Books, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7679-1785-8 .
• The next 100 years. A forecast for the 21st century . Doubleday, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-51705-8 .
  • The next hundred years . The world order of the future . Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-593-38930-1 .
• The Next Decade: What the World Will Look Like . 2010, ISBN 0-385-53294-6
• Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe . Doubleday, 2015, ISBN 0-385-53633-X
  • Flashpoints - powder keg Europe: trouble spots that threaten the continent . Translation Matthias Schulz. Kulmbach: Plassen, 2015

literature

• Uwe Neuhold: The next hundred years , in: The Science Fiction Year 2010 , edited by Sascha Mamczak and Wolfgang Jeschke , Heyne, Munich 2010, pp. 909–913. ISBN 978-3-453-52681-5

Web links

Commons : George Friedman  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Literature by and about George Friedman in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about George Friedman in the WorldCat bibliographic database
• Friedman at Stratfor.com
• George Friedman: War in the Stars. in: The European 4/2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ George Friedman: Flashpoints - powder keg Europe: trouble spots that threaten the continent. Plassen Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-86470-313-3 ( google.de [accessed on November 27, 2016]).
2. ↑ Parmy Olson: Inside Anonymous: From the inner workings of the global cyber insurgency . Redline Wirtschaft, 2012, ISBN 978-3-86414-279-6 ( google.de [accessed on November 26, 2016]).
3. ↑ The exposed boss of the shadow CIA , by Sönke Iwersen, March 2, 2012
4. ↑ Leak-Check : Stratfor's CEO Has Not Resigned After WikiLeaks Release, February 27, 2012.
5. ↑ Video : Friedman about Stratfor: Intelligence vs. Journalism.
6. ↑ Video : Friedman about Stratfor: Intelligence vs. Journalism.
7. ↑ cf. Martin R. Textor, July 22, 2009 review of: George Friedman: The Next Hundred Years. The world order of the future . In: socialnet reviews, ISSN 2190-9245, online . Retrieved October 22, 2016.
8. ↑ - Provocative power-political considerations . In: Deutschlandradio Kultur . ( deutschlandradiokultur.de [accessed on November 26, 2016]).
9. ↑ Germany has a bigger problem than refugees , 2016-01-14
10. ↑ Patrick W. Watson: George Friedman: This Election Is Less Critical Than You Think . In: Forbes . August 4, 2016 ( forbes.com [accessed November 26, 2016]).
11. ^ The Roots of Trump's Strength . In: MauldinEconomics.com . March 7, 2016 ( mauldineconomics.com [accessed November 26, 2016]).
12. ↑ Cheryl Hall: The most dangerous spot in the world? Europe, not the Middle East . November 2, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
13. ↑ Katie Rucke: What Was Going On Between Reddit's Alexis Ohanian And Stratfor? . August 28, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
14. ↑ Booknotes ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. interview with Friedman and Meredith LeBard on The Coming War With Japan , June 9, 1991.