: Understanding Trump, Stratfor Talks, beyond Merkel

A Simple Tool for Understanding a Trump Presidency

We hear all the time about how the world “should” work. Self-proclaimed liberals and conservatives, Keynesians and Reaganites, humanists and hawks, globalists and nationalists have crammed the airwaves and filled our Twitter feeds with policy prescriptions, promoting their worldview while scorning others’. But after the emotionally charged year this has been, I suspect many people are growing weary of big theories and cursory character assassinations. Instead, it may be time to replace the pedantry with something more fundamental — and less divisive — in which to ground our thoughts and make sense of the world.

Rather than focusing on what should happen, perhaps we would do better to turn our attention to what will happen. And in this, geopolitics can come in handy. Read more…

Building a More Efficient World

All countries needs basic infrastructure. Some come by it more easily than others.

Europe Needs More Than Merkel

The EU’s fragmentation and U.S. policy shifts will leave less room in which Berlin can operate.

OPEC Inches Toward a Market Intervention

Saudi Arabia is so desperate for a deal to boost oil prices, it is likely willing to compromise enough to get one.

Stratfor Talks Podcast

Listen to a year’s worth of conversations and insights into major geopolitical issues, from Mosul to North Korea, Chinese renditions to crises in Venezuela.