Episode 124
Peter Zeihan | Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World
Episode 124
Peter Zeihan
Peter Zeihan | Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World
summary
In Episode 124 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist who combines an expert understanding of demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security to help his clients prepare for an uncertain future. Before founding his own strategy firm, Peter helped develop the analytical models for Stratfor, one of the world’s premier private intelligence companies. He’s also a critically-acclaimed author whose first two books — The Accidental Superpower and The Absent Superpower — have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. His latest book, “Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World,” hits bookstores tomorrow.
This is one of the most educational conversations that we have ever recorded on Hidden Forces. The episode is meant to provide you with a comprehensive overview of Peter Zeihan’s work and outlook on the subjects of foreign affairs, economics, and geopolitics. The goal is to help you understand just how abnormal our world has been for the last 70 years and what a return to a more “normal world” is going to look like. America’s withdrawal from the world has consequences for governments, business people, retirees, and especially for anyone who is living or invested in countries that have been the primary beneficiaries of the American lead international Order of the past three generations.
In the first hour, Peter lays the foundation for what this new world is going to look like, how it differs from the world we’ve inhabited since the end of World War Two, and what sorts of forces will be driving the changes that we can expect to experience over the next few decades. Towards the end of the episode we start to get into specific countries and regions, exploring the types of changes that we can expect to see economically, politically, geographically, and militarily in the not-too-distant future.
The future that Peter lays out is one of both risk and opportunity, and we explore many of these opportunities in the second half of this episode, including those dealing with Turkey, Argentina, and perhaps, most importantly, the United States and what Americans and their nation’s regional partners can expect to experience in the scramble for security, resources, and power in the world to come.
You can access the second hour, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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bio
Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist, which is a fancy way of saying he helps people understand how the world works. Peter combines an expert understanding of demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security to help clients best prepare for an uncertain future. Over the course of his career, Peter has worked for the US State Department in Australia, the DC think tank community, and helped develop the analytical models for Stratfor, one of the world’s premier private intelligence companies. Peter founded his own firm — Zeihan on Geopolitics — in 2012 in order to provide a select group of clients with direct, custom analytical products. Today those clients represent a vast array of sectors including energy majors, financial institutions, business associations, agricultural interests, universities and the U.S. military. With a keen eye toward what will drive tomorrow’s headlines, his irreverent approach transforms topics that are normally dense and heavy into accessible, relevant takeaways for audiences of all types. Peter is a critically-acclaimed author whose first two books — The Accidental Superpower and The Absent Superpower — have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. His forthcoming third title, Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World will be available in March 2020.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Stoici autem, quod finem bonorum in una virtute ponunt, similes sunt illorum; Tu quidem reddes; Quod ea non occurrentia fingunt, vincunt Aristonem; An nisi populari fama? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quicquid porro animo cernimus, id omne oritur a sensibus; Qui potest igitur habitare in beata vita summi mali metus? Ait enim se, si uratur, Quam hoc suave! dicturum.
Nos commodius agimus. Idem iste, inquam, de voluptate quid sentit? Ne in odium veniam, si amicum destitero tueri. Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat. Istam voluptatem, inquit, Epicurus ignorat?
Hi curatione adhibita levantur in dies, valet alter plus cotidie, alter videt. Expressa vero in iis aetatibus, quae iam confirmatae sunt. Qua tu etiam inprudens utebare non numquam. Aut unde est hoc contritum vetustate proverbium: quicum in tenebris? Apud ceteros autem philosophos, qui quaesivit aliquid, tacet; Suo enim quisque studio maxime ducitur.
Ex ea difficultate illae fallaciloquae, ut ait Accius, malitiae natae sunt. Et ille ridens: Video, inquit, quid agas; Ad quorum et cognitionem et usum iam corroborati natura ipsa praeeunte deducimur. Sunt enim quasi prima elementa naturae, quibus ubertas orationis adhiberi vix potest, nec equidem eam cogito consectari. Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Et quidem iure fortasse, sed tamen non gravissimum est testimonium multitudinis. Quis est tam dissimile homini. Habes, inquam, Cato, formam eorum, de quibus loquor, philosophorum. Roges enim Aristonem, bonane ei videantur haec: vacuitas doloris, divitiae, valitudo;
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Restincta enim sitis stabilitatem voluptatis habet, inquit, illa autem voluptas ipsius restinctionis in motu est. Cur igitur, inquam, res tam dissimiles eodem nomine appellas? Hoc ne statuam quidem dicturam pater aiebat, si loqui posset. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Contineo me ab exemplis. Illa argumenta propria videamus, cur omnia sint paria peccata. Quam ob rem tandem, inquit, non satisfacit? Cum salvum esse flentes sui respondissent, rogavit essentne fusi hostes. Idque testamento cavebit is, qui nobis quasi oraculum ediderit nihil post mortem ad nos pertinere? Cum id quoque, ut cupiebat, audivisset, evelli iussit eam, qua erat transfixus, hastam. Ut non sine causa ex iis memoriae ducta sit disciplina. Mihi vero, inquit, placet agi subtilius et, ut ipse dixisti, pressius.
Sed quid minus probandum quam esse aliquem beatum nec satis beatum? Utrum igitur tibi litteram videor an totas paginas commovere? Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. Paulum, cum regem Persem captum adduceret, eodem flumine invectio? Itaque si aut requietem natura non quaereret aut eam posset alia quadam ratione consequi. A primo, ut opinor, animantium ortu petitur origo summi boni. Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae.
Quid ergo attinet gloriose loqui, nisi constanter loquare? Sin autem eos non probabat, quid attinuit cum iis, quibuscum re concinebat, verbis discrepare? Dolere malum est: in crucem qui agitur, beatus esse non potest. Faceres tu quidem, Torquate, haec omnia; Prave, nequiter, turpiter cenabat; Traditur, inquit, ab Epicuro ratio neglegendi doloris. Quid tanto concursu honestissimorum studiorum, tanto virtutum comitatu, si ea nullam ad aliam rem nisi ad voluptatem conquiruntur? Expressa vero in iis aetatibus, quae iam confirmatae sunt.
Age, inquies, ista parva sunt. Atque his de rebus et splendida est eorum et illustris oratio. Restatis igitur vos; Ea possunt paria non esse. Polemoni et iam ante Aristoteli ea prima visa sunt, quae paulo ante dixi. Non igitur bene.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut alios omittam, hunc appello, quem ille unum secutus est. Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Dic in quovis conventu te omnia facere, ne doleas. Nec vero intermittunt aut admirationem earum rerum, quae sunt ab antiquis repertae, aut investigationem novarum. Scrupulum, inquam, abeunti; Ergo id est convenienter naturae vivere, a natura discedere. Conclusum est enim contra Cyrenaicos satis acute, nihil ad Epicurum.
Respondent extrema primis, media utrisque, omnia omnibus. Cur igitur, cum de re conveniat, non malumus usitate loqui? Idemne, quod iucunde? Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. O magnam vim ingenii causamque iustam, cur nova existeret disciplina! Perge porro. Tu autem inter haec tantam multitudinem hominum interiectam non vides nec laetantium nec dolentium?
At ille non pertimuit saneque fidenter: Istis quidem ipsis verbis, inquit; Tamen a proposito, inquam, aberramus. An eum discere ea mavis, quae cum plane perdidiceriti nihil sciat? Quod autem ratione actum est, id officium appellamus. Nosti, credo, illud: Nemo pius est, qui pietatem-; At enim, qua in vita est aliquid mali, ea beata esse non potest. Nunc vides, quid faciat. Traditur, inquit, ab Epicuro ratio neglegendi doloris.
Semper enim ita adsumit aliquid, ut ea, quae prima dederit, non deserat. Si enim ad populum me vocas, eum. Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera. Eorum enim est haec querela, qui sibi cari sunt seseque diligunt.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Piso, familiaris noster, et alia multa et hoc loco Stoicos irridebat: Quid enim? Non semper, inquam; Ne discipulum abducam, times. Eam tum adesse, cum dolor omnis absit; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Ita enim vivunt quidam, ut eorum vita refellatur oratio. Quando enim Socrates, qui parens philosophiae iure dici potest, quicquam tale fecit? Nec enim, dum metuit, iustus est, et certe, si metuere destiterit, non erit; Idcirco enim non desideraret, quia, quod dolore caret, id in voluptate est. Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Quod enim ne vivus quidem, inquit, diutius sentire poterat, quam dum fruebatur, quo modo id potuit mortuo permanere?
Summum ením bonum exposuit vacuitatem doloris; Nescio quo modo praetervolavit oratio. Si enim ita est, vide ne facinus facias, cum mori suadeas. Erit enim mecum, si tecum erit. Non laboro, inquit, de nomine. Cuius quidem, quoniam Stoicus fuit, sententia condemnata mihi videtur esse inanitas ista verborum.
Te enim iudicem aequum puto, modo quae dicat ille bene noris. Sextilio Rufo, cum is rem ad amicos ita deferret, se esse heredem Q. Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria. Quae hic rei publicae vulnera inponebat, eadem ille sanabat. Quae iam oratio non a philosopho aliquo, sed a censore opprimenda est.
Sed haec quidem liberius ab eo dicuntur et saepius. Profectus in exilium Tubulus statim nec respondere ausus; Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Cupit enim dícere nihil posse ad beatam vitam deesse sapienti.