
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
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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
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at http://patreon.com/hiddenforces
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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. Qui-vere falsone, quaerere mittimus-dicitur oculis se privasse; Itaque haec cum illis est dissensio, cum Peripateticis nulla sane. Cur tantas regiones barbarorum pedibus obiit, tot maria transmisit?
Aliter homines, aliter philosophos loqui putas oportere? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Sed eum qui audiebant, quoad poterant, defendebant sententiam suam. Quarum ambarum rerum cum medicinam pollicetur, luxuriae licentiam pollicetur. An haec ab eo non dicuntur? Quae cum dixisset paulumque institisset, Quid est? Nam et complectitur verbis, quod vult, et dicit plane, quod intellegam; Ut optime, secundum naturam affectum esse possit.
Eam tum adesse, cum dolor omnis absit; An haec ab eo non dicuntur? A mene tu? Prodest, inquit, mihi eo esse animo.
Summum ením bonum exposuit vacuitatem doloris; Utrum igitur tibi litteram videor an totas paginas commovere? Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria. Dicet pro me ipsa virtus nec dubitabit isti vestro beato M. Hic ego: Pomponius quidem, inquam, noster iocari videtur, et fortasse suo iure. Ait enim se, si uratur, Quam hoc suave! dicturum. Sin dicit obscurari quaedam nec apparere, quia valde parva sint, nos quoque concedimus; Qui autem de summo bono dissentit de tota philosophiae ratione dissentit. Quo plebiscito decreta a senatu est consuli quaestio Cn. Quantam rem agas, ut Circeis qui habitet totum hunc mundum suum municipium esse existimet?
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Itaque homo in primis ingenuus et gravis, dignus illa familiaritate Scipionis et Laelii, Panaetius, cum ad Q. Et nemo nimium beatus est; Atque haec coniunctio confusioque virtutum tamen a philosophis ratione quadam distinguitur. An vero displicuit ea, quae tributa est animi virtutibus tanta praestantia? Profectus in exilium Tubulus statim nec respondere ausus; Semovenda est igitur voluptas, non solum ut recta sequamini, sed etiam ut loqui deceat frugaliter.
Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Cetera illa adhibebat, quibus demptis negat se Epicurus intellegere quid sit bonum. Eorum enim omnium multa praetermittentium, dum eligant aliquid, quod sequantur, quasi curta sententia; Ut placet, inquit, etsi enim illud erat aptius, aequum cuique concedere.
Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Sed tempus est, si videtur, et recta quidem ad me. Sed vobis voluptatum perceptarum recordatio vitam beatam facit, et quidem corpore perceptarum. Superiores tres erant, quae esse possent, quarum est una sola defensa, eaque vehementer. Non modo carum sibi quemque, verum etiam vehementer carum esse? Quodsi ipsam honestatem undique pertectam atque absolutam. Ita multo sanguine profuso in laetitia et in victoria est mortuus. Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur. Tria genera bonorum; Eorum enim omnium multa praetermittentium, dum eligant aliquid, quod sequantur, quasi curta sententia;
Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quos quidem tibi studiose et diligenter tractandos magnopere censeo. Quod vestri quidem vel optime disputant, nihil opus esse eum, qui philosophus futurus sit, scire litteras.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Dolere malum est: in crucem qui agitur, beatus esse non potest. Idcirco enim non desideraret, quia, quod dolore caret, id in voluptate est. Multoque hoc melius nos veriusque quam Stoici. Nummus in Croesi divitiis obscuratur, pars est tamen divitiarum. Duo Reges: constructio interrete.
Mihi enim satis est, ipsis non satis. Quis, quaeso, illum negat et bonum virum et comem et humanum fuisse? Levatio igitur vitiorum magna fit in iis, qui habent ad virtutem progressionis aliquantum. In eo enim positum est id, quod dicimus esse expetendum. Qui autem de summo bono dissentit de tota philosophiae ratione dissentit. An vero, inquit, quisquam potest probare, quod perceptfum, quod.
Bonum integritas corporis: misera debilitas. In motu et in statu corporis nihil inest, quod animadvertendum esse ipsa natura iudicet? Nam, ut paulo ante docui, augendae voluptatis finis est doloris omnis amotio. Itaque in rebus minime obscuris non multus est apud eos disserendi labor. Tum ille: Tu autem cum ipse tantum librorum habeas, quos hic tandem requiris? Tu autem negas fortem esse quemquam posse, qui dolorem malum putet.
Nunc reliqua videamus, nisi aut ad haec, Cato, dicere aliquid vis aut nos iam longiores sumus. Inde sermone vario sex illa a Dipylo stadia confecimus. Atque hoc loco similitudines eas, quibus illi uti solent, dissimillimas proferebas. Nos commodius agimus. Non quaeritur autem quid naturae tuae consentaneum sit, sed quid disciplinae. Graecum enim hunc versum nostis omnes-: Suavis laborum est praeteritorum memoria.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Qui autem esse poteris, nisi te amor ipse ceperit? Satis est tibi in te, satis in legibus, satis in mediocribus amicitiis praesidii. Sint modo partes vitae beatae. Theophrastus mediocriterne delectat, cum tractat locos ab Aristotele ante tractatos? Uterque enim summo bono fruitur, id est voluptate. Nec hoc ille non vidit, sed verborum magnificentia est et gloria delectatus. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Levatio igitur vitiorum magna fit in iis, qui habent ad virtutem progressionis aliquantum. Illud dico, ea, quae dicat, praeclare inter se cohaerere.
Cum autem in quo sapienter dicimus, id a primo rectissime dicitur. Quaesita enim virtus est, non quae relinqueret naturam, sed quae tueretur. Quod autem in homine praestantissimum atque optimum est, id deseruit.
Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae. Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. Negat esse eam, inquit, propter se expetendam. Aut unde est hoc contritum vetustate proverbium: quicum in tenebris? Itaque et manendi in vita et migrandi ratio omnis iis rebus, quas supra dixi, metienda. At ille pellit, qui permulcet sensum voluptate. Neque enim civitas in seditione beata esse potest nec in discordia dominorum domus; Vide igitur ne non debeas verbis nostris uti, sententiis tuis.
Commoda autem et incommoda in eo genere sunt, quae praeposita et reiecta diximus; Erat enim Polemonis. Bona autem corporis huic sunt, quod posterius posui, similiora. Quid enim mihi potest esse optatius quam cum Catone, omnium virtutum auctore, de virtutibus disputare?