Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world. — George Friedman Copy Share Image
“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was actually not the most serious threat that the United States faced. The president can and should speak of foreseeing an era in which these threats don't exist, but you must not believe his own rhetoric. To… — George Friedman Copy Share
“In Geo-Politics, a nation has no permanent allies or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.” — George Friedman Copy Share
Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. I am tempted to howl in rage. It is not my place to do so. My job is to try to dissect the event, place it in context and try to understand what has happened and why. From that,… — George Friedman Copy Share
Assad's mother was a terror. He was terrified of her and she kept saying to him, you're not like your father. That's interesting, but… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
The Chinese have a long history of slaughtering each other without bothering their neighbors. — George Friedman Copy Share Image
Italy spills over to everything. Italy is a huge banking system. It has been the major banking system in Eastern Europe. It's worked with… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
If you go through the list of things that are not possible you're left with a very finite amount of possibilities. The fancy name… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
But every time new powers emerge they have to find their balance. New powers are emerging, old powers are declining. It's not that process… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
We cannot anticipate the moral circumstances under which we will live. And therefore [I refuse] to say that I will not live in a… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
“While you and I are allowed the luxury of our pain, president isn't. A president must take into account how his citizens feel and… — George Friedman Copy Share Image
War is an extraordinary condition to be in - to be, for example, in the combat information center of a warship [and behaving] as though you were merely processing credit card applications. [Instead,] the information you're processing is that an incoming missile is 15 kilometers away, now 10 kilometers away, now 5 kilometers. You have to separate yourself psychologically from… — George Friedman Copy Share
When you're young and going to war, it's a genuinely exciting moment. You are going to risk yourself. On the battlefield, you are suddenly free. You realize: I'm here, I'm in it. Exaltation. Suddenly you're hit by another extraordinary feeling: my God, I can be killed. And: will I embarrass myself? It's like you're in a kaleidoscope and all of… — George Friedman Copy Share
![“We cannot anticipate the moral circumstances under which we will live. And therefore [I refuse] to say that I will not live in a moral circumstance that requires violence.” quote by George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/313/george-friedman-7436_anticipate_we-cannot-anticipate-the-moral-circumsta_260342.jpg)
