RANE Podcast Series

In this podcast, Stratfor's South Asia Analyst, Faisel Pervaiz, speaks with Ambika Vishwanath about India's water challenges. From floods to drought to later monsoons, India has been struggling to provide adequate water supplies to its 1.3 Billion citizens. Factor in the tensions between India and Pakistan and water-sharing agreement between the rivals known as Indus Water Treaty, which dictates the share of water each country receives from the Indus Water Basin, and it's easy to see why water is a hot geopolitical issue for India.

An interview with Mark Greaney (author of the Gray Man series of thrillers) and Lt. Col. H. Ripley Rawlings IV. Together they have written a gripping and realistic action thriller in which World War III emerges as a conflict between the West and Russia. In this novel, Russia creates a three-pronged front - testing the US military capabilities - in a gamble to lay claim to a rare mineral mine that will give Russia primacy over the entire world’s technology. Combining geopolitics, cover-to-cover action that include battles in the air, on land and sea, with great camaraderie among a small and desperate team, Stratfor's Fred Burton says he was hooked to the last page.

Continuing a conversation with Stratfor's Reva Goujon and Russell Gold about his new book, Superpower!, the two dig into the impacts of climate change on hydrocarbon-based and renewable energies, energy subsidies and even the 2020 race for US President.

When Neil Armstrong announced that the Eagle had landed on July, 20, 1969, the world listened. The first moon landing in July, 1969, was the culmination of a presidential resolution firmly anchored in a wartime -- albeit a cold war -- objective. Far less known, until now, are the many military plots and schemes aimed at countering the Soviets that never made it off the drawing board--even though many were as technologically ground-breaking and breathtaking in their boldness. The stories of these amazing plans are revealed in Vince Houghton’s new book: Nuking the Moon, and other intelligence schemes and Military Plots left on the drawing board. Stratfor’s Chief Security Officer, Fred Burton, spoke to Vince Houghton about what worked and what didn't. 

In what Stratfor's Vice President of Global Analysis, Reva Goujon calls, "required reading," Wall Street Journal Energy Reporter, Russell Gold, tells the story of Michael Skelly, who foresaw an energy transition in the U.S from fossil-based to clean power.  The following description comes from Russell Gold's Amazon book page for SuperPower! One Man's Quest to transform American Energy. Skelly, "an infrastructure builder who began working on wind energy in 2000, when many considered the industry a joke. Eight years later, Skelly helped create the second largest wind power company in the United States—which was sold for $2 billion. Wind energy was no longer funny; it was well on its way to generating a substantial percentage of the electricity in the United States." Hear a fascinating discussion about the global energy transformation underway and Russell Gold's take on the US energy picture. 

There are studies that indicate that the speed at which constantly evolving geopolitical events affect people, businesses and nations - from diplomacy to international security to societies and everything in between - and how much information is available to consume - can make individuals feel bombarded, or attacked. That can cause stress or anxiety and have real physical health effects. But too little information may leave you vulnerable to worse. Best-selling author, Jack Carr’s new book, True Believer, merges the chaos of too much and too little information, who has it and who doesn't in a rip-roaring adventure for James Reece, the world’s most wanted domestic terrorist. Combining terror attacks, market tailspins, holidays and vengeance, with a little strong arming thrown in for good measure, True Believer has been called one of the best thrillers of 2019. Stratfor’s Chief Security Officer, Fred Burton, spoke to Carr about the book, and his career as a Navy SEAL sniper, outdoorsman, and now, author.

On December 21, 1988, a plane full of college students, government workers and professionals traveling home for the holidays from London to New York exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. All on board and 11 people on the ground were killed. The investigation spread over hundreds of square miles. The evidence was blown to smithereens. Richard Marquise was the investigator in charge of finding out what had happened, who was responsible and, eventually, how to prosecute. He spoke about his book, Scotbom: Evidence and the Lockerbie Investigation with Stratfor’s Chief Security Officer Fred Burton

"Domestic terrorism" is a phrase that has had its fair share of US headlines in the years since 2001 and the Al Qaeda terror attacks. We've all read reports of bombings, mail attacks using fire, biological weapons. And the dramatic death tolls from dozens and dozens of mass shootings. But domestic terrorism was not hatched in the wake of foreign attacks. It predates online radicalization and the US wars in the Middle East and South Asia. In fact, a series of domestic bombings, and other actions of radical underground groups were all too common during the 1970s. Those “Days of Rage” and the FBI’s response to them are the subject of Bryan Burrough’s investigation into and retelling a decade of America’s  experience of domestic terrorism, which he published in the 2015 book, Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence.

One of the most memorable images from June, 2019 was that taken by a Dallas Morning News Photographer. It shows a man in a black armored, pocketed vest with a black cap, face covering, green clothes, black boots and a large black gun about to enter the Earle Cabell federal courthouse in Dallas, Texas.   Another was of sobbing survivors of a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach municipal center hugging each other on a bright, sunny day. Only the shooter was killed in the Dallas event. 12 people died at the scene of the Virginia Beach event. In a recent column for Stratfor Worldview, VP of Tactical Analysis, Scott Stewart, noted that while incidents of workplace violence and mass public attacks are a persistent concern, taking security measures ahead of time is a critical step toward avoiding attacks.  He spoke with Chief Security Officer, Fred Burton.

Brad Thor is the best-selling author of the Scot Harvath series of thrillers. "You can go to Backlash never having read a Brad Thor book before," Thor told Stratfor's Chief Security Officer and host of the Pen And Sword podcast, "And in my book is Scot Harvath, who's American's number one operative...This hostile nation decides 'this guy gets in our way way too often. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna grab him, wring him dry. We're gonna get  all the intel we can get out of him and then we're gonna kill him.'"  Well, needless to say, Harvath is not amused. That's page one. And the action continues right until the end.