Talking Geopolitics

Russia and the United States have been convenient strawmen for each other for some time. It makes sense for two powerful countries to be a little adversarial, but are they in the throes of another Cold War? The answer to that question requires a top-to-bottom understanding of Russia. Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom explain why. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

Domestic politics always play a role in international affairs. But do they do so now more than other times? After previewing the week ahead, Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom take discuss how Iran's potential instability shapes its behavior abroad. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/GbC7yB

GPF Podcast returns after a week off to address what promises to be a busy few days ahead. Plus, Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom pore over GPF's new special reports on The Geopolitics of London and The Geopolitics of Dune. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

With so much drama in the Middle East, it’s nearly irresponsible to focus on just one actor – emphasis on nearly. At GPF, we’ve long maintained that Turkey was a country on the rise, and the things we see it doing today are exactly the things a country on the rise would do. Time will tell if it will reach its full potential, so in the meantime, Jacob Shapiro, Xander Snyder and Cole Altom take a step back and reflect on how it’s faring right now. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

The United States has always had a peculiar relationship with just about every country in the Western Hemisphere that isn’t Canada. The reasons for this go back as far as the Monroe Doctrine, of course, but the Cold War – and the associated coups and insurgencies etc. – left an indelible mark on the ways these countries interact with one another. After Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom take a look at the week ahead, Allison Fedirka stops by to discuss why this is the case. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

China, Japan and the Korean Peninsula tend to overshadow Southeast Asia, a geographically confounding region that was, until very recently, also home to our very own Phillip Orchard. Now that he’s back, he, Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom will discuss this oft-overlooked area. But first, they address the elephant in the room: the meeting in May between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

Now that Germany has finally formed a new government, the de facto leader of the EU can get back to being the de facto leader of the EU. But Italy has just elected into power parties that are less-than-friendly to Germany's agenda. Jacob Shapiro and Cole Altom discuss how this peculiar era of nationalism is just one chapter in a much longer story about Europe.Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

Syria is a mess. New alliances form as quickly as they fall apart. Cease-fires are agreed to and summarily ignored. Russians, Turks, Americans, Iranians, Kurds, Lebanese, Saudis and, of course, Syrians all have vested interests in outcome of the war. Jacob, Cole and Xander lay out what those interests are and catch up on what proved to be a very eventful week in northern Syria. Sign up for free updates on topics like this! Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

The accuracy of a media narrative depends on the motives of the agency that spins it. After previewing the week ahead, Jacob L. Shapiro and Cole Altom dissect Chinese media to get a sense of China’s military ambitions – and explain why Beijing has a lot of work to do before it can supplant Washington as the world’s leading power. Sign up for free updates on topics like these. Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx

Why do we write about Romania but not Rwanda? Why don’t we cover the successes and failures of SpaceX? Director of Analysis Jacob Shapiro and Managing Editor Cole Altom return to talk about the things that don’t quite make it into our analytic framework. Sign up for free updates on topics like these. Go here: https://goo.gl/zt6tzx