Sports often serve as a tool by which governments send political messages to audiences at home and abroad. In this ongoing series, we collectively examine the complex relationship between sports and international politics. Within this space — curated and spearheaded by Dr. Thomas Hunt and Dr. Tolga Ozyurtcu — we will cover a variety of subjects including sports development, sporting subcultures and the relevance of sport to cultural geography and global affairs.
The United States is threatening to enact tariffs on finished vehicles in its latest trade offensive against the rest of the world. The threats ultimately form part of President Donald Trump's trade negotiations, but a collapse in talks can lead to the implementation of tariffs on all fronts. Because of deep integration in the global auto industry, the imposition of tariffs would reverberate around the world. Given the significance of the issue, Stratfor has created a series that will cover the implications on both a global and a national level.
Stratfor Threat Lens is a unique protective intelligence product designed with corporate security leaders in mind. Threat Lens enables industry professionals and organizations to anticipate, identify, measure and mitigate emerging threats to people, assets, and intellectual property the world over. Threat Lens is the only unified solution that analyzes and forecasts security risk from a holistic perspective, bringing all the most relevant global insights into a single, interactive threat dashboard. Collected here are a number of security-focused assessments, indicative of the types of analyses found on Threat Lens.
Collected here are a selection of On Security columns written by Scott Stewart, covering personal security and protective tactics, techniques and procedures.
This eight-part series considers the various compulsions and constraints that will dictate China's evolution over the next decade or so. Whether we expect Chinese power to grow or to diminish says a great deal about our expectations not only for China as a state and society but also for the future of international political, economic and institutional systems.
Collected here are a variety of recommendations by Stratfor's diverse team — things we have enjoyed reading, watching and listening to.
This series examines the geopolitical foundations of the most influential countries in the world and how those foundations compel and constrain the actions of nations.
This is an occasional series in which Fred Burton, Stratfor's Chief Security Officer, reflects on his storied experience as a counterterrorism agent for the U.S. State Department.
The 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress runs Oct. 18-24. The convention marks the start of a transition as delegates name new members to lead China's most powerful political institutions. But the change in personnel is only part of a larger transformation underway in the Party and in the country — a process that began long before the party congress kicked off and will continue long after it ends. This series examines how far China has come in its transition, and how far it has yet to go.
Since the end of the Cold War, the Pacific Rim has seen China rise and Japan stagnate. However, Japan is approaching an epochal shift that will enable it to challenge the current order. This four-part series forecasts the nature of that shift and the future of Japan.
This foundational three-part series from 2014 looks at sub-Saharan Africa's electricity generation and transmission capabilities, analyzing opportunities for growth. Part One gives an overview of power networks in West Africa. Part Two does the same for Southern Africa, and in Part Three we turn our attention to East Africa.
This five-part series examines the measures that could be taken to inhibit North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The purpose of this series is not to consider political rhetoric or noninvasive means of coercion such as sanctions. Rather, we are exploring the military options, however remote, that are open to the United States and its allies, along with the expected retaliatory response from Pyongyang.
High atop the Doklam Plateau, Indian and Chinese forces are still locked in a standoff. The latest dispute along the Line of Actual Control, the contested border between China and India, began June 16. And in the time since, each side has vehemently denounced the other's presence, digging in for a prolonged fight. A military confrontation would have serious repercussions for India and China alike, but it can't be ruled out. In this three-part series, Stratfor evaluates the strategic positions of each side in the dispute.
As tension between Russia and the West has mounted in recent years, Moscow has increasingly turned to hybrid warfare to gain and hold ground in their contest for power and clout. This is a five-part series exploring the geopolitical context, targets and tools of that strategy, as well as the steps Russia's adversaries are taking to counter it.
Global trade is changing. The kinds of multilateral agreements that characterized the post-war years have stalled out over the past two decades, prompting countries and economic blocs to try to negotiate smaller deals with fewer partners. Nations and blocs have more leeway under this new model to negotiate trade agreements that best suit their interests and to avoid those that don't. This series on trade profiles aims to break down these factors to gain a greater understanding of where global trade stands today and where it's headed.
At Stratfor, we use geopolitics to break down the constraints and advantages that geography confers on a country and the political, technological and economic decisions it compels. The exercise, taken to its logical conclusion, can extend all the way down to an atomic level. This occasional series examines the elements and the power that various combinations of protons, neutrons and electrons can exert on the world around us.
Stratfor uses a multitude of sources to track global developments. One particularly useful tool is satellite imagery. By sourcing images captured from space, Stratfor is able to provide subscribers a rare, first-hand glimpse into concrete developments on the ground while providing a unique brand of visually driven analysis on important geopolitical issues.
With its latest test of the Hwasong-14, North Korea demonstrated at least a rudimentary capability to launch a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. At the extreme estimates of its range, the missile has the ability to strike parts of the western United States. More tests and developments will be necessary to increase the Hwasong-14's range, payload and re-entry system, and questions remain about North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon and make it rugged enough to mount on the missile. Even so, Pyongyang is clearly well on its way to realizing its goal of a long-range nuclear weapons capability. This is a three-part series examining the implications of this development for the U.S. relationship with North Korea.
This four-part series explores the underlying motivations behind China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative and the challenges that it will face.
This three-part series examines Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategy to stimulate economic growth in Japan. The three-pronged approach, known as "Abenomics," has largely stalled in recent years, and its future does not appear to be much more promising.
For all that is said about water scarcity, the term is somewhat misused. Often, water becomes more difficult to access or becomes more expensive; on a countrywide scale, it remains available in most cases. But some regions and countries are actually running out of water. In this occasional series, Stratfor charts the places on Earth that are suffering from water scarcity, and what the future will hold for them.
Stratfor closely monitors the ebbs and flows of world energy. Aside from production, the transportation of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products is of paramount concern for oil-producing nations. For energy consumers, transit routes are indispensable lifelines. A huge amount of the world's energy is transited through pipelines, across the Eurasian landmass in particular. In this periodic series we will examine some of the most geopolitically significant pipelines running through Europe and Asia.
This three-part series explores the economic challenges faced by the Gulf Cooperation Council states: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. We look at the opportunities for change amid declining global oil prices and consider each of the six Gulf nations in turn, examining the key constraints on their ability to shape the future of the region.
This four-part series takes an in-depth look at Russia's internal political struggles and the methodology behind understanding the inner workings of the Kremlin.
