Stratfor
From Conservapedia
Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting Inc.) is an American private intelligence and analysis company. Barron's magazine called the company a "shadow CIA".[1] As a private intelligence firm calling itself "investment advisors" or "risk assessment", Stratfor is not subject to Congressional oversight nor the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It was founded in 1996 by American political scientist George Friedman,[2] who led the company till 2015.[3] The company's Vice President of Counterterrorism and Corporate Security is Fred Barton. Several executives from Pagan International merged with Stratfor in 2003.
Stratfor collects and analyzes information about events in the world. They receive information from the media and other open sources, as well as from the company's own sources. Based on the information collected, the company's analysts make economic and geopolitical forecasts.
Some of the company's classified documents were released by WikiLeaks in 2013.[4]
References
- ↑ Jonathan R. Laing «The Shadow CIA»
- ↑ At the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Friedman gave a presentation on his new book: Flashpoints. The Emerging Crisis in Europe. G. Friedman: Press conference at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. (German subtitles). February 4, 2015. YouTube.
1.55 min. - "The main interest of U.S. foreign policy during the last century, in the First and Second World War and during the Cold War, relations between Germany and Germany Russia.
When united, they are the only power that can threaten us. Our main interest was to ensure that this does not happen.
2.20 min. - "Last week [January 2015], or about ten days ago, the commander-in-chief of the American Ground troops in Europe, General Ben Hodges, visited Ukraine.
He announced there that the US military trainers will soon officially come to Ukraine. Actually, he distributed medals to Ukrainian fighters there, although US military protocol prohibits these medals from being awarded to foreigners. But he did so because he wanted to show that the Ukrainian army is his army. Then left and in the Baltics announced that the United States would be pre-positioning armor, artillery, and other equipment in the Baltics, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Which is a very interesting point. So the United States, now today, yesterday, the United States announced that it would be sending weapons. Tonight of course they denied it. But they are. The weapons will go."
8:41 min. - "The question on the table for the Russians is, will they retain a buffer zone that's at least neutral or will the West penetrate so far in the Ukraine that they're 70 mil away from Stalingrad and 300 miles away from Moscow. For Russia the status of Ukraine is an existential threat and the Russians cannot let go. For the United States, in the event that Russia holds on to the Ukraine, where will it stop. Therefore, it's not an accident that General Hodges, who's been appointed to be blamed for all of this, uh is talking about pre-positioning troops in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Baltics. this is the Intermarium the from the Black Sea to the Baltic that Pilsudski dreamt of. This is the solution for the United States. The issue to which we don't have the answer is, what will Germany do. So the real wild card in Europe is that, as the United States builds this codon sanitaire, not in Ukraine but to the west, and the Russians try to figure out how to leverage Ukrainians out, we don't know the German position. Germany is in a very peculiar position. Its former Chancellor Gehard Schroeder, is on the board of Gazprom. They have a very complex relationship to the Russians. The Germans themselves don't know what to do. They must export. The Russians can't take up the export. On the other hand, if they lose the free trade zone, they need to build something different. For the United States, the primordial fear is German technology and German capital and Russian natural resources and Russian manpower as the only combination that has for centuries scared the hell out of the United States. So how does this play out. Well, the US has already put its cards on the table. It is the line from the Baltics to the Black Sea. For the Russians, their cards have always been on the table. They must have at least a neutral Ukraine, not a pro-western Ukraine. But Germany is another question. Now whoever can tell me what the Germans are going to do is going to tell me about the next 20 years of history. But unfortunately, the Germans haven't made up their mind. And this is the problem of Germany. Always enormously economically powerful, geopolitically very fragile, and never quite knowing how to reconcile the two. Ever since 1871 this has been the German question, the question of Europe. Think about the German question because now it's coming up again." - ↑ https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2015/12/03/stratfor-founder-george-friedman-forms.html
- ↑ The Global Intelligence Files - STRATFOR - WikiLeaks
