- George Friedman
George Friedman is an American
political scientist and author. He is the founder, chiefintelligence officer , financial overseer, and CEO of the private intelligence corporationStratfor . He has authored several books, including "America's Secret War ", "The Intelligence Edge", and "The Future of War".Biography
Friedman was born in
Hungary toHolocaust survivor parents. In order to flee from theCommunists , his family left Hungary in 1949. They went toAustria and lived in adisplaced person camp for several years before gettingvisas to come to theUnited States . Friedman has described theirs as "a very classic story ofrefugee s making a new life in America." Arriving in the US at the age of three, " [b] asically, I grew up as a New York kid." Living in theBronx and attending theCharles Dorsey School in theNew York City school system. He graduated with a B.A. from theCity College of New York where he majored inpolitical science , and received a Ph.D. inGovernment fromCornell University . In 1974, he accepted a post teaching political science atDickinson College where he taught for almost 20 years.Friedman's original interest was in
political philosophy and most of his early work was onMarxism . In 1981, Cornell University Press published a book he wrote on theFrankfurt School . Becoming increasingly interested in the problems of international conflict, he studied the U.S.-Soviet balance from a military perspective. When the Soviet Union collapsed, he came to study impending U.S.-Japan conflicts, co-authoring a book titled "The Coming War With Japan" in 1991. Friedman was an early designer of computerized war games. During his years in academics, Friedman briefed widely on security andnational defense matters, including senior commanders in all armed services, theOffice of Net Assessments ,SHAPE Technical Center , theU.S. Army War College ,National Defense University and theRAND Corporation .In 1994, Friedman founded the
Center for Geopolitical Studies atLouisiana State University , which engages in integrated economic, political and military modeling and forecasting; it was the only non-DOD/non-governmental organization granted access toJoint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) by theJoint Warfighting Center .Friedman entered the private sector in 1996 and founded
Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting Inc.), a private intelligence firm which provides foreign affairs analysis to its (mostlycorporate ) clients. He serves as its chiefintelligence officer , andCEO .Personal life
Friedman was first married to Dorothy.
Friedman is now married to
Meredith Friedman (née LeBard) with four children and currently lives inAustin, Texas . Two of their children serve in theU.S. Military .Political viewpoint
Friedman has described himself as "a conservative Republican." "Up until 1989 I would have considered myself a classic conservative, my primary concern being the Soviet Union and
anti-communism ." "One of the things, I think, as a conservative I believe is there's a constancy in the human condition. There isn't dramatic changes, millennial changes, where everything is solved and we live happily in peace". [http://web.archive.org/web/20010620223212re_/www.booknotes.org/transcripts/10085.htm] Having parents who had beenHolocaust survivor s and also fled from Communism, Friedman developed "a kind of deep and abiding hatred oftotalitarianism ."Books
*"
The Political Philosophy of the Frankfurt School " (1981). Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-1279-X.
*"Coming War With Japan ", withMeredith LeBard (1991). St Martins Press. Reprint edition, 1992, ISBN 0-312-07677-0.
*"The Future of War: Power, Technology and American World Dominance in the Twenty-First Century" withMeredith Friedman (1996). 1st ed., Crown Publishers, ISBN 0-517-70403-X. St. Martin's Griffin, 1998, ISBN 0-312-18100-0.
*"The Intelligence Edge : How to Profit in the Information Age" withMeredith Friedman ,Colin Chapman , andJohn Baker (1997). Crown, 1st edition. ISBN 0-609-60075-3.
*"America's Secret War : Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between the United States and Its Enemies" (2004). Doubleday, 1st ed, ISBN 0-385-51245-7. Broadway, reprint edition (2005). ISBN 0-7679-1785-5.
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/038551705X "The Next Hundred Years"] :" A Forecast for the 21st Century" (2009). Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-51705-X.External links
* [http://www.stratfor.com/authors/dr_george_friedman Bio of Friedman] at STRATFOR's website.
* [http://www.americassecretwar.com/about_book_author.html Bio of Friedman] at "America's Secret War"'s website.
* [http://www.futurebrief.com/friedmanbio.asp Bio of Friedman] at "Commentary"'s website.
* [http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/george_friedman/ Friedman quotes] atThinkExist.com .
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