Dr. George Friedman gave a keynote address at the start of the second day of the international conference in Belgrade organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustsinable Development (CIRSD) entitled "The European Tragedy of 1914 and the Multipolar World of 2014: Lessons Learned", held in Belgrade on 30-31 May.
His remarks provided an important intellectual signpost for the remainder of proceedings, which were focused on drawing out the lessons learned from a century ago, and exploring how these could be applied to critical theatres in contemporary international relations: Ukraine, Middle East, and East Asia.
Dr. Friedman pointed out that we are at the end of the post-Cold War period. Three pillars of the post-Cold War period were the United States as the unique global power, the EU which counterbalanced the US economically and China which was rising spectacularly, he said. This world went to pieces in 2008, he added, with reemergence of Russia and the beginning of the word financial and economic crisis. Out of all the changes since 2008, by far the most significant one was Europe, he concluded.
The full-length speech of Dr. Friedman can be viewed here.
George Friedman is the Chairman of Stratfor, a company he founded in 1996 that is now a leader in the field of global intelligence. Dr. Friedman is the author of The New York Times best-seller The Next Decade, which forecasts the major events and challenges that will test America and its presidents over the course of the next decade. Dr. Friedman's previous book, The Next 100 Years, was also a New York Times best-seller and has been published in over 20 languages.
