Stratfor Podcasts

Stratfor presents a four-part series of readings from Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent — a memoir of executive Fred Burton’s career with the Diplomatic Security Service. In Part 4, Fred describes the captivity and insights of Father Martin Jenco, who was held hostage by Hezbollah in Beirut. [more]

Stratfor presents a four-part series of readings from Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent — a memoir of executive Fred Burton’s career with the Diplomatic Security Service. In Part 3, Fred is called upon to investigate the terrorist attack involving TWA Flight 840. [more]

Stratfor presents a four-part series of readings from Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent — a memoir of executive Fred Burton’s career with the Diplomatic Security Service. In Part 2, Fred gives a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the U.S. counterterrorism community. [more]

Stratfor presents a four-part series of readings from Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent — a memoir of executive Fred Burton’s career with the Diplomatic Security Service. In Part 1, Fred finds a surprise in an evidence folder during his first day on the job with the DSS counterterrorism branch. [more]

2008 is to be the year of living dangerously, with increasing oil prices and sagging growth in world economies. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa, where hope for 2008 once flourished for the continent. [more]

U.S. President George W. Bush’s original “axis of evil” has all but collapsed in the six years since the phrase was coined. However, problems remain with second-tier countries like Zimbabwe, where the outcome of the June 27 presidential run-off is a foregone conclusion. But are there hints of change in the air? [more]

Syria’s government reportedly is ready to reconsider its relationship with Iran — another positive sign along the road toward a peace deal with Israel. [more]

The mass abductions and executions of tribal leaders in South Waziristan agency is a sign of things to come in the war against the Taliban. [more]

Political rhetoric against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s regime has reached a fever pitch, with a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote on a non-binding resolution and ongoing talks among southern African leaders. But trade flows will be the key indicator of coming political change. [more]

Like the Big Bad Wolf, they huffed and they puffed but they could not bring the house down. Despite the rhetoric and one prime minister’s pledge to take a blow torch to OPEC, the oil cartel remains intact and oil prices stay high. After a summit in Jeddah, those with oil to sell rejected the claim the stuff is too expensive and a cooperative scheme put up by Britain’s Gordon Brown faltered. [more]

Giving in to intense pressures from several fronts, China has lifted price caps on energy — but it still must tap-dance in order to avoid public unrest. Marla Dial explores the political strategy behind the announcement. [more]

A militant attack against oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta region has disproportionate effects on global energy markets. A look at the underlying issues. [more]

The political rifts in China and the central government’s tenuous control over peripheral entities is becoming apparent in the country’s fuel situation. Artificial caps on consumer fuel prices have been hurting state energy companies -— and their response adds to upward pressure on global gasoline prices. [more]

Recent developments in South Asia suggest that the battle against the Taliban will lead to increasingly overt U.S. military operations on Pakistani soil. Stratfor’s Middle East director, Kamran Bokhari, explains the issues and explores the political ramifications of a widening conflict zone with Marla Dial. [more]

European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to try to figure out how to save the reforming Lisbon Treaty after the Irish rejected it in a referendum, but as yet there does not appear to be the semblance of an idea, let alone a plan. Europe, says Colin Chapman, is increasingly becoming a region where members’ own interests count most. [more]

Latin America analyst Karen Hooper discusses recent policy reversals by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the growing pressures facing him on political and economic fronts. [more]

Despite a flutter of hopeful economic statistics for May, long-term trends suggest China’s economy is plateauing — and may even enter decline. A look at the pressures facing Chinese exporters and the potential for rising costs for foreign buyers. [more]

Political outcries against the fledging government of South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak have culminated in the largest street protests seen in Seoul for 20 years. Concerns about U.S. beef imports provide a spark for, but not the substance of, the upset. [more]

Dr. George Friedman talks to Colin Chapman about the future of oil prices. He explains why the Russians may be slow to increase production, and the Chinese slow to reduce demand. [more]

G8 energy ministers have been groping for solutions to new record oil prices — and putting renewed pressure on producers to increase output. But their ideas are not original nor likely to bring about cheaper prices. [more]

A three-month program to help Thai rice growers get the profits due them from high global food prices has hidden political benefits — and some unexpected side effects — for the fragile coalition government in Bangkok. [more]

As Russia’s new president makes his first foreign policy speech in Berlin, Gazprom is facing off against Europe in a bidding contest for Azerbaijan’s natural gas supplies. The outcome of that contest has strong implications for the tone of Russia’s relations with Europe throughout Medvedev’s presidency. [more]

The temporary suspension of the Fars news agency this week points to an intensifying power struggle within the Iranian government. The rift between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the clerics has far-reaching implications, as Middle East analyst Kamran Bokhari explains. [more]

The U.N. Secretary-General has warned that failure to address the global food crisis properly could lead to economic, social and political crises around the world. In some areas, political aftershocks are already apparent, as a wrap-up of recent events in Latin America indicates. [more]

Mexico’s government — already struggling in a war that most citizens think the drug cartels are winning — has announced a package of subsidies to offset the rising price of grains. But Stratfor analysis indicates the program could put government finances on shaky ground. Is President Felipe Calderon facing a dual security and economic crisis? [more]