Friedman on Geopolitics

Gen. David Petraeus has been recommended to be the next head of U.S. Central Command, a position that would give him oversight of both the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. [more]

The Middle East, already monstrously complex, grew more complex last week. [more]

Iran and the United States are locked into increasingly public negotiations over Iraq’s future. While Washington is never going to trust Tehran and vice-versa, a solution to the Iraq question is possible provided it creates an institutionally neutral Baghdad. [more]

China is surrounded by territory that is difficult to traverse, making invasion in either direction challenging. [more]

As usual, rumors of an Arab-Israeli war are swirling in the Middle East. [more]

Russia has taken advantage of the U.S. preoccupation with the struggle against global jihadism to attempt to re-establish its sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union. [more]

Processes are under way that are shifting French foreign policy. [more]

Five years have now passed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. [more]

Over the last few decades, China, Japan and South Korea have dabbled on the international stage mainly via so-called "soft power" tactics. [more]

Americans have been waiting for the next cataclysmic economic downturn since 1929. There is now an emerging consensus that the United States has entered a recession. The question thus emerges whether this is in fact the next "big one," or just 1991 and 2001 all over again. [more]

The U.S. war in Afghanistan often is seen as a "good war" even by those who oppose the U.S. involvement in Iraq. The Afghan war is in trouble, however. Whether that matters depends upon the status of al Qaeda. [more]

The Serbian province of Kosovo declared its independence on Feb. 17. Whether the move sets precedent under which larger powers can redraw smaller nations' boundaries without U.N. authorization has been much discussed since then. [more]

Ongoing U.S.-Iranian talks over Iraq's future appear to be approaching a public phase, with Iran announcing a new round of talks next week and Iran's president visiting Iraq before March 20. [more]

Super Tuesday has arrived in the United States -- but in foreign policy terms, does it actually matter who gets the nominations? [more]

The level of violence on the U.S.-Mexican border has risen substantially recently as Mexico has scaled up its anti-cartel efforts, with some of the havoc spilling into the United States. [more]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his anointed successor, Dmitri Medvedev, were in Bulgaria on Jan. 17. [more]

Iranian speedboats reportedly menaced U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 6. Since then, the United States has emphasized the threat posed by Iran to U.S. forces in the strait and to the transit of oil from the Persian Gulf region. [more]

This week’s Geopolitical Intelligence Report is the introduction to Stratfor’s Annual Forecast for 2008. [more]

The recent killing of Benazir Bhutto has unsettled Pakistan, a country that holds the key to the U.S.-jihadist war endgame. [more]

The subject of independence for Kosovo is re-emerging as a serious issue. [more]