George Friedman and STRATFOR, page 1

Anyone ever seen this guy GEORGE FRIEDMAN speaking in front of the "Carnegie Council: The Voice for Ethics in International Policy"?

Saw him on CSPAN2 this Sunday afternoon (15 Feb 09), apparently an airing of his speech given 1/28/09. I just happened to catch the broadcast by accident, and missed some of the beginning, but was immediately struck by several things and watched the rest until it ended.

VERY intriguing speech he gave referring to, among other things, geo-politics in the 21st century with references to:
-North America's advantage over Europe (which has access to Atlantic) and Asia (access to Pacific) continents, as N.A. has direct access to both oceans and therefore a more powerful Navy.
-North America is also advantageous (compared with former "world-powers" like those from Europe, Japan, China, etc) in that it has no continental foreign enemies, and has had no internal conflicts (ie civil wars) in the past 150 years
-In response to a question about the status of the United Nations in the 21st century, Friedman stated the UN is a "useful tool" but not a "critical player" (lol)

George Friedman is author of:
"The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century"
"America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between the United States and Its Enemies"
"The Future of War: Power, Technology and American World Dominance in the Twenty-first Century"

George Friedman is founder and CEO of STRATFOR - the self-proclaimed "world leader in global intelligence" - see stratfor.com

Watching him in this speech airing on CSPAN2, he looked A LOT like George W. Bush as far as facial features, facial expressions etc. (although he is much more well-spoken than W.).

I could not help but wonder if he is closely related to G. W. Bush.

Anyone ever listened to this guy or read his books? If I ever stumble on his books at Half-Price Books I might pick them up, but I am simply aghast at his striking resemblence to Dubya.

Also, visiting the STRATFOR website, they listed such groups as Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, FOX News, and other similar groups as clients/supporters.

Just a heads up / inquiry for more info on this entity of George Friedman and STRATFOR.

www.stratfor.com
(visit the link for the full news article)