Lessons Learned

Round two. Same four analysts, a lot more whiskey, and a lot less structure.

Peter Zeihan, Marko Papic, and Matt Gertken sit back down with Jacob - a man who cut his teeth pestering all three of them for their pieces as a Stratfor intern - for an unfiltered conversation about how they actually became geopolitical strategists. They trade formative-moment stories from Stratfor's early-2000s "golden age" (including the Egypt/Mubarak call that made Jacob's career), debate whether corporate America can ever hire real geopolitical talent, and each name the one book that shaped how they see the world - from World War Z to Aristotle to The Ingenuity Gap.

Along the way: George Friedman lore, the DC Comics-vs-Marvel theory of geopolitical shops, and a genuinely moving closing tribute to the mentor who built this whole coaching tree. Part reunion, part masterclass in how to think about the world - and part roast session.

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Timestamps:

(00:00) - Welcome Back Round Two

(00:52) - Whiskey And Loose Format

(01:34) - Formative Stratfor Moments

(02:24) - Arab Spring Cred Test

(04:17) - Stratfor Coaching Tree

(07:50) - Pipeline After Cold War

(14:17) - Academia Versus Geopolitics

(17:14) - Analyst Craft And Courage

(20:22) - Chief Geopolitical Officer Debate

(22:55) - Training Gap And Time Horizons

(25:29) - Universities And MBA Reform

(27:39) - Ideology And Groupthink

(30:02) - Theory Versus Practice

(30:57) - Frameworks Beat Facts

(31:44) - Operationalizing Geopolitics

(34:24) - Training Pipelines and MBAs

(37:39) - Sector Specialists and Scale

(40:01) - Everyone a Geostrategist

(41:01) - Deglobalization in Fashion

(42:51) - Formative Books Roundtable

(51:07) - Great Men and Psychology

(54:21) - Empathetic Analysis Explained

(56:25) - Displacement and Perspective

(58:23) - Formative Experiences Teaser

(58:50) - Yugoslavia Falls Apart

(59:15) - Tito Memories and Disillusion

(59:58) - Conspiracies and Nihilism

(01:01:23) - Identity in the Balkans

(01:03:51) - Living With Uncertainty

(01:04:39) - Midwest Roots and Leaving Home

(01:06:18) - Can Places Change

(01:07:32) - America as Debate Laboratory

(01:10:22) - Learning to Write Analysis

(01:14:39) - Chip on Shoulder Mindset

(01:18:22) - Morality Versus Analysis

(01:21:12) - Breaking Intellectual Chains

(01:23:53) - Finding the Fulcrum Question

(01:24:43) - Final Words and Gratitude

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Geopolitical Cousins is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com

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Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.

Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.com

Jacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416

Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShap

Jacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe

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Marko Papic is a macro and geopolitical expert at BCA Research, a global investment research firm. He provides in-depth analysis that combines geopolitics and markets in a framework called GeoMacro. He is also the author of Geopolitical Alpha: An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future.

Marko’s Book & Newsletter: www.geopoliticalalpha.com/marko-papic

Marko’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marko-papic-geopolitics/

Marko’s Twitter: https://x.com/Geo_papic

Marko’s Macro & Geopolitical Research at BCA: https://www.bcaresearch.com/marketing/geomacro