Peter Zeihan is a critically acclaimed author whose first three books — The Accidental Superpower, The Absent Superpower and Disunited Nations — have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. With a keen eye toward what will drive tomorrow’s headlines, his irreverent approach transforms topics that are normally dense and heavy into accessible, relevant takeaways for audiences of all types. Peter’s fourth book, The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization, became available in 2022.
Topics:
Peter Zeihan often presents on a wide variety of economic, political, strategic and cultural topics spanning the international system. He tailors his executive briefings to address the needs of specific clients on preferred timeframes. Learn about the growth stories of the future. Which sectors will do well in which country over various time frames.
A Peek Past the End of the World
It has been a long time coming, but we have arrived at the end of the world. Decades of demographic degradation are now manifesting as chronic shortages of labor and capital. Globalization isn’t simply past its peak, it is disintegrating with accelerating speed. A fleet of ends beckon: global energy, global agriculture, global manufacturing, integrated Europe. China. But an end to this world does not mean an end to the world, simply that the rules of the game and the lists of winners and losers are changing. As the environment rearranges it’ll be a (very) bumpy ride, but we stand at the launch of the greatest period of growth in North American history.
Getting Through the End of the World
For the past decade, Peter has been discussing the nature, strength and weaknesses of the international system. How post-World War II institutions, geography and demographics have made our world our world…and how it was never going to last. Well, we are now at that world’s end. Any number of factors – the Ukraine War, the fall of China and Germany, energy breakdowns, supply chain collapses, workforce shrivelings, financial contractions, and so on – would independently be sufficient to break the international economy. And they are all happening at once. We were always going to get here, and here we are. So let’s discuss what happens next.
At The Edge of Disorder
The concept of countries being able to buy and sell their wares openly on the international marketplace is inviolable. The freedom to sail one’s products around the world is a given. Everything from the transfer of money to the accessibility of energy is sacrosanct. Yet all this and more is artificial: an unintended — if happy — side effect of the American-led global Order. With that Order in its final days, all countries and all industries must learn to operate in a world as unstructured as it is dangerous. Join us as Peter Zeihan lays out how we got to where we are, and what the future holds for sectors as diverse as energy, agriculture, finance, manufacturing and transport.
A World Without China
Three pillars support modern China’s success: global trade, internal political unity, and easy money. With those three pillars, China has managed to shake 2000 years of war and occupation and remake itself as one of the world’s most powerful countries. Yet none of these three pillars can stand without American assistance, and that cooperation is ending. China’s “inevitable” rise isn’t simply over, it is about to go into screeching, unrelenting, dismembering reverse. But that’s hardly the end of history. When a country falls — particularly the world’s top manufacturing power — the ripples affect countries and industries near and far. Learn who benefits and who loses in a world without China.
Amber Waves of (American) Grain: The Future of Global Agriculture
Modern agricultural patterns are the result of three largely unrelated factors: low-risk global trade, insatiable Asian demand, and unlimited cheap credit. Within the next five years, all three of these trends will not just evaporate, but invert. When that happens, the only thing that will hurt more than the gradual loss of demand will be the sudden collapse of supply. However, none of this impacts the American producer – it therefore will be the United States that will reap the benefits of its productivity and stability for decades to come.
Supersize Me: The Future of Global Energy
The global energy sector is as complicated and opaque as it is omnipresent and essential, and it has adapted to not simply the changes in the global economic system, but the global political system. Countries that were weak to nonexistent in ages past now are major players in global energy markets, both as producers and consumers. The system that has allowed this evolution now is under fire, and soon the stability that has enabled the energy sector to create its global webwork will end. What will follow will be a world both more chaotic and poorer, one in which the process of finding, producing, transporting and refining energy will simply be beyond the military and financial capacity of most players. Only the largest, smartest and richest entities will be able to maintain – much less expand – their networks. Far from its final days, the era of the supermajor has not yet begun.
Life After Free Trade
Bretton Woods is the cornerstone of the modern system. The concept of countries being able to buy and sell their wares openly on the international marketplace is inviolable. The freedom to sail one’s products around the world is a given. Everything from the transfer of money to the accessibility of energy is sacrosanct. All this and more is artificial. All this and more is about to end. What replaces it will either be wondrous or damning. Your outcome depends upon where you live.
What Every Financial Professional Should Know About Geopolitics
Geopolitics is the study of how place impacts people — whether that impact be cultural, military, economic, political…or financial. Everything from how banks lend to how stocks are traded is heavily colored by where one lives, and understanding the unspoken — and often unacknowledged — rules of the game can prove critical to financial success. Zeihan explains how geography impacts the various regions differently, how this elevates some sectors while enervating others, and what sort of surprises — both good and bad — are about to burst onto the stage.
No Assembly Required: The Future of Global Manufacturing
The world of manufacturing is an endlessly specialized venture, with most manufacturers sourcing components from scores of facilities across a dozen or more countries. But what if the ability to sail components from site to site became compromised? What if capital availability proves insufficient to update industrial bases as technology evolves? What if intermediate and end markets become less desirable – or less accessible? All that and more is about to happen, which signals the end of manufacturing as we know it. The successful manufacturers of the future will be those who can command access to raw materials, capital, labor and markets – all in the same location.
About Peter Zeihan:
Peter Zeihan is a globally recognized leader in geopolitical strategy, or helping people understand how the world works. Peter combines an expert understanding of demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security to help clients best prepare for an uncertain future.
With clients spanning from Iowa to DC, and from Calgary to Seoul, Peter utilizes his unique worldview to help clients build more resilient operations, supply chains and business practices in our increasingly complex global environment.
Peter is a New York Times-bestselling author, whose books have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. His best-selling fourth title, The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization, became available in June 2022. His first book, The Accidental Superpower was re-released in an updated 10th anniversary edition in 2024.
With a keen eye toward what will drive tomorrow’s headlines, his irreverent approach transforms topics that are normally dense and heavy into accessible, relevant takeaways for audiences of all types.
Over the course of his career, Peter has worked for the US State Department in Australia, the DC think tank community, and helped develop the analytical models for Stratfor, one of the world’s premier private intelligence companies. Peter founded his own firm — Zeihan on Geopolitics — in 2012 to provide a select group of clients with direct, independent analytical products. Today those clients represent a vast array of sectors including energy majors, financial institutions, business associations, agricultural interests, universities and the U.S. military.
