elusiveat ([info]elusiveat) wrote,
@ 2008-03-11 14:01:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Stratfor: Strategic Forecasting
For those of you whose response to my poll was "huh?":
http://www.stratfor.com/

I've been listening to their free podcasts. My feelings are somewhat mixed, but I will say that it's a pretty distinctive angle on global news.

(Post a new comment)


[info]jkao
2008-03-15 04:04 pm UTC (link)
Given that I don't currently read either, how do Stratfor and The Economist compare?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]elusiveat
2008-03-15 07:22 pm UTC (link)
I can only speak to general impressions I've gotten from the free podcasts of each, but I perceive The Economist as more mundane news analysis, similar to what I'd get from NPR or the BBC, though more centrist in politics and probably a bit less emotionally based. I don't think The Economist ever dumbs down their content the way NPR sometimes does, and guests are treated as experts in their fields.

Stratfor is less conventional, focusing on military-oriented intelligence strategic stuff. Lots of emphasis on hidden agendas and tangential implications of policy decisions (which may or may not be presented as the probable *reason* for the decisions). Statfor is a team of experts that work together to assess the strategic implications of world events. What they publish is their own opinions, not a collection of views from the outside. I have the impression that they are a bit insular, and not particularly up on political correctness issues ("Australian aborigines are one of the oldest human species." ...uh what?). I'm not in a position to evaluate the content of their analysis, but it's definitely a different perspective than I'd get from other news sources. Some of it sounds a bit like conspiracy theories, but I assume that it's all grounded in factual knowledge of history and/or in the dogma of military intelligence.

(Note that I don't regard dogma as fundamentally wrong or bad. It has important uses, just as jargon does.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…