The Geopolitical Pivot

The Geopolitical Pivot Podcast is back for good with a returning episode discussing China's maritime militia and fishing vessels in the South China Sea as tensions continue to increase between Beijing and Washington DC. The usage of these maritime militia serves to provide China with plausible deniability while carefully crafting its own strategic maritime advantage in the South China Sea. Seeking to make the 9 Dash Line a reality, Beijing will continue to use maritime militias and fishing vessels as the main maritime force to address territorial disputes. However, there are major institutional problems such as chain of command and financing that prohibits the PRC's maritime militias from becoming significant professional additions to the PRC's military-security apparatus. This will only increase tensions and the probabilities of instability. It is good to be back!

Join the Geopolitical Pivot cast as we interview Retired Diplomatic Security Special Agent Cody Perron in a blockbuster episode highlighting his impressive background in the Marines and Diplomatic Security, education background, current geopolitical trend analysis and implications of the Russia-Ukraine war, and Perron's current Bureau of School Security initiative for domestic school security, and his book entitled "Agents Unknown: True Stories of Life as a Special Agent in the Diplomatic Security Service".Definitely an interview you do want to miss! Definitely recommend giving a follow and taking a listen to Cody Perron on his podcast and Instagram "Off The X", join his patreon, and give a Twitter follow!The Geopolitical Pivot thanks Cody Perron for his time to join us for this episode! Enjoy!

Members of the George Kennan Group rise from the geopolitical unknowns once more and provides a returning hour long conversation specifically on Iran's involvement in Ukraine, Iranian drones and ballistic missiles Russia has a growing appetite for, and why Iran may see the deteriorating strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States as a long term victory. Secondly, GKG discusses the growing internal divisions of Iran but more importantly, what the Tehran national security nightmare is! We will be returning with group episodes once every two weeks and will begin special guest interviews as well! We are back....for good for good. If you love the content, be sure to subscribe and share!

Hello Hello! Welcome back to The Geopolitical Pivot Podcast! We, the George Kennan Roundtable, surely missed creating these shows for you all. Good news though! We are back for good and will be returning to weekly podcast uploads! We have more good news. The people behind the scenes of The Geopolitical Pivot podcast has officially started a company Aethon Enterprises LLC to provide audiences and clients modern national security assessments and solutions to modern problems, trends, and developments! If you love what we do here at the Geopolitical Pivot, give us a follow, like, and share on the social media pages listed below: Insta: @aethon_news Twitter: @AetgonEnterpri1 Tik-Tok: @aethon_news LinkedIn: Aethon Enterprises We would love any and all social media follows and likes to help us with the algorithms to garner more exposure so we can provide even more content to you all! #geopolitics #pelosi #china #russia #taiwan #taiwanstraitcrisis #ukrainerussiawar #geopoliticalrisk #MacKinderTheory #maritimesecurity #maritimeinsecurity #taipei #beijing #USCongress

Before explaining what the episode is about...NEWS AND UPDATE: The Geopolitical Pivot is coming under the umbrella of Aethon Enterprises, a new national security enterprise being formed by the Pivot's founder Semaj McDowell! Furthermore, we have launched a YouTube channel as well! To show your support and to gain access to published report assessments and visual graphics, follow the links below and follow, like, share, and subscribe! Aethon Enterprises LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aethon-enterprises/ Geopolitical Pivot Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCJ6Hez8V_bRHwbGAJYlbvA/featured Thank you all for the continued support! The team is back together for an episode to discuss Iranian operations and presence in South America, primarily in Venezuela and Argentina. With the recent Venezuelan aircraft investigations ongoing in Argentina with speculation of IRGC-Quds Force personnel onboard, this episode looks to begin examination of Iran's strategy within South America and how crucial it is for policymakers to understand this asymmetric approach to formulating and implementing grand strategy. #SouthAmerica #Iran #Hezbollah #Tri-BorderArea #Geopolitics #NationalSecurity #Venezuela #Argentina

Good good afternoon from the George Kennan Group! Today with analyst Brian Jones, the team look to examine and better understanding the robust testing of ballistic missiles by the DPRK in anticipation of a potential upcoming nuclear test. By observing the positions of China, Japan, and South Korea economically, militarily, and politically, the often erratic yet strategically savvy actions of North Korea becomes much clearer.

The George Kennan Club is back as we discuss disinformation operations in the Ukraine-Russia War...by Ukraine! Additionally, we pivot toward the Land Down Under as we give an update on the Australian elections. Toward the end of the show, we discuss Cuban intelligence capabilities and utilize Cuba's security presence in Venezuela! Sit back and relax with your favorite geopolitical bunch as we update you on just what is going on in this growingly unpredictable yet controlled chaotic world!

In this episode, the George Kennan Roundtable discusses the basic foundations of defining terrorism in addition to providing an update on the Asia-Pacific/Oceania strategic security ambitions of China to remove US presence and influence within the 3 island chains.

In a new sort of formatting segment here on the Pivot, Host Semaj McDowell interviews Geopolitical Pivot contributor Tyrese Garvie, who hails from the UK, to discuss climate change contributions to mass migrations while providing a quick note on the complex position of Russia with West Europe and the UK.

The George Kennan Club is back with special guest 2nd Lieutenant Williams as we discuss in the first 45 minutes of the show the strategic complicated importance of Indonesia in the Asia-Pacific for US interests. Afterwards, we carry on a discussion on Russian cyber electoral tampering and social engineering as seen in 2016, 2020, and even back to the 1930s!

Welcome back to the Pivot podcast! In about 45 minutes, we discuss the possibilities of the sources of the rather spontaneous yet strategically calculating fires in Russia, Belarus, and Transnistria. With the assistance of our dear friend Maker's Mark to bring the chill vibes, we delve into the unending complexities that we call geopolitics. Enjoy!

The team has returned once again to discuss the brewing strategic relationship between China and the Solomon Islands in addition to the growing concerns regarding American budgeting toward Ukraine, American Armed Forces readiness, and the credit collapse cycles that give is giving way to the incoming recession.

You missed us didn't you? Welcome back to the George Kennan Roundtable where we discussed two topics that literally have nothing to do with each other but super important to the developing trends of modern geopolitics: Islam and Littoral Combat Ships in Navy Strategy. In the first hour of the podcast, the Roundtable discusses the intricacies of Islam and the nuances among the prominent schools of jurisprudence. Here we set the foundations for a new series that will encompass Islamic history, Islamic regional geopolitics, and the growth of political Islam across the Greater MENA and Islamic World. In the second hour, we discuss the role of Littoral Combat Ships for modern naval strategy and force posturing. With a conversation dominated by a former Marine and upcoming Naval cadet, the role of littoral combat ships are examined while explaining their usage for US force posturing and Chinese naval ambitions in the Asia Pacific and Africa.

The George Kennan Club is back with an elongated episode of 2 hours 20 minutes of pure geopolitical content, laughs, and bashing of King Leopold! Tune in to listen to a US Army veteran and up and coming Middle East North Africa/Muslim World practitioner as we delve into the Wild Wild West of the Sahel, discuss climate and socioeconomic contributions to African based jihadism and non-state cycle of violence, the constitutional crisis of Pakistan, and continuing the previous discussions of Iran and their proxies! Enjoy!

Join the George Kennan Club as we discuss Ukraine War updates, the modern day Rasputin Aleksandr Dugin, and the asymmetrical nature of Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp.

The George Kennan Roundtable has returned with our comeback episode after a 2 week hiatus! With special guests from the Sycamore Institute at American University, we delve into an 1 hour 50 minute discussion/debate on Russia, Germany, remilitarization of Europe, Mexico cartels, and China. Take a listen! More to come!

The George Keenan Roundtable is back again with three new guests and members of the Pivot Crew as we discuss updates regarding the Russian position in Ukraine, American National Security malarky on addressing the current situation, Poland's Gamble with MiGs and F-16s, Russian and Ukrainian propaganda, and ongoing energy price spiral!

With George Kennan Roundtable Member Dan, we examine the internal Russian turmoil, the Russian ploy for a biological, chemical, and/or nuclear (CBRNE) false flag in Ukraine, the recent airstrike on Ukrainian military base in Western Ukraine known for hosting Western forces and officials, and the Kremlin's strategic gamble with Putin and impending asymmetric, guerrilla warfare in Ukraine!

Welcome back to the Pivot! With guest host and good friend to the Pivot team, Army Artillery Officer Wendell Bryant joins in on the conversation regarding Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, South Korea, India, Oman, and China. With a few libations, the Pivot Crew examines in depth political culture, Russian artillery strategies, the Quad, and everything in between! Enjoy!

A 2 HOUR SPECIAL!! Your favorite group of young geopolitical practitioners are back with a thorough yet wild journey through the current geopolitical cries involving Russia, Ukraine, Libya, China, India, and the American domestic instability. With two new additions to the Geopolitical PIvot podcast team, this episode is filled with laughs, seriousness, thorough geopolitical analysis, slight debate, and future scenario projections. A podcast episode you do not want to miss! DISCLAIMER: We do not own the copyrights to Hell March 2 for the Command & Conquer: Red Alert video game!

The Roundtable has been assembled once again as we further examine Russian military operations in Ukraine, Ukrainian resistance to occupation, the power of Open Source Intelligence by Ukrainians against the Russians, the effectiveness of cyber warfare, Elon Musk's approval given to Ukraine to utilize Starlink, and the geopolitical ramifications of the ongoing war. With a group of 7 aspiring geopolitical practitioners, the George Kennan Roundtable brings another informative, lucrative, and casual discussion of the anarchic world we dwell and the uncertainties of modern warfare and statecraft.

Russia has initiated the long awaited invasion of Ukraine beginning on Wednesday, February 23rd. Today, the world has bore witness to the mass conventional mobilization and warfare operations of the Russian Federation into Eastern, Northern, and Southern Ukraine. The world continues to bear witness to the brutalities of war in the modern war as this is the current greatest conventional and hybrid warfare crisis post-Cold War. However, this conflict provides crucial insight on how warfare can be conducted moving forward with the utilizing of modern technology and asymmetric DIMEFIL tools to craft strategic spaces and obtain tactical advantages in a given moment. The George Kennan Roundtable looks to examine these through light banter and very minimal swearing BUT provide crucial geopolitical analysis, military tactic(s) understanding, scenario discussions, and aftermath evaluations.

The Boys are back in town!! The Roundtable is back at it again with a second episode discussing some of the Russian weapons, tactics, and scenarios currently positioned and unfolding near the Ukrainian border. As the current tensions continue to spiral out of control, the three amigos look to have yet another discussion on what is going on and why it matters!

Tune in to listen to an interview with the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Realist Review Publication. The Realist Review aims to foster intellectual discussion by providing a platform for new voices to share their opinions on international affairs. The Realist Review seeks to empower voices who favor diplomacy over war and restraint over confrontation.

What's better than your standard geopolitical monologue? A bunch of young, up and coming geopolitical practitioners coming together to discuss the random geopolitical topics of the day with the help of a little wine and bacon bourbon! Welcome to the George Kennan Club, where we laugh, discuss, articulate, challenge, and just enjoy the company of fellow geopoliticians trying to make sense of the anarchic world we dwell. There is very minor explicit language such as "hell" and "damn" but I mean hey, speak your speech!

North Korea's military strategic thought is intertwined and explained by the culture and theatrical governance enforced by the Kim Dynasty.

The Calculated Chinese Strategy of Intellectual & Technological Deception to Achieve The Under-Heaven System

Military Operations are not the sole answers to addressing Sahelian extremism

To combat China, the United States must pursue an Indo-Pacific multilateral Active Defense mechanism to contain aggressive Chinese regional posturing and growing A2/AD capabilities

The three main components to ensure primacy and military superiority: capability, capacity, and readiness. Without capability, there is no capacity. Without capacity, there is no readiness.

For the first time in centuries, the centers of global power are not concentrated on the European continent as 2 periphery states, China and the United States, compete to mold the future of the international system. Whether it is the continuation of the Washington Consensus or the dawn of the Tianxia "All Under Heaven" System, the current multipolar world is more multi-faceted than ever before. To better understand the foundation of modern Chinese strategic political and military thinking, it is essential to understand the 36 Stratagems in relation to the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party around the world. Through an evaluation of the Stratagems, NOT STRATEGIES, the mystique that wraps around the Chinese halls of power can be gradually cleared.

This is a 20 minute monologue discussing means to addressing an adversarial power of growing parity. It is necessary for the US in particular but the West in general to remove the intellectual and institutional lethargy and once again become innovative, flexible, and long-term strategists to reconstruct understandings of national security that are compatible to modern problems to produce modern solutions.

Through the evaluation of the Chinese strategy, modern geo-economic principles can be analyzed as the usage of military force has diminished while geo-economic and financial-based statecraft tools have increased in order to garner geo-strategic posturing and global influences. This series looks to examine such.

Geopolitical Host Semaj McDowell and Special Guest Lance Moore begin discussions on the Arab Republic of Syria and the ongoing civil war and instability that has endured since 2014. By evaluating the positions of the state and non-state actors, the United States and regional partners/allies would be able to be in a better position to address and resolve the socioeconomic afflictions that are exploited and manipulated on the spectrum of conflict.

The 21st Century calls for a new evaluation and approach to the United States' initiatives and agenda within the Muslim World. Although shedding important emphasis on historical trends and the overview of tensions and conflicts over time, Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations and Francis Fukuyama's End of History theories are not as applicable in the current post-modern world. The Muslim world is not a monolith and the concept of Western liberal democracy may not be the sole solution to the instabilities of the Middle East North African region; however, if it is to be the solution, then it must happen domestically and naturally rather than artificial and externally. Special Guest Yahya Alshamy (refers to go by Alshamy) comes onto the Geopolitical Pivot in an extensive, knowledgeable discussion on the absence of a sound American strategy to the region. Together, we delve into some of the misconceptions of Islam the Western World has internalized. This internalization is followed by disastrous policies with monumental consequences that the world still endures today.

America is truly an exceptional country, not just an ideal but as an institutional framework for the Rule of Law, Human Rights and Liberties, and Freedom. The American Experiment is a remarkable course in itself since the inception of the country. The past of America is not clean by no means from the blood spilled, the practices of enslavement, the near extinction of native people, and the pursuit of a "Manifest Destiny" by any means to formulate an empire of liberty and freedom and a model for the Old World to venerate. The past four years was a revelation about one of the two Americas that remain present in this country. The next four years must become a blueprint and healing process to rehabilitate the American Experiment as a bright beacon and saving example of governance for, by, and with the people.

We continue the conversation of Northern Ireland's Security Dilemma and the IRA while enjoying fine glasses of whiskey. We pick up from where we left off from Part 2 with our discussions on the current security problems of Northern Ireland going back to Thatcher and now with BREXIT. Part 3 Finale will be on future implications and analysis of the security dilemma.

This unique group conversation on current geopolitical trends is one that is unscripted and will be a weekly addition to the Geopolitical Pivot podcast as we have serious conversations about the current status and conditions of the United States, the West, and our adversaries. Through a discussion ranging from the recent cyber operations alleged by Russia against the United States to a conversation on why the United States and the West no longer have a strategic definition of Victory while suffering from strategic atrophy and a lack of will to ensure the current 76 year old international rules-based liberal order.

Disinformation is a covert weed seeking to achieve overt influences and erosion of democratic societies and to undermine democratic political establishment for the national interests and agendas of adversarial powers, both state and non-state actors. Democratic societies must become more resilient in its monitoring, surfacing, and combating of disinformation campaigns to avoid a catastrophic regression of a course of development since the 1700s.

The history between England and Ireland is a tale that span 800 years. Northern Ireland has been a battleground that is worth examining as its present can reopen past wounds to destabilize any future hope of reconciliation and prosperity.

As information technology, social media platforms, and mass media continue to grow, they have become part of new mechanisms by great powers and non-state actors to undermine social cohesion and political institutions of adversaries, more notably Western democratic countries such as the United States. With the consumption of media information, we run the risk of either unconsciously assisting in the expansion of disinformation and misinformation components of Information warfare or becoming the direct recipient of the Information Warfare campaign.

Afghanistan is unfortunately positioned in one of the top historically geopolitical regions in the world as it is centered at the center of South Asia, Central Asia, Far-East Asia, and the Middle East. From the 2020 Global Terrorism Index, Afghanistan remains the number one country for global terrorism and terror-related incidents due to the Taliban. To understand the Taliban, it is important to understand Afghanistan.

Global terrorism has been on a consecutive decline over the past 5 years; however, the acts of terrorism appear to remain a part of daily news. It is imperative to explore this dynamic trend as islamic jihadism appears to be decreasing while right-wing extremism and terrorism are on the increase. Fun fact: Right-wing extremism in the Western World is the highest it has been in the past 50 years!

The Asia-Pacific is experiencing Great Power Contestation for Its Future. This series seeks to unpack the contested region and bring to light pressing matters and realities that can no longer be ignored. Good friend and upcoming young practitioner of Asia-Pacific geopolitics Joseph Ross was gracious to come on and begin the discussion that will lead into future episodes about the contested Asia-Pacific!

Host Semaj McDowell and Guest Katie Zakrzewski have a genuine conversation about the current state of affairs within the United States and the dire implication of continual divisiveness among Americans. The number one threat to the American power and prestige is not necessarily foreign adversaries but in fact domestic instability.

Iran has pursued the development of a robust Iranian ballistic missile arsenal since the War of the Cities during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. After 30 years, Iran has the largest ballistic missile arsenal of the Middle East and can target enemies within a range of 1,500 miles! This provides a major geopolitical blunder not just to American defense and national security strategies but also to the well-being and sovereignty of regional countries of the Middle East North African and Mediterranean region.

The Sahel region of Africa is approximately 3,300 miles of semi-arid land that has become an epicenter in the birth of Islamic insurgency and jihadism. As the Sahel region is the transitional geographic location between the Islamic Sahara and the Catholic/Christian Sub-Sahara, it is only fitting that the Sahel would be a battleground of ethno-religious tensions and a new frontier of counter-insurgency operations. But in this matter, it must be up to the Sahel region countries to spearhead the initiatives rather than the over-presence and over-reliance on the operations of foreign countries.

Welcome back to the Pivot! This episode is an unscripted monologue on a brief discussion on the concept of civilization with the usages of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Western civilization as case studies to explain the importance of civilization to the promotion of identity. The adaptation of civilization allows for the flourishing of political and economic institutions; however, so too does the development of technology provide a civilization with the capacity to promote its identity at the expense of others!

 Script for Pivot Introductory Post: As Samuel Huntington stated in his book “The Clash of Civilizations”: “Civilization and culture both refer to the overall way of life of a people, and a civilization is a culture writ large. They both involve the ‘values, norms, institutions, and modes of thinking to which successive generations in a given society have attached primary importance”. Emmanuel Wallerstein explained civilization as “a particular concatenation of worldview, customs, structures, and culture (both material culture and high culture) which forms some kind of historical whole and which coexists (if not always simultaneously) with other varieties of this phenomenon.”