George Friedman is chief executive of STRATFOR, a private global intelligence firm he founded in 1996. Prior to joining the private sector, Friedman spent almost twenty years in academia, teaching political science at Dickinson College. During this time, he also regularly briefed senior commanders in the armed services as well as the Office of Net Assessments, SHAPE Technical Center, the U.S. Army War College, National Defense University and the RAND Corporation, on security and national defense matters.

Friedman’s childhood was shaped directly by international conflict. He was born in Hungary to Holocaust survivors. His family fled Hungary when he was a child to escape the communist regime, settling first in a camp for displaced persons in Austria and then immigrating to the United States. Friedman, who attended public schools in New York City, describes his family’s story as “a very classic story of refugees making a new life in America." Friedman was an early designer of computerized war games. The Center was the only non-governmental organization that was at that time granted access to Joint Theater Level Simulation by the Joint Warfighting Center.

Friedman pursued political philosophy with his early work focusing on Marxism, as well as international conflict, including examination of the U.S.-Soviet relationship from a military perspective. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Friedman studied potential for a U.S.-Japan conflict and co-authored The Coming War with Japan in 1991. He is also the author or co-author of books examining topics as diverse as the Frankfurt School and warfare, including The Future of War,The next hundred years, The Intelligence Edge, and America’s Secret War.

He received a B.A. at the City College of New York, where he majored in political science, and a Ph.D. in government at Cornell University.

Personal life

Friedman is married to Meredith Friedman (née LeBard), has four children, and lives in Austin, Texas. Two of their children serve in the U.S. military.