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Peter Zeihan

Peter Zeihan

Geopolitical Strategist Peter Zeihan is a global energy, demographic and security expert who explains implications for agriculture.

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Price range

  • $50,000
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Expert

  • Agriculture
  • Business Growth
  • Economy
  • Future
  • Geopolitics
  • Global Economics
  • Politics
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Experience

  • Economics
  • Politics
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Career

  • 20 Years
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  • About

    Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist, which is a fancy way of saying he helps 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.

    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 in order to provide a select group of clients with direct, custom 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.

    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 is a critically-acclaimed author whose first two books — The Accidental Superpower and The Absent Superpower — have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria and Ian Bremmer. His forthcoming third title, Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World will be available in March 2020. 


  • Video Clips
  • Topics

    Keynote OR Breakout

    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.

    Keynote | Educational | Technical

    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.

    Keynote | Educational | Technical

    Americans believe that their greatest days are behind them and that a series of new powers is rising up to displace them. On the contrary, America’s best days — militarily, economically, agriculturally, financially and culturally — are still ahead of them. In fact, many of the countries that the Americans feel are up-and-comers — most notably China, Russia and India — are merely experiencing a historical moment in the sun courtesy of factors utterly beyond their control. Most of the powers of tomorrow are countries that the Americans either have very little knowledge of. The major powers of 2030 will not based in Beijing or Moscow, but in Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, Istanbul and Mexico City.

    This presentation addresses the general shape of the world to come. He will then examine a series of major global agricultural players, explaining how each one will rise or fall during the next decade.

    Keynote

    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.

    Keynote OR Breakout

    The world as we know it is ending. Global trade and everything that comes from it – cheap Asian goods, international energy markets, global agriculture, stable finance – is about to unravel. Out of all this the Americans – cast in both the role of disruptor and survivor – are making decisions that will shape both themselves and the rest of the world for decades. Get a sneak peak at the future of energy, agriculture, finance, and the role America will play in the world to come.

    Keynote OR Breakout

    The Mideast wars have left the United States exhausted and leery. Immigration has become a four-letter word. Shale has severed most of the ties that bind. In sum, the United States has lost interest in the wider world and so is already hip-deep in a decade-long retrenchment. That will change not just the world, but America itself. Such evolutions will make next phase of American engagement not just more thoughtful and surgical, but also more lucrative.

    Keynote

    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.

     

    Keynote

    The growth of the Chinese economy has been exceptional. But as much as we all “know” that China is the country of the future, in reality, the Chinese system is already breaking apart. Chinese “success” is based upon a financial structure that is cracking, a demographic moment that has nearly ended, and an international environment over which it has no influence. What follows will not end Chinese participation in the global system, but it will certainly end Beijing’s.

     

    Keynote OR Breakout

    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.

    Keynote OR Breakout

    As the global system evolves no country is better positioned than Canada. Very soon Canada’s choices will be about how to take advantage of opportunities, rather than how to avoid complications. But in this very silver lining is a very dark cloud. The same evolutions that will allow Canada unprecedented opportunities for wealth and respect also hold the possibility of damaging the Canadian state. This time the dangers do not originate from the United States, but from within Canada itself. And they could very well prove mortal.

    Keynote OR Breakout

    The advent of the shale era is remaking the American energy complex. The combination of at-home investment and a lower need for Middle Eastern involvement frees up considerable American resources. The result will be a different sort of American economy, a different sort of American diplomacy, and a different role for the United States on the global stage.

  • Testimonials
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    “We had a great response from our group. They thought Peter was a fabulous speaker and very knowledgeable. He really tailored his presentation to the industry which is something you don't always get. We honestly could not have been more pleased with the session.”

    National Potato Council Planner
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    “We had Peter speak at our national association meeting on three occasions. He was the top rated presenter on all occasions. Based on his performance and the reception by our members, we have added him to the faculty of our executive development program. He is a dynamic and engaging speaker with a unique perspective and insight into global economics and geopolitical issues.”

    Association of Agricultural Production Executives Planner
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    “Peter Zeihan was the hit of our 2015 annual conference. His presentation was insightful and relevant to our attendees, most of whom are leaders within Minnesota's agriculture and food sector. Peter's perspectives on geopolitics as it relates to our sector captivated the audience; his presentation helped make an often complicated and complex subject matter understandable to our attendees.”

    Minnesota AgriGrowth Council Planner
We had a great response from our group. They thought Peter was a fabulous speaker and very knowledgeable. He really tailored his presentation to the industry which is something you don't always get. We honestly could not have been more pleased with the session.
National Potato Council Planner