Secretary Yellen Dumps Cold Water on Chinese Dumping

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is fresh from a trip to China, and she is fired up. Well, perhaps as fired up as one can surmise the Secretary gets.

But first: China.

As long-time subscribers and readers well know, China’s demographic situation is in shambles. The Chinese Communist Party even admits it, which should be an indicator of how bad things are given the CCP’s creative and liberal license with reality. One of the several negative impacts of a shrinking population is a correlated decline in consumption. For an economy as dependent on industrial overproduction to fuel growth as China’s, this presents a stark and simple reality: the Chinese population will never, ever be able to fully consume Chinese industrial output.

China’s only option is to start dumping more product overseas, as slowing down output causes myriad headaches at home: shrinking economic growth, higher unemployment, exposure of the CCP’s rising ineptitude, etc. Chinese overproduction has already dramatically restructured the world of manufactured goods since China signed onto globalization in the 1990s. The US, its European and Asian allies have simply had enough.

This is beyond simple trade protectionism and market competition. From Boston to Brussels to Busan, there is a rising awareness and unwillingness to endure the various economic, national security and environmental costs of allowing Beijing’s economic imperatives to run roughshod over the world’s industrialized and emerging economies.

Enter Big, Bad Janet Yellen.

Whatever policy disputes one might have with the Secretary notwithstanding, she has a well-documented support of limiting barriers to international trade and the flow of goods. Simply put: Secretary Yellen is a fan of free trade and the general global economic lift associated with globalization.

But Secretary Yellen is not a fan of Chinese economic bullying and product dumping. Even before she left China, there were reports of threats of US trade tariffs and other barriers. The Europeans are at work with several policies of their own, and the Chinese Communist Party? Well…

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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Things I (Do) Worry About: Higher Education in the US

If mommy and daddy told you to go college and then you’d be set for life…you’re not alone. With traditional models pushing everyone towards white-collar jobs and university degrees, we’ve created a massive oversupply of finance bros and marketers, but left those blue-collar industries begging for some fresh meat.

As the US faces a demographic shift and shrinking population, the educational system is struggling to adapt to the changing demands. With a need for more blue-collar workers, higher education in the US is dropping the ball.

Employers are already seeing these worker shortages play out and are struggling to find a solution. As more and more graduates enter the workforce and struggle to land that ‘dream job’, those lucrative and accessible blue-collar fields might start poking holes in the higher education system in America.

Prefer to read the transcript? Click here

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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TranscripT

Hey everybody. Peter Zeihan here. Coming to you from a beach. A love, a good beach. Today we’re going to dip into one of the ask Peter questions and I’m going to drop that into our open ended series on things that I worry or don’t worry about. This is definitely something I do worry about. The question is, in this demographic shift that we’re experiencing as populations age and shrink, what do I think is the future of higher education in the United States? 

And the short version is it doesn’t look very good and things are going to have to change. So let me give you a little bit of backdrop and then we’ll talk about the concerns. When the baby boomers started entering the workforce in the late sixties. They discovered that their numbers were so many that they pushed down the cost of labor. 

This is one of the reasons why the baby boomers have a reputation for being very mobile, because they would move wherever there’s a job, they could get better pay. This is also one of the reasons why women tend to enter the workforce in this period, because they had to do so to make ends meet. But that only put more pressure on the labor market, which is why the baby boomers have the record for the highest divorce rate in our country’s history. 

Anyway, point is that from a financial point of view, life was kind of rough. So the belief back in the sixties, seventies, and especially early eighties was that if you wanted to get ahead, you didn’t want a blue collar job because that’s where all the baby boomers were. You wanted a white collar job where you didn’t have to be in a factory, you didn’t have to be in construction or farming where you could work in an office, being a doctor, be a lawyer or whatnot. 

And so the baby boomers ruthlessly pushed their children, the millennials, to go to university, get a four year degree, get a white collar job. And so now we have the opposite problem. We have an oversupply of white collar workers and not enough blue collar workers. So that’s the baseline. Now, we’ve got three things going on in the labor market, in the educational system right now, with China approaching its end, we need to massively expand the size of the industrial plant in this country, even if you ignore all the national security concerns. 

That means we need to expand industrial construction spending and do a lot more manufacturing. And almost all of those jobs are blue collar and we haven’t been training up enough people to fill them. So we’re already in a situation where you can get a six week welding or excuse me, electrical degree and earn more money in your first month than a white collar worker can after four years of college and five years in the workforce. 

That’s just where we are. Until such time as the educational system transforms to adjust to this new reality, and it’s only going to get more intense as we go. And so if you’re looking at a four year university that’s doing traditional things, especially in the liberal arts, we already have an oversupply of labor in that space. We are just desperate for blue collar workers. 

So that’s number one. Your traditional liberal arts colleges, especially the smaller ones, are not going to have nearly the level of demand that they used to. Two year universities that focus on white collar jobs, same thing to your universities that work on more technical skills. They’re going to be in very high demand. And in between you’ve got the legacy universities. 

You know, your Harvard’s, your University of Texas is who either have a very large endowment or a lot of notoriety or both and will always be able to attract folks. So that’s number one. Number two is numbers. The incoming generation is no longer the millennials. The older millennials turned 45 this year. They’re way out of college age now. 

The new kids on the BLOCK are Generation Z or the ZOOMERS, and they are the smallest generation we’ve ever had. So the number of potential students that university systems can attract is simply lower than it’s been at any time in recent American history. And that means we probably have about 15% fewer students that can potentially enroll than we had before. 

So the competition among universities is going to be fierce for them. And a lot of universities are simply not geared for the jobs of the next 15 years. That’s number two. Number three is candidate quality. The Zoomers are loners. They don’t like to be around other people. The idea of the social experience of university is not something like, Ooh, I can’t wait to do that. 

They want to code in a closet. And that’s a different sort of job experience and a different sort of educational experience. Now, it usually takes about five years for universities to meaningfully change their curriculum because, you know, students are going through a four year process right there. And if you’re talking about a state school, it can be as much as ten years because you first have to get it through a review. 

And oftentimes the state legislature likes to weigh in. And certainly tenured faculty does. So by the time we have retooled our educational system to deal with the influx of blue collar job demand that we’re now already seeing, we’re are going to be most of the way through this transition. And it’ll be time to switch again. So if you are an employer, you’re basically going to have to raise your own, bring in kids who are younger than you normally would train that up within the system in order to convince them that there is a job with a good paycheck doing interesting things that they want to do. 

And the more successful companies that I have seen have been engaging in that process aren’t starting in college or even high school, but middle school, to make sure that their community is part of their success story. 

Russian Tech Transfers and Propaganda in the US

It should come as no surprise that the Russians love meddling around, so let’s see what they’ve been up to lately. We’ll be looking at tech transfers with Iran, North Korea, and China and Russian propaganda in the US.

Russia has promised satellite launches to the Iranians and North Koreans in exchange for Iranian Shahed drones and North Korean artillery rounds. In fact, the Iranian satellite was launched about a week ago. The Chinese are getting in on the action too, with naval technology and weapons systems changing hands.

Now with all that going on, you would think America could agree that the Russians are NOT our friends…sadly that’s not the case. The MAGA movement has fallen victim to Russian propaganda, which reaffirms Russia’s ability to disrupt American politics and sow discord (especially during election season).

Prefer to read the transcript? Click here

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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TranscripT

Hey everyone. Peter Zeihan here coming to you from Colorado, where we are recovering from Snowmageddon 2024. We’ve gotten about 40 inches of snow in the last 36 hours. pretty though. Anyway, the news today is that the Russians are making some adjustments to things. Number one, they’re starting to pay back countries that have helped them in the war with Ukraine.

So, for example, they’ve promised a satellite launch to both North Koreans and the Iranians. And the Iranian one launched in the last few days. So if you think of all of the operations where Iran has activities in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon, in Jordan, in Gaza, they now have the ability, at least in a limited way, to have a bird’s eye view of what’s going on, which is going to cause significantly more problems for anyone who happens to be on the other side of the ledger.

The Russians are doing this in exchange for the Shaheed drones that the Iranians have been providing. Those are the ones that are basically flying mopeds. They have a £10 warhead. The Russians have been using those targets in power centers. The North Koreans will be getting one soon as well. Of course, North Korea has been providing the Russians with about a million artillery rounds.

And for those of you who have forgotten, North Korea has intercontinental ballistic missiles. So getting satellite recon for any reason is something that vastly increases that threat. And then, of course, there are weapons systems being traded to the Chinese, things like naval technology, where the Chinese could use them to hurt the United States and any number of ways.

That’s kind of half of what’s going on. The other half is the Russians are in a celebratory mood because they’re discovering that they can widen, that the sort of propaganda that they spread in the United States and certain factions of the American political system, specifically the MAGA. Right. Because, I mean, here we’ve got the Russians providing aid and comfort to three countries, North Korea, Iran and China that even Mogga agrees are all bad.

But that doesn’t seem to be registering. They’re still thinking of Russia as a friend. Let’s see. The background of this, of course, happened during COVID, when the Russians were the most active peddler of anti-vaccine disinformation in the world, which resulted in the death of over a million American. You know, the kind of death toll that the Russians could have never achieved during the Cold War without some sort of horrible response.

But now they have enablers across this branch of the Republican Party. And so the Russians have started to diversify what they’ve been saying just to see how far they can push it. And last week, they were able to actually get Donald Trump to stop campaigning against the ban of Tik Tok, which is something that is broadly popular even among the American right.

So it’s going to be interesting to see how Donald Trump’s shift on this is going to now translate into Moscow’s opposition to Chinese issues. I don’t know how far this is going to go. The general breakdown in civics education in the United States is definitely having a very deep impact on our political system at home, but it’s providing a lot of opportunities for the Russians to drive wedges between the various aspects of American society.

So far, with minimal blowback. So this is something that is definitely on my worry list and not something that I have a very clear idea of how it’s going to go. There’s just too many pieces in play. I can tell you that because it’s an election season and because Donald Trump is defending himself from 90, I think, indictments, that there’s going to be ample fodder for the Russians to work with over the next several months.

This is definitely one of those things that’s going to get far worse before it even begins. Do you get a hint of better?

A Faint Glimmer of Hope in the House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is looking like dysfunctional family as of late, and of course, the weird uncle stirring up the pot is the Greenpeace faction. Opposing nearly every bill that dares to exist, they’ve essentially halted all legislative proceedings.

Despite the need for aid to Ukraine, bulwark assistance for Israel and Taiwan, defense reform, entitlement reform and more, all were hearing from the House are a series of steady shrieks. However, we might be seeing some action very soon thanks to discharge petitions. A discharge petition, requiring 218 signatures, forces debates on critical issues and gives bills a fighting chance at being passed. Even if – especially if – the Speaker would rather the bill not see the light of day.

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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Tourism Trends: Where Are You Spending Vacation?

Before I take the stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame here in Nashville, I figured we should talk about the future of tourism and where all the bachelorette parties are heading next.

There’s three demographic groups impacting tourism trends, and each of them is looking for something a little different. The baby boomers want specific experiences tailored to their preferences (less walking, but a bit spendy-er). The millennials are realizing kids are expensive and trips are going to have fit into tighter budgets. And the most interesting segment shaking up tourism are the blue-collar workers; they make up a large portion of the workforce and are leaning towards places like Nashville over traditional destinations.

Consumer preferences are changing, budgets are evolving, and international travel is just filled with too much uncertainty. So pack a duffel bag, ditch the passport, and go enjoy those domestic (or at least safe and stable) travel plans.

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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Should We Worry About Chinese Land Purchases in the US?

I’ve had a lot of you write in concerned about Chinese land purchases in the United States. There’s not much to be concerned about here, but let me paint the full picture for you.

Foreign ownership of US land is quite limited, and the Chinese portion of that is just a sliver of the pie (Canada has the largest piece of the pie for those curious). To temper worries even further, most of this US land is being bought by Chinese individuals simply trying to park their assets outside of China…and you can’t really blame them for that. If you need even more reason not to stress, just look at the historical precedence of foreign assets being seized in times of conflict.

It’s good to ponder these questions and keep an eye on things like foreign land ownership in the US, but as of now, there’s really no need for concern.

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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Europe Goes Nuclear: Is America Leaving NATO?

During a rally last week, former President Donald Trump stated that European allies that do not contribute enough to NATO (in his eyes) would not receive support if Russia were to attack them. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, we need to consider the repercussions of the US stepping away from the NATO alliance.

Trump can smell the populist/nationalist sentiment in the air and he’s going all in. While he might be on the extreme end of it right now, there’s ever-growing momentum in America taking us down that path. We’ve enjoyed decades of a largely peaceful Europe, but what happens if the Americans leave?

I would expect the Europeans to revert to their old ways, including renewed military competition and something even scarier for us Americans, nuclear proliferation. We all know how quickly places like Germany can ramp up military production.

Trump’s statements may seem wild and disconnected at the moment, but there’s more than just an election on the line here; all it would take is one country’s knee-jerk reaction to send us back to a not-so-peaceful Europe.

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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Nigeria, After America

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Today’s entry into our ‘Post American’ series is a country with a complex political, economic and security landscape. Its a country forged from colonialism that is comprised of diverse ethnic groups coexisting under a single political entity – Nigeria.

Despite civil unrest, Nigeria has retained a semblance of stability through a rotational presidency among ethnic groups that ensures representation and prevents disintegration. On the economic side, corruption within the oil industry has led to a mismanagement of oil resources and underproduction.

With global energy dynamics shifting and geopolitical instability on the rise, there’s an emerging opportunity for the Nigerians. If Nigeria can overcome the internal struggles, their strategic positioning and military strength could help them become a significant player in the region; this could even evolve into partnerships with Western powers seeking energy stability.

While this might sound like a reversion to colonial times, I assure you the dynamics have greatly changed. The potential for a mutually beneficial relationship could help Nigeria thrive and even reshape global energy dynamics.

Prefer to read the transcript? Click here

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

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TranscripT

Hey everybody. Peter Zeihan  coming to you from a very snowy Colorado. Already ten inches in and another six to go. I know what I’m doing tomorrow. Any who. This is the latest in our post-American series. And today we’re going to talk specifically about a country that a number of people have written in, and that is Nigeria. So what makes Nigeria tick?

This is a country that is a creation of the post World War two strategic order and took a few pages from the post Westphalian system of nation states. Well, in essence, what that means is it’s a little bit like the settler societies of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in that it’s a polyglot group, lots of different ethnic groups, each of which have a very clear homeland, but they’ve been lumped together into a single political authority.

Now, in a lot of places where some version like this happened because of colonialism, and you can make that argument for Nigeria as well. It has gone very, very badly with lots and lots of civil wars, and Nigeria is no exception. They had the Biafran war shortly after independence and sixties, and it was one of the most disastrous wars that we’ve seen on the African continent.

But in its aftermath, things went an unexpected direction. Instead of the victors trying to wipe out the biafrans. They were included into a transition into democracy. And while it’s not something that we would recognize in the United States as democratic, what they do is they they rotate the presidency among the various ethnic groups and the other regions. And then within each of those regions, there’s actually competition within the ruling party to decide who is going to be the candidate.

So as a rule, what I’m vastly oversimplifying a very messy situation here. As a rule, the presidents looked at the primary level, basically. And while this doesn’t necessarily generate the most creative or competent leadership, it has kept the peace and has kept Nigeria Nigeria in one piece as well, which is more than you can say for a lot of the other post-colonial countries in the Congo.

Here, Angola, both of which have been war wracked or chaotic or both. Now, the con of this strategy is if you are of an ethnic group that doesn’t hold the president at a time, you have to basically be paid to not protest or riot or launch a war. And that’s where the oil comes in. Nigeria is the continent’s largest oil producer, and most folks say that if civil unrest could be tamped down, a degree of competence could be injected into the system.

Well, then they could probably be producing five or 6 million barrels a day without too much of a challenge. And instead, it’s been pretty much less than three for the last 20, 30 years. Basically, whoever sits in the big chair directs where the oil funds go. He takes a cut of it himself. It’s obviously he and the rest is used to buy off the other minorities to limit their willingness to cause chaos, which of course encourages some of the more militant minded of those groups to deliberately cause chaos in order to get a better cash settlement.

And under the globalized order, this has not been a hugely successful system from an economic point of view, because it means that people actually have a vested interest in attacking the oil patrimony in order to get a slice of the oil patrimony. And that means that the oil patrimony has probably been about one third to one quarter as large as it actually should have been under normal circumstances.

But hey, that’s what happens with a political system like this. Now, that’s under the globalized order where no one interferes in other people’s affairs. You get the series of ethnic based militant groups, some with very creative names, and some of which are creative and tenacious and have taken speedboats 50 miles off the coast to take over oil production sites.

And in this sort of environment, the oil companies that bring in the technology that allow all of this to happen have basically lost interest after seeing their people kidnaped or shot up for purposes of budgetary debates. Most Western oil companies have bailed and the last, such as rolled out Shell, are in the process of getting out right now.

As I am recording this video in February of 2024. It’s not a great model, but the world is changing. And if we’re moving away from a world where civilian maritime shipping is sacrosanct and to one where piracy and state piracy and attacks on ships are far more likely, well then you have to reevaluate how Nigeria plugs into its relationship into the global energy system.

Because right now, much to the Saudi’s happiness in Nigeria is very self-limiting, just like Venezuela has been very self-limiting these last 20 years. And you can count on Nigeria never significantly increasing its oil output for any period of time, which makes them a non-factor. As far as the countries who try to actually manage the oil markets see things.

But if you break down global stability, oil’s just not going to be transported as far. And in places that have a little bit of a hotspot going them like say, the Persian Gulf or Saudi Arabia is you should expect significant reductions in output because there’s going to be a lot of militancy and state militancy, not to mention new imperial activity, either tried to take the oil offline or take the oil period.

And in that scenario, I would expect that the stuff that’s coming out of the Persian Gulf is probably going to fall by conservatively half and take most, if not all, of say, Iran’s crude with it. But Nigeria is not in that sort of situation. Nigeria is on the western side of the African continent. While it has plenty of territorial disputes with its neighbors, it’s not like it’s facing an outright war with anyone.

The countries that are to the northwest, the north and the east are either in the Sahara, so don’t have military to speak of, or in the Sahel, where the densest concentration of populations is in Nigeria. So when we had all of those coups in back in 2022 and 2023, there is a real concern slash hope based on your politics, that the Nigerian military might just move into some of these places and knock off the computers because the Nigerian military, something like three times as large as all of the French coup belt in the Sahel combined, they ended up not doing that.

But the point remains is that Nigeria is the undisputed superpower in the region, from the Sahel down to the tropics. There’s no one else that can hold a candle to them. And if there was a conflict, I have no doubt while it would be messy that the Nigerians could give a lot more than they could take. But ultimately, we’re talking about oil here in a place where the Persian Gulf has problems, in a place where Russia is treated like Russia, and a lot of that stuff goes offline.

Secondary oil producers in the Eastern Hemisphere need to get a fresh look, because if you remove a lot of these or weaken a lot of them, all of a sudden Nigeria shows up as the largest or second largest by most math. They don’t have a physical border where they are going to expect a war. Most of the piracy that’s in the region comes from.

So it is is funny. And I can see a new sort of environment where the Brits and the French are actively looking for partnerships in the Gulf of Guinea region where Nigeria is in order to secure crude that they can’t get from places like the North Sea or the Russians any longer. It’s not that the North Sea is going away.

So this is all going to be spoken for. And so if you’re in that growth, you’re going to have to find another source. The United States can help with some of that. But Nigeria is the only thing that’s proximate, really. You’ve got Algeria to the north, but a lot of their fields are very, very, very tapped. And they’ve been in diminishing returns for the last 20 years.

Nigeria is really the only place where you can work in Greenfield or Brownfield. So I expect we’re going to see a significant reversing of this trend of the Western super majors getting out of Nigeria, because there’s not going to be a lot of choice other or maybe tertiary energy producers in the area. You’re Angola’s you’re Gabon’s. You’re Equatorial Guinea’s.

They’re going to get a fresh look to for very similar reasons. But make no mistake, Nigeria is the security decider in this region. And if they don’t want these secondary powers, especially ones that are closer to them to play a significant role in regional oil markets, then it’s going to be really hard to make that happen. And this is not a colonial experience.

Nigeria may be decades behind, say, Britain when it comes to military firepower, but it’s not like Nigeria is UN industrialized. So you’re not going to see the sort of neo colonial relationships that a lot of people fear where the former colonies come in and take over. No, no, no, no. The population in balance is not there. The technological imbalance is not there.

Instead, it’s going to be a degree of partnership and one that, while it can be messy, is probably going to work pretty well because the French and the Brits have the technology in the markets and the Nigerians have the asset and the guns. So it’s a partnership that can actually be quite productive. The question is of the outside powers who will get there first.

And I’m telling you, it’s going to be the French and the Brits, and they’re not necessarily going to agree on where that crude has to go. So the geopolitics of this region is going to start to look a lot like it did a century in a century a half ago, but with a lot more money and with the Nigerians being a player in of them themselves.

All right. That’s it for me.

The United Kingdom, After America

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For those with daddy issues, today’s installment in the ‘Post American’ series might be a bit triggering. If you’re still reading, we’ll be looking at the UK’s economic and security dilemmas as the global order falls.

The UK never quite came to terms with the end of its empire. Once the Brits joined the EU, they latched onto Europe for everything they needed and skipped over the transition that all the other imperial powers went through. So, they were already outdated, but had a crutch to rely on; then Brexit hit and it left the UK stumbling and fumbling.

With the UK’s future up in the air, there’s really only two paths forward. First, they could seek out new trade deals globally, but they’ll have to find some new non-imperialistic tactics to do so. Second, they could swallow their pride and nestle up under the Americans’ wings.

The UK will likely choose to align with the US, even if it means sacrificing some autonomy. The British mindset will be to push against this whole-heartedly, but it’s the most pragmatic way forward for our friends across the pond.

Prefer to read the transcript? Click here

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TranscripT

Hey everyone. Peter Zeihan here comes to you from Saint John’s Cathedral in Detroit, which is also a resort because modern Catholicism. Anyway, I thought it would be a great backdrop to talk about the United Kingdom in our Post America series. The United Kingdom is one of those countries that is not really going to emerge into a post-American world because they’ve got some really interesting decisions to make.

I’m pretty sure I know how it’s going to go. So backdrop, two things. First, economy, the British system never really adapted to the end of empire. They do all the big high value added stuff and they import a lot of the raw materials and some of their base manufactured goods, things that are not very good at because they’re good at the really high precision stuff.

And when the empire ended and they joined Europe, all they did was kind of switch one empire for another and relied upon the European continent for things like foodstuffs and wood products and automotive. They never made the transition that all the other former imperial powers did. And so when Brexit happened, they find themselves in a bit of a lurch.

So that was kind of the economic side of things, on the security side of things. They are an island and islands are worried about one thing, other countries developing navies that might allow an invasion. So they’ve always looked at the major powers of the Eurasian landmass with more than just suspicion, outright fear and concern, whether it’s Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or whatever.

Napoleon. And on and on. But that doesn’t mean that they like nonmilitary superpowers. So when folks in the European Union start talking about ever closer union and maybe having a common defense identity, they get a little squeamish and they want to keep things within NATO where they’ve got veto power. So that’s the economic that’s the security you play that for to where we are right now.

And they’re in a bit of a pickle. Demographically, the European Union is on its final legs. Most of the major powers, especially Germany and Italy, are going to be aging into obsolescence within a decade. And most of the remaining countries within two. And I don’t mean to suggest that the UK has a super healthy demography, but it is like the second healthiest within the Union.

So when the Brits started talking about Brexit a decade ago, it was like, okay, I can understand the conversation. Getting a jump on what’s next, leaving the sinking ship that is the economic aspect of the European Union. That makes some sense. But here we are seven years after Brexit and the Brits are still trying to figure out what Brexit means.

We still don’t have a meaningful policy for how they should go into the new world, and they really only have two choices. Option one since they haven’t done that economic change post-imperial era is to find a new empire and go out and cut a series of deals with a series of countries that have young demographics that could provide them with raw materials and on and on and on.

The problem is they can’t do it like they did before, before the secret of the British Empire. The reason that they ruled the world for the better part of two centuries is they were in the early days of the industrial era and no one else had caught up. So they were able to use the order of magnitude, greater economic intensity of early industrialization and the three orders of magnitude of better power projection of military technologies to dominate wherever they went with a very small number of people.

Well, that’s not the world we’re in anymore. You can’t go into a place like India with 50,000 people and conquer it like you could two or three centuries ago. Well, not to mention that the Indians wouldn’t let that happen. So the idea that the Brits is a mid-sized power can be the center of a global trade node. That’s a bit of a stretch.

I don’t want to say it’s impossible because weirder things have happened in the last few years, but it’s difficult to see enough countries signing on to the idea of British preeminence when the Brits can’t force the issue. The second issue is to partner with a single power large, wealthy country that has better demographic structures and shares the United Kingdom’s overall security concerns about united Eurasia as a military power.

And the only country that scratches that itch is the United States. Now, it’s not like what the Brexiteers said, that they can just waltz into Washington and ask for a free trade deal that is better than the wake up from the EU. No, no, no, no. When it comes to trade deals, the United States is very specific and it doesn’t like to bring in systems that could compete with in any meaningful way.

And that would mean that the Brits have to accede to American demands on any number of sectors, from agriculture to finance to manufacturing. Hell, we might even make them get rid of the metric system before in a bad mood. Now, when the Johnson administration in Britain came over to talk to Donald Trump’s administration about a trade deal and they found out what the conditions would be, they walked away and then the next government came in and did the same thing.

And walked away. Or was it Theresa may anyway? There were two back to back. And so the Brits right now are in this nether world where they kind of quietly admit to themselves that in order to find a future that has some degree of economic functionality, they have to get into bed with their kids and accept all the demands and the hit to their economy will be real and the hit to their ego will be massive.

But the alternative trying to build an alternative system or maybe going back to the EU. Neither of those are long term solutions that are very functional. So really what we’re doing is going through the paces until the Brits admit the obvious. And when that happens, Britain will lose the thing that it values the most its freedom to act, its agency.

It will become a subsidiary of the Americans system, for better or for worse. And while that will be horrible for the British mindset, it is the best game in town for both an economic and a security point of view. And in time, I have no doubt that that is where the Brits will end up. So stiff upper lip.

The Biden Administration Blocks LNG Exports (Sorta)

A liquefied natural gas ship

The Greens are celebrating and the oil industry is kicking and screaming over the Biden administration’s decision to pause the review process of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. However, this decision’s actual impact is microscopic. This pause is very limited. It has no impact upon facilities already in operation, under construction, or even those already permitted. It only impacts facilities still at the eye-gleam stage. While the “pause” may impact some firms (very) long-term plans, there’s nothing tangible as of yet.

Natural gas has an interesting foothold in the energy space, as it is a cleaner alternative to coal and is highly compatible with green energy sources like wind and solar. This means that natural gas will likely serve as the complimentary energy source of the future, which will be a large pill for the Greens to swallow.

The Biden administration’s move is temporary, limited in impact and scope, and is just a political move to garner support leading up to the election. Think of this kind of like a politician’s wet dream – making some of your constituents happy without actually doing anything.

Here at Zeihan On Geopolitics we select a single charity to sponsor. We have two criteria:

First, we look across the world and use our skill sets to identify where the needs are most acute. Second, we look for an institution with preexisting networks for both materials gathering and aid distribution. That way we know every cent of our donation is not simply going directly to where help is needed most, but our donations serve as a force multiplier for a system already in existence. Then we give what we can.

Today, our chosen charity is a group called Medshare, which provides emergency medical services to communities in need, with a very heavy emphasis on locations facing acute crises. Medshare operates right in the thick of it. Until future notice, every cent we earn from every book we sell in every format through every retailer is going to Medshare’s Ukraine fund.

And then there’s you.

Our newsletters and videologues are not only free, they will always be free. We also will never share your contact information with anyone. All we ask is that if you find one of our releases in any way useful, that you make a donation to Medshare. Over one third of Ukraine’s pre-war population has either been forced from their homes, kidnapped and shipped to Russia, or is trying to survive in occupied lands. This is our way to help who we can. Please, join us.

Support medshare's ukraine fund
Support medshare's global efforts