Strategic Forecasting Inc., commonly known as Stratfor, is an American geopolitics publisher and consultancy founded in 1996. Stratfor's business model is to provide individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online publication, and to perform
intelligence gathering
This is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines.
HUMINT
Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following:
* Advisors or foreign internal defense (FID) personnel wor ...
for corporate clients. The focus of Stratfor's content is security issues and analyzing geopolitical risk.
Stratfor was founded by
George Friedman
George Friedman ( hu, Friedman György, born February 1, 1949) is a Hungarian-born U.S. geopolitical forecaster, author, and strategist on international affairs. He is the founder and chairman of ''Geopolitical Futures'', an online publication t ...
, who was the company's chairman. Chip Harmon was appointed president in February 2018. Other executives include vice president of global analysis, Reva Goujon; senior vice president of strategic analysis, Rodger Baker; and former
U.S. Special Operations Command
The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Arm ...
officer Bret Boyd, vice president of custom intelligence services.
Structure and operations
Stratfor clients have included academic institutions, investment firms and large corporations such as
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
,
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
,
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
,
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
and
Dow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world.
Dow manufactures plastic ...
.
Media coverage of their ideas about the
1998 bombing of Iraq
The 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 to 19 December 1998, by the United States and the United Kingdom. On 16 December 1998, President of the United States Bill ...
brought Stratfor into the public eye. At this time, the company had about twenty employees. By 2008 they were up to 40 full-time employees in
Austin. 2016 saw the number rise to about 100, three-quarters of whom were based in Austin.
Stratfor often hires interns from the
nearby University of Texas.
Stratfor analysts pay for information, but also use open source information to predict where global crises will arise. Stratfor also obtains information by way of personal networks. Fred Burton indicated in leaked emails that he maintained contact with his "trusted former CIA cronies" as a source of information, and that he was aware of the sealed indictment against
Julian Assange in 2011.
''
Barron's Barron's or Barrons may refer to:
*Barron's Educational Series, a publisher of books, as well as college entrance exam preparation classes and materials, now an imprint of Kaplan Test Prep
** B.E.S. Publishing, the former owner of Barron's
* ''Barr ...
'' once referred to Stratfor as "The Shadow CIA".
read complete article
) ''Barron's'' Jonathan Laing has called Friedman "one of our favorite experts on geopolitics," saying, "His judgments tend to be more nuanced and long-term than those of the press or Wall Street." More recently, ''The Atlantic's''
James Fallows
James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in '' Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Boo ...
referenced a Stratfor article on U.S. strategy in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, following outbreaks of turmoil in those regions.
Friedman resigned from the company in 2015 to launch a new company,
Geopolitical Futures
George Friedman ( hu, Friedman György, born February 1, 1949) is a Hungarian-born U.S. geopolitical forecaster, author, and strategist on international affairs. He is the founder and chairman of ''Geopolitical Futures'', an online publication ...
.
Dun & Bradstreet's estimate of Stratfor's 2021 revenue is $11.61 million.
Funding
In October 2015, Stratfor raised $12 million in funding through a growth equity investment by Dallas-based Teakwood Capital. Stratfor planned to use the funds to expand its reporting networks, improve operational infrastructure and move into new markets.
Products
Stratfor bills itself as a geopolitical intelligence platform, with revenues derived from individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online publication, and corporate consulting.
Stratfor has published a daily intelligence briefing since its inception in 1996. Before the end of 1999, Stratfor had introduced a subscription service through which it offered the majority of its analyses. At the time of the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, Stratfor made its "breaking news" paragraphs, as well as some notable analyses predicting likely actions to be taken by
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and the
Bush
Bush commonly refers to:
* Shrub, a small or medium woody plant
Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to:
People
* Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name
**Bush family, a prominent American family that includes:
*** ...
administration, free to the public.
Stratfor's publishing business includes written and multimedia analysis available online. Stratfor Threat Lens, an enterprise level product launched in September 2016, offers specific insight and analysis to support
corporate security leaders. In April 2017, the company launched its core online publication under the name Stratfor Worldview. Several older articles are freely available as teaser content.
Books
Stratfor has published collections of analysis in paperback and as e-books on a variety of topics. Topics include user guides to
personal security Security of the person is a basic entitlement guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. It is also a human right explicitly defined and guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, th ...
,
the "devolution of jihadism," and the
U.S. war in Afghanistan, according to a series of promotional videos on the company's YouTube channel. Stratfor sells their e-books and reports on their website.
A number of the company's top analysts have published books in their own name. Notable among these are founder George Friedman and vice president for intelligence Fred Burton. Kamran Bokhari, Stratfor's former vice president for Middle East and
South Asian affairs, co-wrote ''Political Islam in the Age of Democratization'' (2013). Reviewer Amani el Sehrawey called the book "an invaluable tool for those seeking to gain knowledge of the nuances of the political systems of the Muslim world from a historical perspective, as well as to understand the contemporary changes happening in the region."
Leaks
2011 hacking incident
On December 24, 2011, Stratfor's website was hacked.
Anonymous claimed responsibility, and also posted data they claim was taken from Stratfor, including credit card details, passwords, and addresses of Stratfor clients. Their email system was also compromised.
In November 2013, computer hacker
Jeremy Hammond
Jeremy Hammond (born January 8, 1985) is an American activist and former computer hacker from Chicago. He founded the computer security training website HackThisSiteLuman, Stuart. ''Chicago'' Magazine, July 2007"The Hacktivist" in 2003.Hayes, ...
was sentenced to ten years in
federal prison
A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for convicts who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), inmates considered dangerous (Brazil), or those s ...
for his role in the Anonymous attack. An
FBI informant
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
,
Hector Xavier Monsegur
Hector Xavier Monsegur (born 1983), known also by the online pseudonym Sabu (pronounced Sə'buː, Sæ'buː), is an American computer hacker and co-founder of the hacking group LulzSec. Monsegur became an informant for the FBI, working with the a ...
(also known as "Sabu"), initially faced 124 years in prison for his role in the attack, but his sentence was reduced to time served plus one year's supervised release in May 2014 in exchange for his cooperation as an FBI informant.
2012 leak
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
announced the initial publication of more than five million of Stratfor's e-mail messages on February 26, 2012, under the name Global Intelligence Files.
Anonymous said it had leaked the emails to WikiLeaks.
George Friedman stated that third parties may have forged or altered the e-mail messages, but that Stratfor would not validate either alterations or authenticity.
[
]
Stratfor condemned the release.
[
]
Events
In October 2017, Stratfor sponsored the 2017 Texas National Security Forum organized by Clements Center for National Security, the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
The theme was "Alliances and Partnerships in American National Security." The event included a keynote address by
Michael Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...
, then director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and later U.S. Secretary of State. Stratfor Chief Security Officer
Fred Burton moderated a panel that included former acting director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin and former acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency
David Shedd.
References
Further reading
*
*Friedman, George
''Torture and the U.S. Intelligence Failure'' Stratfor, Geopolitical Weekly, April 20, 2009
*Judson, David
Geopolitical Intelligence, Political Journalism and "Wants" vs. "Needs" Stratfor, October 29, 2013
*Judson, David
Stratfor: The Test of Being a Rorschach Test Stratfor Worldview, On Stratfor, August 28, 2016
*Judson, David
With a New Generation Comes a New Worldview Stratfor Worldview, On Stratfor, May 21, 2017
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies established in 1996
Intelligence websites
Companies based in Austin, Texas
Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States
Open-source intelligence
Political and economic think tanks in the United States
Security studies
Private intelligence agencies