By: John Hulsman

Dr. John C. Hulsman is Senior Columnist at City AM, and Founder and Managing Partner of John C. Hulsman Enterprises, a global political risk consulting firm. More of John’s work is available on his substack

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Five political risk predictions for a new era

January 7, 2020

As Jules Verne’s unmatchable adventure Around the World in Eighty Days so eloquently put it: “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” Fresh off my firm’s victorious analysis of both Brexit and the outcome of December’s British General Election, we sincerely hope that the new year continues to affirm for us Verne’s [...]
The brain-dead era of Angela Merkel is limping to a finish

December 9, 2019

The always interesting French President Emmanuel Macron got it precisely wrong in November when he airily derided Nato — the most successful alliance in the history of the world — as experiencing “brain death”. Brazening it out, Macron doubled down, defending his remark at the Nato summit of last week. As I never tire of [...]
Don’t panic, China is nowhere close to overtaking America

November 25, 2019

There has been far too much doom-mongering of late about America’s structural position in the world. While there is no doubt that the US is in relative decline, it is as if the commentariat does not really understand what these words actually mean, focusing only on the “decline” part of the phrase. So for all [...]
The Wizard of Oz Democratic primary portends another victory for Donald Trump

November 11, 2019

The starting gun may have yet to sound in the 2020 Democratic presidential contest, but with the Iowa caucus only 90 days away, there is already a surprising amount that is clearly in focus. First, the very crowded Democratic field has already been decisively winnowed. According the 7 November Real Clear Politics average of polls, [...]
Syria is the climax in the long battle over the soul of American foreign policy

October 28, 2019

In defying the American foreign policy establishment, I once wrote a book that cost me my job. In 2006, in response to the looming debacle in Iraq, the British thinker Anatol Lieven and I wrote Ethical Realism. It was a broadside castigating the brain-dead, pro-interventionist intellectual sameness of the US foreign policy establishment, and the [...]
In defence of my friend Dominic Cummings

October 14, 2019

Everyone of a certain age who worked in New York or Washington has a 9/11 story; mine concerns Dominic Cummings. It was sometime early in the afternoon of the unforgettable, nightmarish day. Three planes had already slammed into the World Trade Centre Buildings and the Pentagon, inflicting their awful havoc. A fourth plane had been [...]
A plague on both Trump’s sordid White House and the self-righteous Democrats

September 30, 2019

Shakespeare, as ever, said it best. As the eloquent Mercutio lays dying at the hands of Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, his last thoughts are of the unreasoning duel between the two aristocratic families of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets. Aptly summing up the poisonous atmosphere which directly led to his death, Mercutio damns [...]
Peering through the Brexit haze: What we know so far

September 16, 2019

One of my favourite intellectual exercises that we use in my political risk firm is what we call “seeing through the fog”. When a long-standing geopolitical topic seems to resemble nothing so much as King Minos’ labyrinth, senior staff and I repair to a good wine bar and spend an afternoon not talking about all [...]
Britain must try to sail beyond the Brexit debate in order to find the stars

September 2, 2019

Sadly, many of the great quotations in history are simply not accurate. One of my favourite apocryphal quotes is (wrongly) credited to Sir Francis Drake, supposedly written just before the intrepid explorer set off on the Golden Hind on his dazzling circumnavigation of the globe. Drake is supposed to have said: “Disturb us, Lord, when [...]
As the rest of the world drifts toward protectionism, can Africa show the way to free trade?

August 19, 2019

The world is presently witnessing a curious pattern. Even as those who have benefited most from free trade (the US, the EU, China) are foolishly turning towards the siren call of protectionism, the rest of the world, especially Africa, has emerged as liberal internationalism’s unlikely champion. Last month, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made headlines by [...]

Mastercard issues winding up petition against London fintech Guavapay

Which Gallagher Prem Rugby stadium is the best?

Best of 2025: Mass hallucinations – how I caught an AI reporter

By: John Hulsman

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