One eye on the past, Mind on the present, One eye on the Future

I have recently listened to one of my favorite geopolitical podcasts, I am talking about Perch Perspectives. I have no financial or business interest in promoting Perch Perspectives, I am just putting out in the open what I follow to extract quality information on different topics, for geopolitics, Perch is one of them. I did have the pleasure to have as guest on the Intel4Patriam Podcast, Jacob Shapiro who is the founder and chief strategies of Perch, last year in October. On this episode Jacob invited Marko Papic, also known as Cousin Marko, he is the author of a book that I am waiting to put my hands on next week, called Geopolitical Alpha.

This episode represented the cherry on the top of the cake for me, on my decision to start deep diving into the future. Jacob and Marko broke down with much analytical talent, on very interesting topics such as macro economy, investments, energy market, technological innovation and climate change in a concept called “Race to Zero”, developed by Marko Papic. If this may have sparked your curiosity, I encourage you to go wherever you listen to your podcasts and invest some time in this episode, it is well spent.

I am a student of history; I consider that knowledge and understanding of our past can facilitate and bring some order into our present and better shape the decisions that we are making for the future. Through my academic journey I have studied Political Science, Law and for the moment stopped after receiving my master’s degree in International Security and Law. In all these fields history plays a major role, and its understanding can bring contextual clarity in the analytical process. I am still reading a lot of history on different topics whenever I can get my hands on a good book. Therefore, I keep an eye on the past.

My daily routine implies going through the articles that I receive on my email with breakdowns on international relations events, macroeconomic aspects, technology news, political risk, international business, and impactful social events. I probably go through between 10–30 news and analytical articles a day on these subjects. I try to conceptualize them in the given context that we are in, compare them to historical events that may have similarities or major differences. I then place them in different segments that I am organizing in my analytical tool set to reach the true meaning of them. Most of the times the news that we are being presented is hard to effectively understand without the contextual meeting, which on complex subjects is complicated to provide to the audience. This is what I mean by saying mind in the present.

My favorite part is learning new concepts, eating knowledge that was not there before, this is exactly why I am tracking key topics that I consider will represent major steppingstones in our future on the short — medium and long term. The list that I am about to provide does not by any means comprehend most concepts that will represent major changes in our economy, society, politics, and lifestyle. Nonetheless all the concepts on the list are of major importance and will have a seizable impact on our lives, here it goes:

- Climate Change.

- Carbon Sequestration.

- Biotechnology.

- Cybersecurity

- Metauniverse

- Decentralized Finance

- Cryptocurrencies

- Artificial Intelligence.

- Supercomputers.

- Alternative Energy.

- Battery Storage.

- Innovative Agriculture.

- Cobalt & Lithium — the countries that have them as a resource.

- Space Geopolitics.

- Post Covid Supply Chains.

Last year in July I posted on social media, a picture of all the books that I have read in the last two years. One look at the list and it would talk by itself in terms of what I am tracking…

In July 2023 I am planning to post another picture with all the books that I have researched and added to my list in developing theoretical knowledge on the topics of interest. Here are screenshots of the books that I am going to devour one by one. After every single one, I will write a post explaining key takes on it and essential information that in my subjective opinion should be shared with you. This is my eye on the future.

Until next time and remember in the rapid changing world of information that we live in, ignorance is not advised.

With friendship,

Mihai