'Shadow CIA' Using 'Boogeyman Scare Tactics' to Make Money

Stratfor's founder George Friedman has recently claimed that the world should get ready for a major 21st century war that will most likely break out in Eastern Europe, the Middle East or Asia. But experts have taken these predictions with a pinch of salt, citing ulterior motives behind the "Shadow CIA's" forecasts.

"I don't know what he is thinking. He's been consistently wrong. I don't know why anyone would listen to Stratfor," author, geopolitical analyst and journalist Ryan Dawson told Radio Sputnik in an exclusive interview. Stratfor analysts "didn't see Libya coming, they didn't see Syria coming. They thought there might be a war with Iran."

The expert dismissed Stratfor's predictions as a form of "sabre-rattling" and "boogeyman scare tactics." For instance, the group, in his opinion, is trying to scare China and North Korea and provoke an arms race by saying that Japan would rise as a maritime power.

"It is just a way to create a Cold War in that part of the world so that both use each other to build up their navies," Dawson explained. These predictions justify military spending and "that's all it's for." There is "absolutely no chance" that a war would break out between China and Japan because their economies are too intertwined.

Friedman also asserted that Poland and Russia could clash since the former is one of the emerging powers and the latter is supposedly declining. "I just have to laugh at that. That's not going to happen," Dawson noted.

"Poland is going nowhere. Russia is not going to collapse. And there is definitely not going to be a war with Japan. This is ridiculous. No one should be paying attention to these people," he said laughing. Stratfor analysts "have been wrong over and over again."

For his part, political scientist Alexey Martynov maintains that Stratfor's founder is intentionally exaggerating current trends. This approach seems to point to the fact that the think tank is having financial troubles.

"Stratfor is a private firm, which is trying to sell its predictions to major international corporations, business communities and even some small states that are ready to pay for this kind of analytics. They act as if they were part of the US intelligence agencies. Of course, they are not," he told Radio Sputnik.

Friedman is trying to "scare those, who are ready to pay for their scribblings," he added.