Great success in geopolitical leadership ventures can seduce ambitious powers to overplay their strengths in ways that seed their opposition and thus eventually produce unexpected failures.  Bold early success sometimes blinds society’s sophisticated analysts, but its tragic flaws are most evident from the bottom-up perspective of ordinary people.

In his early twenties during the early 1970s, Eric took nearly a year to walk through Iran and Afghanistan.  A relevant upbringing and focused education prepared him to understand ordinary events in anticipating some geopolitical patterns.  Simple narratives from the past sometimes help us intuit the complex times in which we find ourselves today.

Discussion question:  What strong hands are being overplayed today?

About the Speaker
H. Eric Fenn Elbot (MC/MPA ’82) is currently C.E.O. of the Veritas Scientific Corporation, Neuro-Technology for National Security; former Director of The Strategic Center, a classified national security think-tank, ManTech International; Director of HKS Global Leadership Program; Associate Director of Sino-Soviet Institute, George Washington University.  Eric has been on the HKSNEAA Board of Directors since 2019.