Mark Brolin is a GeoPolitical/GeoEconomic Strategist, Economist (Stockholm School of Economics) & Author (three books published, 2 in the UK country and 1 in Sweden). Sweden is his birth country, he has been headquartered in London most of his professional life. Mark has a previous professional background including Nasdaq and Cantor Fitzgerald (corporate development) as well as the Swedish Foreign Ministry.
Mark Brolin regularly contributes media commentary in the UK for example via The Telegraph, The Times, CapX, iNews, City AM, Reaction. In the Nordics he also contributes all over the place (print, radio, TV). On top of that he regularly provides geopolitical and macroeconomic comment on Indian/international TV channel Wion News.
One of Mark’s key USPs is that his take is more optimistic than just about everyone else’s on the geopolitical arena. Why is that? He deliberately operates in the vein of Factfulness author Hans Rosling who famously argued that public discourse is far too focused on short term negatives (“noise”) rather than long term positives (the long term fundamentals/megatrends that really count and have been positive since the inception of the certainly still ongoing industrial revolution). Mark even tends to go one step further and argue that the gravest “NHS-problem” relates to a public discourse bias not only towards Negativism but also towards Herd Mentality and Shortsightedness. So whereas many other geopolitical speakers talk mainly about risks Mark Brolin talks also about opportunities. This has made him naturally take a special interest in the growth areas of the world (like US, India, Poland).
Another USP of his is that Mark is ideologically neutral (non-tribal) by definition (reflected for example by him having never belonged to any political party). Why? Because Mark believes much more in offering counterweight to those enjoying institutionalised powers than in the superiority of one single political camp. Instead he takes it for granted that all political camps managing to hold on to power for a long time will, unknowingly, drift into the always destabilising territory of exaggeration dressed up as moderation. Through the cumulative effect of many small steps. In the history of politics this is precisely what has happened many times with both left-wingers and right-wingers at the helm. The analytically fascinating novelty over recent years is that for the first time society’s “globalists” or “corporatists” have unknowingly taken things too far. The good news? The history of many previous transition periods, if technology driven such as the one playing out in real time, leaves little doubt that neither tribal side will end up victorious. So neither the establishment more-of-the-same (neopaternalist) moralists nor the anti-establishment none-of-the-same “Trumpians”. So who will win? Luckily the often misunderstood and often unfairly discredited electorate. An electorate which collectively, if truly listening, have never asked for anything other than sound balancing acts. So neither right-wing-, left-wing- nor globalist overreach. Today the electorate is simply asking for less-of-the-same. If real balance is what the people wants – and it really is – then that is precisely where we will end up. Even if we first need to endure yet at few more years of emotional smoke and dust as well as tedious tribal mudslinging. However, again if really listening, the agents of tribal nonsense are already in retreat and can only sing a swan song (like in the US) due to a lack of alternatives.
The facts beyond the noise. Why the 2020s should be regarded in much the same way as a number of previous technology driven transition period decades during the certainly still ongoing industrial revolution. How such decades are always distinguished by smoke, dust, intellectual confusion as well as tribal activists not spotting the irony when throwing mud while simultaneously demanding a more respectful public discourse. The key novelty this time around. How both the equilibrium reset and final outcomes – for society as a whole – are a lot more predictable and favourable than typically understood. How countries better at embracing rather than resisting change, now as always, will move up the geopolitical/geoeconomic ranking lists. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Certainly, the current phase of the political and economic cycle includes many worries but also much needed correction elements as well as plenty of underdicussed opportunities. Going through key trends – risks and opportunities – relating to the 5 key geopolitical hotspots: USA, China, Russia, India and EU27. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Why the US is typically always underestimated and not experiencing Roman decline. Why and how the US is still better than others at reinventing itself. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Why China is flatlining, will bounce back in some ways but has still reached its geopolitical power peak – at least until it changes its political system. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Why India is steaming ahead at such a rapid pace, when most others are struggling, that it can now easily be described as the new “land of opportunity”. How India is presently shapeshifting the geopolitical landscape far more than any other nation on the planet. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Why Russia keeps producing classically banal despots like Vladimir Putin. Why there is reason to think that the “Western” predictions relating to yet another hardman, when Putin is finally toppled, are fully understandable but might still be proven too gloomy. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. The real (and classic) reasons the European project, which started off so well, has turned so controversial. Why the countries that have integrated most, the eurozone, are every year losing relative geopolitical/geoeconomic weight (share of world GDP) even though the US (on an otherwise similar development trajectory) does not. Why the EU problems (like most political problems everywhere) relate to the overshoot rather than to the origin. The lessons from history, if applied, that could still quickly revitalise today’s somewhat tired Europe. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. Why it was the UK, rather than any other country in Europe, that first rattled the EU cage. Why the UK, following the heresy, was bound to be castigated and is therefore now seriously underestimated. Despite the continuous Downing Street soap opera. How the tedious tribal mud fights surrounding Brexit hide that most people in both camps differ a lot more about the path towards the end-goals than about the end-goals themselves: who does not want democracy, international co-operation, economic growth as well as peace? Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. The reasons Poland, the country for a long time unfortunately sandwiched between Russia and Germany, is in real time experiencing a golden age of economic growth. Why this remains far too underdiscussed given how the country is moving up the European geopolitical/geoeconomic power rank. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
The facts beyond the noise. What made Sweden abandon its traditional way of authentic pragmatic balance (Sweden was never as left-wing as its reputation) and instead adopt, in area after area, radical policies only dressed up as policies of balance? Why Sweden is possibly now the country that, better than all others, showcases both the merits of grassroots orientation (the USP of Sweden during its political and economic heyday) and the dangers of neopaternalism (the unexpected and still to this day largely unacknowledged key feature of Sweden’s slide down the crucial ranking lists). How Sweden, despite today’s uncharacteristically dark domestic sentiment, can return to form quicker than many think. Risks and opportunities. Key myths busted.
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