We're talking to General Petraeus about Israel

By Ed D'Agostino | October 17, 2023

This interview is too important to hold until Friday. That’s why you are hearing from me a little early this week.

I just interviewed General David Petraeus for Global Macro Update. Given the volatile situation unfolding in the Middle East, I wanted to share his insights with you as soon as I could.

Few people bring together as much expertise on the military, geopolitics, and investing like General Petraeus. He served in the US Army from 1974 to 2011, retiring as a four-star general, and then as Director of the CIA from 2011 to 2012. He holds a PhD from Princeton and is currently a partner at global investment firm KKR.

General Petraeus is also the co-author of Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine, which comes out today.

As Petraeus says, in the past decade we’ve gone from a world of “benign globalization” to one of “renewed great power rivalries.” And analyzing geopolitics has become an increasingly important part of investing.

In the interview, we discuss how the conflict in the Middle East could escalate, what Putin has really accomplished with his war on Ukraine, and the United States’ delicate relationship with China. We also cover how geopolitical analysis informs KKR’s investing themes. This is particularly interesting to me and my team, as we also think about investments in terms of themes.

You will also hear:

Petraeus’s take on recent warnings from Jamie Dimon and Ray Dalio

How the weaponization (and securitization) of everything supports investing themes

What the military learned in Iraq about post-war reconciliation and how it applies today

You can watch my full interview with General Petraeus on YouTube by clicking the image below.

A full transcript of our conversation is available here.

Please send me your comments by replying to this email or by reaching out on X (formerly Twitter) @EdDAgostino.

Best regards,

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