Whether it is ISIS, Russia, North Korea, Iran, or China, there is no shortage on the number of national security issues the next president must confront.  Which of these threats is the biggest?  What should the U.S. expect from its international foes over the next four years?  In this episode, renowned geopolitical forecaster and founder of Geopolitical Futures George Friedman breaks it all down.

Friedman on assessing Obama’s ISIS strategy (7:13-8:23)

“I think Libya, for him, was an eye opener. He was urged by the human rights people…and he was urged by the conservatives…and what he realized is: the mere fact that you need to do something about it doesn’t mean you have the power to do so. And that conditioned his approach to Syria. 

“In a very interesting way, the difference in Trump’s foreign policy and Obama’s is very little. Both of them become extremely cautious about intervention. Both of them really want to prioritize what matters and what doesn’t. 

“I think Clinton comes from the old school. Clinton is not where Obama is. Clinton has a more interventionist, human rights oriented policy. I think Obama too late in his administration learned a lesson. I think Trump is having trouble articulating what he wants to do…and she really is an old fashioned interventionist.”