Episode 80: Geopolitics

CultureHealth
Written By Joanna Lepore
 

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Looking Outside is for curious people looking for a fresh take on familiar topics, in business and beyond.

Your business could benefit from a chief geopolitical officer. Not just because of the large shift in operational complexity accelerated by geopolitical conflicts, but because not looking at these topics in a considered way, through a lens of expertise, could lead to poor decisions, lost opportunities, or worse, paralysis. But, says our Looking Outside guest today, while the crisis is real and large, it’s not anything new – in fact we’re going back to the old ‘normal’. Jake Sotiriadis has seen this first hand, as part of the intelligence unit in the United States Air Force, as strategic foresight lead at the Pentagon, and as senior strategy advisor to the public and private sector. Jake says every decision carries some risk. The biggest risk, however, is not a bad decision, but indecision.

To look outside, Jake proactively seeks out opposing and foreign perspectives by going to diverse sources. He also calls friends who have nothing to do with the work he’s involved in, and uses that as a way to pressure test whether the message he’s looking to convey is simple enough.

Jake Sotiriadis, PhD, is a senior strategy executive with expertise across national security, technology policy, and global innovation. After a 21-year career in U.S. Air Force intelligence—including leading strategic foresight at the Pentagon—he now advises top-tier organizations on future risk, geopolitical complexity, and growth strategy. As an author, speaker, and trusted advisor to U.S. and allied institutions, he brings strategic insight, institutional trust, and a forward-looking mindset to every engagement.

Jake built the Air Force’s first foresight program, launched the Research Center for Futures Intelligence at the National Intelligence University, and supported decisions by senior leaders—from prime ministers to corporate boards—with actionable insight and long-term perspective.

He is Executive Director at Phaedrus Engineering and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He advises the US State Department, where he trains diplomats in strategic foresight and geopolitical futures at the Foreign Service Institute. 

Jake is a veteran of the US Air Force with twenty-one years of service. He has led forecasting initiatives on geopolitical risk across the defense and intelligence communities and has contributed expert commentary to leading media outlets. He is the author of The Revenge of Ideology: The Hidden Forces Reshaping Global Order (The National Intelligence Press, 2025), and his writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, The National Interest, and The Diplomat.

He holds a PhD in political science and geopolitical futures, with degrees from the University of Hawaii, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and the US Air Force’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.

All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2025. Theme song by Azteca X.

 
Joanna Lepore https://looking-outside.com
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Episode 79: Change