For Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist, the end of the world is coming and “Folks, it’s all going straight to hell.”
The audience sarcastically laughed as Zeihan said there was need to worry about the talk of trade and war because the world was full of rainbows and chocolate. But trade and war doesn’t stop Zeihan from doing his job. A geopolitical strategist helps people understand how everything in the world works.
“My goal is to make sure people make better decisions or at least informed decisions. What I bring to the table is the ability to make decisions within a series of knowns,” Zeihan said.
The laughter coming from Cypress Hall in Bayou Pointe showed that Peter Zeihan, this year’s Lyceum series speaker, was a big hit to the hundreds of students, faculty and patrons who attended this past Thursday.
At this year’s Lyceum series, Zeihan combined different topics involving global trade, politics and economics in order to make those who don’t know much about these topics understand what is happening in their world.
Zeihan helped all of his audience understand these dense topics with his concise PowerPoints.
Lauren Weeks, a sophomore communications major, said that Zeihan did a good job presenting such topics in an easy way to understand.
Weeks said that this event gave her insight on how intertwined politics and economics actually are.
“I didn’t realize how many politicians are involved in global trade,” Weeks said.
Joel Sinclair was impressed with how students and attendees received Zeihan’s presentation.
“We all have some kind of curiosity about the world we live in. With that thirst for information and knowledge brings bright minds that are able to break these complexities down for us and ultimately inspire us,” said Sinclair Student Life and Leadership coordinator of Student Activities.
After the presentation, Zeihan had a meet and greet to talk with students, faculty and other patrons.
Monika Paneru, a junior medical laboratory science major, was one of the students who got to attend the meet and greet.
Paneru said that Zeihan talked to her about global trades and “how it can affect a country’s international relations, immigrants and international students.”
“After listening to his talk, I felt the need and importance to be more updated and knowledgeable on global issues,” Paneru said.
Zeihan was brought by the ULM Campus Activities Board and Student Government Association but was selected by President Nick Bruno.
Sinclair said that one of the main reasons they brought Zeihan was because of his books, “The Accidental Superpower” and “The Absent Superpower.”
“Truthfully, we haven’t had an author or academic of any sort in quite a few years,” Sinclair said.
If you missed out on Zeihan’s presentation, his website, Zeihan on Geopolitics, has more about Zeihan and his two books.
On Zeihan’s website, he has a link you can click to “know your world” which shares facts about different countries all around the world.
ULM started the Lyceum Series in 2003 by bringing celebrities, journalists, authors and business owners to share with students and faculty factual and inspiring presentations.
Some previous speakers include ice cream entrepreneurs Ben and Jerry, author Nicholas Sparks and Sulu from Star Trek, George Takei.