Who and Why?

I am Bob Adams. In times past, I have been called Rob by a few people, even Beau! But they never stuck and I am good with Bob. I am an American citizen, a patriot who will never turn his back on the nation that gave him so much. On the other hand, I have traveled, worked, and lived in more than 40 nations for nearly six decades There is no contradiction. Stepping off the conveyor belt you were placed on at birth doesn’t change your citizenship, but it does change your outlook on the world you share with 8 billion (8,000 million in some languages) other humans. That is a very good thing. It allows you to see what is real, not fictional.

I am 80 years old and I look forward to the future as the most exciting and productive period of my life. Why not? My friends and associates range from 25 to 85 years of age, and there is room for a few more outside that range. I seriously do not care how old you are, that is your business. But you are very welcome here! Let’s do this together.

My work background

I have been an analyst since I was very young. Both my parents were analysts. None of us would use “analyst” to describe ourselves. It would be too pretentious. We were not trying to prove anything. We were just living our lives. In my family, you do not get credit for what comes naturally. It is what you do with it that counts and you cannot judge that alone, you need to listen to others.

Today, “geopolitical analysis” has become a popular term. I have done one version or another of that for 58 years since I boarded a plane in Hawaii in 1967 on my way as a newly trained and eager Peace Corps Volunteer. Since then, I have lived and/or worked in more than 40 nations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. I have worked for non-profit humanitarian agencies, the "foreign aid" programs of the UN and the US, and several international business firms. and stopped counting back in the old days of the 20th century.

I have my BA degree in Government from the University of Arizona in Tucson and my MPS/ID (Master of Professional Studies in International Development) from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The latter is a specialized degree for seasoned professionals that provided me with maximum flexibility to build around my real-world experience. I was one of only six admitted that year and the only one in a combination of international nutrition, agricultural economics, and political economy.

I have been published on six occasions in Barron’s, the Dow Jones weekly, had a syndicated column at Business Insider, and have been interviewed by a wide range of news services over the years including CNBC, the BBC, Singapore’s Straits-Times, the Associated Press, the Voice of America, Radio France Internationale, and others. My research today focuses on 21st-century technology and its impact on us all.

What’s in it for you?

My goal is to share what I can from my experience to help people work their way through a period of great change that will continue for the rest of our lifetimes. One thing I find very damaging today is the over-politicized and over-commercialized babble that has become so loud that it can sometimes seem impossible to think about our futures without fear.

As I like to say, the self-anointed “elite” who run governments today, regardless of their ideology from far-right to far-left and pretty much everyone else stuck in the middle, act like heads with their chickens cut off. A lot of noise, but they aren’t getting anywhere. We can do better than that.

Future Brief is something very new and designed to reach out to humans everywhere who want to see the future as welcoming, not threatening. If you sometimes wonder if that is possible, or just feel isolated, Future Brief is meant for you and anyone else who joins.

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Questions? Comments? Suggestions: Always feel free to write me by responding to any of my emails or just emailing me at “FutureBrief@substack.com”.