Dr. Leonard Hochberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Coordinator of the Mackinder Forum-US.

Len Hochberg received his PhD from Cornell University in political science. Initially he studied political philosophy; eventually, however, he worked under the direction of Professor Edward W. Fox, a geo-historian of modern Europe. Before his retirement from academia, Hochberg was a member of the faculty at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University (Oxford, OH), the Department of Sociology, Stanford University, and the Louisiana State University. At Stanford, he was named a fellow at the Hoover Institution. While at LSU, he co-founded and co-directed the Center for Geopolitical Studies, where he worked with research teams on applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to ethnic mobilization, supply chains, and war games. He co-founded Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (i.e. STRATFOR), which was one of the world’s premier companies engaged in geopolitical analysis of contemporary international crises.  Since his retirement from academia, he has served as the U.S. Coordinator of the Mackinder Forum—a group of diplomats, entrepreneurs, retired diplomats and flag officers, historians, and social scientists interested in discussing geopolitical theories and developments.

His recent, most significant publications in geopolitics include the following co-authored essays (with Dr. Michael Hochberg): “International Business Needs Grand Strategy,” Real Clear Defense, Nov. 21, 2020 [Abstract & Full Report]; “Could the United States Fight a Four-Front War? Not Today,” The Hill, June 6, 2021; “Tragedy, National Insecurity, and War in Ukraine,” Real Clear Defense, April 30, 2022;  “The Chip Industry and National Security,” Asia Times, Dec. 7, 2022; “The Semiconductor Industry and the China Challenge,” Asia Times, Dec. 9, 2022; “Ukraine: American Strategic Options, I, II, III” Real Clear Defense, Dec. 10, 12, and 14, 2022;  “‘Confining the Enemy’: Halford Mackinder’s Theory of Containment and the Conflict in Ukraine,” Naval War College Review, Spring 2023; “Iran’s Strategy of Proxy Encirclement,” Real Clear Defense, January 10, 2024; and “The Geopolitics of World War III,” Real Clear Defense, January 27, 2024.  The National Interest reposted “Iran’s Strategy of Proxy Encirclement” and “The Geopolitics of World War III” with different titles.

Len Hochberg has addressed the Naval War College, The United States Military Academy, the European Strategy Institute, and annual meetings of the APSA, ASA, AAG, among many other academic associations.  On June 30, 2023, Hochberg’s colleague, Dr. Robert Aguirre, delivered (at the EEOB) a coauthored presentation (under the auspices of the Mackinder Forum) devoted to deploying geopolitical theories to interpret GIS-generated maps of insurgent attacks.  The audience included representatives of the intelligence community, the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State, and the National Security Council.