William Engdahl

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Frederick William Engdahl
Born (1944-08-09) August 9, 1944
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
OccupationWriter
Websitewilliamengdahl.com

Frederick William Engdahl (born August 9, 1944) is an American writer based in Germany. He describes himself as an "economic researcher, historian and freelance journalist."[1] His writings have been described as promoting or reflecting conspiracy theories concerning the September 11 attacks, the Arab Spring, as well as global warming.[2][3][4] He has contributed to outlets and organizations including the LaRouche movement, RT, and GlobalResearch.[4][3]

Early life and education

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, Engdahl grew up in Texas and earned a degree in politics from Princeton University in 1966 (BA), followed by graduate study in comparative economics at Stockholm University from 1969 to 1970. He later worked as an economist and freelance journalist in New York and in Europe.

Career

Engdahl began writing on oil politics following the first oil shock in the early 1970s. He has also been associated with the LaRouche movement and served as an economics editor for Executive Intelligence Review.[5][6]

His first book, A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order, discusses the roles he attributes to figures such as Zbigniew Brzezinski and George Ball in the 1979 overthrow of the Shah of Iran. In 2007, he published Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation, which criticizes corporate strategies related to genetically modified seeds, including those associated with Monsanto. He has also written for publications including the Asia Times.

Engdahl has contributed to outlets such as GlobalResearch (operated by the Centre for Research on Globalization), the Russian website New Eastern Outlook,[7] and Veterans Today.[8] He has also appeared as a contributor on RT and Voice of Russia.[9][10][4]

He has been listed as a member of the scientific committees of publications such as Geopolitica[11] and Eurasia.[12][13][14] He was a keynote speaker at the conference "Geopolitics of Multipolarity", held at Moscow State University in 2011. [15]

Personal life

Engdahl has been reported to have lived for many years near Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Beliefs

George Soros conspiracies and color revolutions

Engdahl has written about the alleged influence of financial actors such as George Soros and the Rothschild family. Author Michael Wohlraich describes Engdahl as an early populariser of Soros-related conspiracy theories in the United States, noting that he wrote in the Executive Intelligence Review in 1996 that "The most important of such 'Jews who are not Jews,' are the Rothschilds, who launched Soros’s career. Soros is American only in his passport." [16][17] This has been described by the anti-fascist group Unicorn Riot as an example of the "rootless cosmopolitan" trope.[6]

Similarly, historian Ivan Kalmar has discussed the origins of the "Soros myth", identifying the Executive Intelligence Review as a possible early source and referring to Engdahl's 1996 article as part of that context.[18]

In 2008, Engdahl alleged in GlobalResearch that the 2008 Tibetan uprising was influenced by organizations linked to the Soros family and the United States government. This interpretation was later criticised by Tibet scholar Tsering Shakya as relying on "insinuations" and "simplistic arguments based on 'guilt by association'".[19][2]

Engdahl has also alleged that the Euromaidan uprising in Ukraine was organised by a US-funded network with origins in Belgrade.[14]

Abiogenic petroleum

Engdahl has stated that he came to believe in 2007 that petroleum is of geological origin, a view that differs from the prevailing scientific understanding that it is primarily of biological origin.[20]

He has also described petroleum as being generated from carbon through heat and pressure deep underground. Engdahl has referred to himself as a former peak oil proponent, arguing that peak oil is better understood as a political phenomenon related to petrodollar warfare.[21]

Scepticism of global warming

Engdahl argued in 2009 that the problem of global warming is exaggerated.[22] He has also described global warming as a "scare" and a "thinly veiled attempt to misuse climate to argue for a new Malthusian reduction of living standards for the majority of the world while a small elite gains more power."[22]

Bill Gates/vaccine conspiracy theories

A 2010 article by Engdahl, published on websites including Prison Planet and Voltaire Network and later cited by figures such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Alex Jones, has been discussed in the context of conspiracy theories concerning Bill Gates and vaccines. According to one study, the article claimed that Gates, Buffett, and Turner were promoting a "global eugenics agenda", and that vaccines could be used to reduce population growth.[23]

Greater Middle East Project theories

Engdahl has argued that United States policy in Africa and the Middle East is aimed at securing control over natural resources and limiting the economic influence of countries such as China and Russia.[24]

Turkey and the CIA role in global politics

Engdahl has argued that the CIA has been involved in several historical revolutions, including the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and the 2011 Egyptian revolution.[4]

In 2016, an article attributed to Engdahl circulated widely in Turkey, alleging that the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt had been engineered by Zbigniew Brzezinski. According to subsequent analyses, the claim was based on a purported article in The National Interest that was not authentic.[3][25]

Al-Monitor reported that Engdahl stated to a Russian think tank in August 2016 that former CIA official Graham E. Fuller had been present near Istanbul during the coup attempt, monitoring events. The same report noted that Fuller was in Washington at the time and described the episode as part of a broader disinformation narrative.[26]

Selected publications

References

  1. Staff writer (June 2008). "The Seed Barons: How Big Ag, Big Oil & Big Government are Hijacking the World's Food Supply" (PDF). Acres U.S.A.: A Voice for Eco-Agriculture. 38 (6). ISSN 1076-4968. Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  2. Shakya, Tsering (May 2008). "The Gulf Between Tibet and Its Exiles". Far Eastern Economic Review. 171 (4). Retrieved 2026-04-29.
  3. Akyol, Mustafa (6 September 2016). "Did Zbigniew Brzezinski blame CIA for Turkey's coup?". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  4. "Die für den Westen sprechen". dekoder (in German). 19 January 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  5. Welsh, Susan (11 September 1999). "Masthead" (PDF). Executive Intelligence Review. 26 (36). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  6. ""Eat the Children": Decades of Far-Right LaRouche Provocations Renewed". Unicorn Riot. Unicorn Riot. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  7. "Russia's Use of Media and Information Operations in Turkey" (PDF). RAND Corporation. 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  8. Kirchick, James (22 July 2014). "Inside the Bizarro World of 'Russia Today'". Time. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  9. Sanchez, W. Alejandro (2015). "The Russian Media in Latin America" (PDF). Florida International University. FIU Latin American and Caribbean Center. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  10. "Where Foreign "Experts" and "Political Scientists" on Russian Television Come From". SRB Podcast. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  11. "Comitato Scientifico". Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  12. "Comitato Scientifico". eurasia-rivista.org (in Italian). 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-11-04. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  13. Schechowtsow, Anton (21 February 2014). "Ukraine: Das Netzwerk der Euromaidan-Verleumder". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  14. Schechowtsow, Anton (21 February 2014). "Ukraine: Das Netzwerk der Euromaidan-Verleumder". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  15. "ЕВРАЗИЯ :: Многополярность наносит ответный удар". Evrazia (in Russian). Retrieved 29 April 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. "The Secret Financial Network Behind "Wizard" George Soros" (PDF). Executive Intelligence Review. 1 November 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  17. Wolraich, Michael (2010). Blowing Smoke: Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81937-7.
  18. Kalmar, Ivan (14 March 2020). "Islamophobia and anti-antisemitism: the case of Hungary and the 'Soros plot'". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (1–2): 182–198. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2019.1705014.
  19. Topgyal, Tsering (2011). "Insecurity Dilemma and the Tibetan Uprising in 2008". Journal of Contemporary China. 20 (69): 183–203. doi:10.1080/10670564.2011.541627.
  20. Glasby, Geoffrey P. (2006). "Abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons: an historical overview". Resource Geology. 56 (1): 83–96. Bibcode:2006ReGeo..56...83G. doi:10.1111/j.1751-3928.2006.tb00271.x. S2CID 17968123.
  21. Engdahl, F. William (25 September 2007). "Editorial: "Confessions of an 'Ex' Peak Oil Believer"". Engdahl Oil Geopolitics. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  22. Engdahl, F. William (24 September 2009). "Global Warming or Global Freezing: is the ice really melting?". Financial Sense. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  23. Siraki, Arby Ted; Mohammad, Malek H. (3 April 2023). "Bill Gates and the 'new normal' COVID-19 conspiracy theories: 'it's a new thing' or nothing new under the sun?". Journal for Cultural Research. 27 (2): 136–153. doi:10.1080/14797585.2023.2207129.
  24. Engdahl, F. William; Zhen, Wang (3 April 2014). "The Rise of China and World Order: An Interview with F. William Engdahl". International Critical Thought. 4 (2): 131–141. doi:10.1080/21598282.2014.906536. S2CID 143691671.
  25. Costello, Katherine (2018). Russia’s Use of Media and Information Operations in Turkey: Implications for the United States (Technical report). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  26. "Turks accuse CIA of engineering failed coup". Al-Monitor. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2026.