Zeihan predicts Turkey could push north if Russia, NATO and Germany weaken

Peter Zeihan argues that steep demographic decline across Central and Eastern Europe could create a strategic vacuum over the next two decades. In that scenario, he predicts Turkey would be the regional power with sufficient demographic momentum to expand influence northwards through the Balkans and towards Ukraine, potentially up to Poland’s frontier, while emphasising this is an inference rather than a forecast of inevitable war. The claim is presented as speculative analysis rather than evidence-based prediction.