Japan  vs. Denmark, Thursday 20:30 [SAST]

Japan is essentially a group of islands within islands. This geography encouraged it to develop skill in trade and naval warfare. As a result, Japan was the first Asian state to become a peer of the Western world's global powers.

Following defeat in World War II, the Japanese focused their energy on trade, and built the world's second biggest economy. But the party ended abruptly in 1990 with a property market crash. Since then the country has drifted in uncertainty and stagnation, with deep economic troubles worsened by a shrinking population.

A war among nations erupted at precisely 4 pm, South Africa time, today, June 11th. This war will last exactly 31 days, ending on July 11th.

As experts in global geopolitics and security, STRATFOR knows it's normally difficult to so definitively predict the duration of a global struggle. In this instance, however, we're talking about the FIFA World Cup. The climactic battle in this world war – the final match - will be witnessed by an estimated one billion people watching on TV, computers and mobile devices.

While the world's best football (soccer) players kick around the ball for a month, the citizens of their respective countries may be distracted from their geopolitical concerns. It should be noted, however, that the highs and lows of football passions have sent countries into fits of bliss as well as occasionally exacerbating geopolitical conflicts – from the dissolution of Yugoslavia and ethnic tensions in Spain to a war between Honduras and El Salvador. STRATFOR isn't predicting that the World Cup will cause any conflicts this year. But we'll be watching
geopolitics play out at the same time that we're keeping an eye on the football matches.