In his own words, Braden said his intent was to travel the world and spend time learning ancient wisdom and traditions/prophecies from indigenous cultures that have not been influenced (or tainted) by the modern day Westernized world. He originally came from a scientific background, but sought to seek out a greater understanding of spiritual wisdom through his travels. I think his background & his experiences provide him with a fairly unique and dynamic vantage point into these current 'times'. On a personal level, when he communicates you can sense that he is communicating from high level of consciousness.

I have not read his books even though I should have by now, but I have listened to many of his interviews an quite a few of his lectures.

Regarding the other comments in your post. I think there are various actions being taken by world governments that indicate that there are people in power who are aware there will be great changes in the near future, but I feel that they likely spiritually disconnected and can only view the upcoming 'changes' in the context of calamities and catastrophes - and not in the context of change and transformation. The underground bunker construction, the global seed bank, the atmospheric aerosol spraying to deflect solar radiation, etc... To me these are efforts of individuals who are desperately trying to maintain the existing paradigm and still subscribe to fear-based consciousness.