Geopolitical threats can have significant impacts on businesses, making it important for organizations to broaden their knowledge and awareness beyond typical risks faced.
Thorough threat and vulnerability assessments are crucial for organizations to mitigate risks associated with armed conflicts and develop specific strategies to address these risks.
Deep dives
The Genesis of the Report: Addressing the Lack of Thought Leadership
The podcast episode discusses the genesis of the report on armed conflicts and resilience planning, highlighting the lack of thought leadership on this subject. The co-author, Nate Bridges, explains that the idea for the report originated from the escalating Ukraine-Russian war. Wondering about the experiences of crisis management professionals in those affected regions, Bridges reached out to professionals in Ukraine, Romania, and Poland using LinkedIn. The lack of consolidated knowledge on business continuity management during armed conflicts prompted Bridges to leverage his network and gather experts from various regions, including the Middle East, Africa, and the Philippines, to share their experiences and create a desk reference-style report on armed conflicts and resiliency planning.
Geopolitical Threats and Risk Analysis: Broadening Knowledge
The podcast highlights the importance of broadening knowledge and awareness of geopolitical threats beyond typical risks faced by organizations. Bridges emphasizes the need for global organizations to monitor and assess geopolitical events that may indirectly impact their operations, such as financial systemic events, political instability, labor strikes, and ideological conflicts. He suggests utilizing global trackers and open-source information to gather data and recommends reaching out to certified professionals in specific regions through platforms like LinkedIn for localized insights. The podcast also mentions the value of establishing relationships with individuals in target regions in advance to gain open-source information, understand local impacts, and seek support or advice during armed conflicts or crises.
Threat and Vulnerability Assessment: Mitigating Risks and Making Informed Decisions
The episode stresses the need for organizations to conduct thorough threat and vulnerability assessments to mitigate risks associated with armed conflicts. Bridges explains that these assessments involve examining potential threats, such as destruction of operations, kidnapping, communication outages, and infrastructure risks, and evaluating the adequacy of existing plans and mitigation measures. Expert domain professionals from various departments, including IT, cyber, third-party management, and facilities, should be involved in the assessment process. These assessments help organizations make informed decisions and develop specific strategies, such as regional resource reallocation, hardening facilities, transportation considerations, and staff retention measures, to address the risks posed by armed conflicts.
You can’t open a news browser, turn on the radio or TV without hearing about a conflict, war, protest or some form of civil unrest. Today’s guest formed a small army of his own to draft a report with recommendations on armed conflict and resilience.
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 111 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week I’m joined by one of the co-authors of a report called Armed Conflicts: Changing the Paradigm of Resiliency Planning – Nate Bridges.
Nate and I discuss his reasons for writing the report and how there was a general lack of thought leadership on this subject. He explains that this isn’t just about war – but how geopolitical threats can affect your business too. He encourages us to broaden our knowledge and build relationships as think about resilience differently in the days ahead.
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