The International Risk Podcast

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.Over the last few months, we have spoken a great deal about Russia, both its current illegal invasion of Ukraine, as well as the recent elections in Russia.For a huge part of modern history, Russia’s actions, both domestic and internationally, have had a huge ripple effect over the rest of the world, particularly within Europe; and this is what we are going to be discussing today. We are thrilled to be joined by Mathieu Boulegue to help us explore Russia and the international risks and opportunities this presents to Europe.Mathieu Boulegue is a freelance researcher and consultant in international conflict and security affairs, with a focus on the Former Soviet Union. He is a Consulting Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House. His research focuses on Russian defense policy and military affairs, Ukraine, Russia-NATO relations, Transatlantic security, and military-security issues in the Arctic and the Antarctic.Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.Misinformation, often referred to as false or inaccurate information, has become a prevalent issue in the digital age. With the rapid growth of social media platforms and the easy access to information online, misinformation can spread quickly and widely, influencing public opinion, shaping beliefs, and even impacting important societal decisions. Misinformation can take various forms, including fabricated news stories, manipulated images or videos, misleading statistics, and deceptive narratives. It can originate from various sources, including individuals, organisations, or even state actors with specific agendas. The consequences of misinformation can be far-reaching, leading to confusion, mistrust, polarisation, and sometimes even harm to individuals or communities. As such, combating misinformation has become a significant challenge for governments, tech companies, media organisations, and individuals alike, requiring a multi-faceted approach that involves fact-checking, media literacy education, and responsible online behaviour.  Misinformation is not just an issue for the here and now; in its current form, the actions taken as a result of trust in misinformation, or public disinformation campaigns can pose significant risks to society and the political landscape as we know it. To help us unpack these risks, we are privileged to be joined by Professor Stephan Lewandowsky. Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol whose main interest is in the pressure points between the architecture of online information technologies and human cognition, and the consequences for democracy that arise from those pressure points. His research examines the consequences of the clash between social media architectures and human cognition, for example by researching countermeasures to the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society, including conspiracy theories, and how platform algorithms may contribute to the prevalence of misinformation.  He is also interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science.His research is currently funded by the European Research Council, the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, the UK research agency (UKRI, through Centre of Excellence REPHRAIN), the Volkswagen Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation (via Wake Forest University’s “Honesty Project”), Google’s Jigsaw, and by the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC) Mercury Project. Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.The UN estimated there to be around 110 million displaced people worldwide; among these are around 36.4 million refugees. We are currently in the midst of a refugee crisis, spurred on by a rising number of people fleeing persecution, violence, and human rights violations caused by the negative effects of climate change and disasters need international protection. In 2022, 84% of refugees and asylum seekers fled nations particularly vulnerable to climate change, compared to only 61% in 2010. According to the UNHCR, 76 per cent of the world's refugees and others in need of international protection are housed by low- and middle-income countries, particularly countries that neighbour those where the refugees are from. The risks facing refugees are vast, from being displaced in some cases for years at a time, to facing rampant discrimination when seeking safety in another country; and yet we do not get the full picture through the news. In order to help us unpack this vast topic, we are thrilled to be joined by Lori Wilkison. Lori Wilkinson is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba. Her research centres on the economic and social outcomes of immigrants and refugees, with a special focus on women and youth. Her current projects include a national study of the pandemic arrival experiences of Afghan refugees, gender-based violence and newcomer women in Canada, international students and their perceptions of university and life in Canada, and the pandemic outcomes of Indigenous peoples and newcomers in Canada, USA and Mexico. She currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Migration Futures. In 2023, she was awarded Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. For over a decade, she has served as the director of Immigration Research West, a multidisciplinary group of over 100 members who work together to educate Canadians about the contributions of newcomers. She volunteers with several international, national and local community organisations who are working toward the successful resettlement of newcomers. Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.At the International Risk Podcast we strive to uncover the different facets of the world of risk we find ourselves in. But these risks do not occur in a vacuum. Today we are in a permacrisis, and year after year we hear about how the climate crisis is tightening its grip on the earth’s natural resources, and threatens the balance of the natural world. Similarly, both new and long-existing conflicts all over the world negatively affect geopolitics, and all over the world, both governments and civilians find themselves more and more at risk of economic decline.The interconnectedness of the modern world means that these crisis are again not isolated. Some of these factors have contributed to an increasing number of people seeking refuge in other countries. According to the UNHCR, More than 114 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. To discuss the international risks associated with the refugee crisis, we are thrilled to be joined by Petra Molnar.Petra Molnar is a lawyer and anthropologist specialising in migration and human rights. Petra has worked all over the world including Jordan, Turkey, Philippines, Kenya, Colombia, US/Mexico, Canada, Palestine, and various parts of Europe. She is the co-creator of the Migration and Technology Monitor, a collective of civil society, journalists, academics, and filmmakers interrogating technological experiments on people crossing borders. She co-directs the Refugee Law Lab at York University and is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Petra’s first book, The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in The Age of Artificial Intelligence, is published with The New Press in 2024.Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.It has been nearly six months since Israel began its campaign to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, following the horrific terrorist attack on October 7th. Today, Ben Lawson, intern at the International Risk Podcast is joined by Dominic Bowen, the host of the podcast to discuss some of the new developments in the conflict, as well as some of the key risks coming out of the region. Join us for this special edition of the International Risk Podcast as we discuss a range of topics including Israel-US relations, the ongoing humanitarian crisis,  the threat of Iranian involvement in the conflict  and the recent call to ban Al-Jazeera from Israel. Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.One of the key actions companies of all sizes have to take is to ensure that their cybersecurity is constantly up to date; but for many, the true scale of the risks surrounding poor cybersecurity remain largely unknown;so to help us unpack the risks and opportunities associated with cybersecurity, we are thrilled to be joined by Steve Orrin.Steve Orrin is Intel’s Federal CTO and a Senior Principal Engineer.Steve is a cybersecurity expert, and a leading authority on Public Sector/Federal mission and enterprise systems and solutions. He is the Intel representative to on security standards and guidance and has contributed to several NIST standards and guidance publications. He is a fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies and the chair of the Int Nat SseA alliance Cyber Committee. Links to some of the resources Steve mentions in this episode can be found here:NIST SP 800-207 - Zero Trust Architecturehttps://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-207.pdfNIST Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture - Practice Guide (Vol A-E)https://www.nccoe.nist.gov/projects/implementing-zero-trust-architectureESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain for Customers - Part 1https://media.defense.gov/2022/Nov/17/2003116445/-1/-1/0/ESF_SECURING_THE_SOFTWARE_SUPPLY_CHAIN_CUSTOMER.PDFESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices for Software Bill of Materials Consumption - Part 2https://media.defense.gov/2023/Nov/09/2003338086/-1/-1/0/SECURING%20THE%20SOFTWARE%20SUPPLY%20CHAIN%20RECOMMENDED%20PRACTICES%20FOR%20SOFTWARE%20BILL%20OF%20MATERIALS%20CONSUMPTION.PDFTell us what you liked!

When most people think about organised crime, their minds will instantly turn towards mafia style organisations; and these days no-where do mafias hold more of a reputation than in Latin America. According to the UNCAC Coalition (a global network of over 350 civil society organizations (CSOs) in over 100 countries, committed to promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)) Latin America is considered the most violent region on the planet, and according to the latest UNODC report, organised crime is responsible for 30% of homicides in LA. The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 indicates that the police and judiciary are considered amongst the most corrupt institutions in the region. In some Central American nations, the costs of crime are twice the regional average, while in others (such as the “Southern Cone” of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile) these costs are less than half the regional average. The total regional cost reaches US $236 billion per year. The risks associated with criminal groups of this status are vast for both Latin America, and the rest of the world, making discussions about this facet of organised crime that much more important. So, to discuss the international risks of Latin American organised crime with us today, it is a pleasure to welcome Damian Gariglio onto the podcast.  Damián Gariglio is a political scientist and researcher from Buenos Aires. He majored in International Relations and holds a Master's Degree in International Studies from Torcuato Di Tella University - during which he spent six months in Colombia on a student exchange program. He is a member of the network of experts of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. He has experience conducting research in Colombia and in Argentina working for different international NGOs and the public sector. He has worked in Bogota for the Colombian campaign to ban landmines as a humanitarian disarmament adviser. He was also the coordinator of the Observatory of Defence and Security for the Centre for International Political Studies (CEPI). In the research arena, Damián is currently working as an Assistant Researcher for the University of Buenos Aires focused on new criminal structures in Latin America. Tell us what you liked!

Achieving personal growth often requires experiencing discomfort. What if instead of tolerating discomfort (e.g., feeling awkward or uncomfortable), people actively sought it out? To explore this pressing question, we are joined by Kaitlin Woolley. Kaitlin is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, specializing in motivation science. Leveraging insights from marketing, psychology, behavioural economics, and organizational behaviour, her research delves into three key areas within motivation: 1) understanding predictors of motivation, 2) identifying cognitive biases in goal-related decisions, and 3) understanding the social dynamics of goal pursuit. Woolley’s research examines the psychological processes that influence goal pursuit, with the ultimate goal of developing interventions to enhance consumer motivation. Woolley’s research is published in top journals in marketing and psychology, including Psychological Review, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Psychological Science. She also publishes popular press articles, including in the Harvard Business Review and The Conversation. Her research is regularly covered by outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and NPR. Woolley has won several awards and honours for her research, including the Rising Star award from the Association for Psychological Science, the Young Scholar Award from the Marketing Science Institute, and the Early Career Award from the Society for Consumer Psychology. At Johnson, Woolley connects with MBA students in teaching the core marketing course and an elective on customer insights. She earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in psychology from Cornell University. Her MBA and PhD are from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.Last week, we heard from Ben Dubow, who gave us some fascinating insights into how he sees Putin’s next presidential term playing out and the implications of who comes second in the Russian presidential elections.  This week, we thought it crucial to hear from someone who has real world experience in international diplomacy, Ambassador John E Herbst. Ambassador John Herbst is the senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. Ambassador Herbst served for thirty-one years as a foreign service officer in the US Department of State.  He was the US ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. Prior to his ambassadorship, he was the ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2003.  Our conversation with Ambassador Herbst will provide crucial insight into how Putin's next term as president may play out for Russia and how Europe and the US could be impacted.  Tell us what you liked!

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn for all our great updates.As we step into 2024, a critical year for democracy worldwide, the stage is set for 64 national elections, marking an unprecedented turnout at the polls. The backdrop is a canvas of escalating international tensions, the daunting specter of climate change, and stretched thin inter-governmental organizations like the UN and NATO. In a year of potential transformative elections, with prospects of Kier Starmer as UK’s Prime Minister and scrutiny of Joe Biden’s presidency, Russia presents a contrasting narrative with its upcoming elections from March 15th to 17th. The recent demise of Alexei Navalny, Putin's chief rival, casts a foreboding shadow over these elections. As President Putin stands poised for a potential fifth term, the halted advance in Ukraine and the shifting global perception of Russia raise critical questions about what lies ahead. : To dissect these complexities, we're joined by Ben Dubow, a vanguard in AI and disinformation analysis with a lens on Russia. At the helm of Omelas, and fellow at the Center for European Policy and Analysis, Ben leverages AI to parse open-source intelligence, offering insights that have influenced global media and scholarly discourse. Our conversation with Ben will traverse the future of the war in Ukraine post-elections, the intricacies of Russian AI in disinformation, the influence of oligarchs on Putin's decisions, and the intricate web of Putin's global relationships. We'll explore the economic, political, and social trajectories under Putin's looming term, considering the international chessboard of elections, including the US’s, and the potential withdrawal from NATO. Join us as we delve into the implications of Putin's presidency on the global stage. Ben's Dashboard to follow the Russian Elections can be found belowhttps://www.omelas.io/elections-dashboardTell us what you liked!