The Political Risk Podcast

Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, joins Mosaic’s global political risk leader Finn McGuirk, for the latest special episode in association with Mosaic Insurance. Colonel Zhou Bo is a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University, a distinguished fellow of the Global Governance Institution, and a regular PLA speaker at the Munich Security Conference and the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. The title of his new book, published in March 2025, is perhaps the biggest question of the age, and the subject of this fascinating discussion between these two geopolitical risk experts.

Political violence and terrorism risks to renewable energy projects are the focus of the latest special episode in association with Gallagher Specialty. Two guests feature in this timely conversation: Harry Walker, director, structured credit and political risks at Gallagher Specialty; and Adam Carrier, head of consulting, at AnotherDay, a Gallagher company.

Hamish Greenwood is head of crisis management at McGill and Partners. In January the broker launched a new war risk reinsurance facility for commercial property in Ukraine. A good example of market innovation and collaboration, it uses FortuneGuard’s AI-powered tech, fuelled by three years of Ukrainian government air defence data, and partners local capacity from Ukrainian insurer ARX with several war risk facultative reinsurers in the Lloyd’s and London market.

Verisk Maplecroft’s Political Risk Outlook draws on a unique portfolio of country risk data, alongside analysis from its team of experts, to strip back the complexity of some of the key global issues driving the risk environment for international business. This special episode features Jimena Blanco, Chief Analyst at Maplecroft, and Hugo Brennan, Maplecroft’s Research Director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Political Risk Outlook is designed to help companies and investors understand where and how geopolitical and political risks are emerging and what these mean for them. Here’s the link to the report.https://www.maplecroft.com/insight/outlooks/political-risk-outlook/

Charles Hecker spent forty years travelling and working in the Soviet Union and Russia as a political risk consultant and journalist. He is the author of ‘Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia’. We discuss this acclaimed new book and draw lessons from the highs and lows of doing business in post-Soviet Russia, from communism to capitalism, and to the exodus of three years ago. There’s also time to think about the postwar future, including potential conditions for a return to Russia by some Western firms, if the geopolitical mood-music changes and should sanctions be lifted.

Srdjan Todorovic is head of political violence and hostile environment solutions at Allianz Commercial. In this episode we talk through the Allianz Risk Barometer 2025. Geopolitics is a recurring theme throughout the report, and our conversation focuses on three of its top ten ranked risks, including business interruption, cyber risk, and political risk and political violence. We discuss the hot topic of state-sponsored sabotage operations, representing a serious risk management challenge for commercial clients, while provoking questions for underwriters across several lines of business. Lastly, here’s the link to the Allianz Risk Barometer. https://commercial.allianz.com/news-and-insights/reports/allianz-risk-barometer.html

The insurance industry and the private sector are on the frontline of hybrid warfare, already a big news story in 2025. Elisabeth Braw is a journalist and author focused on responses to ‘Gray-zone’ aggression, including sabotage operations, cyber-attacks and damaging subsea cables. She is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative, and a senior associate fellow at the European Leadership Network. She is the author of “Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World” and “The Defender’s Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-Zone Aggression”. Her next book, “The Undersea War”, is due out in 2026. Elisabeth is also a columnist for Foreign Policy and Politico Europe, plus a podcaster for WTW’s “Geopolcast”.

Southeast Asia is at the forefront of Asia Pacific geopolitics, with the US and China vying for influence. Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia recently became BRICS ‘partner countries’. The Philippines has tilted towards the US since Bongbong Marcos took office, and regularly clashes with China to defend its maritime borders. Meanwhile, several ASEAN countries are developing a biometric cross-border ‘Schengen’ visa, but focused on tax, immigration and security concerns. This episodes features Aidan Mooney, senior intelligence analyst, and Adrian Poole-Robb, managing director for Asia business development, KCS Group Asia.

A special episode, in association with Mosaic, focused on the integrity of borders amid a volatile new ‘age of secession’. Mark Wheeler is co-CEO and co-founder of next-gen specialty insurer Mosaic Insurance. Dr Timothy Less is a senior advisor for geopolitics at Cambridge University’s Centre for Risk Studies, and previously worked in the British Diplomatic Service. The thawing out of frozen conflicts in the Balkans represents a ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’, Tim argues, for resurging great power competition and attempts to redraw borders globally. Link to Tim’s “Age of Secession” CIRSD article below. https://www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/horizons-summer-2024--issue-no-27/the-new-age-of-secession

Infrastructure is on the frontline of so-called ‘grey zone’ tactics used by government-sponsored actors, including cyber-attacks that can be aimed at disruption, theft and corporate espionage, meaning businesses should be vigilant and resilient against the threats. Which is where AnotherDay comes in, as a Gallagher company and specialist crisis and risk management consultancy. Sneha Nichols‑Dawda is a cyber risk consultant at AnotherDay, with a background in cyber security, technology policy and governance, and was previously a researcher at defence and security think-tank The Royal United Services Institute. She has previously appeared in media such as Times Radio and Channel 4 News, providing insights into cyber security issues and events, and holds a Masters from the University of Sheffield in Global Security, and a Bachelors degree from Aberystwyth University in International Politics.