The International Risk Podcast

Episoade

• Episode 380: The Future of Global Services: Risk, Resilience and AI 09.07.2026 36min

  In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, host Dominic Bowen is joined by Peter Bendor-Samuel, founder and executive chairman of Everest Group and one of the world's leading experts on IT services and enterprise transformation, to unpack the forces reshaping global outsourcing, offshoring and near-shoring. Bendor-Samuel challenges the assumption that AI is set to end labor arbitrage, arguing that companies willing to change how they operate are already seeing major productivity gains...
• Episode 379: Outsourcing to India: Managing Cyber, Legal, and Data Risks 08.07.2026 30min

  As India cements its position as one of the world's leading technology and outsourcing hubs, international organisations face an increasingly complex cyber, legal, and regulatory environment. In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with N.S. Nappinai, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and one of the country's leading experts on cyber law, data protection, and digital governance. The conversation explores how businesses can navigate India's rapidly e...
• Episode 378: Climate Change and the Future of War: Energy, the Arctic, and Military Readiness 03.07.2026 31min

  In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Dr Duncan Depledge about climate change and its growing impact on the world's militaries. This conversation looks at the geopolitics of the Arctic, the role of energy and logistics in warfare, and the growing competition across the High North, exploring how environmental change has become a central concern in defence planning. Duncan explains why it is a problem for militaries today rather than in the future, a...
• Episode 377: What They're Not Telling You About the 2026 World Cup 02.07.2026 45min

  This could be the most controversial World Cup in history. In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, host Dominic Bowen is joined by Professor Simon Chadwick, one of the world's leading experts on the geopolitical economy of sport, to unpack the politics behind the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Chadwick challenges the term "sportswashing," arguing it has been selectively applied by the global north while similar issues in co-hosts Mexico and Canada go largely unexamined. He explains why recen...
• Episode 376: Humanitarian Aid Landscape One Year After the Dismantling of USAID with Nicholas Enrich 24.06.2026 35min

  For more than six decades, USAID sat at the centre of the global humanitarian and development system. A little over a year ago, USAID became one of the first targets of the Trump administration’s DOGE campaign. Today, the hum and development sector is grappling with profound uncertainty at precisely the moment humanitarian needs are growing, especially with the rise in intrastate conflicts. What has the loss of USAID meant in practice? How are communities responding? And what does the future ...
• Episode 375: Mapping Power: Gerrymandering, Redistricting, and the Future of US Political Power with David Daley 17.06.2026 31min

  This episode hosts David Daley to examine the accelerating role of gerrymandering in shaping American democracy and what it reveals about the pressures facing modern electoral systems. The conversation explores his argument that democratic strain is driven not only by electoral cycles or individual political choices, but by the deliberate drawing of electoral maps that enables political actors to select their voters, weaken accountability, and reshape the incentives that underpin democratic c...
• Episode 374: The Illusion of Separation: Civil-Military Coordination in Modern Conflict with David Higgins 12.06.2026 27min

  This episode hosts David Higgins to explore the complex and often misunderstood boundary between military operations, humanitarian action, and political stabilisation in modern conflict environments. Drawing on two decades of experience across the British Army, the United Nations, and geopolitical advisory work, we look at how different institutions operating in the same space can interpret the same conflict in fundamentally different ways, and how those differences shape outcomes on the grou...
• Episode 373: Social Norms and Political Violence with Erez Levin 10.06.2026 33min

  This episode hosts Erez Levin to examine the shifting boundaries of acceptable public speech and what this reveals about the health of modern democratic societies. The conversation explores his central argument that liberal democracies depend not only on formal legal frameworks, but also on informal social guardrails, shared moral taboos that limit the public acceptability of overt hateful bigotry and dehumanising rhetoric. As these guardrails weaken in fragmented and algorithmically driven i...
• Episode 372: Who Controls Your Health Data? Palantir, the NHS and the Risks of Digital Dependency 08.06.2026 25min

  In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Phil Booth, coordinator of medConfidential and a long-standing campaigner on medical confidentiality, patient consent and data governance, about what Palantir’s growing role in the NHS reveals about public trust, private technology companies and the data infrastructure increasingly underpinning the modern state. The conversation examines the NHS Federated Data Platform, the use of Palantir Foundry and the wider...
• Episode 371: Mali at the Breaking Point: Insurgency, Military Rule, and the Future of the Sahel with Ulf Laessing 05.06.2026 21min

  This episode with Ulf Laessing examines the recent escalation of unrest in Mali and what it reveals about the deeper fragmentation of authority across the central Sahel. The conversation explores how sustained insurgent pressure, weak state institutions, and shifting alliances between military governments and armed groups are reshaping the trajectory of the Malian state. We discuss why Mali has become a central node in the wider Sahel crisis, how jihadist groups are adapting their operational...
• Episode 370: The Global Race to Detect the Next Outbreak: Ebola, Hantavirus, and the Politics of Public Health Response with Professor Meru Sheel 03.06.2026 37min

  In this episode, we host Professor Meru Sheel to examine whether global health systems are prepared for the next major infectious-disease outbreak. Drawing on her work in infectious-disease epidemiology, vaccine research, emergency preparedness and global health security, Professor Sheel explores the difficult questions now facing governments, public-health agencies and international institutions: how quickly outbreaks can be detected, how effectively information is shared, and how public-hea...
• Episode 369: Reopening the Strait: Hormuz, Sea Power, and the Fragility of Global Trade with Dr Emma Salisbury 01.06.2026 37min

  This episode with Dr. Emma Salisbury explores how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz exposed the vulnerabilities of the global maritime system, revealing how a regional conflict can rapidly become a global economic and security crisis. The conversation examines why critical maritime chokepoints remain central to international trade, energy security, and geopolitical competition, and what recent disruptions tell us about the resilience of the modern global economy. We discuss the challenges o...
• Episode 368: Shadow Policing and Transnational Repression: China’s Global Campaign Against Critics with Sam Goodman 29.05.2026 29min

  In this episode, we host Sam Goodman to explore China’s global campaign of transnational repression, shadow policing, and pressure against critics abroad. Drawing on his work on Hong Kong, UK-China relations, sanctions, the BN(O) community, and economic transnational repression, Sam explains how Chinese and Hong Kong authorities project power beyond their borders through surveillance, diaspora intimidation, legal pressure, financial coercion, and attempts to silence pro-democracy voices far b...
• Episode 367: From Rodents to Cruise Ships: Hantavirus and the Risks of a Hyperconnected World with Dr Giulia Gallo 27.05.2026 30min

  In this episode, we host Dr Giulia Gallo to explore hantavirus, the recent MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, and why a rare but serious infectious disease can generate global headlines without necessarily becoming a pandemic-style threat. Drawing on her work in molecular virology, viral-host interactions and viral glycoproteins at The Pirbright Institute, Dr Gallo explains what hantaviruses are, why they are not new, how they are carried by rodents, and why different hantaviruses cause differe...
• Episode 366: The UAE Exit from OPEC: Geopolitics, Energy Security, and the Shifting Gulf Balance 25.05.2026 31min

  The Gulf is entering a period of profound geopolitical and economic uncertainty. As tensions around the Strait of Hormuz continue and global energy markets face mounting pressure, the United Arab Emirates has taken the extraordinary decision to leave OPEC, raising major questions about the future of energy coordination, regional alliances, and global economic stability. Today on The International Risk Podcast, we are joined by Dr Dania Thafer, one of the leading analysts of Gulf politics, ene...
• Episode 365: After the Fighting Stops: Landmines and the Cost of Conflict with James Denselow from The HALO Trust 22.05.2026 32min

  In this episode we explore the lasting impact of landmines. Across Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and dozens of other conflict-affected countries, landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to kill, injure, and displace civilians long after wars have ended. Fields cannot be farmed, schools cannot reopen, refugees cannot safely return home, and communities remain trapped by the hidden legacy of conflict beneath their feet. This is not only a humanitarian issue. Landmine contamination af...
• Episode 364: Water Weaponisation in Modern Conflict with Dr. Marcus King 20.05.2026 30min

  Across Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and now the Gulf, water systems are no longer just collateral damage. They are becoming targets and tools of coercion. Dams, desalination plants, pumping stations, rivers, reservoirs, and electricity grids are being pulled into the battlespace, with civilians paying the highest price. This matters far beyond the battlefield. When water infrastructure is attacked, the consequences ripple through food security, energy production, public health,...
• Episode 363: Physical Security and Workplace Safety with Michael Julian 18.05.2026 32min

  This episode with Michael Julian explores the growing realities of workplace violence, active threats, and organisational preparedness in an increasingly volatile security environment. The conversation examines why physical violence is becoming a more pressing concern for companies, schools, and public institutions, and how rising social instability, economic pressure, insider risks, and wider geopolitical tensions are reshaping workplace security planning. We discuss the behavioural and psyc...
• Episode 362: The Amazon Rainforest, Gold Mining, and the Development Dilemma in Suriname with John Goedschalk 15.05.2026 21min

  This episode hosts John Goedschalk to examine the relationship between environmental sustainability, economic development, and long-term climate resilience in the Amazon rainforest and the Guiana Shield. The conversation explores why the forests of Suriname are disproportionately important to global climate stability, regional rainfall systems, and food production across South America. Drawing on the science behind the “Flying Rivers” system, the discussion explains how rainforest evapotransp...
• Episode 361: How World Wars Begin: Great Power Competition and the Global Order with Jake Clapham 13.05.2026 38min

  This episode with Jake Clapham explores the growing fragility of the international order, examining how institutional collapse, strategic miscalculation, and great power rivalry can transform regional crises into global conflicts. Drawing on the history of Imperial Japan, the Second World War, and contemporary flashpoints including Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Strait of Hormuz, the conversation considers whether the world is entering a new era of prolonged geopolitical instability. We discuss how...