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The way in which we find information has changed over the last few decades, and with this change, we have foregone much of the reliability of the information we immerse ourselves in.
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.
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As of June 2023, 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 organizations who are working toward the successful resettlement of newcomers.
Our conversation with Lori will focus largely on Canada, which is experiencing a massive influx of refugees, and lays the basis for Lori’s specialism.
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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 permicrisis, 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. -
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.
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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 Architecture
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-207.pdf
NIST Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture - Practice Guide (Vol A-E)
https://www.nccoe.nist.gov/projects/implementing-zero-trust-architecture
ESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain for Customers - Part 1
https://media.defense.gov/2022/Nov/17/2003116445/-1/-1/0/ESF_SECURING_THE_SOFTWARE_SUPPLY_CHAIN_CUSTOMER.PDF
ESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices for Software Bill of Materials Consumption - Part 2
https://media.defense.gov/2023/Nov/09/2003338086/-1/-1/0/SECURING%20THE%20SOFTWARE%20SUPPLY%20CHAIN%20RECOMMENDED%20PRACTICES%20FOR%20SOFTWARE%20BILL%20OF%20MATERIALS%20CONSUMPTION.PDF
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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.
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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.
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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. -
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 below
https://www.omelas.io/elections-dashboard
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Today, we are joined by Ted McKenna. Ted is co-author of the bestselling book The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision, and a founding partner of DCM Insights. He is an accomplished sales and customer experience researcher whose work has appeared in the pages of Harvard Business Review and a sought-after speaker and advisor to sales, business development, and customer experience teams around the world.
Prior to co-founding DCMi, Ted held numerous executive leadership positions in product, strategy, research, advisory, and enablement for Tethr, Russell Reynolds Associates, and CEB (now, a part of Gartner).
Ted is an expert in analyzing behaviours—of customers, doer-sellers, frontline sales & service agents, leaders, and board members—and applying analytics in various forms of content, products, and services. At Tethr, Ted worked on mining unstructured conversational data using advanced data science and leading AI/ML tools to build models, scores, and behavioural frameworks (the most well-known model is the Tethr Effort Index). Previous roles called for deploying syndicated research methods to mine more structured sources such as surveys, diagnostics, demographics, and jobs data (including research contained within the bestselling book, The Challenger Sale).
Ted holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Iowa and resides with his family in the Chicago, Illinois area.
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Over the last few weeks we have talked about some of the facets of transnational organised crime, and today's episode will continue to explore these international risks.
According to the UK Government, the illicit drugs market is big business, worth an estimated £9.4 billion a year in the UK alone.
Globally, over 236.1 million ransomware attacks occurred globally in the first half of 2022.
The international drug trade and cybercrime are two independent but interconnected concerns that have emerged in response to the globalised aspect of the modern world. The international drug trade is the illegal trafficking of narcotics and psychoactive substances across borders, facilitated by sophisticated criminal organisations that operate on a global scale. In contrast, cybercrime refers to a wide range of unlawful crimes carried out using digital means, such as hacking, identity theft, and online fraud.
While these international risks may appear unconnected, they have some similarities, such as the employment of advanced technology, international networks, and the exploitation of vulnerabilities in global systems. Criminal organisations involved in the drug trade frequently use cyber tools to communicate, launder money, and evade law enforcement. Additionally, the dark web serves as a platform for both drug trafficking and various forms of cybercrime.
The intertwining of these illicit activities poses complex challenges for international law enforcement and requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach to address these risks. In order to help us unpack these two vast networks of transnational organised crime, and their potential intersections, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr Christopher Allen.
Dr. Chris Allen is a researcher, lecturer, consultant and commentator specialising in organised crime and how it operates. He has significant experience in lecturing on drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking and firearms trafficking, among other subjects.
Chris is a Senior Lecturer and Consultant of the London Policing College. He is also the creator of the U BATTLE toolkit, an investigative strategy development tool that began under City of London Police in 2018 and since then has gained national and international recognition. U BATTLE uses the adapted versions of traditional business analysis techniques to improve the development of investigative strategies in order to dismantle organised crime groups.
Furthermore, he is a member of the Society for Evidence Based Policing, the European Political Research Consortium Standing Group on Organised Crime and the International Association for the Study of Organised Crime.
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In recent podcasts, we have talked a lot about ESG, and the corporate responsibilities companies must take into account in their day-to-day working. The ways in which consumers view companies has changed dramatically over the last two decades, and corporate reputation is more important than ever, and reputations and brands are scrutinized than ever before. To help us unpack the importance of corporate reputation, as well as the risks companies can incur by not upholding a positive reputation, we are honoured to be joined by Rupert Younger.
Rupert Younger is the founder and director of Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation and co-author of two books - The Reputation Game and The Activist Manifesto. He has published widely on matters related to legitimacy, status, stigma, celebrity, reputation, and trust. He chaired The University of Oxford’s Socially Responsible Investment Committee (2012-2017) and is a member of the Senior Common Rooms at Wooster College Oxford and St Antony’s College Oxford. His views are regularly featured in major news outlets including the BBC, CNN, the Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Outside of Oxford, he is an Ambassador for the international mine clearance charity The HALO Trust and was appointed by HM Queen Elizabeth II as her High Sheriff of Hampshire for 2013-14. Rupert also co-founded the strategic communications consulting firm FGS Global.
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A few weeks ago, we spoke to Nathan Paul Southern, who gave us a deep dive into the links transnational criminal organisations have to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Transnational crime is a topic so vast, it would be an injustice to only cover one aspect of it, given its impact on international risk. Today, we are going to discuss a hugely pertinent issue, human trafficking and people smuggling. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ‘Human trafficking is a global crime that trades in people and exploits them for profit. People of all genders, ages and backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. Traffickers use violence, fraudulent employment agencies, and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick, coerce and deceive their victims’ Victims of trafficking can be any age, any gender and from anywhere in the world. According to UNODC’s 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons which is compiled using official figures from over 141 countries, female victims continue to be the primary targets. The Report shows that in 2020 42 percent of detected victims were women and 18 percent girls. For male victims, the Report shows that 23 per cent of detected victims were men and 17 per cent were boys. The Report shows that the share of children among detected trafficking victims has tripled while the share of boys has increased five times over the past 15 years. Globally, one in every three victims detected is a child. Girls are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation, while boys are used for forced labour. The share of detected male victims has risen from around 10 per cent in 2003 to 40 per cent in 2020.
To help us unpack this vast global issue, we are excited to be joined by Roy McComb. Roy is an experienced former law enforcement officer having held executive leadership roles as the Head of Organised Crime in Northern Ireland and a Deputy Director in the (UK) National Crime Agency, where he was the UK law enforcement lead for Modern Slavery/Human Trafficking, as well as Child Sexual Abuse.He now provides strategic advice on organized crime on a number of international projects, and is currently based in Mogadishu Somalia.
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As we have seen in the recent COP28 conference, and our episode with Valentina Lira, the nature of business for both leaders and stakeholders is vastly different to what it used to be at the start of the millennium. The rising importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance issues for businesses brings opportunities and risks and we are thrilled to be joined by Chris Coulter, CEO of GlobeScan.
Chris works with businesses leaders, NGOs and governmental organisations to help them better understand and respond to shifting stakeholder expectations, build trust with key constituencies and exert greater influence in shaping a more sustainable and equitable future.
Chris has two decades of experience providing evidence-based counsel to leadership organisations in the areas of reputation, purpose and sustainability.
Chris is co-author of two books, All In: The Future of Business Leadership (2018) and The Sustainable Business Handbook (2022), and has a podcast, All In: The Sustainable Business Podcast.
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Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 17 December 2023 to elect members of the National Assembly. While they were initially scheduled to be held by 30 April 2026, Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, called a snap election in November 2023, after previously announcing that snap elections could be either held in 2023 or 2024. In addition to the parliamentary elections, the Vojvodina provincial and local elections were held in 65 cities and municipalities, including the capital, Belgrade. Data released by the election commission on Wednesday showed President Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive party (SNS) won 46.75% of the vote, while a pro-European opposition coalition, Serbia Against Violence, got 23.66%.
The 2023 Serbian elections were highly contentious and sparked major controversy due to a number of reasons that created doubts about the electoral process's fairness and openness. President Aleksandar Vui's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won a resounding win, maintaining its political control. However, the elections were criticised by opposition parties and international observers for charges of media censorship, limited freedom of expression, and unequal access to the media, all of which favoured the incumbent party. There were allegations that state resources were being exploited to assist the SNS campaign, jeopardising the electoral environment's impartiality. Furthermore, the opposition parties expressed worries about voter intimidation and irregularities, calling the election results into question. In order to help unpack these controversies and what these elections mean for both Serbia and the Balkans region as a whole, we are joined once again by Dr Alexander Mesarovich.
Alexander Mesarovich earned his PhD (Politics) at the University of Edinburgh. His thesis analysed the impact of informal political networks on the EU accession processes of Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. Since finishing his PhD, Alexander has been a teaching assistant at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Stirling and has worked as a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Strathclyde. Alexander was previously on the IRP discussing the international risks associated with EU enlargement in the Balkans. You can listen to that conversation at episode 141. -
Today, we are thrilled to be joined by Nathan Paul Southern, an investigative journalist, a PhD Candidate at the University of St. Andrews, and a senior investigator at KSI, an independent investigative and research consultancy. As a non-traditional security specialist, he focuses on the links between organised crime, governance and armed groups. His work explores Chinese organised crime and the BRI, human trafficking, the global war on drugs, environmental crime, and the transnational trade in small arms. His geographical interest stretches through Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Europe, and the dynamic between organised crime and militancy in the Sahel.
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Today we are thrilled to be joined by Thammy Evans, a non-resident Senior Fellowat the GeoTech Center of the Atlantic Council and a member of its Global China Hub. She is also a Senior Research Associate of the Climate Change (In)Security Project – a collaboration between Rueben College of Oxford University and the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR).
Thammy has spent much of her career working in the dual areas of security sector reform and ecological security, and her diverse career spans systems sustainability, security sector reform, gender and security, public information and political advising. From meagre means raised in self-sufficient farming, she has weaved one strand of her career in and out of individual and household sustainability, community and corporate sustainability and now national and international ecological security. Spanning private, public sector, local and international NGOs, her work has taken her abroad extensively, working for and with the UN, NATO, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Reform and Justice (DCAF), Rocky Mountain Institute (resource efficiency consulting), Global Action Plan UK, and at the forerunner of Flamingo in international market research. She has been closely involved throughout her career with strategy and doctrine development internationally as well as turning policy and strategy into concrete plans and action. As a Colonel in the UK Army Reserves, she is spending the academic year 2023/24 as a full time Member of the Global Strategy Programme at the Royal College of Defence Studies
Thammy has published with Carnegie Europe, Chatham House, British Army Review, Modern Asian Studies, and Small Wars Journal on topics of ecological and regenerative security, security sector reform, human security, China, gendered analysis, and on travel. She is a speaker and facilitator for a variety of organisations and conferences. This is her first podcast appearance.
Watch how final negotiations balance energy opportunity with climate insecurity risks, 12 December 2023, Atlantic Council Cop28 Live blogEcological Security: The New Military Operational Priority for Humanitarian and Disaster Response co-authored with Gary Lewis, former regional director at UNEP, published 1 December in the book Climate Change, Conflict & (In)Security: Hot WarClimate Impact Scenarios (2023, Westminster Energy Forum)Building Global Climate Security (2021, Chatham House) co-authored with Dr Patrick Shroeder, includes my original working definition of regenerative securityEconomic Regeneration as a Vehicle for System Resilience (2021, Carnegie Europe) co-authored with John Elkington (the ‘godfather of sustainability) -
We are thrilled to be joined today by Valentin’s Lira. Valentina is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Chile, with a postgraduate degree in Environmental Economics from the University of California Berkeley.
She worked as a Development Engineer at CMPC Holding and as Director of the Development and Conservation Program of Fundación Chile, achieving the first sale of carbon credits from forestry projects in Chile.
Since 2011, Valentina Lira the Sustainability Division at Viña Concha y Toro, in charge of the development and implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Strategy. During this time, the company has integrated the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and has become the first Latin American company to make its commitment to reduce emissions based on climate science and became the largest winery being B Corp Certified.
Since 2020, she has been an active member of the SBT Net-Zero Expert Advisory Group, contributing to the generation of a global standard for Net Zero Emission scenario.
Valentina has recently returned from COP28 in Dubai. This year had an enormous emphasis on business and how companies can become more environmentally conscious. Environmental, social and corporate governance, also known as ESG is becoming a commercial necessity in addition to providing significant benefits to companies. In light of the intensifying global race to attain net-zero emissions, companies seeking to enter into new alliances and partnerships need to be able to articulate their ESG strategy and, more importantly, explain how they intend to carry it out. This makes getting support from a variety of stakeholders and creating a coherent, fair, and transparent approach to ESG at COP28 even more crucial. We are very excited to hear from Valentina about her experiences at the COP conference, as well as the opportunities and risks presented to businesses in the broader world of ESG
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In today's episode of The International Risk Podcast, we turn our attention to the intricate and dynamic process of EU enlargement in the Balkans. The region, known for its complex political and ethnic landscape, is at a pivotal moment in its integration into the European Union. We will explore the influence of the EU's policies on the Balkans, the socio-economic and political hurdles faced by countries in the region, and the broader geopolitical consequences of their potential accession to the EU. This discussion is timely and critical, as the stability and future of the Balkans are not just regional but also global concerns that touch on issues of democracy, security, and international cooperation.
We are privileged to welcome Dr. Alexander Mesarovich a scholar with an extensive background in the politics of EU enlargement. Dr. Mesarovich's research into the influence of informal political networks on accession processes provides us with a unique lens through which to examine the ongoing transformations in the Balkans. With his postdoctoral work at the European University Institute focusing on the diffusion of illiberalism and populism, Dr. Mesarovich offers invaluable insights into the current challenges and future prospects of EU enlargement policy.
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Today we are joined by Zion Lights, a passionate science advocate and writer who wants to change the world for the better. She is the author of the book The Ultimate Guide to Green Parenting, the nature poetry book Only a Moment, and was a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. She was the UK director of the pro-nuclear lobby group Environmental Progress, and currently the Founder Emergency Reactor, and a well-known public speaker. We are very grateful to have Zion on The International Risk Podcast today. .
For more information on Zion, please take a look at the links below
https://zionlights.substack.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zionlights/?originalSubdomain=uk - Visa fler
