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Welcome to The International Risk Podcast — the premier destination for high-level insights into global risk dynamics. Hosted by Dominic Bowen, an accomplished senior advisor, each episode delivers expert analysis and actionable intelligence on today’s most pressing international risks. From geopolitical tensions and economic upheavals to cybersecurity threats and environmental challenges, we bring clarity to the complex risks shaping our world.
Tailored for CEOs, Board Members, senior managers, and risk professionals, our weekly episodes are essential listening for those making strategic decisions in volatile environments. With distinguished guests from diverse sectors and geographies — including renowned industry experts, policymakers, and thought leaders — we provide a multidimensional perspective, equipping you with insights to stay ahead of emerging threats and capitalize on new opportunities.
Our host, Dominic Bowen, is a senior business leader, and Partner at 2Secure where he is Head of Strategic Advisory and leads a team of senior management consultants and advisors.
Join us for engaging, thought-provoking conversations that go beyond the headlines. Stay informed, stay ahead, and transform the way you perceive and manage international risks. The International Risk Podcast is not just a podcast; it’s is crucial listening for today's leaders.
343 Episodes
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In this episode, we host K. Campbell to examine how the escalating conflict with Iran should be understood not only as a military confrontation but as a wider risk event with implications for shipping, supply chains, critical infrastructure, and corporate decision-making. Drawing on his background in intelligence and security risk management, Campbell explains why the key escalation indicator is the point at which the Iranian regime believes its survival is truly at stake and why threats to t...
You might've seen the recent Inside the Manosphere documentary by Louis Theroux. About a year ago we had this episode with Dr. Allysa Czwerinsky discussing this exact topic! If Louis Theroux’s Netflix series Inside the Manosphere opened the door, this episode of The International Risk Podcast goes further. We unpack the red pill, the black pill, online misogyny, grievance, power, and the digital ecosystems pulling young men in. This is not just about toxic influencers. It is about the ideas, ...
In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Cedric de Coning and Andrew E. Yaw Tchie about the complex relationship between climate change, conflict, and human security in the Lake Chad Basin. Once a vital lifeline for millions of people across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, the region has become a powerful example of how environmental pressure, weak governance, displacement, and violent extremism can intersect to create a complex and evolving security ch...
Iran is facing what many experts describe as a looming state of “water bankruptcy”, a crisis where demand has so profoundly outstripped supply that the very foundations of economic stability, social cohesion, and national security are under strain. From drying reservoirs in Tehran to collapsing aquifers and land subsistence, water is no longer just an environmental issue, it’s a political one. Into Iran’s fifth consecutive year of drought, the president has openly warned that we may hav...
This episode with Rachel Minyoung Lee examines the evolving risk landscape surrounding North Korea, moving beyond headlines focused solely on nuclear escalation to explore the country’s broader strategic behaviour. We discuss how Pyongyang balances military signalling with pragmatic decision making, why weapons tests and military exercises are often calibrated rather than impulsive, and how sanctions, limited trade, and economic constraints shape the regime’s choices. The conversation al...
In this episode, we host Professor Sir David Omand to explore crisis management, counterterrorism, and intelligence at the highest levels of the British state. Drawing on a career that includes senior roles at GCHQ, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, and the Joint Intelligence Committee, Sir David reflects on how governments prepare for crises, why some threats are missed despite warning signs, and what effective decision-making looks like when events move faster than institutions. We discu...
In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith about the rapid expansion of climate litigation and what it means for corporate strategy, financial stability, and international risk. The discussion explores how climate lawsuits have evolved from targeted environmental challenges into a structural feature of the climate transition, reshaping legal duties, redistributing financial exposure, and creating new forms of liability for governments, ...
In this episode of the International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon. The conversation moves beyond the hype to examine the structural drivers of today’s nuclear competition, ranging from missile defence and deep precision strike capabilities to AI-enabled intelligence systems and shifting alliance politics...
This episode with Hamid Khalafallah examines the current state of Sudan’s civil war beyond shifting battlefield developments. We explore how patterns of territorial control have altered the structure of authority across the country, why governance capacity remains limited even where military advances have occurred, and how elite bargaining and the “political marketplace” logic have become further militarised. The discussion considers how prolonged conflict has reshaped civilian survival strat...
This episode with Elizabeth Bullock examines the lived reality of Russia’s modern warfare, drawing on her three years working in frontline Ukraine.From evacuating civilians under fire to navigating the evolving threats of drones, hypersonic missiles, and weaponised infrastructure, Elizabeth provides an unflinching look at how war shapes both society and strategy and what it reveals about the future of global security. The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global expert...
In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Professor Tim Lang about food security as a systemic risk embedded within highly interdependent global supply, trade, and governance networks. The conversation explores how deeply integrated supply chains, energy dependency, trade regimes, and regulation shape national food resilience in an era of climate volatility and geopolitical disruption. Find out more about how efficiency-driven “just-in-time” models prioritis...
This episode of the International Risk Podcast explores hypersonic missiles through the lens of global strategy, defense policy, and international security. Host Dominic Bowen interviews Dr. Jacob Parakilas from Rand Europe about what makes hypersonic weapons strategically significant beyond their speed. The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global experts, frontline practitioners, and senior decision-makers who are shaping how we understand and respond to international...
This episode with Professor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani examines how prolonged sanctions, inflation, and structural economic stagnation have reshaped Iran’s political economy. We explore how comprehensive sanctions since 2011 constrained oil revenues and fiscal capacity, why inflation and currency depreciation have reinforced one another over time, and how these pressures have affected poverty, middle-class security, and youth prospects. The discussion considers why sustained economic hardship has...
In this episode host Dominic Bowen unpacks the growing influence, and mounting challenges, facing BRICS as the bloc expands and expectations rise with Mihaela Papa. From Brazil’s 2025 presidency and AI regulation to climate finance, payment systems, and the realities of de-dollarisation, the discussion cuts through the headlines to examine what BRICS+ is actually delivering, and where structural risks remain. The episode also explores cooperation among expanded members, tensions around UN ref...
In this episode of the International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Dr Ola Rifai about the evolution of Syrian identity and how competing narratives of nationalism, sectarianism, and statehood have shaped the country’s political trajectory before and after 2011. Find out more about how identity was managed under the Assad regime, how sectarianisation unfolded differently in cities such as Homs and Damascus, and why collective memory, displacement, and institutional weakness continue ...
There are some days in the calendar that people will never forget. 8 December 2024 is a day Syrians will certainlt remember: Liberation Day. Now a national holiday, it marks the fall of the Assad family regime—a dictatorship that had ruled Syria for half a century. Fourteen months on, where is Syria today? Internationally, the country has secured a number of diplomatic victories. At home, however, the road to rebuilding and ensuring safety and stability remains long. Much of the country still...
In this episode, we host Professor Simon Grima to explore why risk management is too often treated as paperwork and how it can become a genuine strategic superpower when anchored to clear objectives and stakeholder needs. We unpack what “good” risk management looks like in practice: defining risk appetite, separating risk from uncertainty, avoiding box-ticking frameworks, and building indicators and registers that stay alive as the world changes. From challenging the "three lines ...
In this episode, we host Allizandra Herberhold. We explore how curiosity can become a pathway to radicalisation, and what families, educators, and communities can do before it’s too late. From recognising early warning signs such as isolation and behavioural changes, to unpacking the online pipelines that draw vulnerable young people towards nihilistic violent extremism, this conversation offers real-world insight and practical awareness. We discuss a successful intervention case, examine the...
Due to popular requests, we are re-releasing this episode, where Dominic Bowen and Dr. Moshe Lander discuss the recent spike in gold prices, the opportunities, and international risks. Find out more about what pushes gold trends, from uncertain geopolitical trends to Trump’s threats on tariffs, and an overall mistrust in governments and institutions worldwide. The conversation also addresses the psychological aspect of the trust in gold as a secure investment coming from humanity’s soci...
In this episode, Dominic Bowen and Russ Mould discuss why gold has returned to the centre of global finance amid rising geopolitical risk, sanctions, and record government debt. Find out more about what is driving gold’s surge beyond $4,000 an ounce, from central bank buying and reserve diversification to inflation fears and market concentration in US equities. The conversation also addresses whether gold truly functions as a haven, how it compares with equities, bonds, and AI-driven assets, ...
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