Understanding the Risks Faced by Survivors of Torture: A Humanitarian and Policy Perspective

Understanding the Risks Faced by Survivors of Torture: A Humanitarian and Policy Perspective

Written by Elisa Garbil – 18.01.2026 Millions of people worldwide are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict, persecution, and systemic violence. Among displaced populations, survivors of torture face particularly complex and enduring risks that extend far beyond immediate physical and psychological harm. The long-term consequences of torture, compounded by the dangers of migration and the…

Grey Zone Warfare as Strategy: Ambiguity, Risk Management, and the Erosion of Order

Grey Zone Warfare as Strategy: Ambiguity, Risk Management, and the Erosion of Order

Grey zone warfare is not new. What is new is the role it now plays at the strategic level. Tactics that once sat at the margins of international politics have moved to its centre, shaping how states compete, coerce, and manage risk without crossing the threshold of open war. In a recent episode of The…

Egypt–Israel Relations: Between Strategic Necessity and Enduring Suspicion

Egypt–Israel Relations: Between Strategic Necessity and Enduring Suspicion

Very few bilateral relationships in the Middle East are as paradoxical as the one between Egypt and Israel. The two countries are bound together historically, geographically and diplomatically, one could say. They share what is today the region’s longest-standing peace treaty  -the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty-, but their relationship is characterized by strategic cautiousness and distance. Today, cooperation between Cairo and Jerusalem,…

Riot

Left-Wing Extremism in Germany: A Resurgent Threat

Written by Elisa Garbil – 10.12.2025 For decades, discussions of extremism in Germany have been dominated by the spectres of right-wing and Islamist violence. The nation’s historical trauma and recent experiences with far-right terror have understandably captured most of the security community’s attention. Yet beneath this focus, another movement has persisted, one that is quieter, more fragmented,…

crisis management international risk podcast

2025: A Year Full of Crisis Preparedness and Response

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 described an “increasingly fractured” world, with state-based conflict, climate disruption, political polarization and technological risks all intensifying at the same time. Geopolitical and international risk dashboards from 2Secure, BlackRock, KPMG and others show the same picture: conflicts are reshaping trade, energy and supply chains; national security concerns…

Putin in New Delhi: India’s High-Stakes Multlialignment Balancing Act

Putin in New Delhi: India’s High-Stakes Multlialignment Balancing Act

When Vladimir Putin touched down in New Delhi last week, the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the symbolism mattered far more than Moscow’s assurance of ‘uninterrupted‘ oil supplies. It served as a timely reminder that, even amid a shake-up of the global balance of power and geopolitical fragmentation, the India-Russia relationship remains resilient,…

Ukrainian Culture

Culture as a Battlefield: The Strategic Risks of Russia’s Cultural Offensive

Written by Elisa Garbil – 05.12.2025 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2014, has unfolded across multiple dimensions: military, economic, informational, and psychological. Yet one of its most significant and underexamined fronts is cultural. The Kremlin has reframed culture not as an organic expression of society but as a strategic tool where a weapon legitimises aggression,…

Who Pays the Price for the World’s Copper Rush? The Risks and Realities of Mining in Balochistan

Who Pays the Price for the World’s Copper Rush? The Risks and Realities of Mining in Balochistan

As demand for clean energy accelerates, copper has become one of the world’s most valuable resources. Electric vehicles, solar panels, transmission lines, and battery storage systems all depend on it—driving a rapid global rush to secure long-term supply. One of the richest deposits sits in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, where the vast…

Hybrid Threats, Critical Infrastructure, and the Changing Landscape of European Security

Hybrid Threats, Critical Infrastructure, and the Changing Landscape of European Security

Europe’s strategic environment is being reshaped by a rise in hybrid threats targeting the physical, digital and political foundations of modern societies. This episode of The International Risk Podcast examines these challenges through an in-depth conversation with Dr Tim Stevens, Reader in International Security at King’s College London and co-director of its Cyber Security Research…

Climate Risk, Governance Stress and Europe’s Emerging Security Edges

Climate Risk, Governance Stress and Europe’s Emerging Security Edges

Climate variability is reshaping the strategic environment in ways that no longer fit within established divisions between development, security and governance. This episode of The International Risk Podcast offers a clear illustration of this shift through an in-depth conversation with Dr Florian Krampe, Director of Studies, Peace and Development at the Stockholm International Peace Research…