Dr Lev Breydo

Dr Lev Breydo

Lev E. Breydo is a scholar of law, finance, and technology whose work examines how credit markets, digital assets and AI shape the world economy and global risk. His research has appeared or is forthcoming in leading journals, including the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, American Bankruptcy Law Journal, and the…

Episode 304: Debt as Leverage: Sovereign Lending and Geopolitical Influence with Dr Lev Breydo

*This episode was recorded in October 2025* This episode with Dr Lev Breydo explores how sovereign debt has evolved into a strategic instrument of power in an era of heightened geopolitical risk. We examine how credit markets, financial infrastructure, and legal design now shape state behaviour, constrain autonomy, and function as tools of coercion below the threshold…

Sovereign Debt as Strategy: Credit, Constraint, and the Quiet Reordering of Power

Sovereign Debt as Strategy: Credit, Constraint, and the Quiet Reordering of Power

Sovereign debt is not new. What is new is the role it now plays at the strategic level. Instruments once treated as technical matters of fiscal management have moved to the centre of international politics, shaping how states exert influence, constrain rivals, and manage risk without overt confrontation. In a recent episode of The International…

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…

Dr Andrew Mumford

Dr Andrew Mumford

Dr Andrew Mumford is the University of Nottingham’s first ever Professor of War Studies. He is the editor of the Bloomsbury book series ‘Studies in Contemporary Warfare’ and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of International Security (published by Cambridge University Press). He has published 4 books on facets of modern conflict. He has extensive experience in researching and engaging…

Episode 299: Grey Zone Warfare and Strategic Ambiguity: Risk, Deterrence, and the Space Between Peace and Conflict with Dr Andrew Mumford

Today, Dominic Bowen hosts Dr Andrew Mumford on The International Risk Podcast to examine how grey zone warfare, hybrid tactics and strategic ambiguity are reshaping the contemporary security environment. They explore why sub-threshold activity has become a central feature of modern geopolitics, how states exploit ambiguity and deniability to pursue strategic objectives without triggering open…

Episode 291: Climate Insecurity, Conflict, and Europe’s Expanding Risk Perimeter with Dr Florian Krampe

Today, Dominic Bowen hosts Dr Florian Krampe on The International Risk Podcast to examine how climate insecurity is reshaping conflict dynamics, governance pressures, and Europe’s expanding risk perimeter. They discuss how environmental stress interacts with fragility, why climate impacts compound existing vulnerabilities, and how these pressures influence patterns of violence, mobility, and institutional strain across…

Dr Florian Krampe

Dr Florian Krampe

Dr. Florian Krampe is a German/Swedish political scientist and is the Director of Studies, Peace and Development, at SIPRI. He is also Director of the SIPRI Climate Change and Risk Programme. His particular focus is on peace and conflict research, environmental and climate security, and international security. With over 16 years of experience, Dr. Krampe…

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…

China’s Calculated Revisionism: Stability as Narrative, and Leverage as Strategy

China’s Calculated Revisionism: Stability as Narrative, and Leverage as Strategy

The latest episode of the International Risk Podcast offers a precise window into how Beijing is positioning itself in a more volatile international environment. In conversation with Dominic Bowen, Dr Audrye Wong outlines a China that is neither a reckless revolutionary nor a passive status quo power. It is, instead, a cautious and adaptive actor…