Episode 244: Naval Crowding and the Risk of Escalation in the Red Sea with Jamie Shea

In this week’s episode, we dive into the intensifying crisis in the Red Sea with Professor Jamie Shea. Dominic and Professor Shea unpack the surge of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, the strategic responses of global powers including China, the United States, France, and Gulf states, and the regional and global ramifications of these disruptions….

Commercial Ascendancy in Space: Navigating the Nexus of Innovation and Security

Commercial Ascendancy in Space: Navigating the Nexus of Innovation and Security

The ascent of commercial enterprises in space has redefined the contours of global exploration, propelling technological frontiers while casting intricate challenges to international security. No longer the sole province of state actors, the orbital domain now thrums with private ventures deploying vast satellite networks and envisioning extraterrestrial habitats. This transformation, however, invites a pressing question:…

Episode 241: Is the Growing Role Of Commercial Entities in Space a Security Threat with Almudena Azcárate Ortega

This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen is joined by Almudena Azcárate Ortega to explore the rising role of commercial entities like Starlink in space security. Many commercially operated systems are dual-use, intermingling civilian and military services in manners that are often ambiguous and can heighten tensions, raising questions about targetability and the…

The International Risk Podcast

Tracking the Hidden Threat: How Conventional Weapons Are Diverted to Fuel Global Violence

Author: Camila Mateos Betancourt Conventional weapons diversion is one of the most under-recognized yet critical international security threats today. Firearms and ammunition, which begin their lifecycle in legal and regulated markets, too often slip into the illicit sphere, arming criminal networks, destabilizing post-conflict societies, and undermining national and regional security. In Episode 238, we host Nils…

Episode 238: Tracking the Global Risk of Conventional Weapons Diversion with Nils Duquet

Coordinated-and-produced-by-Camila-Mateos-Betancourt This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen is joined by Nils Duquet to explore the complex threat of conventional weapons diversion. As firearms and ammunition move from legal manufacture to illicit possession, they fuel global violence, empower organized crime, and destabilize post-conflict regions. In this episode, Nils breaks down how weapons are…

Nils Duquet

Nils Duquet

Nils Duquet is director of the Flemish Peace Institute. He started working at the Flemish Peace Institute as a researcher in 2006 and has authored more than 70 policy-oriented and academic publications on illicit firearms trafficking and gun violence in Europe, domestic gun policies and European arms export controls. He has coordinated several large-scale European…

Interference in Orbit: Legal Ambiguity, Strategic Risk, and the Future of Space Governance

Interference in Orbit: Legal Ambiguity, Strategic Risk, and the Future of Space Governance

In an increasingly congested and contested domain, the question of whether interference with satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constitutes an act of war is no longer theoretical. The proliferation of satellite constellations, the strategic entanglement of civilian and military uses, and the rise of ambiguous state behaviour in orbit have created an unstable environment…

Kai-Uwe Schrogl

Kai-Uwe Schrogl

Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl is the President of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the global association of space lawyers from more than 50 countries on all continents. He served from 2014 to 2016 as chair of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) and was from…

Episode 231: Whether Interference with Satellites in LEO is Act of War with Kai-Uwe Schrogl

This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl, one of the world’s leading experts on international space policy and the former Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Legal Subcommittee. In this critical episode, they explore the growing risks in Low Earth Orbit…

Chasing the Scream - Johann Hari

Chasing the Scream: The Search for the Truth About Addiction – Johann Hari

Written by Elisa Garbil – 02.05.2025 Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari takes us beyond headlines and criminal statistics to confront a far more complex and urgent truth: our global drug policies are not just failing and they are actively producing harm. While it may seem a departure from previous discussions on extremism or gender inequality, this…