Written by Elisa Garbil – 29.12.2025 Critical minerals have become the strategic linchpin of the global energy transition. Electrification, battery manufacturing, and digital infrastructure all depend on a steady flow of minerals such as cobalt, lithium, manganese, rare earth elements, and platinum-group metals. As industrialised economies push toward decarbonisation and technological expansion, they are discovering that the…
Romane Dideberg is a researcher at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. She works within the institute’s Africa Programme, engaging with policymakers, researchers, private sector, and international organisations on key policy challenges across the African continent. Her research focuses on peace and security dynamics and political developments in West Africa and the…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil This episode with Romane Dideberg explores responsible mineral sourcing in the context of rising geopolitical risk, with a focus on the Sahel. We examine how insecurity, military coups, and shifting alliances are reshaping control over critical minerals, driving resource nationalism, and complicating governance in fragile and conflict-affected states. Moreover, we also look…
Written by Elisa Garbil – 31.10.2025 The Amazon is not simply a forest. It is a vast, transnational market in which criminal networks monetise land, timber, minerals, cattle, and people, and launder those proceeds into mainstream supply chains. This convergence of environmental crime, organised crime, and corporate procurement creates a composite risk that is far bigger than…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil In this episode, Dominic Bowen is joined by César Muñoz Acebes to examine the deepening crisis in the Amazon. They unpack the role of organized crime in environmental destruction, the links to drug trafficking and illegal economies, and the devastating consequences for local communities and global stability. A critical look at how crime, politics,…
César Muñoz Acebes is the Brazil director at Human Rights Watch, where he supervises research, advocates for foreign and domestic policies that promote human rights, and leads fundraising efforts in Brazil. Before his current role, he served as America’s senior researcher and later associate director. In those capacities, he researched and wrote reports and articles, produced…
In this episode of The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen speaks with Professor Adam Chalmers about the global race for artificial intelligence leadership and the profound implications this competition holds for innovation, governance, and international risk. Chalmers, a leading voice on political economy and emerging technology, examines how the United States’ new AI Action Plan…
Adam Chalmers is the CEO and Founder of Resonate AI, where he brings together deep expertise in political science and advanced technologies to develop innovative solutions to complex societal challenges. With a PhD from McGill University, Adam’s work sits at the intersection of politics, artificial intelligence, and strategic governance. In addition to his entrepreneurial leadership, Adam is a Senior Lecturer…
Today Dominic Bowen hosts Professor Adam Chalmers on The International Risk Podcast to explore the global race for leadership in artificial intelligence. They discuss the United States’ AI Action Plan and China’s AI Plus Plan, how these competing strategies reveal different models of governance, regulation, and ideology, and what this competition means for innovation, global influence, and risk. Together they examine how the…
Coordinated and Produced by Elisa Garbil This episode Dominic is back with guest Ali Fowle to discuss the recent earthquake and the ongoing resistance in Myanmar. They discuss how the earthquake has impacted the war, whether foreign aid has been helpful so far, how the military operates, how people continue living during the war, what we…
