Table of contents below: Graham Griffiths is a political risk analyst with a particular focus on the Gulf. He studied philosophy and economics before getting an MA in Middle East studies. Topics discussed:  Political risk analysis: 4:48  Importance of consulting services: 13:34  Factoring in the unpredictable: 22:06  Graham's educational background in economics and philosophy: 28:10  Is 'middle eastern studies' a scam?: 32:56  A critique of analytic philosophy: 40:00  Philosophy between theory and practice (philosophy is more about asking questions): 45:00  Universalism vs relativism in philosophy: 52:50 (Political correctness)  Reconciling cultural diversity and ethical values within the consulting sphere: 58:20  Political risk analysis job profile: 1:06:00  The importance of factoring in geopolitical developments in the analysis before making final recommendations: 1:11:00  The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the region: 1:18:00  An overview of  Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid: 1:26:00  Intellectual play: 1:28:47 A discussion of Nassim Taleb's books: 1:31:00  The feasibility of wanting to be anti-fragile: 1:34:40  Dislocating experiences COVID vs war: 1:48:00  Graham's experience learning Arabic, and the difference between fus7a and local languages: 2:00:00 Relevant links:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/_graham_rhys Support the channel:   Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/decafquest   Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/decafquest   Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decafquest