The International Risk Podcast Dominic Bowen

The way in which we find information has changed over the last few decades, and with this change, we have foregone much of the reliability of the information we immerse ourselves in.  
Misinformation, often referred to as false or inaccurate information, has become a prevalent issue in the digital age. With the rapid growth of social media platforms and the easy access to information online, misinformation can spread quickly and widely, influencing public opinion, shaping beliefs, and even impacting important societal decisions. Misinformation can take various forms, including fabricated news stories, manipulated images or videos, misleading statistics, and deceptive narratives. It can originate from various sources, including individuals, organisations, or even state actors with specific agendas. The consequences of misinformation can be far-reaching, leading to confusion, mistrust, polarisation, and sometimes even harm to individuals or communities. As such, combating misinformation has become a significant challenge for governments, tech companies, media organisations, and individuals alike, requiring a multi-faceted approach that involves fact-checking, media literacy education, and responsible online behaviour.  
 
Misinformation is not just an issue for the here and now; in its current form, the actions taken as a result of trust in misinformation, or public disinformation campaigns can pose significant risks to society and the political landscape as we know it. To help us unpack these risks, we are privileged to be joined by Professor Stephan Lewandowsky. 
Professor Stephan Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist at the University of Bristol whose main interest is in the pressure points between the architecture of online information technologies and human cognition, and the consequences for democracy that arise from those pressure points. 
His research examines the consequences of the clash between social media architectures and human cognition, for example by researching countermeasures to the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society, including conspiracy theories, and how platform algorithms may contribute to the prevalence of misinformation.  
He is also interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science.His research is currently funded by the European Research Council, the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, the UK research agency (UKRI, through Centre of Excellence REPHRAIN), the Volkswagen Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation (via Wake Forest University’s “Honesty Project”), Google’s Jigsaw, and by the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC) Mercury Project. 

As of June 2023, the UN estimated there to be around 110 million displaced people worldwide; among these are around 36.4 million refugees. We are currently in the midst of a refugee crisis, spurred on by a rising number of people fleeing persecution, violence, and human rights violations caused by the negative effects of climate change and disasters need international protection. In 2022, 84% of refugees and asylum seekers fled nations particularly vulnerable to climate change, compared to only 61% in 2010. According to the UNHCR, 76 per cent of the world's refugees and others in need of international protection are housed by low- and middle-income countries, particularly countries that neighbour those where the refugees are from. The risks facing refugees are vast, from being displaced in some cases for years at a time, to facing rampant discrimination when seeking safety in another country; and yet we do not get the full picture through the news. In order to help us unpack this vast topic, we are thrilled to be joined by Lori Wilkison. 
Lori Wilkinson is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba. Her research centres on the economic and social outcomes of immigrants and refugees, with a special focus on women and youth. Her current projects include a national study of the pandemic arrival experiences of Afghan refugees, gender-based violence and newcomer women in Canada, international students and their perceptions of university and life in Canada, and the pandemic outcomes of Indigenous peoples and newcomers in Canada, USA and Mexico. She currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Migration Futures. In 2023, she was awarded Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. For over a decade, she has served as the director of Immigration Research West, a multidisciplinary group of over 100 members who work together to educate Canadians about the contributions of newcomers. She volunteers with several international, national and local community organizations who are working toward the successful resettlement of newcomers. 
Our conversation with Lori will focus largely on Canada, which is experiencing a massive influx of refugees, and lays the basis for Lori’s specialism.

At the international risk podcast we strive to uncover the different facets of the world of risk we find ourselves in. But these risks do not occur in a vacuum. Today we are in a permicrisis, and year after year we hear about how the climate crisis is tightening its grip on the earth’s natural resources, and threatens the balance of the natural world. Similarly, both new and long-existing conflicts all over the world negatively affect geopolitics, and all over the world, both governments and civilians find themselves more and more at risk of economic decline.
The interconnectedness of the modern world means that these crisis are again not isolated. Some of these factors have contributed to an increasing number of people seeking refuge in other countries. According to the UNHCR, More than 114 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. To discuss the international risks associated with the refugee crisis, we are thrilled to be joined by Petra Molnar.

Petra Molnar is a lawyer and anthropologist specialising in migration and human rights. Petra has worked all over the world including Jordan, Turkey, Philippines, Kenya, Colombia, US/Mexico, Canada, Palestine, and various parts of Europe. She is the co-creator of the Migration and Technology Monitor, a collective of civil society, journalists, academics, and filmmakers interrogating technological experiments on people crossing borders. She co-directs the Refugee Law Lab at York University and is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Petra’s first book, The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in The Age of Artificial Intelligence, is published with The New Press in 2024.

It has been nearly six months since Israel began its campaign to eliminate Hamas in Gaza, following the horrific terrorist attack on October 7th. Today, Ben Lawson, intern at the International Risk Podcast is joined by Dominic Bowen, the host of the podcast to discuss some of the new developments in the conflict, as well as some of the key risks coming out of the region. Join us for this special edition of the International Risk Podcast as we discuss a range of topics including Israel-US relations, the ongoing humanitarian crisis,  the threat of Iranian involvement in the conflict  and the recent call to ban Al-Jazeera from Israel. 

One of the key actions companies of all sizes have to take is to ensure that their cybersecurity is constantly up to date; but for many, the true scale of the risks surrounding poor cybersecurity remain largely unknown;
so to help us unpack the risks and opportunities associated with cybersecurity, we are thrilled to be joined by Steve Orrin.
Steve Orrin is Intel’s Federal CTO and a Senior Principal Engineer.Steve is a cybersecurity expert, and a leading authority on Public Sector/Federal mission and enterprise systems and solutions. He is the Intel representative to on security standards and guidance and has contributed to several NIST standards and guidance publications. He is a fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies and the chair of the Int Nat SseA alliance Cyber Committee. 
Links to some of the resources Steve mentions in this episode can be found here:
NIST SP 800-207 - Zero Trust Architecture
https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-207.pdf
NIST Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture - Practice Guide (Vol A-E)
https://www.nccoe.nist.gov/projects/implementing-zero-trust-architecture
ESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain for Customers - Part 1
https://media.defense.gov/2022/Nov/17/2003116445/-1/-1/0/ESF_SECURING_THE_SOFTWARE_SUPPLY_CHAIN_CUSTOMER.PDF
ESF: Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices for Software Bill of Materials Consumption - Part 2
https://media.defense.gov/2023/Nov/09/2003338086/-1/-1/0/SECURING%20THE%20SOFTWARE%20SUPPLY%20CHAIN%20RECOMMENDED%20PRACTICES%20FOR%20SOFTWARE%20BILL%20OF%20MATERIALS%20CONSUMPTION.PDF

When most people think about organised crime, their minds will instantly turn towards mafia style organisations; and these days no-where do mafias hold more of a reputation than in Latin America. According to the UNCAC Coalition (a global network of over 350 civil society organizations (CSOs) in over 100 countries, committed to promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)) Latin America is considered the most violent region on the planet, and according to the latest UNODC report, organised crime is responsible for 30% of homicides in LA. The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 indicates that the police and judiciary are considered amongst the most corrupt institutions in the region. In some Central American nations, the costs of crime are twice the regional average, while in others (such as the “Southern Cone” of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile) these costs are less than half the regional average. The total regional cost reaches US $236 billion per year. The risks associated with criminal groups of this status are vast for both Latin America, and the rest of the world, making discussions about this facet of organised crime that much more important. So, to discuss the international risks of Latin American organised crime with us today, it is a pleasure to welcome Damian Gariglio onto the podcast.  
Damián Gariglio is a political scientist and researcher from Buenos Aires. He majored in International Relations and holds a Master's Degree in International Studies from Torcuato Di Tella University - during which he spent six months in Colombia on a student exchange program. He is a member of the network of experts of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. He has experience conducting research in Colombia and in Argentina working for different international NGOs and the public sector. 
He has worked in Bogota for the Colombian campaign to ban landmines as a humanitarian disarmament adviser. He was also the coordinator of the Observatory of Defence and Security for the Centre for International Political Studies (CEPI). 
In the research arena, Damián is currently working as an Assistant Researcher for the University of Buenos Aires focused on new criminal structures in Latin America.