The Decision Advantage

Essential Geopolitics: China’s Five Year Plan, the 2021 Version

In this episode of the Essential Geopolitics podcast from RANE, the discussion turns to China's latest 5 year plan. In March, China’s top leaders gathered in Beijing to announce their budget and their big economic goals for 2021, and the next 5 years. The tradition carries back to the days of Mao Tse Tung. They’ve changed as the country’s economy has changed and the latest announced plan is seen as ambitious, given the ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Emily Donahue speaks with Chase Blazek, Asia Pacific analyst at RANE. 

 

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Essential Geopolitics: About Those Vaccine Passports

In this episode of the Essential Geopolitics podcast from RANE, we talk about COVID-19 vaccine passports. 

With the arrival and accelerated distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to many industrialized countries, nations and businesses have begun thinking about the possibility of emerging from a pandemic. After more than a year of isolation, industrial, medical and economic fallout, and massive debt accrual. But vaccines are tricky. Many countries have no vaccine supply at all. In those with the vaccine, getting back to business as the workforce gets vaccinated raises different concerns. One is how to accurately track who has received a vaccine.

Emily Donahue speaks to Rebecca Keller, Director of Analysis for Stratfor’s geopolitical analysis team at RANE.

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Essential Geopolitics: The Legacy of the Ever Given Ship

In this episode of the Essential Geopolitics podcast from RANE, Emily Donahue speaks to Rebecca Keller, Director of Analysis for Stratfor’s geopolitical analysis team at RANE.

For several days in March, the world watched the slow-motion development of an international shipping crisis. First, a large container ship blocked traffic in the Suez Canal, a vital shipping route. Then came a shipping traffic jam, as hundreds of ships carrying goods had to idle while crews worked to free the ship. And then, once the ship was freed, came the questions. One of which was: What will be the lasting impact of the Ever Given? 

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RANE Insights: When a Good Defense Isn’t Enough. Going on the Cyber Offense

In this episode of the RANE Insights podcast, RANE founder David Lawrence speaks to an expert panel about the emerging risk and opportunities, and potential consequences of going on the cyber offense.

The recent SolarWinds hack has some cybersecurity experts wondering if the best defense might be a good offense. The Biden administration has pledged to take on the country's cyber adversaries and has suggested that it could include offensive cyber actions alongside deterrents like sanctions and criminal charges. These offensive measures could range from destructing the computer networks they use for cybercrime to unleashing cyber weapons on an adversary's critical infrastructure.

With the US government considering opening the door to offensive cyber operations, companies may also be interested in ditching the traditional approaches of building bigger fences and focusing on incident response. Organizations may be tempted to turn to more proactive cyber operations in an attempt to protect their architecture from threat actors.

Panelists include Jeff Castelli, former managing director at Accenture Federal Services. Jeff has 30 years of national security sector service and deep experience leading the adoption of cutting-edge technology, particularly information technology. Prior to Accenture, Jeff was the executive vice president Endgame Federal, a leading endpoint security solutions provider unifying prevention, detection, and threat hunting. Jeff has worked at the highest levels of the US government and served abroad for more than 17 years in South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Guillermo Christensen, managing partner and the data security and privacy and whitecollar defense groups at Ice Miller. Guillermo combines his experience as an attorney, a former CIA intelligence officer, and a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State to shape and inform the advice he provides to clients on various enterprise risks involving cybersecurity and national security law. His cybersecurity experience ranges from conducting information security risk assessments that take a whole company approach to manage responses to security incidents and breaches, including those where a nation-state or insider threat may be involved.

John Ford, cyber strategist at IronNet Cybersecurity. John is a compliance, IT information security, and operations executive specializing in designing, building, and transforming regulated organizations. IronNet Cybersecurity is a global cybersecurity firm that is revolutionizing how enterprises, industries, and governments secure their networks through collective cyber defense networks. John is also a member of the board of directors of the Cloud Security Alliance and an advisory committee member at the University of South Florida Cybersecurity for Executive Education.

Essential Geopolitics: COVID Vaccines for Border Tightening?

In this episode of the Essential Geopolitics podcast from RANE, Emily Donahue speaks with analyst Carmen Colosi, Latin American analyst at RANE. On March 1st, the White House announced that they would not be sharing vaccines with Mexico or any other country, however, just 18 days later the administration announced its plans to share 4 million doses of AstraZeneca stockpile with Mexico and Canada. What changed the White House’s mind? Colosi discusses the appearance of a quid-pro-quo between the U.S. and Mexican governments.

Baker’s Dozen: Geopolitics of India, From Nehru to Modi.

In this episode of the Baker's Dozen podcast series from RANE host Rodger Baker speaks with Prateek Joshi, A Dphil candidate in Modern History at Oxford about the evolution of Indian strategic thought and its geopolitical context.

India has long been a regional power center by default. But now the country is facing new challenges as China expands its interests across land and sea to India's near abroad. Since independence from the British Empire, India has struggled with the dual concept of remaining anti-imperial (and non-aligned), and its own strategic interests in the broader Indian Ocean region. Shifts in the global geopolitical order have influenced India’s strategic thinking over time, opening opportunities and imposing limitations.

RANE Insights on Covid 19: 200 Million Doses and Disinformation

U.S. President Joe Biden said this week he wanted to distribute 200 million vaccine doses before the end of his first 100 days in office. Some news outlets suggest the US could be getting close to enough vaccines for the adult population. BUT disinformation is still rampant. In today’s episode, RANE founder David Lawrence speaks with Drs. Fred Southwick and Bill Lang about the latest statistics and how to identify reliable, science-based information about all of the available vaccines. Dr. Bill Lang is an expert in public health responses to biological incidents, including pandemics. Dr Fred Southwick is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Individuals and organizations turn to RANE, for risk intelligence that cuts through the hype to focus on what they need to know, what to expect, and what to do. You can sign up for our coronavirus solution to get critical information on the COVID-19 pandemic delivered daily. Visit us at ranenetwork.com.

Essential Geopolitics: Turkey’s Economic Gamble

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently replaced his country's central bank governor. Again. It’s one major move in an ever-evolving crisis. What’s going on? Emily Hawthorne, Senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at RANE provides perspective on what this means for 2023 elections, the economy in both the short-term and in the long.

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