The Decision Advantage

In this episode, RANE co-founder David Lawrence speaks with Michael Millette about the direction of cyber insurance and regulation. Michael Millette is the founder and Managing Partner of Hudson Structure Capital Management. HSCM manages nearly $4 billion in reinsurance and transport strategies in Bermuda and Connecticut.  The firm manages assets across the property, catastrophe, casualty, life &a...

North Korean cyber threat activity has heavily targeted cryptocurrency firms in recent years. In 2022 alone, these actors stole an estimated $1.7 billion in digital currency. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Cyber Analyst Hayley Benedict explains the current and future threats posed by North Korean cyber activity. RANE is a global risk intelligence company that delivers risk and se...

Mexico's former foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is vying to be the 2024 presidential candidate for Mexico's ruling Morena party, said on Sept. 5 that he was ''very concerned'' about how Morena has conducted the polling process used to select its presidential nominee. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Latin America Analyst Carmen Colosi explains what this means for Mexico’s ruli...

On August 30., a group of military officers calling themselves the Committee of Transition and Restoration of Institutions announced that they had seized power and deposed President Ali Bongo, just hours after he was declared the winner of Gabone’s Aug. 26 presidential election. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE's Sub-Saharan Africa Analyst Clara Brackbill shares the details and impli...

Assessing geopolitical risk can appear overwhelming and unmanageable at times. The issues range from broad global patterns of competition, such as the evolving U.S.-China relations, down to local socio-political evolutions that can change regulatory environments in key resource-producing countries. Navigating geopolitical risk and opportunity is a growing field, and increasingly important for busi...

In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Cyber Analyst Ali Plucinski shares her insights into the direction of Russian cyber operations through the lens of hacktivism and influence operations.    RANE is a global risk intelligence company that delivers risk and security professionals access to critical insights, analysis and support to ensure business continuity and resilience for our clie...

In this episode, RANE co-founder David Lawrence speaks with Lisa Smith about her experiences with addiction, mental health issues, and recovery in the world of New York City corporate law. Lisa Smith is a former practicing lawyer and law firm executive, as well as a writer, speaker, and podcast host. She is the author of Girl Walks Out of a Bar, her memoir of high-functioning addiction and recover...

The Financial Times recently ran a story commending Latin American economies for pre-emptively increasing interest rates, even before the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, and taking a fairly upbeat view of the regional outlook, broadly speaking. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE's Global Economy Analyst Markus Jaeger explains why countries like Brazil and Mexico managed...

On August 23, major news outlets reported that Wagner Group Head Yevgeny Prigozhin was believed to be aboard a flight that crashed in Russia. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE Eurasia Analyst Matthew Orr discusses everything we know about the plane crash so far and shares his insights into the potential implications for Russia, the Wagner Group, and Belarus. RANE is a global risk inte...

From grain flows through the Black Sea to strategic minerals bottlenecks to strategic competition over advanced semiconductors, supply chain disruptions are often some of the most prominent and attention-grabbing examples of geopolitical risk on business operations. But the impacts are often not quite as attention-grabbing, simply adding more friction to the complexities of global trade. At the ce...

On July 25, China replaced recently appointed Foreign Minister Qin Gang with CCP Foreign Policy Chief Wang Yi. This followed Qin’s one-month absence from the public eye, leading many foreign analysts to speculate about the reasons for the shake-up and its impacts for China’s relations with the world. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Asia Pacific Analyst Chase Blazek walks us throug...

In this episode, David Lawrence, co-founder of RANE, speaks with Teague Egan about the work his company is doing in the lithium industry. Teague is the Founder and CEO at EnergyX, a clean energy tech company that’s developing efficient and sustainable technology to aid the extraction and production process for lithium. Teague is a serial entrepreneur, and has previously started businesses in enter...

One of the strengths of geopolitical analysis is the ability to move above the fray of current politics. As a tool of assessment, geopolitics often works best in assessing strategic balances, drivers, and constraints. But while nations are often the discussed unit of action, reality requires us to understand and input the role of decision-makers, organizations, and institutions into the calculatio...

In this episode of Beyond COVID, our experts analyze recent COVID numbers and compare the virus to other existing coronaviruses.  Dr. Fred Southwick is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida's College of Medicine, and Dr. Bill Lang is an expert in public health responses to biological incidents. Our host, David Lawrence, is the founder of RANE. RANE is a global risk intellig...

Cyprus is pushing for a resumption of negotiations with Turkey for a settlement on the divided island, seeking to capitalize on recent momentum towards a rapprochement between the EU and Ankara. The main idea is to link a potential revival of Turkey's EU accession process to the progression of talks for an eventual future reunification of Cyprus, which has long been divided into two Greek and Turk...

Thailand's May 14 election winner is being denied the ability to form a government, creating government paralysis that delays economic recovery initiatives while risking reinvigoration of the mass protest movement of 2020-2021. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Asia-Pacific Analyst Nate Fischler explains why Thailand’s Move Forward Party has been unable to form a government and disc...

On July 10, Turkey’s President agreed to back Sweden joining NATO, and to bring the issue to the Turkish National Assembly for approval. The development prompted a flurry of speculation about Turkey leaning away from Russia and more towards NATO and the West. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE's Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst, Emily Hawthorne, provides her insights into Sw...

While the European Union and Mercosur reached an initial deal on a free trade agreement in 2019, the deal has not been implemented because of disagreements between the two trading blocs. In recent weeks there has been a push to resurrect the deal, but significant obstacles remain. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE's Director of Analysis, Adriano Bosoni, shares his insights into these...

On June 26, RANE published its third-quarter forecasts for both its geopolitical and threat intelligence platforms. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, Director of Analysis, Sam Lichtenstein discusses some of the major security stories RANE analysts will  be watching this quarter. RANE is a global risk intelligence company that delivers risk and security professionals access to critical insi...

On June 14th, the European Union passed its long awaited Artificial Intelligence Act to govern issues such as biometric data exploitation, mass surveillance and foundational models. Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers are backing efforts to create a federal commission that will develop a strategy for regulating AI – the latest addition to a variety of legislative proposals which aim to tackle emerging AI te...

In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE Cyber Analyst Ali Plucinski explains recent changes in the cyber insurance industry, as it has sought to catch up with an expanding threat landscape and amid rising cyber-related costs. RANE is a global risk intelligence company that delivers risk and security professionals access to critical insights, analysis and support to ensure business continuit...

On June 3rd, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was inaugurated for a third term in office after he won comfortably in the May 28th runoff election, following the first round on May 14th. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) maintained its dominance in parliament too. In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, RANE’s Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst Emily Hawthorne discusses...

In this episode of Beyond COVID, our experts discuss the recent Canadian wildfires and explain the potential health risks posed by the smoke.  Dr. Fred Southwick is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida's College of Medicine, and Dr. Bill Lang is an expert in public health responses to biological incidents. Our host, David Lawrence, is the founder of RANE. RANE is a global...

On June 6th, the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine collapsed. It is unclear what the cause of the damage was, whether it was the result of an explosion by Russia or Ukraine, or from wear from previously sustained damage. The collapse will impact crop yields and could force Kyiv to modify its counteroffensive. Matthew Orr, RANE’s Eurasia Analyst provides an update on the situation and insights into...

In this episode of Essential Geopolitics, Markus Jaeger, RANE’s Global Economy Analyst provides an outlook for the United States’ economy in light of recent banking sector instability. RANE is a global risk intelligence company that delivers risk and security professionals access to critical insights, analysis and support to ensure business continuity and resilience for our clients. For more infor...