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Recognizing 'Geoeconomic Risk': Rethinking Risk Management for the Era of Great Power Competition

invitation only · Webinar · 17.06.2021 10:00 - 11:15

invitation only
Speakers

invitation only

The present day great-power contest between the United States and China is not fought on the traditional battlefield, but in the global economy. Economics has become a strategic means whereby both the US and China attempt to control the economic networks and links that connect the world. For companies around the world it introduces a new source of business risk – what can be called ‘geoeconomic risk’.

The speakers will present and discuss how three geoeconomic drivers – the securitization, the balkanization and the weaponization of the global economy – are potentially bringing about a new era of geoeconomic risk to the global economy and businesses operating in it.

The event introduces the first briefing paper of the project Europe Facing Great-Power Competition: Mapping Finland’s Risks and Options in the Geoeconomic Rivalry which is part of the Finnish Government’s analysis, assesment and research activities (VN-TEAS).

Speakers

Welcome and opening

Mikael Wigell

Global Security Programme Director, FIIA

Mikael Wigell is Programme Director of the Global Security research programme at FIIA and Adjunct Professor at Tampere University. He has held Visiting Fellowships at Oxford University and the Torcuato di Tella University, Buenos Aires, as well as a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Academy of Finland. He earned his PhD from the London School of Economics and he is a former chairman of the Finnish International Studies Association. His latest book is the edited volume "Geo-economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century" (Routledge 2018; 2020).

Key report findings

Christian Fjäder

Director of Policy Planning and Analysis, NESA

Christian Fjäder is Director of Policy Planning and Analysis at the National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland. He has been a Visiting Research Fellow at FIIA and worked for Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks in the fields of corporate safety, risk management and business continuity management, being responsible for area (Asia Pacific) and global activities. He holds a PhD in International Relations from University of Sydney and is a Steering Group Member of the OECD High Level Risk Forum.

Comments

Luisa Santos

Deputy Director General, BusinessEurope

Ms Santos is Deputy Director General at BusinessEurope, responsible for international relations and Chair of BusinessEurope’s EU-UK Task Force. She was a member of the TTIP Advisory Group and of the Expert Group on EU trade agreements of the European Commission. Her principal experience is in trade and the textiles sector, having acted first as the chief representative for the Portuguese textile industry in Brussels, later as Trade and Industry Manager for Euratex – the European Apparel and Textile Confederation. She was also the manager responsible for international partnerships – including a joint venture in India – for a leading Portuguese textile company. Her academic background is law and management.

Comments

Heiko Borchert

Managing Director, Borchert Consulting & Research AG

Dr. Heiko Borchert owns and manages Borchert Consulting & Research AG, a strategic affairs consultancy. His work portfolio covers a broad set of topics including armaments cooperation, energy and resource supply security, FDI and national security, geoeconomic risk analyses, hybrid threats, and maritime security. Since 2016 he has been actively involved in building multinational consortia for defense capability and technology development at the European level.

Dr. Borchert is Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for Defence and Security (GIDS), subject matter expert at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS), and member of the advisory board of the Defence Horizon Journal and the Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik. He studied international relations, business administration, economics, and law at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), where he also received his PhD.