This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen is joined by Almudena Azcárate Ortega to explore the rising role of commercial entities like Starlink in space security. As civilian technologies are repurposed for military use, from Ukraine’s conflict to dual-use debris removal systems, Almudena highlights the risks of militarization, geopolitical tensions, and the urgent need for transparency and regulation.

Drawing on her extensive experience briefing UN Member States and leading UNIDIR’s efforts in the 2022-2023 UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats, Almudena unpacks the vulnerabilities of commercial satellites and the challenges of governing dual-use technologies. This conversation reveals how critical governance is to ensuring a secure and sustainable space domain.

Almudena Azcárate Ortega is the lead Space Security Researcher at UNIDIR and an Academic Fellow at Georgetown University, where she is pursuing her doctorate in space security law. She led UNIDIR’s participation in the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats and holds an LL.M. in National Security Law from Georgetown and an LL.B. from the University of Navarra.

The International Risk Podcast is a must-listen for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. This weekly podcast dives deep into international relations, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities. Hosted by Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe’s top risk consulting firms, the podcast brings together global experts to share insights and actionable strategies.

Dominic’s 20+ years of experience managing complex operations in high-risk environments, combined with his role as a public speaker and university lecturer, make him uniquely positioned to guide these conversations. From conflict zones to corporate boardrooms, he explores the risks shaping our world and how organisations can navigate them.

The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.

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This week on The International Risk Podcast, Dominic Bowen is joined by Dr. William Potter to explore the escalating risks and eroding norms surrounding nuclear weapons in today’s fractured global order. As traditional arms control mechanisms falter and new technologies complicate deterrence, Dr. Potter outlines the mounting dangers of miscalculation, norm erosion, and geopolitical mistrust in nuclear decision-making.

Drawing on decades of firsthand experience, from every NPT Review Conference since 1995 to advising the United Nations, Dr. Potter walks us through critical developments including Russia’s nuclear signaling, China’s evolving posture, and the destabilizing potential of non-state actors. From radiological weapons to AI-enabled crisis simulations, this conversation highlights how fragile the global nuclear architecture has become, and what it will take to rebuild trust and transparency.

Dr. William Potter is the Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar Professor of Nonproliferation Studies and Founding Director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS. He has served on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and participated in every major NPT negotiation since 1995. He is the author or editor of over 20 books, including his latest: Death Dust: The Rise, Decline, and Future of Radiological Weapons Programs.

The International Risk Podcast is a must-listen for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. This weekly podcast dives deep into international relations, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities. Hosted by Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's top risk consulting firms, the podcast brings together global experts to share insights and actionable strategies.

Dominic's 20+ years of experience managing complex operations in high-risk environments, combined with his role as a public speaker and university lecturer, make him uniquely positioned to guide these conversations. From conflict zones to corporate boardrooms, he explores the risks shaping our world and how organisations can navigate them.

The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram for all our great updates.

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Today Dominic Bowen hosts Dr. Olivia Mason. They dive into the intricacies of post-colonial states, environmental collapse and how the colonial era has influenced this collapse, post-colonial neglect, the re-shaping of colonial control in a post-colonial era through for example international conservation efforts, green colonialism as a form of resource control, environmental degradation and its impact on migration from the Global South, climate reparations and how those would look like, and more!

Dr. Olivia Mason is a Lecturer in Political Geography at Newcastle University. Her research explores mobility politics and resource colonialism, with a focus on Jordan and the South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region. She is particularly interested in how colonial legacies continue to shape environmental governance, nature, and cultural heritage. Olivia is committed to environmental and social justice and has worked extensively with NGOs, policymakers, artists and local communities to produce more equitable environmental futures.

Her research on mobility politics explores how movement is shaped by colonial legacies, culture, and infrastructure building, with published work on the politics of walking and cultural geographies of trail making in Jordan and the infrastructural geopolitics of walking trails across the SWANA region. Her work on resource colonialism examines how historical and contemporary forms of colonialism shape the environment. She is currently leading a UKRI-funded project that examines the relationships between resource extraction, indigenous rights, and postcolonialism in nature reserves in Jordan. This resource has resulted in publications that trace how nature conservation in Jordan is shaped by colonial frameworks and imaginations. She has also used participatory methods with communities living around nature reserves sites in Jordan today and published on the politics of indigeneity and the complex relationships between local communities, cultural heritage, and conservation sites.

The International Risk Podcast is a must-listen for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. This weekly podcast dives deep into international relations, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities. Hosted by Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's top risk consulting firms, the podcast brings together global experts to share insights and actionable strategies.

Dominic's 20+ years of experience managing complex operations in high-risk environments, combined with his role as a public speaker and university lecturer, make him uniquely positioned to guide these conversations. From conflict zones to corporate boardrooms, he explores the risks shaping our world and how organisations can navigate them.

The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.

Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram for all our great updates.

Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly briefs.

Tell us what you liked!