WTW announces the launch of its new geopolitical risk research programme
Global brokerage WTW has announced the launch of a new research program focused on geopolitical risk. The program is coordinated by the WTW Research Network.
“The geopolitical landscape is changing,” said Jo Holliday, global head of crisis management at WTW. “We are seeing more political unrest in the Western world and across other regions, including Ukraine and Russia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our clients want to understand the security risks associated with these political tensions, so we are conducting this research initiative to help them do that.”
“The world is changing quickly, and we at WTW are proud to be part of this change by partnering with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Center on US-China Relations at Asia Society to provide an intellectual framework for understanding the rapidly shifting dynamics of geopolitical actions,” said Hélène Galy, head of the WTW Research Network. “By working with world-class industry specialists through our partnership with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), based in Washington, and the New York-based Center on US-China Relations at Asia Society, we can help our clients understand the impact of geopolitical actions.”
US-China relations
The research program aims to explore the changing relationship between the U.S. and China, as well as its impact on international supply chains, trade blocs and international institutions.
“On the whole, given that ‘engagement’ as a policy is no longer the operating system of relations between China and the liberal democratic world, there is an urgent need to factor questions of political risk into all considerations, whether as diplomats, academics, members of the media or businessmen,” said Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross Director of the Centre on US-China Relations at Asia Society. “Building resilience into supply chains, diversifying the sourcing of high-technology products, ensuring the stability and continuity of food and water systems, and stabilising state-to-state relations is of fundamental importance to the current international system, especially in the growing Asia-Pacific region.”
Other geopolitical risks
The program will also consider how the grey zone of cyber aggression and the use of cyber threats to achieve geopolitical objectives are becoming more common, as well as the political ramifications of climate change.
Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow at AEI, said the following: “I’m excited about working with WTW as part of its outstanding work analyzing the intersection between globalized business and geopolitical confrontation. No industry is more attuned to risk than the insurance sector, which has also been a leading force in trying to assess the risks stemming from today’s increasing geopolitical confrontation. Because companies are highly exposed to these risks, understanding them is vital not just for insurers but for Western economies more widely.”
