The Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies is running a study group in geopolitical risk analysis this academic year. The study group is for final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students who are interested in careers in political and geopolitical risk analysis. It aims to develop some of the practical skills required for work in the sector including research, critical thinking and forecasting, and to help participants find internships and positions as analysts.
The study group will be organised around a set of case studies involving analysis of current national and international developments. In the Michaelmas term, participants will practise writing event analyses, based on developments in the previous fortnight’s news. In the Lent term, participants will practise country risk analyses involving forecasts about the political and geopolitical risks relating to various individual countries. In the Easter term, participants will practise bespoke analyses of the political and geopolitical risks involved in an investment in a particular country or region.
Participants will be expected to attend 12 sessions over the academic year, and to complete a homework assignment each fortnight, involving the research and drafting of a piece of analysis, taking around 3 hours. The sessions are a place for participants to discuss their findings in what, if precedent is any guide, should be a lively discussion about politics and geopolitics. The course is not formally assessed but participants will receive written feedback on their assignments, and may ask for references.
Speaker series
The study group is accompanied by a speaker series, in which participants will have the chance to meet practitioners in the field of political and geopolitical risk analysis who will discuss what they do in their day-to-day work, offer participants advice on careers in political and geopolitical risk analysis, and lead a discussion on a topic in contemporary geopolitics. The events will be held at the Bradfield Room at Darwin College. For the Lent term, the speakers will be:
Thursday 30 October
16:00-18:00
Ms Livia Paggi
Managing Director (Strategy & Risk Advisory), JS Held LLC
Thursday 13 November
16:00-18:00
Dr William Matthews
Senior Research Fellow for China and the World in the Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House
Thursday 27 November
16:00-18:00
Mosaic Political Risk Insurance
- Mr Mark Wheeler (Co-Chief Executive Officer)
- Ms Natalya Tyson (Vice President, Underwriter & Head of Public and Development Finance)
- Ms Tamar Katamadze (Vice President, Head of Arbitration and Award Recovery Risk Solutions)
Prize in Geopolitical Risk
Participants will also have the chance to participate in the Mackinder Prize for Geopolitical Risk Analysis in June 2026 and to present their work at CCRS’ 2026 Risk Summit.
Timetable
The study group will be held in the Newnham Terrace Seminar Room at Darwin College at 12:30-14:00, 14:30-16:00 and 16:30-18:00 on the following days:
Michaelmas term 2025
- Friday 17 October
- Friday 31 October
- Friday 14 November
- Friday 28 November
Lent term 2026
- Friday 30 January
- Friday 13 February
- Friday 27 February
- Friday 13 March
Easter term 2026
- Friday 1 May
- Friday 15 May
- Friday 29 May
- Friday 12 June
Enrolment
Please note, the study group is now full.
If you would like to join the waiting list for enrolment, please contact the convenor Dr Timothy Less, the Senior Advisor for Geopolitics at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, at tgl26@cantab.ac.uk.
The study group has been made possible with the kind assistance of the Mackinder Forum.