Andrew D. Bishop

What Egypt's unrest teaches us...

2011-03-11T19:25:00.002Z

Egypt’s early 2011 wave of unrest, which eventually led to the demise of 30-year ruler Hosni Mubarak and to the rise of a an allegedly temporary military rule, has been perceived by bystanders worldwide as one of the greatest game-changers to the Middle East in decades. As such, it would be surprising if these events did not hold a few worthwhile lessons for professional risk analysts and keen observers alike.

They do.

Read the whole article on the World Economic Forum's blog.

World Economic Forum: Global Risks 2011

2011-03-11T19:18:00.008Z

The World Economic Forum just published Global Risks 2011, the sixth edition of its yearly outlook on global risks in the next decade, which Andrew contributed to.

This year's report highlights economic disparity (both within and among countries) and global governance failures as aggravating factors of nearly all of the 35 other global risks analyzed in the report. It also zooms in on macroeconomic imbalances, the perils of the illegal economy, and the fragile balance between water, food, and energy security.

Finally, the report looks at several risks to watch, ranging from demographic challenges to cyber (in)security.

Download the report here and its associated Barometer here

Browse through its digital features (videos, charts, interviews) here

And read answers to readers' questions here

"Leader's Talk" is for you

2009-01-25T11:31:00.005Z

Andrew D. Bishop is the proud founder, director, and editor of a new project, Leader's Talk (hosted at www.leaderstalk.org), which aims at collecting and analyzing the wide array of interviews given by world leaders in the English-language media on a daily basis.

Are you interested in following international events and their interpretations at a high pace? Do you need to conduct research on a particular issue and its perceptions by local and regional leaders? Are you interested in understanding what your leaders (and your neighbor's) have in mind? Do you want to know how they justify their actions (or inactions) and positions?

Leader's Talk is for you. Visit now at www.leaderstalk.org

And if you like our work, why not talk about it? Tell your friends, colleagues, and family about our services. Make your satisfaction our success!

Why won't Pakistan reform its intelligence services?

2008-12-28T20:13:00.012Z

Pakistan's military-controlled Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long been known for maintaining ties with some of South Asia's most ruthless terrorist groups. Most recently, it has been argued that the ISI could have indirectly been behind India's deadly Mumbai attacks, leading New Delhi to pressure Islamabad to reform its controversial intelligence agency. Such reform would be in the United States' best interest, not only for obvious moral reasons but also to avoid a costly confrontation between two of Washington's key allies. Yet it appears few in Pakistan are truly pushing for a full clean-up of the ISI's historical networks; an observation that is particularly troubling if one considers the fact that many Pakistanis, too, have been terror targets in the past few years.

Wonder about the many reasons why the ISI can't, or won't cut off its militant ties? Andrew's got a full report available here and published by the Asia Sentinel.

Andrew's article was recommended by the World Politics Review's daily Media Roundup.

What do pirates do with their millions?

2008-12-09T11:35:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago, a prank Bloomberg wire went around the internet claiming Somali pirates had decided to buyout Citigroup. It provoked laughs. But given the amount of cash these sea bandits have acquired over the past year, is the idea really so absurd?

Roger Middleton, the author of a recent report on piracy in the Horn of Africa for the Chatham House think tank, estimates that pirates could have made as much as US$30 million to US$50 million since January 2008 alone. Each new ransom, he says, adds between half a million and two million more dollars to their coffers. That’s quite a sum. But what is it used for?

Read Andrew's full investigation into pirates' preferred ways of spending money in ISN's Security Watch.

Why Ukrainians Don't Want NATO

2008-11-24T00:50:00.004Z

On December 2-3, NATO foreign ministers will once again consider the Ukrainian government’s bid for a Membership Action Plan (MAP), the main precondition for entering the North Atlantic Alliance. Though Western policymakers remain divided over whether Kiev should be allowed to join at the risk of further arousing Russia, most say the Ukrainian people should have the right to “make choices about their own future” at all cost. Recent polls, however, show that in fact a majority of the country’s population is strongly opposed to the prospect of joining NATO: a puzzling revelation to work with.

Published in the Diplomatic Courier.

Baghdad to Paris: The undying axis

2008-11-03T13:53:00.004Z

"We are opening our door to France, and are inviting it to take advantage of the opportunity we are offering it. It would be as much your interest as ours."

This quote, recounted by journalist Chris Kutschera in his Black Book of Saddam Hussein, is one that could well be attributed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who just a few months ago invited French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to provide his country with "high quality military equipment."

Yet, the open-ended offer is one that was in fact extended by Saddam to then French prime minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas in June 1972, over three decades ago.

Nothing better than this quid pro quo can convey the permanence of mutual interests in the close relations Paris and Baghdad have enjoyed ever since the early days of the Baath regime. France was in Iraq from the start, and now that its dictatorial partner has gone, it seems poised to take another run at living up to the war-torn country's expectations.

Read Andrew's full analysis of the renewal of French-Iraqi ties in ISN's Security Watch.

Publications

2008-07-30T04:01:00.053+01:00

World Economic Forum

(Geneva/NY/Beijing)

What Egypt's unrest teaches us about political risk analysis

- World Economic Forum, March 2011

Global Risks 2011 (contributor)

- World Economic Forum, January 2011

Global Risks Barometer 2011 (contributor)

- World Economic Forum, January 2011

Q&A with Global Risks 2011's authors

- World Economic Forum, January 2011

Asia Times Online

(Hong Kong)

Iran's untapped resources
- Asia Times Online, June 2008

Europe's Asian love misplaced
- Asia Times Online, May 2008

Asia Sentinel
(Hong Kong)

Pakistan's unruly intelligence services
- Asia Sentinel, December 2008

Middle East Times

(Cairo/Washington)

Blair, Merkel to Help Palestinians Rebuild
- Middle East Times, June 2008

Can Paris save Afghanistan?
- Middle East Times, June 2008

ISN Security Watch

(Switzerland)

What do pirates do with their millions?
- ISN Security Watch, December 2008

Baghdad to Paris: The undying axis
- ISN Security Watch, November 2008

Sarkozy's moment as commander-in-chief
- ISN Security Watch, June 2008

Diplomatic Courier

(Washington)

Why Ukrainians Don't Want NATO
- Diplomatic Courier, November 2008

Consulted

For a brief post-US election assessment
- ISN Security Watch

Bio

2008-07-30T03:51:00.042+01:00

Andrew D. Bishop is a Belgo-American citizen with interest and expertise in the crossroads between risk and politics. He currently works for the risk analysis, scenario planning, and think tank branch of a leading non-profit foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Prior to his current position, Andrew wrote as a freelance journalist for a variety of publications that included the Asia Times Online, Middle East Times, Asia Sentinel, Globe and Mail, ISN Security Watch, Diplomatic Courier, and others.

Andrew also worked for the Council on Foreign Relations and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

His background is in political science, European politics, and international affairs, which he studied at the Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po), as well as a number of other academic institutions.

He writes at What You Must Read, his personal blog. He is also the creator, editor, and director of Leader's Talk, the first and only website dedicated to covering English-language interviews given by the world's most prominent statesmen and women.

The opinions presented by Andrew on this site are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his past or present employers.

Read Andrew's profiles at the London School of Economics and Oxford University.

2008-07-20T15:02:00.000+01:00