This programme is designed for mid‑to‑senior leaders seeking deeper insight, sharper thinking, and stronger organisational impact.
It will provide you with the tools to anticipate global shifts and lead your organisation with clarity and authority.
Programme Agenda
Thursday 16th July
18:30 Welcome Reception
19:30: Formal Dinner with Keynote Speaker Professor Jane Green, Co-Director of the British Election Study, President of the British Polling Council and Elections Analyst for ITV News. Opening remarks from Professor of Politics, David Doyle, Academic Director.
Friday 17th July
07:45 Breakfast
08:40 Introduction Session
09:00 Seminar 1 Political Risk: China. Todd Hall, Professor of International Relations. Director, University of Oxford China Centre.
Session Overview
China is a space of both significant economic opportunity and risk. Whether viewed internationally and domestically, economics and politics are closely interlinked. How are we to understand these linkages and the ways in which actors within the Chinese system navigate them? What does this mean for the balance of opportunities and risks going forward? In this progression session, Professor Todd Hall offers an introduction to the Chinese system and the ways in which it is likely to respond to the evolving international environment.
10:30 Seminar 1 Reflection Session
11:00 Break
11:20 Seminar 2 Military Structure in Iran: Implications for Geopolitical Risk Assessment. Maryam Alemzadeh, Associate Professor in History and Politics of Iran. Fellow, University of Oxford Middle East Centre.
Session Overview
This seminar studies how the non-conventional structure of Iran’s military and state - decentralized, informal, and quasi-professional - has affected geopolitical assessments of its capabilities. In particular, the seminar looks at the history of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), to learn about somewhat hidden mechanisms of cohesion, mobilization, and decision making in Iranian politics. It concludes with discussing the implications of this historical development for geopolitical risk assessment regarding Iran today, especially in light of the 2026 American-Israeli attack of the country.
12:50 Seminar 2 Reflection Session
13:20 Lunch
14:20 Seminar 3: AI and Cyber Risk in a Fragmenting World. Lucas Kello is Associate Professor of International Relations and Director of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research.
Session Overview
This session frames the expansion of cyberspace and the rise of AI as a technological revolution in strategic affairs. Drawing on lessons from past technological upheavals, it examines how AI disruption and intensifying geopolitical rivalry are reshaping patterns of cyber risk and interstate competition. It identifies plausible near-term flashpoints through which these dynamics may unfold and analyses what these developments mean for organisational resilience strategy in government and industry.
15:50 Seminar 3 Reflection Session
16:20 Break
16:40 Academic panel on The United States at 250: the convergence of global and domestic interests – led by Professor Desmond King, Andrew Mellon Professor of American Government, DPIR, Professorial Fellow, Nuffield College.
Session Overview
This panel will investigate the fast shifting dynamics of post-January 2025 US global policies and exchanges with allies, foes and international organizations. These dynamics embrace strategic, economic, political and financial considerations amongst others, and reveal the intricate connections between domestic priorities and foreign policy.
18:10 Break
19:00 Dinner
20:15 Historic Walking Tour of Oxford
Saturday 18th July
07:45 Breakfast
08:45 Checkout
09:00 Implementation Workshop – Neil Unsworth, OBE, Head of Resilience for the University of Oxford and Practitioner Associate in the Department of Politics and International Relations.
Session Overview
The aim of the session is to take programme participants beyond theory and into the realm of practical, usable concepts and tools which can be employed in real-world scenarios. This will include ways in which to identify, analyse and act upon geo-political risks in order to achieve the desired outcomes for your business or department.
10:30 Break
10:45 Industry Perspectives panel discussion with panellists Dr Carsten Nickel, Managing Director and Deputy Director of Research at Teneo; Stephanie Kelly, founder of the Resilient Investor platform; and Ariana Issa, Board Director at Risk Advisory.
Session overview
This concluding panel brings together the programme's key themes to explore how organisations are responding to geopolitical uncertainty in practice. Panellists will share insights into how they monitor and assess geopolitical risk, build organisational resilience, and incorporate geopolitical considerations into strategic decision-making in an increasingly complex global environment.
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Departures
July’s Geopolitical Risk programme featured a new session on the Military Structure in Iran: Implications for Geopolitical Risk Assessment.
Maryam Alemzadeh is Associate Professor in History and Politics of Iran and Fellow at the University of Oxford Middle East Centre. She writes on contemporary Iran.
Associate Professor Maryam Alemzadeh explains why it’s important to understand the ever-changing geopolitics context of the Middle East and Iran:
Associate Professor Maryam Alemzadeh says it’s important to hear the programme participants questions and concerns: