Dr. Ariel Cohen

Today, many companies face serious geopolitical challenges that may affect their bottom line. It could be Houthi rebels shutting down the Red Sea shipping lanes, Iran potentially mining the Strait of Hormuz, Russia potentially attacking Poland, or China eyeing an invasion of Taiwan. So how can you prepare? Chanceries, militaries, intelligence services, and think tanks use war games to simulate strategic challenges. War game methodology can be applied in government, think tanks, or corporate settings to challenge long-term assumptions and inform routine and crisis management decision-making. Dr. Cohen will devise the geopolitical scenario, moderating and facilitating the game and the post-game discussion, while clients organize into teams to represent the various actors in the game. The results can help participants consider, better understand, and adapt to political risk realities beyond their immediate control, whether the area of concern is investing, plant and operations expansion, or friend-shoring.

Crisis management is an invaluable skill for any private or public actor. However, the bureaucratic dynamics of large internal business organizations often stifle effective contingency planning. Dr. Cohen will custom-design an industry-specific crisis management workshop that leverages his decades of experience as a top-level international security expert. The workshop will include research and preparation of briefing materials, brainstorming, and proposing and debating solutions and pathways to resolve and minimize/control damage to the corporation.

The transformation of energy—the economic lifeline and foundation of the world economy—will impact every public and private actor. Dr. Cohen’s decades of experience in the energy field, advising corporations, governments, and Congress, as well as work spanning everything from traditional hydrocarbons to the cutting edge of the green revolution and nuclear energy, can be used to inform public and private sector participants. Client-focused, tailor-made workshops will demonstrate how the future of energy will likely unfold and how actors in the client’s industry will be impacted. They will also determine how the client can better prepare for and insulate against future shocks.

The final decision on whether to invest is one of the most important decisions any public or private Board and CEO will make. Especially when the decision is in an expensive, often front-loaded, and unrecoverable strategic asset—such as a piece of critical infrastructure, pipeline, Liquified Natural Gas train, port, or oil or gas field. The stakes are often so high that they can lead to paralysis in even the best organizations. Dr. Cohen has worked with various actors to provide independent research and analysis and understand and judge strategic risks in vital investment decisions. Through an individually tailored political risk analysis benefiting from Dr. Cohen’s decades of expertise, the potential opportunities and costs of geopolitical developments that can impact the proposed investment plan will be carefully evaluated and clarified for top management and the Board. Based on that exercise, top-level participants will be able to move forward with more confident and informed decision-making.