Our first meeting at the Admiral Rodney, looking at a truly global view of our planet
Updated 6 Jan-2025-RL Group Risk Assessment - 9 May 2024
By 2024 our numbers had increased to 8+ at most meetings and we were well into our discussions.
2024 sessions included:
By 2024 our numbers had increased to 8+ at most meetings and we were well into our discussions.
2024 sessions included:
- 14 Dec 23 (Introducers Carolyn and Martin) This built on November's meeting by looking at "So the war has started: What can be done?", including discussing in depth an article by Tobias Ellwood MP. Preparation was to read the Ellwood article and consider the questions it ends with, and read Carolyn's notes on the Silk Road ready for the January meeting.
- 11 Jan 24 from 1.45, Carolyn continued, looking in more depth at the "Belt and Road" initiative, AKA "China's Silk Road" as being a (so far successful) exercise in soft power and much more. We learned more about the pros and cons, for China and for the 72 countries so far involved, and looked at the % interest charged, default rates, and implications for China's economy. Our "fast fire" round included several items on the UK Post Office "Horizon" scandal, Hamas & Israel and more.
- 8 Feb 24, John led a session on "Is the World Health Organisation undermining democracy", and this opened a seriously interesting can of worms. Click here for the .PDF download giving you the outline and suggested preparation.
- 7 Mar 24: Rik led a session on the "Geopolitics of the Arctic Ocean". A true flash-point, and one where NATO trails well behind other powers in the region. The recent apparent claims by Russia of "wanting Alaska back" just add to the mix.
- The 11 April meeting was postponed to May, as so many of us were away for the Easter break
- 9 May 24: As a rather different flavour, we spent much of the meeting discussing Hans Roslings "Factfulness" and the huge geopolitical and social improvements over the past century that have happened largely "under the rader". This led on to looking at our group's "Health and Safety", including the potentially corrosive effects on mental health of reading nothing but bad news: Much of this has been included in our group's "Risk Assessment" Group Risk Assessment 9 May 2024 As part of this we now include some "good news snippets" at each meeting!
- 13 Jun 24: Instead of a "major topic" plus "quick fire" we covered three topics in greater detail. These were:
- The recent EU election results, geopolitical implications and discussing the very recent French “General Election” call
- Given our forthcoming UK general election, “What geopolitical awareness is shown in party manifestos?" (the answer was "startlingly little"!)
- If you were the leader of Russia, or China, or the USA or Germany, what actions might you do to weaken or destroy NATO? This was quite sobering.... and in action.
- 11Jul 24: Jo treated us to a brilliant excursion round the area of "Misinformation" Here is our summary of some of this huge area. We also investigated several articles published by the "Full Facts" organisation
- 8 Aug 24: A slight change of pace for the holidays - four shorter topics, including "Misinformation and the Stockport and other Riots", "What is happening over the pond- will Kamala or Donald prevail?" "AI - good, evil or otherwise?" and "Good News Stories".
- 12 Sept 24: Richard led a topic on “World population movements and migrations” by focussing in on the recent German decision to close its borders. Eric then led on "Chain Value Measures" relating to how GDP is calculated. Loss of heating allowances was the stimulus for a discussion about "The Geopolitics of aging populations". We finished with the Harris/Trump debate and the fact checking of whether US immigrants really are eating Americans' pets....!
- 10 Oct 24: We looked at the ways climate change is handled by different players, which took us into "Game Theory", "The Prisoner's Dilemma" "Axelrod's Tournament and more.
- 14 Nov 24: Thanks go to Eric for discussing "Money" - including Crypto and other means of exchange, who provided this light bedtime reading as preparation. "Quick fire" short topics include: BRICS conference –this time attended by UN Sec. • North Korean troops now fighting on Ukrainian soil • Chagos “disposal” by UK • UK budget in light of current geopolitics • USA election - likely geopolitical effects, not least its relationship with China. • Serious news relating to the Falklands, and calls on King and others for "slavary reparations". Good news includes greatly improved rail networks . Some funny goings-on over the pond with phones being seized
- 12 Dec 24: We enjoyed a session with Stuart on "Changes in Global Fertility Rates" - far more sexy than the title implies! Here is a paper I've written on the subject. Plus we will have the usual "Good News" and "Quick Fire", and given the events of the past 2 weeks, "Syria - What now?" Here are more useful links for "interesting geopolitical news for December 24"
Think you might be interested in joining this group?
If interested, click on Contact Us: The email will go direct to the Webmaster. That’s me, Rik, the Webmaster. I'm happy to be the leader / co-leader, or in time hand on or work with any other member who would like to lead.
If interested, click on Contact Us: The email will go direct to the Webmaster. That’s me, Rik, the Webmaster. I'm happy to be the leader / co-leader, or in time hand on or work with any other member who would like to lead.