The story of terror groups from the Middle East is often explained as religious — but the real story is far deeper. In this episode of Global Risk Profile, we uncover how the Soviet Union and its allies helped design the playbook of modern terror groups: training, propaganda, disinformation, and the very tactics later adopted by groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. We trace how this playbook — built on three pillars: lies and deception, cruelty and disregard for human life, and endless struggle — began in communist revolutions under Lenin, Mao, and Kim Il-sung, and was exported into the Middle East through KGB and Warsaw Pact operations. We then look at Hamas today: how its leaders exploit a Cold War playbook, how many of its fighters and supporters are also victims of deception, and how Iran and other authoritarian powers keep the system alive. Finally, we close with a surprising source of hope — the example of millions in China quietly renouncing their ties to the CCP, proving that even in the darkest systems, people can reclaim their conscience. This is not a story about religion. It is a story about systems of power that hijack people’s faith, dignity, and future — and about why understanding this history matters for how we see the world today.

India is a rising power with global ambitions—but where does it stand in today’s fractured world? In this episode, we look at India’s strategy of "strategic autonomy"—its effort to balance ties with the United States, Russia, China, Israel, Iran and others - all at once. From Washington’s new tariffs and threats of sanctions, to Moscow’s oil lifeline, Beijing’s mega-dam on the Brahmaputra, and the short India–Pakistan clash earlier this year, we explore how Delhi is navigating immense pressures on every front. The question is bigger than geopolitics. Is India’s middle road sustainable? Join us as we trace India’s choices from Nehru’s non-alignment, through the Cold War, to the SCO summit in Tianjin—where Prime Minister Modi met Xi and Putin even as U.S. pressure mounted. The outcome will shape not only India’s future, but the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, and beyond.

A hot mic at Beijing’s military parade caught Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in a startling exchange about using transplants to extend human life — even joking about living to 150. But what sounded like a dystopian movie script has a darker echo in real-world investigations and tribunals. For nearly two decades, independent reports, congressional testimonies, and European resolutions have raised urgent questions. In this episode of Global Risk Profile, we follow the thread from a casual off-camera remark… to a 2005 Hollywood thriller… to evidence presented in Washington, Brussels, and London. Along the way, we ask: what happens when science, power, and disregard for human dignity converge — and will societies act before fiction becomes reality?

At first glance, the Gaza war looks like a military campaign between Israel and Hamas. But beneath the headlines lies another story: how Israeli domestic politics — coalition pressures, judicial reform battles, ultra-Orthodox exemptions, and leadership struggles — have shaped the war’s trajectory from the beginning. In this episode of Global Risk Profile, we explore: * Why Israel went through five elections in four years before the war. *How judicial reform protests exposed deep fractures inside Israeli society. * The role of coalition politics and ultra-Orthodox exemptions in sustaining or undermining unity. * Why the war has dragged on, despite calls for a swift, decisive victory. * What outside voices — from U.S. leaders to Israeli commentators across the spectrum — reveal about the dilemmas facing Israel today. * And the broader lesson: how domestic politics everywhere shapes foreign policy, for better or worse. This is not about heroes or villains. It’s about the hard reality of leadership under pressure — and the choices that will be judged by history.

From Blagoveshchensk’s new Chinese road signs to the Power of Siberia pipelines, the story of Eastern Russia is about more than geography. It’s about resources, strategy, and the uneasy partnership between Moscow and Beijing. In this episode of Global Risk Profile, we dig into: • Why Eastern Russia is one of the richest prize zones on the planet — oil, gas, palladium, timber, fisheries. • How the CCP is embedding itself without tanks, using pipelines, loans, and trade dominance. • Why the “no limits” partnership is anything but equal. • The history of mistrust between Russia and China — and why they are not natural allies. • Tom Clancy’s The Bear and the Dragon: what the novel got right, what it missed, and why leadership still matters. • A forward-looking idea: could a U.S.-led “corridor for peace” give Moscow an off-ramp from Beijing’s grip while strengthening allies like Japan and South Korea? This is more than a regional story. It’s a test case for how the CCP projects influence, how Russia manages decline, and whether the United States and its partners can shape alternatives.