Hi all!

I'm Lewis Sage-Passant; a researcher in the field of intelligence and espionage with a PhD from Loughborough University in intelligence studies. As well as being an adjunct professor in intelligence at Sciences Po Paris, I'm the Global Head of Intelligence at one of the world's largest companies. In this role, I look at how security threats ranging from macro geopolitical risks, conflict derived supply chain disruptions, and economic espionage activities impact the company.

I've spent my career in a variety of geopolitical analysis and intelligence roles, supporting the energy industry, the financial sector, leading technology firms, and the pharmaceuticals sector, living and working in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Europe. I occasionally make talking head appearances in various media outlets, including the BBC, France24, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, The New Arab, El Mundo, and GQ (the coolest one by far!), discussing intelligence, geopolitics, and security topics.

I also founded the geopolitics blog Encyclopedia Geopolitica, which this subreddit has been so fantastic in supporting over the years! I host the site's "How to get on a Watchlist" podcast, which interviews various experts about dangerous activities. Season 3 will be launching in the coming weeks!

Most recently, I wrote “Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector“, which comes out from Edinburgh University Press next week and explores how corporations use intelligence to navigate geopolitics, counter security threats, and shape the world around them.

Thank you to the mods for inviting me to do this AMA. I would be delighted to answer your questions on intelligence, geopolitics, careers in the field, and in particular, how corporations approach geopolitical risk!

All the best,

Lewis

I'm intelligence researcher and the founder of Encyclopedia Geopolitica Lewis Sage-Passant, AMA!
byu/sageandonion ingeopolitics



Posted by sageandonion

12 comments

  1. whats happening with the Indian Government and their assassination spree? From several assassinations in pakistan and pok to the botched attempts in US and Canada.

    well its clear they are doing it, but wasn’t the attempts in canada and the US were bit stupid and poorly done to the extent that the it blew up and spies getting caught?

    compared to well say the CIA or mossad, is it because they lack experience in this or was it because of ill fate and they did as best as any agemcy could?

  2. How would you say that the rapid rise of the Internet has changed the intelligence landscape, for better and for worse?
    Do you think we’ll see a shift towards more analog forms of communication to share intelligence to prevent hackers, and avoid information being leaked?

  3. Do you think a world war in the style of ww1&2 can happen in the present day given the existence of nuclear weapons/globalisation? Or do NWs constrain warfare to proxies with a more globalised involvement than just “great powers” as suggested by the North Korean involvement in Ukraine? Might be too general a question as is not intelligence-specific, but thought I’d ask anyway! I’ll follow your podcast, thanks

  4. What is your thoughts on the lack of understanding by the West on how poor countries people think? Because from what I can notice it’s quite bad, you are with us Or against us mentality, that is.

  5. Hi Lewis this is an interesting topic, I’d never considered Intelligence to be the domain of private companies and had just assumed they’d be advised by their respective Governments on intelligence matters.

    How seriously do private companies take the possibility of a conflict over Taiwan and how is this affecting business decisions, if at all, in various areas e.g. supply chains?

  6. If there was “one thing” you could tell world leaders to improve their society, what would you tell them?

  7. How integrated are businesspeople to their respective countries’ intelligence services? What sort of relationship is there? Is it radically different in different countries?

  8. What is your take on Russia’s Aleksandr Dugin? And how consequential will the final outcome be for the West, and for Russia?

  10. Do you have a region of the world you specialize on? i would like to ask about where do you think Peru will be in 5 years? But if you are more familiar with another region of the world i’ll take that too.

  11. In the future, want to work for an agency in the intel community or security sector. At my university, I am pursuing a Master’s degree. I have 15 free electives to study what I want. I can use them to earn a certificate from the university in Arab Studies (moderately interested in) OR I can self study Security Studies courses (which i’m more interested in), but no official graduate Security Certificate is offered by the university. **All coursework would be reflected on my transcript.** What would you recommend based on the value of credentials, your experience in the field, etc?

  12. What are the upcoming technologies that are in their infancy today that will have a seismic impact on intelligence in the future (30 years from now)? – For example, if a country develops advanced quantum computing that is capable of breaking all standard encryption and as a result, gains access to enormous information, how would other nations respond to such a challenge?

Comments are closed.