Teneo Insights Podcast

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” – a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With an intense humanitarian crisis, inflationary shocks, staggering energy prices and disruptions to global trade, impacts from the war in Ukraine continue to reverberate across world regions. Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors and former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council and Jeffrey Edmonds, Research Scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses and expert on Russia and Eurasia , join our host Kevin Kajiwara for their perspectives on the state of the war as the one year anniversary nears and what comes next as Russia commences its latest offensive.

The 118th Congress has taken power with a reordered balance of control. With rising partisanship, fiscal challenges, Republican investigations of the Biden Administration and the legislative limitations of a split government, it promises to be a contentious year on the Hill. Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large of Semafor and former Editor-at-Large of The Hill and The Atlantic and Orson Porter, Senior Managing Director, Teneo join our host Kevin Kajiwara for a timely discussion on the House Republicans’ threadbare majority, the likelihood of legislative gridlock and what this means for corporations as they head into a tumultuous 2023.

As we look ahead to 2023, we are pleased to release a special edition episode of Teneo Insights “Where is the World Going in 2023 and Beyond?” featuring Teneo CEO Paul Keary and Chairwoman Ursula Burns. Our conversation stems from the results of Teneo’s recent survey of global CEOs and institutional investors, representing more than $3 trillion USD of company and portfolio value. The survey explores what is on the minds of CEOs and investors as they plan for 2023 and finds diverging views on topics such as the global macroeconomic outlook but significant alignment on other looming issues including deglobalization. The survey also addresses some of the steps corporate leaders are taking in the face of other disruptive forces, including changing economic conditions, geopolitics, ESG, talent and innovation.

Teneo’s global team of geopolitical risk experts join our host Kevin Kajiwara for an important discussion on critical issues to watch in key regions around the world in 2023.

Evolving great power politics; economic and humanitarian crisis caused by war in Europe; a scientifically and politically charged energy transition; and ongoing technological disruption are conspiring to make 2023 another fraught year. John Brennan, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Principal at Teneo’s partner firm WestExec Advisors, joins our host Kevin Kajiwara for an important discussion on the world’s most rampant threats and how corporations and the intelligence community must continuously adapt as crises and disruption arise over time.

Faced with rising greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, a growing energy crisis and extreme weather events worldwide, COP27 seeks international solidarity to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis. Pia Heidenmark Cook, Teneo Senior Advisor and former Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA and Phillip Cornell, Principal for Energy and Sustainability at Economist Impact and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center join our host Kevin Kajiwara for a discussion on the notable successes and shortcomings of COP27, policy and regulatory implications, stakeholder accountability and how global businesses can help lead the net-zero transition.

Xi Jinping has emerged from the Party Congress with a history-making third five-year term and more power than ever before. His challenge will now be to deftly manage the various headwinds facing China, including the economy, geopolitics, COVID-19 and many other issues. Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center; Paul Haenle, Teneo Chairman, Asia Pacific Region; and Gabriel Wildau, Teneo Managing Director, join our host Kevin Kajiwara for an important discussion on China’s Party Congress and what its outcomes mean for China and the rest of the world against the backdrop of a volatile geopolitical environment.

For the first time in history, the UK ushered in a new monarch and prime minister in the same week. Both Liz Truss and King Charles III take over at a turbulent time in Britain, and while Truss faces a brewing social, political and economic storm, Charles III grapples with the future of the commonwealth. Tina Brown CBE, award-winning journalist, editor, author and former Editor-in-Chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, joins our host Kevin Kajiwara, for a discussion on the future of the commonwealth under King Charles III, the queen’s legacy, Britain’s global reputation and what’s next for British politics as Truss faces mounting domestic pressure.

The upcoming midterm elections and recent legislative activity have brought policy and politics back to the fore. While historical trends, rising inflation rates, volatile markets and an impending recession favor Republicans taking control of the House, uncertainty remains, and no election outcome is guaranteed. Paul Ryan, Teneo Vice Chairman and 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives joins our host Kevin Kajiwara, for a conversation covering the 2022 midterm elections and how they will impact the congressional balance of power, government affairs, policy making and global markets as we approach the latter half of the Biden administration’s first term.

Europe has witnessed its most intense combat since World War II, but Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive has dramatically turned the tide of Russia’s invasion. As Europe faces a make-or-break winter, and Putin confronts domestic political risks with faltering international support, the war is on the verge of the next, potentially decisive phase – on the battlefield, geopolitically and economically. Kevin Kajiwara hosts defense policy and intelligence experts Michèle Flournoy and Andrea Kendall-Taylor for an in-depth analysis of the past seven months of conflict, how the war will continue to evolve as Putin faces mounting pressure at home and abroad, and the ever-widening geopolitical and economic impacts of Russia’s invasion.