DecafQuest #20 - Graham Griffiths | ديكاف كويست #٢٠ - غراهام غريفيس

Table of contents below:

Graham Griffiths is a political risk analyst with a particular focus on the Gulf. He studied philosophy and economics before getting an MA in Middle East studies.

Topics discussed: 

Political risk analysis: 4:48 

Importance of consulting services: 13:34 

Factoring in the unpredictable: 22:06 

Graham's educational background in economics and philosophy: 28:10 

Is 'middle eastern studies' a scam?: 32:56 

A critique of analytic philosophy: 40:00 

Philosophy between theory and practice (philosophy is more about asking questions): 45:00 

Universalism vs relativism in philosophy: 52:50 (Political correctness) 

Reconciling cultural diversity and ethical values within the consulting sphere: 58:20 

Political risk analysis job profile: 1:06:00 

The importance of factoring in geopolitical developments in the analysis before making final recommendations: 1:11:00 

The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the region: 1:18:00 

An overview of  Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid: 1:26:00 

Intellectual play: 1:28:47 A discussion of Nassim Taleb's books: 1:31:00 

The feasibility of wanting to be anti-fragile: 1:34:40 

Dislocating experiences COVID vs war: 1:48:00 

Graham's experience learning Arabic, and the difference between fus7a and local languages: 2:00:00

Relevant links: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_graham_rhys

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