Heartland Expert and Analytical Center organized an expert session in Almaty on the practical impact of geopolitics on corporate decisions, from sanctions and regulatory risks to logistics and supply chain resilience. The event, held at Narxoz University, focused on how companies in Kazakhstan can translate the international agenda into practical management tools.
The key theme of the session was the connection between geopolitics and operational business risks. During the discussion, participants emphasized that geopolitics has ceased to be an “abstract discipline” and has become an applied competency for business in the face of global economic fragmentation and increasing uncertainty.
Roger Baker, Executive Director of Stratfor (RANE), a leading global think tank, spoke as a special guest at the event. He noted that geopolitical risks in real corporate practice manifest themselves through measurable parameters: supply disruptions, changes in market access rules, and rising logistics costs. In these conditions, it is critical to develop a unified, cross-functional approach to analyzing the external environment and work with a set of realistic scenarios, rather than limiting ourselves to binary “best/worst” logic.
Separately discussed were:
- the need for a “dependency map” of supply chains (including levels deeper than direct counterparties);
- an assessment of new contours of economic geography and trade routes, including the “Middle Corridor,” using applied metrics such as timing, cost, regulatory restrictions, and bottlenecks;
- the impact of technological competition and restrictions around critical technologies on industry strategies, including artificial intelligence solutions.
