Eurasia Group
Encyclopedia
Overview
Eurasia Group is best known as the world's largest political riskRisk
Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss . The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists . Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks"...
consultancy with offices in New York, Washington, London, and Tokyo and more than 125 full-time employees. The company also employs a network of 500 experts in 80 countries in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
& Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
, and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
& Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
--a profile The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
magazine calls "an inspiration for any academic with a seemingly useless degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
."
Eurasia Group is generally recognized to be the first to systematically bring political science as a discipline to Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
. This approach includes the Eurasia Group Global Political Risk Index (GPRI)--the first qualitative comparative political and economic risk index designed specifically to measure stability in emerging markets. Developed over a ten-year period by experts in transitional politics and economics, the methodology provides an "early warning" system which helps anticipate critical trends and provides a measure for country capacity to withstand political, economic, security, and social shocks.
Eurasia Group services include analytical research publications and tailored consulting and advisory services, as well as direct access to Eurasia Group analysts, on political trends and their impact on business, financial markets and the foreign investment climate. Eurasia Group's 400 clients include major investment banks, institutional investors, government agencies, and multinational corporations in numerous sectors.
Eurasia Group has a global strategic alliance with PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
, launched in March 2006 to integrate political risk assessment into risk management capabilities for multinational
Enterprise Risk Management
Enterprise risk management in business includes the methods and processes used by organizations to manage risks and seize opportunities related to the achievement of their objectives...
corporations worldwide. In 2011, Eurasia Group also launched a partnership with Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
to provide research to wealth-management clients and develop investment portfolios based on geopolitical analysis.
Top 10 Risks
In January every year, Eurasia Group releases the Top 10 Risks for the coming year, along with notable red herrings (issues of general concern not deemed a substantial risk by Eurasia Group). Eurasia Group keeps the Top 10 Risks posted on their website for the remainder of the year.In January 2010, Eurasia Group listed the deterioration in US-China relations as their top risk. The Chinese Foreign Ministry took up the report, responding by saying "China-US relations will face challenges in terms of Taiwan and Tibet issues, in addition to the two countries' economic and trade relations."
In January 2011, Eurasia Group's top risk was the G-Zero
G-Zero
The term G-Zero refers to an emerging vacuum of power in international politics created by a decline of Western influence and the domestic focus of the governments of developing states...
, where "the world's major powers set aside aspirations for global leadership—alone, coordinated, or otherwise—and look primarily inward for their policy priorities. Key institutions that provide global governance become arenas not for collaboration but for confrontation." In a G-Zero world, "The U.S. lacks the resources to continue as primary provider of public goods, and rising powers are too preoccupied with problems at home to welcome the burdens that come with international leadership."
Acquisitions
In March 2005, Eurasia Group acquired the assets of IntellibridgeIntellibridge
Intellibridge was a strategic analysis firm in Washington DC, founded by David Rothkopf in 1999. Senior management at Intellibridge included former Clinton-era National Security Advisor Anthony Lake. Intellibridge's assets were purchased in 2005 by Eurasia Group, the political risk consultancy....
, a Washington DC-based strategic advisory firm founded by former-National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
Anthony Lake
Anthony Lake
William Anthony Kirsopp Lake, best known as Tony Lake, is the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , author, academic, and former American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and political advisor. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S...
and David Rothkopf
David Rothkopf
David J. Rothkopf is President and CEO of Garten Rothkopf, an international advisory firm specializing in transformational global trends, notably those associated with energy, security, and emerging markets....
. Terms of the acquisition were not made public, though Intellibridge had received some $28 million in venture capital since being founded in 1999.
Advisory board
Eurasia Group's Advisory Board members are heads of industry and finance, many with previous government experience. Notable members include internet visionary Vint CerfVint Cerf
Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf is an American computer scientist, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn...
, hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin
Kenneth Griffin
Kenneth Griffin may refer to:* Kenneth C. Griffin , American hedge fund manager* Ken Griffin , American organist...
, Wall Street banker Sallie Krawcheck
Sallie Krawcheck
Sallie L. Krawcheck , is the former president of the Global Wealth & Investment Management division of Bank of America. GWIM includes Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust, the largest wealth management business in the world at $2.3 trillion in client assets...
, former Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering
Thomas Pickering
Thomas Pickering may refer to:*Thomas Pickering , English religious leader*Thomas R. Pickering , American diplomat -- UN AmbassadorSee also*Timothy Pickering , American diplomat -- Secretary of State...
, and Nomura executive Takumi Shibata.
Trivia
Like BloombergBloomberg Tower
Bloomberg Tower is a glass skyscraper on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It houses the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P., retail outlets, restaurants and 105 luxury condominiums. The residences are known as One Beacon Court and are served by a separate entrance. The tower is the...
, Eurasia Group eschews private offices; all employees sit "on the floor" to facilitate communication.
Announcing a partnership with NYSE Euronext, Eurasia Group rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on March 18, 2009.
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