Additional information
by Pascal Vander Straeten (Author)
Geofinance is about a way of seeing the world. As a true introduction, this work aims at commencing a journey that very few have undertaken, namely witnessing the pioneering of a brand new theory that has an interdisciplinary aspect. Indeed, the world of today can no longer be analysed and understood solely from the perspective of finance, economics, political sciences, or geography. This silo mentality is no longer compatible with the complex world in which we are living.
We need a holistic approach that builds bridges between various research fields thereby helping understanding the complex nature of a phenomenon. That phenomenon is geofinance. Intuitively, many among you already perceive how geopolitics affect the world of global finance, but also how the realm of international finance is impacting on world events, and their stakeholders, be it governments, businesses, or individuals.
This articulate and incisive introductory textbook shepherds practitioners, cognoscenti, scholars, and students through their first encounter with geofinance. It offers a clear bodywork for exploring contemporary power conflicts by illustrating how the world of geopolitics and the realm of global finance are mutually shaping and interacting with each other.
The overarching theme of geofinancial structures (contexts) and geofinancial agents (institutions, markets, individuals wielding financial power, etc.) is accessible and necessitates no previous understanding of theory or current financial affairs.
Throughout the book, case studies including the influence of financial markets on geopolitics, the contagion effects between sovereign and banking risks, the influence of geopolitical black swans on the world of international finance, the impact of geofinance on business, etc. emphasize the multi-faceted nature of the complex relationship between global finance and geopolitics in its broadest sense.
Reading this book will provide a deeper and critical understanding of current world of global finance and facilitate access to higher level course work and essays on geofinance. Both students of finance, geography, international relations, and mainstream readers alike will find this book an essential stepping-stone to a fuller understanding of contemporary financially driven conflicts.
Author Biography
Pascal has a passion for financial risk management and geopolitics, and over the years he has specialized in the risk management of extreme events, institutional banking, and capital markets activities as well as corporate finance, with a particular focus on initiating and enhancing efficiencies in relation to risk processes that focus on proactive risk management and economic capital savings. He has more than twenty-five years of professional experience, with assignments in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Most recently, Pascal ran the credit-risk management of the financial markets activities of a large global commercial bank. Currently managing his own financial- and political-risk advisory and research firm, he aims to assist businesses and financial organizations in weathering extreme (tail) risk events as well as in creating a risk-aware corporate culture with business resiliency. He has a proven track record of setting up, building, and expanding risk-management frameworks and processes. Pascal's expertise includes day-to-day management of large credit-risk and underwriting departments, drafting and executing risk policies, regulatory-change management, developing and implementing training modules in relation to enterprise risk management as well as financial and political tail-risk management, and designing risk-mapping, early-warning, and reverse stress-testing tools. In July 2017, Pascal published Tail Risk Management: Building a Resilient Financial Business in a Volatile World.
