Country Risk Case Studies
Al-Qaida warning
In June 2001 GlobalSource wrote in a Quarterly Strategic Report to clients about a threat from a group being mentioned by very few at the time:
"We caution that a number
of factors could quickly result in serious deterioration in regional
stability, including:
A major terrorist
attack against American or other Western interests by a group like
the [al-Qaida] network of Osama Bin Laden
A deliberate,
or even accidental, attack bringing heavy casualties in clashes
between Israelis and Palestinians."
Ready for action
Shortly after September 11, 2001, and while the
developing Afghan war dominated news reporting, we began advising
our clients that the administration of President George Bush was
serious about attacking Iraq.
In all our reports
for the following year we consistently predicted there would be
war in early 2003. This frequently contradicted confident predictions
from government and military "experts."
Iraq around the clock
Because of this accurate assessment, on the eve
of the Iraq War, several major companies with business interests
in the Middle East hired GlobalSource to carry out 24/7,
minute by minute information gathering and analysis of developments
in the conflict that might affect their assets as well as global
markets (in particular oil).
Assembling our
team of Arabic translators, information sources and our own contacts
inside Iraq in the three major provinces, we carried out a highly
successful 6-week operation.
We provided little known information, we killed wild media rumors,
and we provided daily analyses and summaries of the significance
of each development, alerting our clients by e-mail and phone at
any hour to give them an unbeatable edge.
We go beyond
the "noise" offered by traditional media outlets, Internet
chatter and "analyses" of observers in Washington, D.C.
or London. We are on-site in the hot spots, reporting timely, accurate
information.
We provide solutions
We provide real-time solutions for immediate research and information
problems.
Armed with our
incisive reports and informed analyses, our clients have been able
to fine tune many of their important strategic decisions related
to the regions we research. This translates into immediate positive
results on their bottom line.
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