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PROJECT UPDATES

What we’ve been doing, where we’ve been travelling, and what’s next.

Earlier this month, I spent two weeks in Syria focused on several projects.

Hope and Resilience Workshop, Syria

The first workshop was "Restoring Hope and Resilience: Supporting Individual and Collective Recovery" — a one-day workshop delivered in Damascus and Homs. The workshop was delivered by Dr. Suzanne Anderson and Dr. Natalie Games. I coordinated the workshops, arranged the venues, managed logistics, and made the slides pretty (plus did the translations).

The initiative brought together local psychologists, students, and community leaders to strengthen capacity for trauma recovery, resilience, and community healing in post-conflict Syria.

You can learn more about this workshop here.

Some feedback from participants:

• "I needed this so badly. Recently, I went through shocking and difficult events. After this workshop, I felt that I regained my mental health. I am grateful for your coming, for your vision, and for participating in this workshop. Thank you from the heart.""
• "For what it's worth, you should know that you guys really made a difference here. Thank you all for being among the kind souls in life.""
• "Thank you very much for your time, the information, and the way you delivered it — it was smooth and beneficial. We didn’t feel the time passing. Thank you for your listening, kindness, and the positive energy you created in us because of you."
• "It was a very beneficial session. It broadened my horizons and ignited a greater motivation in me to research and help people suffering from stress or trauma. It also provided me with support, acceptance, and energy. It was truly a wonderful workshop. Thank you very much."
• "Many thanks to all of you for taking the risk and being here with us. It was a precious opportunity to learn from you and to share our experiences."

In addition, several of the participants commented that the content was more useful than some of the NGO training they had received, which just touched the surface and was not culturally relevant.

Since returning from Syria, I have built on this work to provide additional resources and tools:

• Building the "Hope and Resilience" website, which provides resources to Syrian mental health professionals.
• Building the "Our Shared Stories" website, which provides a quiet, private space where people can write about their experiences and discover others who have lived through similar events. Designed for emotional safety in post-conflict and difficult environments, it helps reduce isolation by giving people a place to share, reflect, connect, and feel understood without pressure or judgment (more details in the apps section, below).

Fixing for Foreign Companies Workshop, Syria

In addition to the workshops above, I ran another workshop focused on the crucial role of fixers in Syria. "Fixing for Foreign Companies" brought together individuals already working in part-time fixer roles to help them better understand the motivations and needs of Western companies exploring business opportunities in Syria.

Some feedback from this workshop:

• "Grant approached the subject in a new way of thinking which really helped inspire us for new projects to work on and be ready for any form of client that might come to Syria."
• "It was my pleasure attending this valuable workshop. It was a great addition to my experience where I managed to gain lots of priceless knowledge. I hope that I will have the chance to attend one of your workshops again in the near future."
• "I found the workshop extremely practical. It clarified how communication, cultural awareness, and preparation can make fixing for foreign companies far more effective. The sessions gave me useful tools and real-life examples that helped me understand what international teams expect from local fixers. I gained a clearer sense of the professional standards required when working with foreign companies, especially regarding logistics, ethics, and on-ground coordination."

I'll be returning to Syria in early 2026 and have already started the process of engaging with local groups to identify needs.

Entry Support Syria

While in Syria, I met with our existing partners, and signed several new partnership agreements with Syrian companies. I also reviewed our list of approved hotels and updated our contingency plans.

If your organisation is considering entering Syria, take a look at our tailored services.

Hotel Security Assessments - Jakarta, Indonesia

I just returned from Jakarta, where I spent a week reviewing the safety and security of hotels for a client. It was great to be back in Indonesia. I used to be an Indonesian linguist in another life, so it's nice to be able to brush off some of the cobwebs and piece together a few mostly correct phrases.

TRAINING

Training workshops and customised training solutions.

Designing and Delivering Effective Crisis Simulation Exercises

Well-designed crisis simulation exercises are one of the most powerful tools for preparing teams to face real-world crises. Yet many exercises fall short and fail to achieve effective learning outcomes.

This 2-hour workshop gives you a practical framework for creating and running exercises that truly build competence and deliver actionable insights to leadership. Drawing on experience from more than 120 simulations across multiple regions, we’ll focus on what works in practice—not just in theory.

What you’ll learn:

• How to select scenarios that engage participants and promote learning.
• Practical ways to calibrate difficulty and manage complexity.
• Techniques for designing interactions that drive engagement and test decision-making.
• Approaches to debriefing that translate lessons into action.
• Tools to measure performance and report outcomes effectively.

If your organisation would be interested in me running Designing and Delivering Effective Crisis Simulation Exercises for your in-house security team, please get in touch.

View our other training workshops here.

PUBLICATIONS

We’ve published a number of books on crisis management, travel security and security evacuations.

Memoirs of an Assassin (fiction)

I published 'Memoirs of an Assassin' in September. Memoirs of an Assassin traces the life of a professional contract killer from his unplanned recruitment to his development into a disciplined operative. Presented as a fictional memoir, it offers a direct account of the methods, discipline, and mindset required in his work. Written with restraint and precision, it examines the mechanics of sanctioned killing and the narrow divide between order and violence.

I started work on the sequel in Damascus, which is thematically appropriate.

Learn more and purchase here. Also available for Amazon Kindle.

Photography in Higher-Risk Environments

Photography in Higher-Risk Environments is a practical guide based on over thirty years of work in places such as Syria, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Somalia. It covers risk assessment, equipment, fieldcraft, and working safely with local guides to capture important stories while protecting both photographer and subject.

Proceeds support humanitarian projects in Syria and Afghanistan, particularly in mental health and women's education. Learn more and purchase here.

View all our publications and download samples here.

Buy copies for your team

Several highly regarded organisations (and one prestigious university) have purchased copies of our books for their teams. If your team would benefit from the knowledge and experience contained in our books, please reach out. We'd be happy to provide a discount for bulk orders.

STATION XV

Updates on our in-house gear.

Just a reminder that due to US tariffs, we are no longer able to ship orders to the U.S. We're still exploring options to ship to the US, but it's currently not at all economical to do so. The most basic shipping price is now S$66. On top of that, I need to pay US tariffs of at least US $50 (the price changes daily). Plus, packages are limited to 2kg, insurance isn't available, and the entire process must be done manually at the post office.

For people outside the US, check out the full range of Station XV bags and accessories here.

APPLICATIONS

Updates on our applications.

Our Shared Stories (new application)

Our Shared Stories is a calm, privacy-first writing space designed for people who have lived through difficult or life-changing experiences. You can write in any language, choose exactly who can see your stories, and explore similar stories through our secure AI-powered matching system. There are no feeds, no algorithms pushing content, and no social-media pressures—just a quiet place to write, reflect, and connect with others who understand what you’ve been through.

Learn more here.

Whistler

A simple, secure whistleblowing app for organisations to receive and manage confidential reports. First launched 10 years ago, Whistler 2.0 now features stronger encryption and case management tools.

Pricing starts at $19 a month.

Learn more here.

Incident Manager

Incident Manager help teams to effectively manage crisis events. It brings everything into one place—tasks, logs, comms, support cases—so teams can focus on what really matters. After 25 years working in the room with crisis teams, I've developed something that enables teams to perform better while not getting in their way. If you’re curious, I’m happy to show you how it works—free demo and trial available.

Now with incredibly useful AI features.

Please reach out if you'd like a demo.

Tenacio

A project management app for individuals handling diverse workloads. It prioritises tasks based on deadlines and personal work preferences, ensuring you stay on track.

If you'd like to try Tenacio, get in touch.

READING LIST

Links to interesting articles worth your time.

Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI. Controversy has erupted after 21% of manuscript reviews for an international AI conference were found to be generated by artificial intelligence (Nature). Read here

Russian spy network exploits Ukrainian teenagers in Europe. One hundred dollars for torching a van, a few hundred more for planting a bomb or quick cash for snapping a photo of a strategic location: Russian intelligence services have found a new, cheap – and increasingly effective – way to conduct sabotage operations across Europe. They are recruiting Ukrainian children and teens online, luring them with gamified “tasks” and small financial rewards (France24). Read here

Australia set for world-first cervical cancer elimination. Vaccination programs have played a key role, and GPs remain ‘instrumental’ in boosting screening rates to reach the 2035 target (newsGP). Read here

Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry? Ethicists say AI-powered advances will threaten the privacy and autonomy of people who use neurotechnology (Nature). Read here

New stress map reveals where Earth is on the verge of breaking apart. A new world map shows how Earth’s crust is loaded and where it is closest to failure. The release compiles 100,842 stress entries, more than double since 2016 (Earth.com). Read here

Private tech entrepreneurs are quietly shaping tomorrow’s warfare. There is a new generation of weapons being developed by the private sector, outside of government regulation. The fear is that they will be used in Africa before we fully understand their consequences (Ezenwa Olumba). Read here

When Aid Fades: Impacts and Pathways for the Global Democracy Ecosystem. (Global Democracy Coalition). Read here

Anthropic says an AI may have just attempted the first truly autonomous cyberattack. In a new report, AI company Anthropic detailed a “highly sophisticated espionage campaign” that deployed its artificial intelligence tools to launch automated cyberattacks around the globe (Fast Company). Read here

That’s it for this month, folks.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Grant Rayner

Spartan9