Syria Workshops

I'm heading back to Syria in a few days to coordinate two workshops.

The first workshop is "Restoring Hope and Resilience: Supporting Individual and Collective Recovery" — a one-day workshop delivered in Damascus and Homs. The initiative brings together local psychologists, students, and community leaders to strengthen capacity for trauma recovery, resilience, and community healing in post-conflict Syria.

Learn more about this workshop here.

The second workshop will focus on the crucial role of fixers in Syria. "Fixing for Foreign Companies" will bring 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.

In addition, we provide support to organisations considering entering Syria. Learn more here.

Crisis Simulation Exercises

Designing and delivering crisis simulation exercises is something we’re genuinely passionate about—and it’s an area where we bring world-class expertise. If your organisation is considering running an exercise in 2025, please reach out. For a deeper look at how we approach this work, you might enjoy The Crisis Simulation Handbook.

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 (a novel)

I released 'Memoirs of an Assassin' last month. 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.

Learn more and purchase here.

It's now also available for Amazon Kindle.

Photography in Higher-Risk Environments

I recently published Photography in Higher-Risk Environments, 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

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.

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

APPLICATIONS

Updates on our applications.

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 in this field, I wanted something that actually helps in the moment, not just looks good in a demo. 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.

Exercise Manager

A streamlined tool for planning and delivering crisis exercises while tracking team performance. Originally for internal use, now available to clients.

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.

The Golden Age of Transnational Repression. (Journal of Democracy). Read here

Russia Isn’t Done With Syria. (How Moscow Has Retained Influence in the Post-Assad Era). Foreign Affairs. Read here

Attacking An Oil Production System. Some Of The Nuts And Bolts--Starting With Refineries (Phillips P. OBrien). Read here

Hacker group Black Mirror releases first batch of Rostec files detailing Russia’s international military deals and sanctions evasion schemes. (The Insider). Read here

North Korean Scammers Are Doing Architectural Design Now. New research shows that North Koreans appear to be trying to trick US companies into hiring them to develop architectural designs using fake profiles, résumés, and Social Security numbers. (Wired). Read here

Russian politicians’ offspring in the UK. How are the “gilded youth” living?. (Molfar Intelligence Institute). Read here

France's last military pigeons, custodians of a fading tradition. The Mont Valérien fortress west of Paris houses the last military dovecote in Europe. In an era of ultra-technological weaponry, the carrier pigeon now flies only for official ceremonies, but remains a powerful symbol of the army's history (Le Monde). Read here

Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data. With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypted (Wired). Read here

Large language models: the new battlefield of Russian information warfare. (Disinformation Review). Read here

Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda. ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok are serving users propaganda from Russian-backed media when asked about the invasion of Ukraine, new research finds (Wired). Read here

How To Kill Subversives and Get Away With It. Could US complicity in war crimes in countries like Colombia offer a playbook for domestic repression? (New Lines Magazine). Read here

When Face Recognition Doesn’t Know Your Face Is a Face. An estimated 100 million people live with facial differences. As face recognition tech becomes widespread, some say they’re getting blocked from accessing essential systems and services (Wired). Read here

The U.S. Is on Track to Lose a War With China. Modern warfare is decided by production capacity and technological mastery, not by individual valor (The Atlantic). Read here

The World Is More Uncertain Than You Think: Assessing and Combating Overconfidence Among 2,000 National Security Officials A large-scale study of over 2,000 national security officials reveals a consistent pattern of overconfidence in assessing uncertainty—but also shows that brief, targeted training can measurably improve judgment (Jeffrey Friedman). Read here

That’s it for this month, folks.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Grant Rayner

Spartan9