Matthew Burnard

Principal

  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Managing political risk
  • Geopolitical & strategic risk advisory
  • Country & portfolio risk benchmarking

Matthew is a Principal with Control Risks’ geopolitical and country risk practice. He helps public and private sector organisations in the United Arab Emirates and wider Gulf region assess risks and opportunities for their global investments and activities, enter new markets, and navigate political, reputational, and regulatory issues.  

He also helps companies investing or operating in the MENA region better understand local political and security contexts, mitigate risks, and solve problems. He has led the design and implementation of embedded geopolitical and security risk intelligence solutions for several of Control Risks’ clients globally. 

Recent tasks that Matthew has worked on include:

  • Advisory retainers for major US, Japanese, and Gulf companies, supporting strategic decision-making by providing expert analysis on geopolitical, regulatory, and reputational risks to global investments and operations.
  • Security threat assessments, scenario forecasting, stakeholder mapping, and bespoke problem-solving assignments across the MENA region.
  •  Human rights risk assessment for a major multinational logistics company, including assessing and mapping human rights issues across more than 50 countries, benchmarking industry best practices, and supporting development of a comprehensive company-wide human rights programme.
  • Development of a global threat monitoring team providing 24/7/365 tactical security threat monitoring and intelligence for a global technology company.
  • Strategic advisory secondment to the crisis management team of a leading global technology company during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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    Before joining Control Risks, Matthew was a director at Altai Consulting, where he led research-driven consulting, monitoring and evaluation, and technical assistance projects for public and private sector clients across the Middle East and Africa. He previously worked for PwC in the UAE and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.

    Matthew holds a BA in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies from Cambridge University and an MA in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Thouron Scholar.

    Along with his native English, Matthew speaks fluent Arabic. 

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