About

GRASP (Geopolitical Risks and Strategy Practice) is a specialist advisory practice helping companies, investors, governments and universities navigate global disruption, mitigate geopolitical risks and build institutional resilience.

We focus on “How” of geopolitical risk management - building institutional strategies, capabilities and solutions, so you can stay ahead in a volatile world.

Based in Australia, we bring deep expertise, networks and lived experience in Asia, China, Russia and the United States to keep leaders and organisations informed and empowered in a fragmenting world.

Our services ›
Our portfolio ›
Our analysis ›

Team

For each client assignment, we assemble a team of highly regarded global specialists drawn from our clients’ sectors, and national security, foreign policy and intelligence communities.

Founder and CEO

 

Philipp Ivanov is a Founder and CEO of GRASP.   He is a leading strategist and advisor on geopolitical risk and foreign policy, with over two decades of executive experience across government, business, think tanks and universities in Australia, the United States, China, Asia and Russia. Philipp is a trusted advisor to C-suite, university leaders and senior policymakers on risk, strategy, China, and major-power competition.

  • Philipp brings a rare, lived perspective — having worked in China, Russia and the United States — the three powers at the core of today’s geopolitical upheaval

    A globally recognised expert on China and China-Russia relations, Philipp has been published in New York Times, Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Bloomberg, CNBC, and The Australian Financial Review. A passionate advocate for Asia literacy, he co-led the Business Council of Australia’s National Asia Taskforce, and founded and co-edited the 5-volume Disruptive Asia essay series.

    Previously, Philipp was Global Chief Programming Officer and Senior Fellow at Asia Society New York, where he led global strategy across 16 international centres and founded the China-Russia Program. From 2015 to 2023, he was CEO of Asia Society Australia, which he transformed into Australia’s leading business and policy institution focused on Asia — tripling its revenue, expanding its policy impact, and securing a new national HQ in Melbourne, in partnership with the Victorian Government. Earlier in his career, he served as a diplomat and China policy officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where he co-authored Australia’s first public China Country Strategy.

    Philipp has deep sectoral experience in higher education. He was Deputy and Acting Director at the University of Sydney’s Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, and advised the Vice-Chancellor on China offshore centre strategy. At La Trobe University, he led international scholarship and transnational partnerships across Southeast Asia and the Gulf.

    Philipp is currently an Industry Fellow at UTS Business School and a Visiting Scholar at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He holds board and advisory roles with the Foundation for Australian Studies in China (FASIC), Global Women Asia, Geopolitical Strategy and the Office of Diplomatic Engagement and Training at the City University of New York. A Fulbright Scholar in US-Australia Alliance Studies (Georgetown, 2023), Australian Government’s Endeavour Executive Fellow (China National Academy of Education Administration, 2009) and a McKinsey Executive Leadership Program alumnus, Philipp has lived and worked in China, United States and Russia. He speaks fluent Chinese and Russian.