Shaun Ryles MBE

Shaun Ryles is GSDM’s lead in resilience and crisis management. After decades of operating in the frontline of geopolitics as a military officer, Shaun has spent the last five of those years working in the specific diplomatic environments associated with post-conflict security sector reform and resilience building initiatives. He has extensive first-hand experience in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. As a fluent Spanish speaker, he has spent a year in Mexico where he conducted extensive research in the use of security forces to combat high intensity organised crime.
He has extensive UK resilience experience including counter-drone strategy development for critical national infrastructure. He has advised on air security planning for counter-drone plans in support of major national events and responded operationally to multiple drone incursions at Gatwick, Heathrow and several international airports in the Middle East. He is the lead UK counter-drone advisor to the FIFA World Cup preparations in Qatar.
He holds master’s degrees in Business Administration, International Relations (Cambridge) and Strategic Management. He is a currently a part-time PhD candidate with the Southampton Business School Centre for Risk Research reading for a PhD in organisational resilience and counter-drone planning.