Who We Are
Geoffrey Cain — Partner
Geoffrey is an author, writer, anthropologist and former foreign correspondent with more than a decade living, reporting and consulting overseas: in North and South Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Central Asia, Russia and the Middle East. His book, Samsung Rising, was published by Currency, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in March 2020. He is an expert on the chaebol companies, South Korea’s family-run conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai.
A former correspondent for The Economist, his articles and opinions have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, TIME, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, The Times of London, Far Eastern Economic Review and others. His research has been published in major peer-reviewed journals and book anthologies, and his business journalism was a 2015 finalist for a Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award.
As an expert on Korea, China, technology firms and their governance, Cain is sought out as a consultant for major corporate clients and international organizations, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office, and the Open Government Partnership. He is a regular guest commentator on CNN, NPR, BBC and Bloomberg TV.
Cain holds an MA with Distinction from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, a BA from The George Washington University, and studied the Korean language at Yonsei University in Seoul. He was a Fulbright scholar and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sophie Ibbotson — Senior Adviser
Sophie Ibbotson is senior adviser at Inika Terra and an expert on Central Asia and India. Ibbotson has worked with a wide range of private and public sector clients worldwide, including national governments and The World Bank, on investment promotion, economic development, restructuring, acquisitions, and co-financing.
Much of Sophie’s career has been spent in the countries of the former Soviet Union. She is a consultant to The World Bank in Tajikistan, advising on rural development and cross-border trade between Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. She has advised the governments of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the city of Moscow, on investment promotion, economic development and and the technology sector. Ibbotson is also a partner at GLACEX LLP, an investment firm where she oversees a portfolio of emerging markets investments in Africa and the former Soviet Union. She is Economics and Business Advisor to Scarmans, a respected British law firm, and Development Adviser to the board of the Tajik-British Business Council.
Ibbotson is a Council Member and former Trustee of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society. A popular and engaging lecturer, she has twice spoken at the Royal Geographical Society, as well as at the Royal Asiatic Society and the Global Business Forum. Ibbotson is the author of five books and is a contributor to the Financial Times, Newsweek, The Economist, and The Telegraph.
Ibbotson studied Oriental languages at Clare College at the University of Cambridge. She is fluent in Hindi, and speaks varying levels of French, Russian, and Urdu.
In the Media
Inika Terra Partner Geoffrey Cain discusses the arrest of Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee on Bloomberg.
The Failure to Define Fascism Today
Inika Terra Partner Geoffrey Cain writes that the word “fascism,” as it’s used today, has been stripped of much of its specificity.
National unity is a foreign policy virtue — especially given China’s challenge
Rising bipartisanship will hamper the United States as it faces a rising challenge from China, possibly the largest threat to U.S. democratic values in history, Inika Terra Senior Adviser Devin Stewart writes in The Hill.
The Korea Hawk Who Wasn’t Hawkish Enough
South Koreans are so accustomed to on-again, off-again nuclear tests and boisterous threats from North Korea that the regime usually merits little more than an indifferent shrug, Inika Terra Partner Geoffrey Cain writes. Over the last year, they’ve adopted the same attitude toward the belligerent talk coming out of D.C.
Contact Us
Please reach us at inquiries@inikaterra.com.
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