While standards vary from country to country the Middle East is culturally defined by being predominantly Islamic, and by most of its countries being ruled under Islamic law. This means that we need to be aware of a few things about customs and culture if we want to avoid drawing unwanted attention on the street or possibly even from the government. Additionally, recent conflicts mean that traveller should take extra precautions when traveling through high risk areas.

Dress code 

Customs and traditions

Behaviour in Public

Greetings

Prohibited Goods

Religious Festivals

Watch what you’re taking pictures of

Before a client or executive travels to a foreign country they turn to their executive protection unit to conduct a threat assessment. The members of the advance executive protection team will first conduct research on the Internet to learn about the criminal and terrorists’ risks within the destination country. They examine the country to determine the likelihood of physical conflict, potential for human injury and if the client’s visit would likely be a safe one.

Working in volatile areas necessitates that security managers equip their organization’s personnel and protect their assets from the threats they identify. In close consultation with corporate management, security teams will develop an emergency evacuation plan to cover various contingencies ranging from medical evacuation of one or more casualties out of the country through to complete evacuation of all corporate staff by road or air.

If you are going to be working in an area where armed conflicts have taken place, where kidnappings and other attacks upon Westerners or Western businesses and interests occur, the concept of low profile, in the context of personal protection details as described above, is not an option. Rather than go with an option that has a risk of someone getting into a situation where they do not have the resources to fight their way out, if necessary. On the other hand, the idea of not drawing attention to yourself as a Westerner while on overseas travel is a worthwhile and smart tactic.

Authors:

John Perdikaris

Dr. Perdikaris is a registered professional engineer in the province of Ontario Canada. He has over 20 years of varied engineering and emergency management experience on a variety of projects, including acting as project manager. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and lecturer with the Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University. Dr. Perdikaris has a Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto, a post-graduate certificate in environmental science and engineering from Ryerson University,  a Master’s Degree in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Guelph and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Water Resources Engineering from the same university. Dr. Perdikaris began his engineering career with the Conservation Authorities focusing on climate change, watershed conservation, flood forecasting and warning, dam safety and stormwater management. He later focused his efforts on dam safety, risk assessment and the application of GIS to renewable energy generation industry. Dr. Perdikaris is a member of the Canadian Dam Association’s working group on emergency management and a published author. His research paper on “Responding to Major Catastrophic Events for Dam Owners”, won the best research paper award at the 2016 Canadian Dam Association Conference. In addition, to his engineering skills and background, Dr. Perdikaris has developed expertise in physical security, personnel and critical infrastructure protection and counter terrorism. He is a graduate of the Canadian Security Studies Program from the Canadian Forces College in Toronto and a member of the World Institute for Nuclear Security. Through his company Innovative Defensive Options, Dr. Perdikaris provides training and consultation advice to organizations in these areas. Dr. Perdikaris has provided training to members of the Canadian Forces Preventive Medicine Branch in water supply security. His text book “Physical Security and Environmental Protection” won the 2014 Campus Author Award, celebrating the 2013-2014 book publishing accomplishments of the University of Guelph Community.

Manrico Erriu

Manrico Erriu is a strategist, specialist in protection and risk mitigation. He took part in multiple operations in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Balkans and Asia, with hands on experience in the field of counter terrorism and protection in the Government and private sector. Specialising in counter terrorism, close protection operations and Intelligence have been and will continue to be pivotal areas of his expertise.