Marius Stoian

President of Club România. He started his career in journalism in 1990 as editor of the Tineretul Liber newspaper. He then worked as a press correspondent for a Romanian newspaper and TV channel, in Hungary and Republic of Moldova. He then became Personal Advisor for the Secretary of State for the Romanians Abroad (2000) and for the Minister of Tourism (2001-2003). He was Under Secretary of State for Foreign Trade (2009). He is a member of Chatham House, London, and also a member of the Aspen Institute Romania. He graduated in Journalism and Communication Sciences.

Rakesh Sood

Ambassador of India to France. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976. He served as India’s Ambassador to Nepal and Afghanistan and Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India in Washington. Among his other assignments abroad, he has been First Secretary and Counsellor in India’s High Commission in Islamabad and First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Offices in Geneva. He was also Joint Secretary heading the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Rolf Soiron

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holcim since 2003 and Chairman of the Board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.  He is also Chairman of Avenir Suisse, Swiss liberal think tank and Chairman of Lonza a leading global contract manufacturer for the health care industry.. He began his professional career in Switzerland in 1970 with the Sandoz Group, where he held various positions, ultimately as CEO of Sandoz Pharma. In 2009, he was appointed to the Assembly of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He studied history and art history at the University of Basel, Switzerland, where he obtained a PhD in philosophy. He also holds a post masters degree from the Harvard Business School.

Jean-Marc Simon

Ambassador of France. He was advisor to the French Foreign Minister and the Minister of Cooperation. He served in numerous embassies all over the world, notably as Counselor and Consul General before being appointed as French Ambassador to Central African Republic (1996-2001), to Nigeria (2001-2003), to Gabon (2003-2008), and to Côte d’Ivoire (2009-2012). He was also a Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and to the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). . He was alternate MP of Oise from 2012 to 2022, and is currently Chairman of Eurafrique Stratégies SAS. He graduated from Paris II Assas University in Public Law.

Radoslaw Sikorski

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. He is also Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs and Vice-Chairman of the Civic Platform party. As Deputy Minister of National Defense in 1992, he initiated Poland’s NATO entry ambitions. He served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Honorary Chairman of the Foundation for Assistance to Poles in the East (1998-2001). He headed the students’ strike committee during the unrest in Bydgoszcz in March 1981. He was granted political asylum in Great Britain (1982-1989). He was a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Angola (1986-1989). He graduated from the University of Oxford with a B.A. and M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE).

Riad Toufic Salamé

Governor of the Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s Central Bank since 1993. In this capacity, he is the Governor for Lebanon at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). He is also the Chairman of the Higher Banking Commission and of the Special Investigation Commission fighting money laundering. He had an extensive career in Merrill Lynch Beirut and Paris offices (1973-1993), he served as Vice-President and Financial Adviser at Merrill Lynch in Paris. He graduated with a B.A. degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut.

Rasvan Radu

CEO, UniCredit România. He started to work at the Romanian Commercial Bank (1991). He was appointed Executive Vice President of the C.E.C. Bank (2000), and he then became Retail Executive Vice President of the Raiffeisen Bank in Romania (2001). He was appointed CEO of UniCredit Romania in 2005. He was also President of the Advisory Board of the Prime Minister of Romania. He graduated from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in engineering, and from the Romanian American University in economy. He also graduated from an MBA program with the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris (Romanian branch), and from Harvard Business School (AMP).

Ana Palacio

International lawyer specializing in European and International law. Ana Palacio served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain (2002-2004) and was a member of the Spanish Parliament (2004-2006) where she chaired the Joint Committee of the two Houses for European Union Affairs. From 1994 to 2002, she was a member of the European Parliament, where she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market as well as the Citizens Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committees. She has been Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group and Secretary-General of ICSID (2006-2008). Palacio has been a member of the Executive Committee and Senior Vice President for International Affairs of AREVA (2008-2009) and served on the Council of State of Spain (2012-2018). Ana Palacio serves on various advisory and executive boards. She is a member of the board of several think tanks and organizations, such as the Atlantic Council of the United States, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Elcano Royal Institute, among others. Ana Palacio is a Visiting Professor at the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She maintains a monthly column at Project Syndicate and a weekly publication at El Mundo, in addition to being a recurrent participant and speaker at international conferences and fora.

Tomasz Orlowski

Former Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to France. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. He served as Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2007). He held the position of Deputy Director of the Division for the United Nations System and Global Issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005). He was also Secretary General of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO (2001-2004). He graduated from the University of Lodz, the University Nicolas Copernic in Torun and the University of Poitiers.

Samir Nasr

President of ECE Consultants SAL since 1982. Chairman of Phoenician Funds Holding (Lebanon), and Executive Director of the Mouflon Fund (Cyprus). He was a consultant at the OECD and Professor of Economics. He has been Chairman at the National Investment Guarantee Corporation (1993-2018) and economic and financial advisor at various GCC countries. He received a Master’s Degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut and a PhD in Economics from Paris.

Uktam Nasirov

Head of Project, Institute of Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan. Since 2007, he has been a reasearcher and has been working on Project on Studies on Globalization and International Development Issues. He graduated in Business Administration and received a Master’s Degree in International Business and Management, both from the University of Westminster.

Katsuhiro Nakagawa

President, Institute for International Economic Studies. He worked at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) as a Representative of the Japan External Trade Organization in New York. He became Vice Minister for International Affairs at MITI. He then became an advisor to the Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. and Chairman of Tokio Marine Capital (1998). He was named Managing Director of the Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) Board of Directors (2001), and then held several key positions (2001-2009). He is a Senior Advisor to the Board of TMC. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in law, and he also graduated from Harvard University.

Daniel Moldoveanu

Romanian State Advisor, Presidential Administration, Director of Integrated Intelligence Office. He served as Parliamentary advisor to the Chamber of Deputies (2002-2005). In 2009, he received the Faithful National Order in rank of Knight. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute, Faculty of Machines Construction Technology, he received a Master’s Degree in Science of Mechanic Engineering, a MBA from the IEDC Bled School of Management en Slovénie, and a Master’s Degree after attending the NATO Master Course in the leadership program for the Bucharest NATO Regional Center.

Najib Mikati

Prime Minister of Lebanon. He is member of the Lebanese Parliament representing the district of Tripoli, North Lebanon. He began his political career as Minister of Public Works and Transport (1998-2004). In 2000, he was elected for the first time as a Member of Parliament representing Tripoli. In 2005, he became Prime Minister of Lebanon. He is the co-founder of M1 Group. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Crisis Group and of the Board of Trustees at the American University of Beirut. He graduated from the American University of Beirut with a MBA; he also followed advanced management programs at INSEAD, and Harvard University.

Jonathan Lux

Mediation consultant at Ince & Co LLP. He is one of the founder members of CEDR. He has lectured widely and written numerous articles on the subject of mediation, and is co-author of ADR and Commercial Disputes, Sweet & Maxwell, 2003. In December 2011 he featured in Lloyd’s List of Top Ten Legal Personalities. He is also a member of the JAMS International panel. He is fully accredited by and a member of the International Mediation Institute. He also serves as Honorary Consul to Cape Verde in London. He graduated from Nottingham University.

John Lipsky

Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute, at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Previously, he served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2006 to 2011, and was Acting Managing Director during May-July 2011. Formerly Vice Chairman of the JPMorgan Investment Bank and JPMorgan’s Chief Economist, he also was Chief Economist of Salomon Brothers, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. He currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Program on the World Economy, and is the Vice Chair of the Bretton Woods Committee. He is the immediate past Chair of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Mr. Lipsky is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and of the Rock Creek Group, a Director of the American Council on Germany and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

Alexander Likhotal

Former President of Green Cross International. He started his academic career as a lecturer at the Moscow State Institute for International Affairs. He served as Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Vice-Rector at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. In 1991, he was appointed Deputy Spokesman and Adviser to the President of the USSR. He is also a member of the Club of Rome, a councillor at the World Future Council, and serves as adviser to the Club of Madrid. He obtained a PhD in Political Science and History from Moscow Institute of International Relations.

Lee Hye Min

Senior Advisor of KIM & CHANG and Visiting Professor of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. He joined the Korean Foreign Service in 1980. He became Minister-Counsellor of the Korean Permanent Delegation to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris in 2004. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Director General and Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. Then, from 2008 to 2010, he was Deputy Minister for Trade and Chief Negotiator for the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. Former Ambassador to the Philippines, he was Ambassador to France from 2012 to 2015. He held the position of G20 Sherpa as well as Ambassador for International Economic Affairs of the Republic of Korea from 2015 to 2017. Ambassador Lee graduated from Seoul National University and received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France.

Pierre Laffitte

Senator and President of the Sophia Antipolis Foundation. He was the Director of the Ecole des Mines (1963-1984). He worked, notably as Director, at the Geological, Geophysical, and Mining Research Office (1953-1963). He created the Sophia Antipolis Foundation in 1984. He was Senator (1985-2008) and was then named honorary Senator. Nicolas Sarkozy made him responsible for a mission in order to create a specific network of innovation development in Euro-Mediterranean. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines.

Helle Kristoffersen

President Strategy & Sustainability of TotalEnergies and member of the Executive Committee. Before that, she was President Strategy & Innovation from 2019 to 2021, SVP Strategy and Corporate Affairs in Gas Renewables & Power from 2016 to 2019 and SVP Strategy & Business Intelligence from 2012 to 2016, within the Company she joined in 2011. Between 1994 and 2011, she held a number of general management positions within the Alcatel group, which became Alcatel-Lucent, and then Nokia. A dual Danish and French national, Helle Kristoffersen is a graduate of the École normale supérieure (Ulm) and the Paris Graduate School of Economics, Statistics and Finance (ENSAE). She also holds a Master’s degree in Econometrics from Université Paris Sorbonne. She is an alumna of the French Institute for Higher National Defense Studies (IHEDN) and a Knight of the Légion d’honneur.

Edem Kodjo

President and founder of Pax Africana, Foundation for peace and development in Africa. He was Secretary-General of the OAU, Organization of African Unity, now the African Union (1978-1983). He served twice as Prime Minister of Togo (1994-1996 and 2005-2006). He also served as Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (1967-1973) and Governor of the African Development Bank (AfDB) (1973-1976). He graduated from ENA (Ecole Nationale d’Administration).

Woosang Kim

President, The Korea Foundation. He researched and taught international politics as research associate and as a professor in several American and Korean Universities. He served as the Director of the Institute of East and West Studies at Yonsei and is still a professor at the Department of Political Science and International Studies at Yonsei University. He also served as member of the Steering Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and member of the Advisory Committee of the National Security Council. He was the Korean Ambassador to Australia (2008-2011). He received a Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Rochester, USA.

Karl Kaiser

Karl Kaiser is Senior Associate of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Adjunct Professor Emeritus at Harvard Kennedy School, he taught at the Universities of Bonn, Johns Hopkins in Bologna, Saarbrücken, Cologne, the Hebrew University, and Harvard University. He was a Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Bonn and Berlin as well as an advisor to Chancellors Brandt and Schmidt. He holds a Ph.D. from Cologne University and an honorary doctorate of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was educated at the Universities of Cologne, Grenoble and Oxford.

Rezlan Ishar Jenie

Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to France, Andorra and Monaco, concurrently the Permanent Representative to UNESCO since October 2010. Prior to this, he was Director General for Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (2007-2010). He also served as the Indonesian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2004-2007). He started his service in the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980. He graduated from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia.

Badr Jafar

Managing Director of the Crescent Group, and President of Crescent Petroleum.  He is also Chairman of Gas Cities and Pearl Petroleum.  Aside from Oil and Gas, Mr. Jafar is CEO of Crescent Enterprises and Vice-Chairman of Gulftainer.  He serves on the Board of Gama Aviation, Enshaa, Abraaj Capital and GrowthGate Capital. Mr. Jafar co-founded the Pearl Initiative, a Private-Sector venture between the GCC and the United Nations Office for Partnerships.  Mr Jafar is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation, serving as Chair for the YPO Emirates Chapter. Mr Jafar was honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Noureddine Hached

Former Deputy Secretary General of the League of Arab States. He was CEO of the Tunisian Youth Tourism Society (1974-1976), and then became Governor of Madhia. He was the Tunisian Ambassador to Belgium and the European Commission, to Algeria (1984), to Italy (1993), to Japan and Australia, based in Tokyo (2007). He was Minister of Labor (1985-1986). He was a Representative of the Organization of African Unity at the United-Nations in Geneva (1987). He was President of the Human Rights Superior Committee (2011-2012). He graduated in Paris in History and Tourism Economics.

Giovanni Grevi

Acting director of FRIDE, where he worked as senior researcher and head of the Brussels office (2010-2012). Before joining FRIDE, he served as senior research fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) in Paris (2005-2010). Prior to that, he worked at the European Policy Centre in Brussels as policy analyst (1998-2002) and as associate director of studies (2002-2005). He participated in the report “Global governance 2025: at a critical juncture” (EUISS-US National Intelligence Council, 2010).He holds an MSc from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a PhD from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Giorgio Frasca

Senior Advisor, Mediobanca. He started his professional activity working at Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (1966), and was appointed Director of the International Banking Consortium (1969). He then joined Lazard Frères Bank in Paris (1973). He was Managing Director of IFI International, in Paris; he also settled the Fiat USA Headquarters in New York (1978), and then he became Chairman and CEO of Fiat France and Senior Executive Vice President in FIATGroup from 1982 to 2006. He was Vice-Chairman of Lazard International (2006-2009). Now he is independent Director of La Compagnie des Alpes and he received the French and Italian Legion of Honour. He received a Ph. D. from Rome Law University.

Noël Forgeard

Senior Associate, Arjil. He began to work in the administration, for the French Ministry of Transport, Defense Ministry, and also for the Prime Minister. He worked for Usinor-Sacilor (1981-1986), Matra (1987-1998), Airbus (1998-2005), and EADS (2005-2006). He was Deputy Director at Lagardère (1992). He is director and member of the Schneider Electric Audit Committee; he is member of the PMU Board. He received the French Legion of Honour and is a Knight of the British Empire. He graduated from the Ecole des Mines.

Thomas Eymond-Laritaz

Senior adviser based in APCO Worldwide’s London office. Before joining APCO Worldwide, he served as an adviser to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Cobourg and in the offices of French Prime Ministers Lionel Jospin and Jean-Pierre Raffarin. He established and was appointed president of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, the largest private philanthropic foundation in Eastern Europe. He also developed the Yalta European Strategy (YES), an international network promoting Ukraine joining the European Union. He graduated from the Ecole des Mines de Paris and the Corps des Mines.