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Director of the Pharos Observatory of cultural and religious pluralism and Coordinator of the political group of the OSCE Minsk Process on Ukraine. Former EU Special Representative for Central Asia and for the crisis in Georgia. He began his diplomatic career in 1971. He served at the French Embassy in Moscow. He also served as Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the French Republic. He was Ambassador to the Russian Federation (1992-1996) and was also accredited, while in residence in Moscow, to Georgia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and to Kyrgyzstan. He served as Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China and then to the Holy See. He is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques in Paris, of the Paris Assas Faculty of Law and of the École nationale d’administration.

Researcher at Ifri and co-editor of its annual report, RAMSES. He is a graduate of IEP-Paris and of the École nationale d’administration (ENA). As a diplomat, he has held various administrative posts relating to the European Construction. He has taught at Sciences-Po Paris and in several universities. He is the author of many books and articles on international relations, geopolitics, global governance and the construction of Europe. His last two books are: L’histoire du monde pour les Nuls (The World History for Dummies), First-Editions, Paris; 2010; L’histoire de l’Europe pour les Nuls (The European History for Dummies), First-Editions, Paris; 2013.

High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. Formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain (2004-2010), he also served as Director of the Institute of Cooperation with the Arab World (1991-1993) and was appointed Director General of Foreign Policy for Africa and the Middle East (1993-1996). He held the position of Spain’s Ambassador in Israel (1996). He was the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process (1996-2003). From 2010 to 2011 he joined parliamentary activities and ran to be elected Director-General of the FAO. In January 2012, he joined the team of the Global Dry Land Alliance in Qatar promoting this international treaty for food security. From 2012 to 2013 he was member of the High-level Advisory panel of the president of the 67th UN General Assembly. Prior to his appointment as High-Representative, Mr. Moratinos was the Honorary Chairman of the CIRSD Board of Advisers (Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development), Senior Advisor of Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, member of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Honorary President of REDS, the SDSN Spanish network.

Marcus Wallenberg Professor of International Business and Finance Georgetown University; non-Resident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is consultant to the United Nations, to governments in Asia and Latin America, and to the international business field. He served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State. He received his PhD from Harvard in 1971.

Head of the Middle East/Maghreb Program at Ifri.  Mansouria Mokhefi holds a Master’s degree from New York University and a Doctorate from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. She formerly taught at New York University and at the Institut des Langues et Civilisations Orientales. She co-authored a book on Le Maghreb et son Sud (Editions du CNRS, 2012).

Senior Advisor at Ifri, member of the Cercle des économistes and President of Société d’économie politique. He served as Head of Economic Studies at Ifri, member of the Conseil d’analyse économique, Minister-Financial Counselor to the Embassy of France in the United States (2001-2006). He held various positions in the AXA Group (1992-2000). He served as Economic Advisor to then-Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1988-1991). He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and holds a PhD in economics from the University Paris I.

Chairman of the Federation of French Overseas companies (Fedom), President of the Franco-British Council. A member of parliament from 1993 to 2017, he was spokesman for the Republican group on the Finance Committee, special rapporteur for the budget for ecology and energy, transport, agriculture, Chairman of the friendship group with Russia, Vice-Chairman of the friendship group with the United Kingdom. He was Secretary for Overseas Territories in 2007. He is an associate member of the Conseil général de l’économie, a member of the editorial boards of « Commentaire » and « Annales des Mines ». He is a general engineer in the Corps des Mines, and he graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.

Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total. He joined Total in 1974 where he served in several positions in the Group’s Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. He became President of Total Middle East in 1995. In 2000, he was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of the Exploration & Production division of the newly created TotalFinaElf group which was renamed Total in 2003. In 2002, he became President of its Exploration & Production division. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of Total and in 2007, he became Chief Executive Officer of Total, chairing its Executive Committee. He graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, a French business school.

Egyptian Senator and former member of Parliament. She is an Advisor to the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and is a Distinguished Lecturer in the Political Science Department at the American University in Cairo. She has been a member of the National Council for Human Rights since 2012 and an Advisor to the Minister of Labour and Immigration responsible for Egyptians abroad since 2011. She was a member of the World Bank’s Council of Advisors for the Middle East & North Africa Region. She was an Advisor to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in 2012 and served on the Committee for Policy Development (UN, 2001-2004). She was awarded a fellowship at MIT in 2016. She is a graduate of Harvard University. She is a prolific writer in English, French and Arabic. She is an Officier de la Légion d’honneur.

Yacin is the PwC Financial Services Advisory Leader for France and member of the EMEA FS Leadership Team. He has significant experience advising FS companies on risk and performance management transformations. He worked for Global universal banks and insurance companies as well as for specialized players in the investment banking, retail banking and specialized finance. Before joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, he worked for an international investment bank in London and for a Global Audit & Consulting Firm in London, New York and Paris. Yacin is a MBA graduate from the University of Chicago and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen.

Founding editor of Russia in Global Affairs, journal published with participation of Foreign Affairs. Under his leadership since 2002 the journal became one of the most authoritative sources of independent information on foreign policy and international relations in Russia. He is a research professor at National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. He is also research director at Valdai discussion club. In December 2012, he was elected to chair Council on foreign and defense policy (SVOP). He is a member of the presidium of Russian international affairs council. His column appears regularly in FT Exchange blog, The Moscow Times, Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Rossiyskaya gazeta, Gazeta.ru. He graduated from Moscow State University.

Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Total since 2010. Previously, he was Senior Vice President International Relations, Total (2005-2010). He held various positions in the French Administration and abroad as Financial Attaché. He was Deputy Director, Hydrocarbon Division at the French Ministry of Industry (1990-1994). He joined Elf in 1994 as Manager, Middle East New Ventures Division. Then, he held the position of Vice President Middle East Gas & Power, TotalFinaElf and was appointed Managing Director Total E&P Angola in 2002. He is a former student of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris and he holds a Master of Law.

Director of the International Centre for Defence Studies (ICDS, Estonia), she previously worked as the Editor-in-chief of the magazine Diplomaatia and hosted the current affairs talk show Välismääraja at radio Kuku. She was also the foreign news Editor of Estonia’s largest daily paper Postimees after having served as its correspondent in Moscow. She has a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from Lancaster University, UK and graduated in journalism from Tartu University in Estonia.

Founder and President of the Louis Bachelier Institute. Member of the Board of Ifri, affiliate Emeritus Professor in Finance at Paris-Dauphine University, Non-Executive Chairman of Les Échos, Chairman and Founder of the Fondation du Risque and Institut Louis Bachelier. He held various positions in the Schlumberger Group and he was CEO of Banque Paribas until the merger creating BNPParibas. He started as a Research Physicist at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He graduated from the École Polytechnique and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Member of the Institut de France and President of the Geneva Center for Security Policy Fondation Council (GCSP), Jean-David Levitte has had a distinguished and outstanding career in the French Foreign Service. Ambassador Levitte was the Senior Diplomatic Adviser and Sherpa of President Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012. Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007, he was previously Ambassador to the United Nations between 2000 and 2002. He served as Senior Diplomatic Adviser and Sherpa of President Chirac from 1995 to 2000. From 1990, he held senior positions in the French Foreign Ministry, first as Assistant Secretary for Asia and then as Undersecretary for Cultural and Scientific Cooperation. In 1988, he served as the French Ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva. When he joined the Foreign Service in 1970, he was first posted in Hong Kong and Beijing. A few months after his election in 1974, President Valery Giscard d’Estaing asked him to work on his staff at the Elysee Palace, where he stayed from 1975 to 1981. Ambassador Levitte earned a law degree and is a graduate of Sciences-Po and of the National School of Oriental Languages, where he studied Chinese and Indonesian.

French industrialist and economist. Founder member of the Académie des technologies (France). President of the Scientific Committee of the Energy Program at Ifri. He was Head of the Economic Department of Charbonnages de France (1954- 1957), CEO of the Sema group (1958-1975), Director of the OECD Interfutures Project (1976-1979), Head of the Department of Economics at Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Paris (1976-1996), Director of Le Monde (1991-1994). He graduated from the Ecole polytechnique and the Ecole des mines de Paris.

Member of the supervisory board at Naftogaz of Ukraine. Former Senior Executive Vice-President of EDF and member of the newly set-up EDF’s Group Management Committee. He was Deputy Chief Financial Officer of EDF in charge of treasury, financing and M&A. He was Chairman & CEO of London Electricity plc, which he developed into what became EDF Energy plc. He was Director of EDF Generation and Engineering. In charge of the development of the EDF’s group gas businesses, he negotiated the cooperation agreement signed with Gazprom. He graduated in Engineering (Ecole Polytechnique, Paris), in Economics (Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique) and in Political Science (IEP, Paris).

Bernardino León Gross is the Director General of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. He is a veteran diplomat with a career spanning over 27 years. He has served as the UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya. Previously, he was the European Union SR to the Southern Mediterranean, Secretary General at Spanish prime minister Office and Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs. His career has focused on mediation and negotiations, covering also intercultural dialogue, security, energy and migration. He founded with Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim the Barenboim-Said Foundation. He has worked in different Human Rights initiatives, particularly in the Arab world. He played a key role in the EU “peace team” delegation that followed the Oslo process. Following the events of the Arab Spring, he mediated crucial talks in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. He holds a diploma in International Relations from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Law from the University of Malaga, Spain, and followed post graduate courses at London King’s College and Sorbonne University.

Member of the Board of Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue; of International Law Institute (Washington, Kampala); Chairman of the Board CARE Austria. He was Special Envoy for Africa of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria (2005-2010). He served as Permanent Representative of Austria to OECD, Paris (1982-1993). In 1978, he entered the Cabinet Office of Federal Chancellor Dr. Bruno Kreisky with responsibility for foreign relations; he was sherpa for the preparation of the first North-South summit in Cancun (1981). He entered the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1965. He studied Law and Political Science in Graz, Bologna (Johns Hopkins) and Chapel Hill (N.C., US).

Chairman of Lee International IP & Law Group and of Infinite Ldt. since 1985. He is also Director of the Digital Times since 2011 and Director of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Korea since 2007. He serves as Honorary Advisory Counsel to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2006. He is a non-executive Director, PoongSan Corporation and Director of the Security Management Institute. He graduated from Georgetown University, Columbia University and Seoul National University.

Advisor for Strategic Affairs and Asia to the French President. Former Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff for the French Foreign Office. He was France Ambassador to Turkmenistan (2006-2009), Deputy Director of the South-East Asia section for the Foreign Office (2002-2006), Diplomatic advisor on International Affairs for the Minister of Defence, Sir Alain Richard (1997-2002) and Chief Clerk of the Asia-Pacific section at the Delegation for Strategic Affairs for the Department of Defence (1992-1996). He holds a PhD in Sovietics Studies, a Master’s Degree in Econometry and a Master’s Degree in International Relations.

Investment Banker, LionTree. Former Executive Committee member and managing partner of Oddo Corporate Finance. After stints at Euris, an equity fund, and Editeuris, which holds Euris’s shares in various publishing and media groups, she became CEO of Compagnie européenne de presse professionnelle. She then created her own business, Intermezzo, an advisory M&A firm specialized in media. In 2003, she partnered with Jean-Marie Messier to found Messier Partners LLC. Three years later, she created Partanéa, a small investment bank with shareholders worldwide. In 2008, she sold the bank to Oddo & Cie, where she currently works. She graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and received financial analyst training at the Société française des analystes financiers.

Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation in the Kingdom of Morocco. Embarking very early on a political career, he became a member of Spain’s Basque Parliament in 1980, representing the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). Turning his attention to the European Community, he was appointed as the European Commission’s Director-General for Regional Policy and Cohesion in 1986. From 2000 to 2003, he served as the Commission’s Director-General for Enlargement, being ship negotiator with candidate countries. He served as the Commission’s Director-General for External Relations (2003-2009). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Notre Europe think tank, founded by Jacques Delors in 1996.

Honorary Chairman of Lafarge. From July 2015 to April 2017, he co-chaired the Board of Directors of LafargeHolcim. He was previously Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge (2007-2015). He began his career at Lafarge in 1983 and held numerous positions in finance and international operations. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He is Lead Independent Director of ArcelorMittal and was a Board member of EDF from 2008 to 2019. He chaired the Sustainable Development Commission of the MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France, the French employers association) from 2014 to 2018. He graduated from the Hautes Etudes Commerciales business school (HEC, Paris) and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA, Paris).

Medical Doctor and Psychiatrist, member of the Supervisory Board of Edeis as well as member of Surveillance Board of Edeis.com and active member of Bealy.io. He is specialized in the management of conflict situations, and in particular in the management of post-traumatic syndromes. He participates in work on sleep, biological rhythms, and physiological and psychological adaptation factors. He has been practicing in Paris for 40 years, with an involvement in corporate work. He has carried out numerous consulting missions including with Progress, Danone, Rians, Laboratoires Debat, Spie Batignolles, L’Oréal, EDF, Normédic, La Poste, and with the government of Senegal. He also collaborated with IMS Health and the General Management of Manpower.

Former Under-Secretary of State, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki, former Director-General for Political Affairs and Ambassador of Finland to the United States (Washington, DC) and to the United Kingdom (London). Other diplomatic assignments include Paris, Geneva, Warsaw, Belgrade and Madrid. He has a B.A. from Stockholm University and M.A. from the University of Helsinki. Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University 1985-86.

President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. He was also Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. He was seconded to the International Monetary Fund. He has authored several books on monetary policy, exchange rate, international finance policy coordination, international taxation, and international negotiations. He holds a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Oxford.

Counsellor of Paris since 2014. Former Secretary of State in charge of Prospective and Development of digital economy, Mayor of Longjumeau (Essonne), member of Parliament for Essonne, Regional Councillor for Ile-de-France and Deputy Secretary General of UMP (Union for a Popular Movement, French political party of the mainstream right). She was technical adviser (ecology and sustainable development) to the Prime Minister (2002), Policy Officer to the Chief Strategy Officer of Alstom (2001-2002), Secretary of State in charge of Ecology (2007-2009). She graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole nationale du génie rural, des eaux et des forêts and she is part of the Corps des ingénieurs du génie rural et des eaux des forêts.