Author: wpc_editor

Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations at Seoul National University. He is currently an advisory committee member for policy affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He was a Fulbright scholar and a two-time Japan Foundation Fellow. Before joining Seoul National University, he taught at the Korea Military Academy and Sogang Jesuit University. He earned his PhD in Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley after having completed his BA and MA degrees at Seoul National University.

Social entrepreneur working in the fields of International Relations and Real Estate Development. His current projects include a film series, for which as filmmaker he has documented his interactions with economists, activists, politicians, diplomats, academics, and spiritual leaders amongst others, with the aim of exploring potential paths to a peaceful, just and sustainable world. The first film titled Birth of a Poet was an official selection at the Global Nonviolent Film Festival, 2019. Furthermore, Manu has penned a book that is slated for publication soon, in which he shares his findings about and reflections on what he describes as “an ever-elusive Global Harmony”. Having been in the real estate industry over the past several years, he has had extensive private sector experience previously as well in the fields of Information & Communication Technology, Finance, and Outsourcing. Manu is an Electronics and Communication engineer (R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore) and holds three Master’s degrees: MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies, Washington D.C. and Bologna), Global Master in Real Estate Development from IE University (School of Architecture and Design, Madrid), and Master in Creative Writing from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona School of Management). He is fluent in English, Spanish, Hindi and Telugu.

Chief Representative for Japan and President, Tokyo Branch, Total Trading International, S.A. He is also Vice-President  of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan. He started his career in Italy in the petroleum and chemical industry. He joined in 1986 the Electroplating Division of Schering. In 2006, based in the US, he was named President and CEO of Sartomer. He became in 2008 Associate Director in the Finance Department of the Chemical Branch of Total S.A. in Paris. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Napoli (Italy) and got a MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (France).

President of the Overseas Koreans Foundation. Previously he was Senior Secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security to the President, Korea. Before that, he served as Vice President and Secretary-General of the Global Compact Korea Network and also taught at the Graduate School of International Studies of the Seoul National University as visitng professor. He retired from diplomatic service at the end of 2006 after a long career that culminated in his ambassadorship to France and to UNESCO. He also served as Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, to Morocco and Mauritania. He was Director-General of Economic Affairs at the Korean Foreign Ministry. He studied at Seoul National University and the Graduate School of Public Administration in France, and also received a master’s degree in international politics from the Free Brussels University in Belgium.

Vice-president of EximBank since March 2009. He has held several positions such as Director of the Bucharest branch of Corporate Bucur Obor – ING Bank NV Amsterdam, Director of Financial Institutions – ING Bank NV Amsterdam, Bucharest branch. He served as State Secretary Counselor, Counselor of the Public Finance Minister and State Secretary, with the Ministry of Public Finance (2000-2005). He graduated from the Academy for Economic Studies in Bucharest.

French Member of Parliament for the 11^th constituency for French Citizens Abroad (Asia, Russia, and Oceania) from 2012 to 2017. He is also member of the Foreign Commission, member of the French delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Co-President of the French-Russian Dialogue. He served as Secretary of State for Transport and then Minister for Transport (2010-2012). In 2009, he was appointed Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan by President Nicolas Sarkozy. He graduated from the Institut d’études des relations internationales, Paris.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, from December 2006 to July 2011 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Previously, he was President of Texas A&M University, the nation’s seventh largest university. He also served as Director of the CIA between 1991 and 1993 under George H.W. Bush. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional. He received a doctorate in 1974 in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Managing Director at Lazard Sovereign Group since 2014. Previously, he was Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (2007-2011). From 2001 to 2004 he served as Minister of Finance and Economy of Serbia. Between 2005 and 2007, he served as Credit Agricole’s Director for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Prior to 2001, he was a Partner of McKinsey & Company in the Paris and Silicon Valley offices. He holds a MBA from the Harvard Business School, a MPA from the J.F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a MA in Economics from the School of High Social Studies in Paris.

Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po. President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, a global public policy think-tank based in Belgrade, Vuk Jeremić is also Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development. In 2016, he participated in the official election for UN Secretary-General and finished in second place. In 2012, he was elected President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. During his term in office he played a leading role in steering the UN towards the establishment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He served as Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012. Mr. Jeremić is a member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) and a trustee of the Cambridge China Development Trust in UK.

Mari Kiviniemi has been Managing Director of the Finnish Commerce Federation since 2019. She served as OECD Deputy Secretary General from 2014 to 2018. 41st Prime Minister of Finland from 2010 to 2011, she previously held various positions in the Finnish government, including Minister of Public Administration and Local Government, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development and Minister for European Affairs. She was a Member of Parliament from 1995 to 2014, chairing and participating in a vast number of committees. Deputy Party Leader of the Finnish Centre Party from 2003 to 2008, she was elected Leader of the Party in 2010. She sits on the board of directors of Blic Public affairs and the supervisory board of Messukeskus Helsinki. She has been a member of many other boards including the Helsinki City Council, the Finnish National Opera Foundation and Lännen Tehtaat Oyj. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki.

Senior advisor at Lee International IP & Law Group in Seoul and Chairman of Institute for Trade and Investment (ITI), a research and consulting organization affiliated with Lee International, a law firm based in Seoul. He previously taught trade policy at Sejong University and served as its President (2002-2005). From 1995 to 1999, he served as Deputy Director-General of the WTO. He was the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (1993-1994). He was appointed Korea’s Ambassador for International Trade in 1994. He graduated from Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts where he earned master’s and doctorate degrees in Political Science.

He served as Korea’s Ambassador to the United States (1991-1993) and as Korean Ambassador at the Permanent Observer Mission to the UN. He has been a member of Korea’s Special Committee for Constitutional Revision, Committee for Presidential Transition and Advisory Council of the Korean Constitutional Court. He is currently a member of the U.S.-Korea Business Council, Presidential Board of Advisors on National Unification and the Commission for National Security Posture Review. He graduated from Seoul National University and Columbia Law School in New York.

Founder and Director of the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria and Chairman of the Iman Foundation. He campaigns internationally for democracy, freedom and human rights, and is a regular speaker on human rights platforms, as well as writing regularly on these issues. He is particularly involved in promoting interfaith dialogue and relations between Muslims, Jews and Christians around the globe. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the InterAmerican University, New York and an MA from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom.

Director of the Center for Energy at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) and lecturer at Paris Dauphine University. She began her carreer in the energy sector in 2004 as a research fellow at the Center for Geopolitics of Energy and Raw Materials (CGEMP) at Paris Dauphine University. She served as Economist for the French energy regulator (Commission de Régulation de l’Energie) (2008-2014). She holds a PhD in Economics from Paris Dauphine University and is the author of several papers on energy.

A French historian, he was appointed Director of Policy Planning at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 2013. In this role, he advises the Minister on his strategic decisions and provides background analysis and forecast on international affairs. Prior to this appointment, Justin Vaïsse was Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct professor at SAIS (Johns Hopkins University). An Associate teacher at the Paris School of International Affairs, Dr. Vaïsse is the author of numerous books on the United States, including Neoconservatism – The Biography of a Movement (Harvard University Press, 2010). His biography of former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski was published in France in early 2016 and will come out in English in 2017.

Senior Advisor to the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C. and Program Director at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin. Previously, he was Policy Advisor for Innovation at the US Department of State. He also led the Washington office for Free Press, a non-profit organization focused on public education and public interest advocacy in media and communications policy. He holds a PhD in communications from the University of Illinois.

Ambassador of France to South Korea. He held various prominent positions such as Ambassador of France to Croatia (2009-2012) and Deputy General Manager for International Cooperation and Development (2004-2009). From 1998 to 2002, he also served as Consul General of France to Hong Kong and from 1988 to 1992, he was Cultural Advisor to Seoul. He graduated from the École polytechnique and from the École nationale d’administration.

Professor at the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He also served as Deputy to the Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology and chaired the National Security Council Group on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He chaired the National Intelligence Council. He is also the author of numerous books. In 1994 and 1995, he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. His most famous books are: The future of Power (2011) and Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004). He graduated from Princeton University and Oxford University and earned a PhD in political science from Harvard University.

Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He has been associated with the Institute since 1985. He is concurrently a Senior Fellow at the East-West Center. He was previously a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He has held research or teaching positions at several universities, including Yale University, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Southern California and Tokyo University. He graduated from Swarthmore College and he holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea (2017) was co-authored with Stephan Haggard.

President of the Global Commerce Institute of Lee&Ko, a leading global law firm in Korea, President of Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA), Professor Emeritus (former professor and Dean) of the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) at Seoul National University and Chairman of the Korean Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Co-Chair of Korea-Canada Forum. Professor Bark served as Non-Resident Senior Visiting Scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of the Harvard Kennedy School. He has participated in the Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition of the Trilateral Commission as an Asia-Pacific member. He served as Minister for Trade of the Korean government (from December 2011 until March 2013). In spring 2013, Dr. Bark was in the race for the Director-General position of the WTO as the Korean candidate. He also served as Chairman of the International Trade Commission of the Korean Government. He taught at Sciences Po, Stanford University and the University of Washington as a visiting professor. In addition, he was a visiting scholar at the IMF and consulted for the World Bank and the ADB. 

Director of several corporations, including Junex Inc., an oil and gas exploration corporation, for which he is a Senior Strategic Advisor. He is on the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Canada. He was Chancellor of the University of Montreal, Chairman of the World Energy Council and Deputy Minister of the Environment of Quebec. He also served as President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Hydro-Québec, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaz Métropolitain. He graduated from the University of Montreal, where he obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate in physical chemistry.

President of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) since 2003. He is the author of twelve books on American foreign policy and one book on management. From January 2001 to June 2003, he held the position of Director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell. From 1989 to 1993, he served as special assistant to President George H.W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He graduated from Oberlin College and Oxford University.