Category: Invited guests

Regional Anti-Corruption and Economic Governance Advisor for UNDP Africa.  He joined UNDP through the Leadership Development Programme (LEAD). He has served as Country Programme Specialist and Project Manager for the Peace Consolidation and Governance project in UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa, in New York. Before joining UNDP, he was a litigating attorney in Cameroon and New York. He is a World Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University, USA. He graduated from Columbia University School of Law, New York, from the Central European University, Hungary, and from the University of Yaoundé II SOA, Cameroon.

President of the Nakasone Peace Institute (NPI), Japan. He is also President of the America-Japan Society Inc. He served as Ambassador of Japan to the United States (2008-2012), Ambassador of Japan to the UN and WTO in Geneva (2005-2008). He also held the position of Deputy Foreign Minister (2002-2005) and Director General for North American Affairs (1999-2002). He entered the Foreign Ministry in 1969. He served in Jakarta, Paris, London, and Washington DC. He studied at Keio University, Brown University and Stanford Graduate School.

Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon. He received his academic education in France, attending the Sorbonne in Paris, before continuing his studies at the Catholic Institute and the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. He was ordained a priest in 1985, he continued his doctoral studies at the Holy Cross Institute of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. In 1995, he was appointed director of the Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. After being elected Metropolitan of France, he served as Vice President and President of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) as well as Co-President of the Council of Christian Churches in France. In February 2021 he was unanimously elected Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon. He is Co-Moderator of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of KAICIID.

Professor at Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Sciences Po Paris. President of the Advisory Board of EUBrasil association (Brussels). He is also a Senior Research Fellow at OCP Policy Center (Rabat) and Director of Latin America Research Chair at the Centre d’Etudes Sociales, Economiques et Managériales (CESEM – HEM Rabat). He is a Member of the Committee of Rencontres Internationales de Genève, a Member of the Advisory Council of Janus.net (journal of International Relations), Portugal. Journalist, columnist for Radio France Internationale (RFI – Brazilian Service), he has published extensively on geopolitics, global economics, regional integration and trade negotiations, Brazil and Latin America. He holds a PhD in Political Sciences from Sciences Po Paris.

Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South. He occupied several offices within the Directorate General of the Moroccan National Security where he was Borders’ Division Chief. He was the former Director of the Royal Institute of Police. He also served as the Chief of Regional Security and was Head of the Central General Intelligence. He contributed to the output of several international organizations endeavors including the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, where he represented the Directorate General of National Security several times. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Studies from the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences of Agdal in Rabat.

Former Minister Delegate for the Business Environment, Romania. Currently, he is Chairman of the Board of Cluj Innovation City Foundation. Until 2010, he was Chairman of the Board of EFG Securities Romania, Chairman of the Board of EFG Finance Romania and Senior Executive Director of Bancpost S.A. Before joining Bancpost, he was Deputy-Treasurer and Head of Trading with Citigroup Romania. He was also Chairman of the Board of CFR Infrastructura (Romanian Railways), Chairman of the Board of Transgaz (Romanian National Gas Grid Company), member of the Board of Transelectrica (Romanian National Electricity Company). He graduated from Chicago Booth School of Business, Harvard Business School and from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Lord Kerr is a member of the UK House of Lords. Former member of the UK Diplomatic Service (1966-2002), serving abroad, in Moscow, Islamabad, Washington and Brussels, and in London, in the Foreign Office and Treasury, where he was Private Secretary to two Chancellors of the Exchequer. From 2004, he has been an independent member of the House of Lords, where he currently serves on its International Agreements Committee. He was Deputy Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell (2005-2012), Chairman of Imperial College London (2005-2011), and a Director of Rio Tinto (2002-2015) and now is Deputy Chairman of Scottish Power and Chairman of the Centre for European Reform. He was UK Permanent Representative to the European Union (1990-1995), British Ambassador to the United States (1995-1997) and Foreign Office Permanent Under-Secretary (1997-2C02). He also served the European Union as Secretary-General of the EU Convention (2002-2003) under President Giscard d’Estaing.

Founder and CEO of The Global Compass. He is also a senior Advisor, strategic development and partnerships, of Agence Publics. Prior to this, he served as Director of Democratic Citizenship and Participation at the Council of Europe. He served at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in New York as deputy Director, Strategic Development and Partnerships (2008-2014). He also served as the Head of Development Policy Dialogue at the World Bank (1999-2008). He was the first Executive Director of the Aspen Institute France (1994-1999) and is currently a member of the executive board of the Aspen Institute in France.

Head of division at the French Nuclear Safety Authority, she is in charge of the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection in South-Western France. She previously worked for Veolia Australia as a business developer (2015) and for EDF as a nuclear maintenance supervisor (2014). She is a graduate of Ecole normale supérieure and Paris Institute of Political Studies, and an engineer of the French Corps des Mines.

Co-founder and CEO of Joko. Before co-founding Joko, he worked at the Ministry of Finance in the Treasury Department. Prior to that, he was Managing Director for French-speaking Africa at Jumia Travel. He is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and an Engineer of the French Corps des Mines.

Former Ambassador of Israel to France. During his 27-year long career in Israel’s diplomatic service, he also served as Director of European Affairs, Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry and Consul General in San Francisco. He has extensive experience in European Affairs and has participated in several chapters of Arab-Israeli negotiations, in particular while working with the late Shimon Peres. He has for many years taken part in devising media strategies for the Foreign Ministry and is considered an expert on public diplomacy. Since leaving the Foreign Service, he serves as a private consultant and teaches Diplomacy at Tel Aviv University. He is among the leaders of the “Track II Environmental Forum”, an Israeli-Palestinian NGO devoted to resolving cross-border environmental challenges through environmental diplomacy. Since October 7 2013, he has been directing the international operations of the Forum of Families of Hostages, a civil society-based NGO.

Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the State of Qatar since 2015. Previously, he served as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Head of Iran department and non-resident Chargé d’affaires to Iran (2012-2015). He played a role in the recent Iran nuclear negotiations and was involved in the reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran in August 2015. He has had previous diplomatic postings in Paris, Ankara and Moscow.

Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the State of Qatar since 2012. He served as Head of non-European Bilateral Economic Relations Department (2009-2012), Head of Expatriate Network Management Dept/Sectn at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2008-2009). He has been a Career Diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia since 1991. He graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Polish politician, Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for Eastern Policy and the Eastern Partnership. He served as Minister of European Affairs, Minister without Portfolio and Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts.  He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004. He is Vice-President of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, as well as interparliamentary forum with national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. He is also Coordinator in Committee on Budget Control (CONT), member of the Foreign Affairs (AFET) committee in the EP and the Delegation EU – Ukraine. He graduated from the University of Wroclaw.

Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag with responsibility for foreign affairs, defence, European security, and human rights. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the German Bundestag. He was chairman of the committee from 2014 to 2021.From 2009 to 2012, he was Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He has been a Member of the German Parliament since 1994. During his mandate Dr. Röttgen has fulfilled key functions within the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). Dr. Röttgen, who is a lawyer by profession, holds a PhD in Law from Bonn University. He is the Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and Board Member of various institutions, such as the Atlantik-Brücke, Asia House, Club of Three, the Hertie School of Governance Berlin and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

Photo : Jonas Makoschey

Executive Director of StarFinder Investment Fund, Board Member of the Institute of Economic Development Europe-Latin America (IDE EAL), owner/director of Nairne Ltd, a UK-based strategic economic development consultancy, and previously Director of Global Advisory Services at Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG, Liechtenstein. She has worked on United Nations assignments, co-ordinated cross border co-operation projects and supported businesses’ global expansion. She had a key role in reactivating Visegrad Group cooperation. She is a University of Warsaw International Relations graduate and she holds an Executive MBA from the University of Quebec in Montreal, Warsaw School of Economics and the China University of Mining and Technology.

As Provost of IE University and Dean of IE School of Politics, Economics & Global Affairs, he is responsible for the university’s international expansion through strategic alliances and for research and teaching in Public Policy, Global Affairs and Economics. He is also the Chair of the Board of the IE New York College. In 2023 Dr. Muñiz was elected President of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), the preeminent organization bringing together the world’s top schools of global affairs and public policy. He is a Senior Fellow at Brookings’ Foreign Policy Program, a member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Club of Madrid, and a council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. He served as State Secretary (Vice Minister) at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2020-2021). In this role, he was responsible for the ministry’s Strategy and Foresight Unit, the Economic Diplomacy Team, and the Communications Department. He coordinated Spain’s 2021–2024 Foreign Policy Strategy, and led the work on the National Strategy on Technology and Global Order. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Oxford, a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, a Master in Financial Markets from the Instituto de Estudios Bursatiles in Madrid, and a Bachelor in Law from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi, and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington. He served as national security advisor to the Prime Minister of India (2010-2014), and previously as Foreign Secretary of India (2006-2009). He served as Ambassador or High Commissioner of India to Israel (1995-1997), Sri Lanka (1997-2000), China (2000-2003), and Pakistan (2003-2006). He studied at the Scindia School, Gwalior and at St. Stephens College, Delhi University, where he studied ancient Indian history and Chinese.

Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He was a Parliamentarian for the State of Punjab for 14 years and served in the Union Government as Minister of State in the Departments of Industrial Policy & Planning, Parliamentary Affairs, Planning, Science, Technology and Earth Sciences (2006-2012). He later served as the Cabinet Minister for Law & Justice in the UPA II (2013). He represented India at the United Nations several times. He graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Vice Chairman at the Institute for International Economic Studies, which is the research institute established by Toyota Motor Corporation. After joining the Japanese Ministry of Finance in 1973, he engaged mainly in the international issues. Afterwards, he joined The Bank of Japan as Executive Director. He studied Mathematics at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Business Administration at Saarland University in Germany.

Deputy Director of Ifri and Editor-in-Chief of Politique étrangère. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and taught for many years a course on Terrorism at Sciences Po. He published several books including La Guerre de vingt ans (Robert Laffont, 2021 with Elie Tenenbaum), Intifada française ? (Ellipses, 2012) and War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age (Praeger, 2009 with Thomas Rid; translated in Chinese in 2011). His articles appeared in major journals (Policy Review, Internationale Politik, Commentaire, Études, etc.).

Chairman of Organización Cultiba, Grupo Azucarero Mèxico (Sugar Mills) and of GEPP. He is also a board member of Caterpillar Inc., Santander Mexico and a member of the International Advisory Council of Bombardier and Rabobank. He has served as CEO of COECE, Mexico`s Trade Coalition for NAFTA and Free Trade agreements since 1992. He was also President of Industrial Minera Mexico (Mexico’s largest mining company). He graduated from the Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City.

Founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks, a digital outlet on strategy, defense, and foreign affairs. He has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, the CTC Sentinel of West Point. He deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan (2010-2011) as a civilian social scientist on a U.S. Army Human Terrain Team. He worked as assistant director at the Center for the National Interest, as a research fellow at the Center for National Policy, and for the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence in London. He has lectured, among others at the U.S. Army War College, American University, John Hopkins University. He received his MA from the King’s College London War Studies Department.

Senior Fellow at the OCP Policy Center in Rabat, Morocco and a non-resident scholar at Bruegel. He teaches graduate courses on globalization and on international trade policy at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and in the executive program of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC). He was previously Director of the International Trade, Economic Policy, and Development Prospects Departments at the World Bank. He was also President of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Group Vice President of Data Resources, Inc., and a consultant with McKinsey and Co.

Former Prime Ministerial Advisor of Thailand, Senior Fellow Harvard University and Chairman, Nation-Building Institute. President of the Institute of Future Studies for Development and Honorary Consul General in Thailand. He was also a Fellow at the University of Oxford. He was a Member of Parliament. He is also an Executive Chairman Adviser to CP ALL, the largest listed flagship of the largest Conglomerate in Thailand and a Director of Singapore’s listed company ASTI Holdings. He graduated from Monash University, Australia, Harvard University, Cambridge University and Oxford University, including a PhD in Economics and DPhil in Management.

Ambassador of the Republic of Paraguay to the State of Qatar since 2014. Prior to that, he served as a Member of the MERCOSUR Parliament (2008-2013) and was notably Vice President and then President of the Committee on the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat). He was also a Professor of International Public Law at the American University of Asuncion, Paraguay (2006) and a Member of the House of Representatives of Paraguay (1998-2003). He obtained a lawyer degree from the American University of Asuncion, Paraguay.

Adjunct Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Visiting Professor at the Global Studies Institute (GSI) of the University of Geneva since 2014. He has been a journalist for thirty years and worked for most of the Swiss written press. He served as chief editor of l’Hebdo in 1996 and then, in 1997, he founded the daily newspaper Le Temps and was its first chief editor and director. He was also editorial editor of the group Edipresse and then Tamedia (2005-2014).