Category: Invited guests

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. His research addresses a wide range of topics at the interstice of economics, political science, and international relations, most recently focusing on the global impact of Trump Administration policies regarding tariffs, mass deportations, and Fed independence. His areas of geographical knowledge and interest include Asia and Africa where he has lived and worked, and the Middle East. In the past he has written extensively on the economies of Japan, Korea, and China, and is unique among American economists in having devoted serious scholarly effort to the problems of North Korea and the prospects for Korean unification.

President of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs (SFIA), he is also Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University, Korean Chair of the Asia-Pacific Group of the Trilateral Commission, and Co-Chair of the Korea–Canada Forum. He served as President of the Global Commerce Institute of Lee & Ko, a leading global law firm in Korea, and as Non-Resident Senior Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. He served as Korea’s Minister for Trade (2011–2013) and was the Korean candidate for WTO Director-General in 2013. His public service includes Chairmanship of the Korean International Trade Commission and leadership of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Investment Expert Group (2000–2002). Before joining Seoul National University, he taught at Georgetown University and worked at the Korea Development Institute and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. He has also been affiliated with the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. He has authored books and articles on international trade, foreign direct investment, and the Korean economy, and received the “Order of Service Merit, Yellow Stripes”. He holds a BA from Seoul National University and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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.

Director of CIGI’s Global Security & Politics program, Co-director of the Global Commission on Internet Governance and Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Previously, he served as director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He is the recipient of various awards and honors and is a frequent contributor to the national and international media. He is the author of 10 books including The Global Power of Talk (co-authored with I. William Zartman). He serves on the International Advisory Board Committee of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. He holds a PhD from Harvard University.

Senior Advisor to Mohamed Kallala, Chief Executive of Natixis since January 2025. He has over 37 years’ banking experience, primarily with Morgan Stanley and Natixis. At Morgan Stanley he was latterly Managing Director, Vice Chairman of the Commodities Division and Chairman of the firm’s African business. His experience at Morgan Stanley also includes co-founding the bank’s oil trading activities in London in 1986, establishing its energy trading activity in Asia in 1988, and setting up its Singapore office for commodities in 1990. Before joining the finance industry, Marc worked three years for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Cultural Attaché in Hong Kong, and then at Elf Aquitaine (now Total) for over four years as a crude oil trader. Marc joined Natixis as a Senior Adviser in March 2017, was appointed Global Head of Global Markets Commodities in October 2017, promoted Executive Chairman of Global Commodities Markets in 2019 and became Global Co-Head of Commodities in January 2021. Marc holds a Master of Science degree in business administration from Sup. de co., Marseille, a D.E.A in business administration from ESSEC/ IAE, Aix en Provence and a D.E.S.S in international trade and transportation from Aix Marseille University. He taught international finance at HEC for four years. Marc was Chairman of the Trustees of the Friends of the French Institute in London for 12 years and remains a Trustee. He is Commissioner and Chair of the Crown Estate Paving Commission, Conseiller du Commerce Exterieur, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.

Senior counsel at King & Spalding LLP. He served as Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization from 2005 to September 2013. During 2001, he served as Chairperson of the Committee on Trade and Environment of the WTO, and in February 2002, he was elected as Chairman of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services. In June 2000, he was appointed as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Chile to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. He graduated from the University of Chile and pursued graduate studies in the University of California at Berkeley.

Professor Emeritus at Sciences Po Paris. Special Adviser to Mike Moore (WTO Director general) (2001-2002), he co-chaired the Task Forces on Trade for the Millennium Development Goals (2002-2005) and on Global Finance and Trade Architecture (2007-2010). He was a member of the Global Trade Agenda Council, World Economic Forum (2009-2012).

Visiting professor at the Graduate School of Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (NUCB) on energy-climate nexus. He also serves as auditor of SOC Corporation in Tokyo, chairman of FairCourt Capital in London and strategic committee member of Elion House in Singapore. He has had an extensive career in energy business and policy making as JAPEX advisor, JNOC vice president and director of the International Energy Agency. He has a strong interest in new dimension of energy and environmental policies and measures. He belongs to the Expert Network of the World Economic Forum.

Professor of Social Sciences, School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). Her research interests include international relations, international political economy and international communication. Her latest book Imaging China and China’s Image around the World from 1978 Deng Xiaoping’s Reform and Opening up to 2013 Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream: An International Communication Perspective won the grant from the National Social Science Foundation of China. She is also the Executive Director of China Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (CAFICS) and adviser to China Central Television (CCTV).

Founder and Chairman of Africa Matters Ltd. Between 1986 and 1997 she was Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. She is a Trustee of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF), she is also an Executive Trustee of the Global Leadership Foundation, a member of the international advisory board of Lafarge et Cie and advised the World Bank for over 8 years. She is Vice-President of WaterAid, Honorary Vice-President of the British Red Cross and Patron of a number of charities working in Africa.

OECD Secretary-General. Former Mexico’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Chairman of the International Task Force on Financing Water for all, World Water Council.

Enterprise Director at the Chamber of Commerce French Riviera. Former General Delegate at France Chine 2000, Managing Director at Territoires, consulting firm specializing in economic strategy.

Founder and President of ACRI, company specializing in modeling and study cases on environment.

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan, founder of PROMSTAN Asia (Kazakhstan), Founding President of PROMVOST (Russia), Managing Director of PROMEST/COOPINVEST. Former Managing Director of TECHNOFI.

Director General of the Directorate General Communications and Language Services at the European Central Bank. Former Partner and Managing Director in the Brunswick Group.

Director of the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Lebanon. Professor at the Lebanese University and the Center of Technology of the Lebanese French University, Head of the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (CESMO).

Chairman of the American Lebanese Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Lebanon). He is also the Owner, President and CEO of Zeenni’s Trading Agency. He served among others as Chairman of The AmCham MENA Regional Council, Chairman of the Children’s Cancer Center in Lebanon, President of the Lebanese American Businessmen Association (LABA). He graduated from Saint Joseph University (USJ), Beirut.

Historian of medieval China, member of the Institut de France, professor and former director of the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (2004-2014). He has taught the history of Chinese religions in France, the United States, and China. Since 2014 he has served as director of the EFEO Hong Kong Centre and senior research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published widely on Chinese religion and regional history. His latest book, Imperiled Destinies: The Daoist Quest for Deliverance in Medieval China, is forthcoming from the Harvard University Press in early 2019. His current interests are focused on the break-up of the Tang empire and the role of military and religious elites in the Tang-Five Dynasties transition in the tenth century.