Halifax Network
Zaffar Abbas
Editor-in-Chief, Dawn, Pakistan Mr. Zaffar Abbas is editor-in-chief of Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper. With over 30 years of experience in journalism, Mr. Abbas has covered events extensively in Pakistan as well as other countries such as India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. He started his journalism career in 1981 as a junior reporter for a Karachi-based newspaper, The Star. In 1988 he moved to the Herald, a prestigious Pakistani monthly magazine, as one of its main investigative reporters. He then shifted to Islamabad to join the BBC World Service as one of its Pakistan correspondents. Mr. Abbas is a keen follower of both Pakistani and regional politics and has been reporting on the insurgency and civil war in Afghanistan from the days of the Soviet occupation and the post 9/11 policies and developments in the region, particularly the resultant rise in Islamic militancy in Pakistan.
Stéphane Abrial
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO General Stéphane Abrial was appointed supreme allied commander transformation by the North Atlantic Council in 2009. He served as a flight commander in a unit of the German Luftwaffe from 1981 to 1984 and with a unit of the Greek Air Force in 1988. He served as commander of the French Air Force’s 5th Fighter Wing during Operation Desert Storm. From 1996 to 1999, General Abrial served at the NATO International Military Staff in Brussels. He completed several appointments in the private offices of the French prime minister and president, and went on to serve as head of the French air defense and air operations command, and finally as Air Force chief of staff from 2006 to 2009. General Abrial is a graduate of the French Air Force Academy; the U.S. Air War College, Montgomery, Alabama; and of the French Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense.
Said Abd Al-Rahman Ahmad Abu-Ali
Minister of the Interior, Palestinian National Authority The Honourable Said Abu-Ali is minister of the interior of the Palestinian National Authority. Previously, he was minister of interior and national security and governor of the cities of Ramallah and Nablus. He also served as director of the Palestinian Planning Center “President’s Office.” Dr. Abu-Ali holds a Ph.D. in political science from Tunis University and a Ph.D. in international organizations from Toulouse University. He also has lectured on public law and international relations at Al-Azhar University, Jerusalem University and Beir-Zeit University.
Mobashar Jawed Akbar
Editorial Director, India Today Mr. Mobashar Jawed Akbar is editorial director of India Today and Headlines Today. Since 1971, Mr. Akbar has worked as a journalist for several publications, including the Times of India, Sunday, The Telegraph, The Asian Age—which he founded—and Deccan Chronicle. In 2010, he launched The Sunday Guardian, Delhi’s first Sunday newspaper. He also served in the Indian Parliament from 1989 to 1991 and worked as an as advisor in the Ministry of Human Resources. Mr. Akbar served as a visiting fellow on the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World. He holds a B.A. in English from Presidency College, Calcutta.
Hakan Altinay
Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Mr. Hakan Altinay is a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, where he works on questions of constituency building and normative frameworks for enhanced global cooperation and governance. In his book, Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights in an Interdependent World, Mr. Altinay and others argue that the web of cross-border interactions and interdependencies have become too thick to manage without a draft global social contract. In 2009, he was a World Fellow at Yale University. He was also the founding executive director of the Open Society Institute and the Open Society Foundation in Turkey, where he is currently the chairman of the board.
Antony Bertram Anderson
Chief of Defence Staff, Jamaica Defence Force Major General Antony Bertram Anderson was appointed chief of defence staff of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) in October 2010. Prior to this appointment, Major General Anderson served for two years as deputy chief of defence staff with responsibility for force strategy, operational policy, planning and development, national security strategy coordination and the implementation of the Strategic Defence Review. In 2006, he oversaw the CARICOM Operations Planning and Coordinating Staff, an organization formed to develop the regional security plans for the ICC Cricket World Cup. He holds a bachelor’s in engineering and a master’s in defense administration from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. He is a graduate of the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
James Appathurai
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, NATO Mr. James Appathurai was appointed deputy assistant secretary general (DASG) for NATO in December 2010. As DASG, he is responsible for NATO’s political relations with countries across the globe, international organizations, enlargement, arms control, and defense and security economics. As the Secretary General’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, he is responsible for carrying forward the Alliance’s policy in these two strategically important regions. Mr. Appathurai previously served as NATO’s spokesperson from 2004 to 2010. Previously, he served as deputy head and senior planning officer in the Policy Planning and Speechwriting Section of NATO’s Political Affairs Division from 1998 to 2004. He served in the Canadian Department of National Defence from 1994 to 1998.
Shlomo Avineri
Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Dr. Shlomo Avineri is a professor of political science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a graduate of Hebrew University and the London School of Economics, and served as director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He held visiting appointments at Yale, Cornell, University of California, Cardozo School of Law, Australian National University, Oxford and Northwestern University; and has been a fellow at the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Institute for World Economy and International Relations, and Collegium Budapest. In 1996, he received the Israel Prize, the country’s highest civilian decoration.
Ehud Barak
Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister, Israel The Honourable Ehud Barak is minister of defense and deputy prime minister of Israel. Mr. Barak served as prime minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. He was appointed minister of internal affairs and minister of foreign affairs before his election to the Knesset and rise to leadership of the Labour party in 1996. Mr. Barak, a 35-year veteran of the Israeli Defense Force, served as chief and deputy chief of the Israeli Defense Force General Staff, head of Central Command, and head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and is the most decorated Israeli general. Upon his return to politics, Mr. Barak won leadership of the Labour party in 2007 and was appointed minister of defense. Mr. Barak is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Stanford University.
Gitte Lillelund Bech
Former Defence Minister, Denmark The Honourable Gitte Lillelund Bech is the Defense Minister of Denmark. She has been an MP for the Liberal Party since 1999, representing the Gladsaxe Circle. After graduating from the Gymnasium Faaborg, she attended the Copenhagen Business School in 1999. She then worked as an analyst at Danish Bank, and then as a consultant with COWI Consulting Engineers A/S.
Luvsanvandan Bold
Minister of Defense, Mongolia The Honourable Luvsanvandan Bold was appointed minister of defense in September 2008. Previously appointed chairman of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia, Mr. Bold has held leadership positions across the business and government sectors. He was elected to parliament and served as chair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Promotion of Foreign Investment from 1996 to 2000 before working as chairman of the Board of Governors at the Golomt Bank of Mongolia and president of the Mongolian Bankers Association from 2000 to 2005. Active in the NGO sector, Mr. Bold has been awarded the Order of the Polar Star in Mongolia and Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a graduate of the Trade Union University Bernau in Berlin, Germany.
Susan Bonner
Washington Correspondent, CBC News Ms. Susan Bonner is one of Canada's top political journalists, currently reporting from Washington, D.C. on the day's top stories from the White House, Capitol Hill, and wherever news breaks. Ms. Bonner's reports appear on CBC News Network, as well as CBC News’ The National. Most recently, Ms. Bonner was a parliamentary reporter for CBC Television, where she played a key role in all federal political coverage for the network, including live hits and analysis on throne speeches, budgets, cabinet shuffles, party leadership and policy conventions, and First Ministers' Meetings. Ms. Bonner's 20-year journalistic career has taken her from daily reporting in Saskatoon and Calgary, to political journalism in Halifax and Montreal, where she was assigned to an elite investigative documentary unit producing high-profile documentaries for CBC Television.
Stephen Breyer
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court The Honorable Stephen Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and was nominated by President Clinton in 1994. From 1980–1990, he served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and as its chief judge from 1990–1994. He also served as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, 1990–1994, and of the United States Sentencing Commission, 1985–1989. He was an assistant professor, professor of law, and lecturer at Harvard Law School, 1967–1994, a professor at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1977–1980, and a visiting professor at the College of Law, Sydney, Australia and at the University of Rome. He received an A.B. from Stanford University, a B.A. from Magdalen College, Oxford, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School.
Mark Carney
Governor, Bank of Canada Mr. Mark Carney is the governor of the Bank of Canada and chairman of the Bank’s Board of Directors. In addition to his duties at the Bank of Canada, he serves as Chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Mr. Carney is also a member of the Group of Thirty and the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. Born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Mr. Carney received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University in 1988. He received a master’s degree in economics in 1993 and a doctorate in economics in 1995, both from Oxford University. Prior to entering public service, Mr. Carney had a 13-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. Mr. Carney was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in August 2003. In November 2004, he left the Bank to become Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance – a position he held until his appointment as Governor of the Bank.
Steven Clemons
Senior Fellow, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation Mr. Steven Clemons is senior fellow of the American Strategy Program, which he founded, at the New America Foundation. He previously served as executive vice president and remains actively involved in the direction of the American Strategy Program. Mr. Clemons is also Washington editor at large for The Atlantic and editor in chief of Atlantic LIVE. He has served as executive vice president of the Economic Strategy Institute, senior policy advisor on economic and international affairs to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and the first executive director of the Nixon Center. Prior to moving to Washington, Mr. Clemons served as executive director of the Japan America Society of Southern California and co-founded the Japan Policy Research Institute. Mr. Clemons serves on several boards and writes frequently on matters of foreign policy, defense, and international economic policy.
Roger Cohen
Columnist, The New York Times and the International Herald TribuneMr. Roger Cohen has been a foreign correspondent for more than a decade , currently serving as foreign editor and now columnist for The New York Times. Since 2004, he has written a column for The Times-owned International Herald Tribune, first for the news pages and then, since 2007, for the op-ed page. Mr. Cohen has written Hearts Grown Brutal: Sagas of Sarajevo (Random House, 1998), an account of the wars of Yugoslavia's destruction, and Soldiers and Slaves: American POWs Trapped by the Nazis' Final Gamble (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005). He has also co-written a biography of General Norman Schwarzkopf, In the Eye of the Storm (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1991).
Premvir Saran Das
Executive Council, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, India Vice Admiral P.S. Das retired from the Indian Navy in 1998 as commander-in-chief of the Eastern Naval Command. He was also chief of staff of the Eastern Naval Command, fleet commander of the Eastern Fleet, fortress commander of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and director general of the Defence Planning Staff. Since retirement, Admiral Das has served on the Executive Council of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the United Service Institute, two of the leading security and strategy think tanks in India. He is currently serving a third term in the Council of the IDSA. Admiral Das writes regularly for national newspapers and journals and has served as member of the National Security Advisory Board in the Office of the Prime Minister. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College and holds an M.B.A.
Francis Delon
Secretary General for National Defense, Office of the Prime Minister, France Mr. Francis Delon was appointed secretary general for national defense in 2004. He previously served as president of subsection five of the Litigation Division of the Council of State from 1997 to 2004. Concurrently, he was president of the Appeal Committee of the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation, and a member of the Board of Directors of the French National Library. Mr. Delon was the principal chief of staff for the Minister of National Education, Higher Education, and Research, and previously served as director for international affairs and cooperation at the Ministry of National Education as well as being its senior civil servant for defense issues. From 1988 to 1994, Mr. Delon held the position of first counselor and legal adviser at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York. He graduated from ENA, France’s school of public management.
Raghida Dergham
Columnist and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Al Hayat Ms. Raghida Dergham is a columnist and senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat, the leading independent Arabic daily. She writes a regular weekly strategic column on international political affairs. Ms. Dergham is also a member of the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, composed by 100 of the most respected and influential media figures worldwide and was named one of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women in 2011. She served as a political analyst for NBC, MSNBC and the Arab satellite channel LBC for eight years. Ms. Dergham is in the State University of New York’s Hall of Fame as a distinguished alumna and received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2003.
Karen DeYoung
Associate Editor, Washington Post Ms. Karen DeYoung is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, associate editor and senior national security correspondent for the Washington Post. In more than three decades at the paper, she has served as bureau chief in Latin America and London and correspondent covering the White House, U.S. foreign policy and the intelligence community, as well as assistant managing editor for national news, national editor and foreign editor. She has won numerous awards for national and international reporting and is the author of Soldier, a biography of Colin Powell.
Paula Dobriansky
Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Thomson Reuters The Honorable Paula J. Dobriansky is senior vice president and global head of government and regulatory affairs at Thomson Reuters. She is also an adjunct senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and holds the Distinguished National Security Chair at the U.S. Naval Academy. From 2001 to 2009, Ms. Dobriansky served as under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, and prior to her Presidential appointments, she served as senior vice president and director of the Washington office of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Dobriansky holds a B.S. in international politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a master’s and doctorate in Soviet political and military affairs from Harvard University.
Lyse Doucet
Presenter, BBC World News and World Service Newshour Ms. Lyse Doucet is a senior BBC presenter and special correspondent from New Brunswick, Canada. She works for both BBC World Service radio and BBC World News television, and also reports for BBC Radio 4 and BBC News in the UK, including reporting on Newsnight. Ms. Doucet is often deployed to anchor significant news events from the field, and to interview key players. She played a leading role in the BBC's coverage of the "Arab Spring", reporting from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. She has covered all major wars in the Middle East since the mid 1990s. She has also been a frequent visitor to Pakistan and Afghanistan since the late 1980s. Her work has focused on the aftermath of major natural disasters, including the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 which took her to India and Indonesia.
Espen Barth Eide
Minister of Defence, NorwayThe Honourable Espen Barth Eide is state secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he has held since June 2010. He also served as state secretary in the MFA in the first Stoltenberg Government (2000-2001), and was state secretary in the Ministry of Defence from October 2005 to June 2010. He is responsible for international security policy, the UN, NATO, the OSCE, European security issues, humanitarian affairs, international operations and bilateral relations with North America, Russia, Asia, and Africa.
Golnaz Esfandiari
Senior Correspondent, blogger, Central News, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ms. Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent in RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and editor of the Persian Letters blog. She served previously as chief editor of RFE's Persian-language service, Radio Farda and as head of the newsroom's Asia desk. Born in Tehran, she has traveled to Afghanistan several times and reported on the country’s first parliamentary elections
Mark Fitzgerald
Retired Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces, Africa, and Allied Joint Forces Command Naples Mr. Mark Fitzgerald is a retired United States Navy admiral. He is the former Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa and Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples. He previously served as Director, Navy Staff from December 2006 to November 2007 and Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet from 2004 until December 2006. He assumed the duties of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples on November 30, 2007 and assumed the additional duties as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa on March 26, 2009.
Helga Flores Trejo
Nonresident Fellow, The Brookings Institution Ms. Helga Flores Trejo is a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and is the principal external relations advisor in Brazil for the Inter-American Development Bank. She also has served as executive director of the Heinrich Boell Foundation office in Washington. Prior to leading the Foundation in Washington, Ms. Flores Trejo worked in the Balkans as senior advisor for the Parliamentary Support Program at the Belgrade Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, where she directed a program to install parliamentary control and oversight of the military and security services in the region. Ms. Flores Trejo is an expert on foreign policy and climate and energy issues.
Michèle Flournoy
Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, United States Ms. Michèle Flournoy is the former under secretary of defense for policy of the United States. She was confirmed in the position by the U.S. Senate on February 9, 2009 and was at the time the highest-ranking woman to hold a post at the Pentagon in the facility's history. Ms. Flournoy founded and was named president of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in 2007. Prior to co-founding CNAS with Kurt Campbell, she was a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she worked on a broad range of defense policy and international security issues. Previously, she was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU).
Liam Fox
Member of Parliament, United Kingdom The Right Honourable Dr. Liam Fox was elected as a member of the British Parliament for North Somerset in 1992. He was secretary of state for defence from May 2010 to October 2011. In 1993, he was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Home Secretary Michael Howard and in 1994 assistant government whip and then senior government whip. Dr. Fox was a minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1996 to 1997, before his appointment as Opposition Front Bench spokesman on constitutional affairs. He also served as shadow secretary of state for health, shadow foreign secretary, and shadow secretary of state for defence. Dr. Fox studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, worked as a civilian army medical officer and served in the voluntary sector as a divisional surgeon for St John’s before working as a general practitioner.
Robert Gates
Chancellor, The College of William and Mary The Honorable Robert Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011, and is now the 24th chancellor of The College of William and Mary. Previously, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W. Bush as Director of Central Intelligence. Immediately after being recruited by the CIA, he also served as an officer in the United States Air Force. After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates also served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, that has studied the Iraq War.
Amos Gilad
Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Israel Major General (Ret.) Amos Gilad currently serves as director of policy and political- military affairs at the Israeli Ministry of Defense as well as chair of security relations with regional and strategic partners. Prior to his discharge from the Israeli Defense Forces in 2003, he worked as coordinator of government activities in the territories (2001-2003); head of the Military Intelligence Research Division and responsible for the overall national intelligence assessment (1996-2001); and IDF spokesperson (1994-1996). Mr. Gilad holds a master’s degree in political science and national security studies from Haifa University in conjunction with the National Security College. He received two awards from the American Defense Establishment “Legion of Merits” and the DIA Director’s Award.
Scott Gilmore
Founder and Executive Director, Peace Dividend Trust Mr. Scott Gilmore is a former diplomat and founder and executive director of Peace Dividend Trust (PDT), a social enterprise that builds markets and creates jobs in conflict-prone countries by championing local entrepreneurs and connecting them to new business opportunities and global markets. Mr. Gilmore has been named one of 25 “Transformational Canadians,” awarded the Skoll Prize for Social Entrepreneurship, and designated by The Globe & Mail as a “Leading Thinker” on aid in the 21st century. Recently, the World Economic Forum honored him as a Young Global Leader.
Misha Glenny
Investigative Journalist, Broadcaster and Author Mr. Misha Glenny is an investigative journalist, author and broadcaster, and is one of the world's leading experts on cybercrime and on global mafia networks. He has also written McMafia, Dark Market, The Rebirth of History, The Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia and A History of the Balkans. He contributes regularly to The Guardian, Observer, The New York Times and New York Review of Books as well as specialist journals and books dealing with southeastern Europe. A regular broadcaster on radio and television, he has most recently advised several southern European countries on policy-making and legislation (sponsored by the Greek government) and is informally consulted on a regular basis by the British Foreign Office, the U.S. State Department and the British Army, as well as by U.S., European and southern European think-tanks.
Joanisval Brito Gonçalves
Senior Counselor on Foreign Affairs and Defense, Senate of Brazil Dr. Joanisval Brito Gonçalves is a lawyer and a senior counselor on foreign affairs and defense in the Senate of Brazil and the only technical advisor on intelligence for the Brazilian Joint Committee on Intelligence Oversight. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Brasilia. Before serving in the legislative branch, he was an intelligence officer at the Brazilian Intelligence Agency. Dr. Brito Gonçalves is a lecturer on intelligence and security issues at the Brazilian War College, the Brazilian Army Military Intelligence School, the Navy’s Intelligence Center, the Air Force Intelligence Center and the Federal Police Directorate of Intelligence. In 2006, he was a visiting fellow at the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies, at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Sherri Goodman
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Board Secretary, CNA Ms. Sherri Goodman is senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of CNA and serves as Executive Director of CNA’s Military Advisory Board. Ms. Goodman is an internationally recognized authority on energy, climate change and national security, having led the projects by CNA’s Military Advisory Board on National Security and the Threat of Climate Change (2007) and Powering America’s Defense: Energy & the Risks to National Security (2009).
Lindsey Graham
Senator, United States Senator Lindsey Graham is a two-term U.S. senator from South Carolina. He was elected to the Senate in 2002 and reelected in 2008. In the Senate, he serves on the chamber’s most important committees: Appropriations; Armed Services; Budget; and Judiciary. Senator Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. From 1984-1988, he was assigned overseas and served at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Germany. Upon leaving active duty Air Force in 1989, Senator Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard where he served until 1995. He continues to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is one of only three U.S. senators currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. A native South Carolinian, Graham earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina.
Camille Grand
Executive Director, The Foundation for Strategic Research Dr. Camille Grand has been the executive director of the Foundation for Strategic Research, the leading French think tank on defense and security, since September 2008. Prior to this assignment, he was deputy director for disarmament and multilateral affairs in the directorate for strategic, security, and disarmament affairs of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Dr. Grand was previously the deputy diplomatic adviser to French Defense Minister Mrs. Alliot-Marie. He also served as an expert on nuclear policy and nonproliferation in the Strategic Affairs Department of the French Ministry of Defense. Dr. Grand has taught graduate courses in international and security affairs at Sciences Po Paris and at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. Dr. Grand primarily focuses on current strategic affairs, including European security, nuclear policy, nonproliferation, and disarmament.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
Distinguished Statesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies The Honorable Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg served as German minister of defense from 2009 to 2011 and minister of economics and technology from February 2009 to October 2009. As minister of defense, Mr. zu Guttenberg led the most significant structural reform to the German Bundeswehr since 1955, particularly leading the effort of transforming the Bundeswehr from a conscription-based army to an all-professional military. He also served as a member of the Bundestag from 2002 to 2011 and as a leading member of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee from 2002 to 2008. As Distinguished Statesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he leads a new transatlantic dialogue initiative in Washington, D.C. Mr. zu Guttenberg has published numerous articles in national and international papers and magazines on foreign, economic and security policy.
Stephen Hadley
Senior Adviser, International Affairs, United States Institute of Peace Mr. Stephen Hadley is the senior adviser of international affairs for the United States Institute of Peace. From 2005-2009, Hadley was the assistant to President Bush for National Security Affairs. In that capacity he was the principal White House foreign policy adviser, directed the National Security Council staff, and ran the interagency national security policy development and execution process. From January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2005, Mr. Hadley was the assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser, serving under then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. From 1993 to 2001, he was both a partner in the Washington D.C. law firm of Shea & Gardner and a principal in the Scowcroft Group. From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Hadley served as the assistant secretary of defense for international security policy under then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. Mr. Hadley graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1969. In 1972, he received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, where he was note and comment editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Joseph Hall
Vice President, Halifax International Security Forum Based overseas for 15 years, Joseph Hall returned to the U.S. in 2011 to join the leadership of Halifax International Security Forum. Joseph most recently served as senior advisor for the Middle East and North Africa and senior director for Lebanon for the National Democratic Institute in Beirut. Since 1997, he has provided strategic advice to civic organizations and political parties throughout the Middle East, West Africa and the former Soviet Union and has conducted election observation and civic programs in the West Bank and Gaza, Azerbaijan, Sierra Leone, Egypt and Lebanon. Joseph opened the first NDI office in Cairo in 2005 and led the NDI team during the Egyptian Revolution in January and February of 2011. He has more than 30 years experience in nonprofit management and has served on the boards of directors of national advocacy organizations and philanthropic institutions in the U.S. and abroad. He maintains a home in Washington, DC and in the mountains of Lebanon.
Michael Hastings
Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone Mr. Michael Hastings is a contributing editor to Rolling Stone. He regularly covers international affairs and politics for the magazine, including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. In 2011, he was awarded the George Polk Award in Journalism. Mr. Hastings started his career at Newsweek in 2002 and in 2005 became Newsweek’s Baghdad correspondent, the youngest in the magazine’s history. His work has appeared in several publications including GQ, Men’s Journal, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. In 2009, his story “Obama’s War,” published in GQ, was selected for the Best American Political Writing 2009 anthology. He is the author of I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story and the upcoming book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan.
Gerald Howarth
Minister for International Security Strategy, Ministry of Defense, United Kingdom The Honorable Gerald Howarth was appointed parliamentary under secretary of state for the Ministry of Defence with the title of minister for international security strategy in May 2010. From 1971-1983, he worked in international banking with his last appointment as manager of syndicated lending at Standard Chartered Bank. From 1983-1992, he served as Conservative member of Parliament for Cannock & Burntwood during which time he was PPS to Michael Spicer at the Department of Energy and from 1991-1992 PPS to Margaret Thatcher. In 1997 he was elected member of Parliament for Aldershot and served on the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Defence Select Committee. From 2002-2010, he served as a shadow defence minister with responsibility for defence procurement and the Royal Air Force. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Southampton, where he also served with the university air squadron.
Swanee Hunt
Chair, Institute for Inclusive Security The Honorable Swanee Hunt chairs the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security. During her tenure as U.S. ambassador to Austria (1993–97), she hosted negotiations and symposia focused on securing the peace in the neighboring Balkan states. Ambassador Hunt is a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the president of Hunt Alternatives Fund. Ambassador Hunt has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, and written for publications including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the International Herald Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and the Huffington Post. She is the author of Half-Life of a Zealot and This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace.
Heather Hurlburt
Executive Director, National Security Network Ms. Heather Hurlburt is executive director of the National Security Network. Previously, she ran her own communications and strategy practice, working on global and political issues. From 1995-2001, she served in the Clinton Administration as special assistant and speechwriter to the President, speechwriter for Secretaries of State Albright and Christopher, and member of the State Department’s Policy Planning staff. Ms. Hurlburt has also worked for the International Crisis Group, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Congressional Helsinki Commission. She is a senior advisor to the U.S. in the World Project of Dēmos and comments frequently in print and new media. Ms. Hurlburt holds a B.A. from Brown University and M.A. from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.
Masafumi Ishii
Ambassador for Policy Planning and International Security Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan The Honourable Masafumi Ishii is the ambassador for policy planning and international security policy and deputy director-general in the Foreign Policy Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A career member of the Ministry, he joined the Foreign Service in 1980 and has since served in a number of positions, including director of the Planning Division, director of the Second Southeast Asian Division, and private secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Ishii was posted in Japan’s embassies in Washington and London, serving as both minister and head of the political section. He holds a degree in law from the University of Tokyo.
Darrell Issa
Congressman, United States Representative Darrell Issa is a congressman from California, a post he has held since 2001. His district includes Camp Pendleton, the largest Marine Corps training facility in the United States. Upon college graduation, Congressman Issa was commissioned as an Army officer, and ultimately obtained the rank of captain. He completed his active-duty military service in 1980. He currently is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where he serves as the Chairman. Previously, Congressman Issa served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Small Business Committee.
Oscar Izurieta
Undersecretary of Defense, Chile The Honourable Oscar Izurieta was appointed undersecretary of defense of Chile on March 25, 2010. An infantry officer, Mr. Izurieta completed 41 years of service in the Army, serving as its commander in chief during 2006 and 2010. After serving as director of the Military Academy between 1995 and 1997, he served as military attaché in Great Britain in 1998 and as chief of the Chilean Army Mission in the United States in 1999. Mr. Izurieta holds a master’s degree in military science from the Catholic University of Chile. He has written numerous articles related to strategy and international relations and is co-author of the book, The Peruvian-Chilean Contemporary Bilateral Relations: A Realistic Approach.
Bruce Jackson
Founder and President, Project on Transitional Democracies Mr. Bruce Jackson is the founder and president of the Project on Transitional Democracies, a multi-year endeavor aimed at accelerating the pace of reform in post-1989 democracies and advancing the date for the integration of these democracies into the institutions of the Euro-Atlantic. From 1979 to 1990, Mr. Jackson served in the United States Army as a military intelligence officer. He also worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and served as a vice president for strategy and planning at Lockheed Martin Corporation. Mr. Jackson also served as president of the U.S. Committee on NATO. He has been recognized for his work on democratic change and European integration by numerous governments and has written extensively on the engagement of Russia and Eastern European democracies by the EU and the U.S.
Charles H. Jacoby, Jr.
Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command General Charles H. Jacoby, Jr. is the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base. A 1978 West Point graduate, he holds an M.A. in history from the University of Michigan. He has commanded at the platoon, company, battalion, joint task force, corps, and U.S. Army Alaska levels, and has been the commanding general of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq and deputy commanding general of the Combined Joint Task Force-76 and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Prior to his current assignment, General Jacoby was director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J5) of The Joint Staff at the Pentagon.
Ljubica Jelušič
Minister of Defense, Slovenia The Honourable Ljubica Jelušič became the first female minister of defense of Slovenia in 2008. She has taught at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ljubljana in the area of defense studies, peace studies, civil-military relations, anthropology of war and peacekeeping operations. In cooperation with the Slovenian Armed Forces, she participated in senior and general staff military education and training at the Command and Staff School. Previously, she was vice dean for research at the Faculty of Social Sciences and chair of the Defense Studies Department. She also received the rank of lieutenant within the Territorial Defence of the Republic of Slovenia. Dr. Jelušič graduated with honours in international relations and defense studies at the then Faculty of Sociology, Political Science and Journalism at the University of Ljubljana and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in defense studies with a thesis on the legitimacy of the military.
Peter Jennings
Deputy Secretary for Strategy, Australian Department of Defence Mr. Peter Jennings is the deputy secretary for strategy in the Australian Department of Defence, a position he has held since June 2008. Mr. Jennings’s career has included extensive experience advising government at senior levels; developing major strategic policy documents; conducting crisis management; and researching, writing and teaching international security. He was the director of programs at a leading think-tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and has taught postgraduate studies on terrorism at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Mr. Jennings has also served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister; as chief of staff to the minister for defence; and as defence advisor to the Federal Opposition. Mr. Jennings received an M.S. from the London Business School as a Sloan Fellow. He also holds an M.A. in international relations from Australian National University and a B.A. in history from the University of Tasmania.
Hina Jilani
Advocate of the Supreme Court, Pakistan Ms. Hina Jilani is advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and was the special representative of the Secretary General on human rights defenders from 2000 until April 2008. Ms. Jilani was appointed advocate of the High Court of Pakistan in 1981, seven years after completing her law studies. In 1992 she was appointed advocate of the Supreme Court. She established Pakistan’s first all-women’s law firm in 1981, and cases she has conducted have on numerous occasions become landmarks for setting standards for human rights in Pakistan. Special areas of concern in her work have been the rights of women, minorities, children and prisoners, including political prisoners. Ms. Jilani has participated in formal and informal expert group meetings of the UN human rights bodies, and has represented UN agencies like UNICEF and UNIFEM at regional and international meetings and conferences as an expert in specific fields of human rights.
Suat Kınıklıoğlu
Director, Center for Strategic Communications, Turkey The Honourable Suat Kınıklıoğlu is a member of the Justice and Development Party’s Central Executive Committee and director of the Center for Strategic Communication in Turkey. From 2007 to 2011, he served as a member of Parliament and the party’s deputy chairman of external affairs. Mr. Kınıklıoğlu was spokesman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Turkey-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group. Mr. Kınıklıoğlu is currently a columnist for Today’s Zaman, an English-language daily. He was founding director of the German Marshall Fund office in Ankara. Mr. Kınıklıoğlu began his career as a liaison officer in the Turkish Air Force in 1986. He earned a B.Sc. in electronics from the Turkish Air Force Academy, a B.A. in political science from Carleton University in Canada, and an M.A. in international relations from Bilkent University in Ankara. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Keele University in the U.K.
Kathleen Koch
Author and Journalist Ms. Kathleen Koch is an award-winning broadcast journalist and a former CNN correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Her two documentaries on Bay St. Louis’s recovery received a New York Festivals Gold Medal. She also shared in the Peabody Award that CNN won for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Koch began her television career as a reporter and weekend anchor for the ABC affiliate WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi. She spent 18 years at CNN covering the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and aviation. Ms. Koch currently serves on the USM School of Mass Communications and Journalism Advisory Board and on Rotary International’s 2010-2011 Alumni Advisory Committee.
David J. Kramer
President, Freedom House Mr. David J. Kramer is president of Freedom House. Prior to joining Freedom House in October 2010, Mr. Kramer was a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and an adjunct professor at the Elliott School for International Affairs at The George Washington University. He also served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor from March 2008 to January 2009 and was a deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs. Mr. Kramer also was a professional staff member in the secretary of state’s Office of Policy Planning, senior advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, and executive director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Washington. He received his M.A. in Soviet studies from Harvard University and B.A. in Soviet studies and political science from Tufts University. He currently serves as secretary of the board of Halifax International Security Forum.
Jawed Ludin
Deputy Foreign Minister on Political Affairs, Afghanistan The Honourable Jawed Ludin is the current deputy foreign minister on political affairs. He was appointed on 2011, by President Hamid Karzai. He previously was Ambassador of Afghanistan in Canada and spokesperson and later chief of staff to President Karzai.
Mohammed Abu Luhoum
Head, Justice and Building Party, Yemen Sheikh Mohammed Abu Luhoum is head of the Justice and Building Party in Yemen, which he helped establish in 2011. He resigned from the General People’s Congress (GPC), Yemen’s ruling party, on March 18, 2011 and joined the Youth Revolution. Mr. Abu Luhoum served as head of the Foreign Relations Department at the GPC from 2004 until 2007. Between 1990 and 1993, he served as a member of Parliament in Yemen’s first parliament after the unification and founded the Republican Party of Yemen in 1991. Over the years, Mr. Abu Luhoum has served as chairman of various committees, focusing on the economy and development, and was director for bilateral relations at the Ministry of Development. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from George Washington University.
Peter MacKay
Minister of National Defence, Canada The Honourable Peter MacKay was first elected as a member of Parliament in Canada in 1997. He was re-elected in his northern Nova Scotia constituency in 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011. On May 18, 2011, Mr. MacKay was reappointed as minister of national defence. He also serves as regional minister for Nova Scotia. In May 2003, Mr. MacKay was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. In March 2004, following the unification of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance Party, he was named deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Prior to his most recent appointment, Mr. MacKay served as foreign affairs minister and minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. He holds an arts degree from Acadia University, studied law at Dalhousie University, and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in June 1991.
John P. Manley
Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Canada The Honourable John P. Manley, P.C., O.C. has been president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives since January 2010. From 1995-2003, Mr. Manley has served as Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Industry. Mr. Manley has been special advisor of ComnetiX, Inc. and a senior counselor at the law firm of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He also serves as the chairman and director of Optosecurity Inc., and as vice chairman of DG Acquisition Corp. Mr. Manley has been an independent director of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce since 2005. He serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Board at Data Evolution Corp. For the role he played following the September 11, 2001 attacks, he was named TIME Canada magazine's "Newsmaker of the Year." In 2007, Mr. Manley was named chair of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan by the Prime Minister.
Wayne Mapp
Former Minister of Defence, New Zealand The Honourable Wayne Mapp was the minister of defence of New Zealand from 2008-2011. During this time, he introduced a defence review in 2010, the first such document since 1997, which established a framework for successive reviews every five years. Mapp entered Parliament in 1996 and has continued to represent North Shore following subsequent elections. He was a commissioned officer in the New Zealand Territorial Army where he specialised in military intelligence, infantry and signals. His career has involved both private legal practice (commercial law and litigation) and as Associate Professor of Commercial Law (international trade law, taxation and constitutional issues) at Auckland University, 1994-1996. He was educated at Reporoa College, Auckland University (LL.B Hons), University of Toronto (LL.M) and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D. in international law).
Bill McCaffrey
President and CEO, MEG Energy Corp. Mr. Bill McCaffrey is the founder, president and CEO of MEG Energy Corp. In only 10 years under his leadership, MEG grew to become one of the largest private oil and gas companies in Canada, focused on bitumen development and production. Mr. McCaffrey brings 29 years of direct oil sands experience to MEG. Prior to founding the company, he spent 17 years at Amoco Canada Petroleum Company in various managerial positions including manager of business development and growth for Amoco’s oil sands developments. In 1995, he participated in an executive MBA program at Western Ontario. In 2009, the Canadian Venture Capital Association nominated Mr. McCaffrey for its prestigious, annual “Entrepreneur of the Year” award. Mr. McCaffrey received a BA in civil engineering and a BS in biology and chemistry from the University of Alberta.
John McCain
Senator, United States; Co-Chair, Halifax International Security Forum Congressional Delegation The Honorable John McCain is a Republican senator of the state of Arizona. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. Senator McCain attended college at the United States Naval Academy and launched a 22-year career as a naval aviator upon his graduation. His naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, serving until his election to the U.S. Senate. Senator McCain is currently the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He also serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Beverley McLachlin
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice McLachlin was sworn in on January 7, 2000 as Canada’s first female Supreme Court Chief Justice. Chief Justice McLachlin was first called to the Alberta Bar in 1969 and to the British Columbia Bar in 1971 and practised law in Alberta and British Columbia. Commencing in 1974, she taught for seven years in the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia as a tenured Associate Professor. In addition to her judicial duties at the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice chairs the Canadian Judicial Council, the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada and the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. She is the first woman in Canada to hold this position.
Murat Mercan
Founding Member and Deputy Chairman, Justice and Development Party, Turkey The Honourable Murat Mercan is a founding member and deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey, and is also chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Grand National Assembly in Turkey. A parliamentary deputy from Eskisehir, he is a member of the European Commission parliamentarian group and head of the Turkish delegation to the Western European Union assembly. After receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial engineering from Bosphorus University, Mr. Mercan received a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He is currently on the faculty of Bilkent University.
Jeanne Meserve
Member, George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, and the Aspen Institute’s Homeland Security Advisory Group Ms. Jeanne Meserve is a member of the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute and the Aspen Institute’s Homeland Security Advisory Group. An award-winning journalist, Ms. Meserve was a CNN anchor and served as the homeland security correspondent following September 11, covering a broad array of stories about terrorism, law enforcement, security and preparedness. On the ground in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, she was the first to report on the devastating flooding inundating portions of the city. CNN’s coverage of the storm and its aftermath won a Peabody Award. Ms. Meserve received a B.A. in English Literature from Middlebury College.
Barbara Ann Mikulski
Senator, United States Senator Barbara Mikulski is the longest-serving female senator in American history, having served since 1987. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, and in 1986 she became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Maryland. Senator Mikulski is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, and also serves as chairwoman of the Health Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging and Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
Song Min-soon
Member, National Assembly, South Korea The Honourable Song Min-soon is a member of the National Assembly of South Korea. He previously served as minister of foreign affairs and trade in the administration of President Roh Moo-Hyun from 2006 to 2008 and prior to that as his national security advisor. Mr. Song was chief negotiator in the Six Party Talks when the September 19 Joint Statement was adopted in 2005. A career diplomat, Mr. Song participated in numerous negotiations, including the Korean Peace Talks in Geneva and the 1st Inter-Korean Defense Ministers’ Talks, and he negotiated the Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Korea. Mr. Song was elected to the National Assembly in June 2008 and currently serves on the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee. He has a B.A. in German literature from Seoul National University.
Saad Mohseni
Director, Moby Media Group, Afghanistan Mr. Saad Mohseni is an Afghan Media mogul and entrepreneur. He is the Chairman of MOBY Group, which is one of Afghanistan's largest media companies and is best known for brands such as Tolo TV, Tolo News, Lemar TV, Farsi1 and Arman FM. Prior to establishing Moby Group, he headed the equities and corporate finance division of an Australian investment banking firm. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Saad served as a senior economic advisor to the Afghan Government, where he assisted in the development of the Industrial Parks Commission as well as the High Commission for Investment. He also helped establish the Afghanistan Centre for Policy and Research Studies.
Alireza Nader
Senior International Policy Analyst, Rand Corporation Mr. Alireza Nader is a senior international policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and the lead co-author of Coping with a Nuclearizing Iran (2011). His research has focused on Iran's political dynamics, elite decision-making, and Iranian foreign policy. His commentaries and articles have appeared in a variety of publications and he is widely cited by the U.S. and international media. Prior to joining RAND, Mr. Nader served as a research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses. He is a native speaker of Farsi. Mr. Nader received his M.A. in international affairs from the George Washington University.
Janet Napolitano
Secretary of Homeland Security, United States The Honorable Janet Napolitano is the third United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, leading efforts to secure the country—from the threats of terrorism to natural disasters. Ms. Napolitano was born in New York City and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graduated from Santa Clara University, where she won a Truman Scholarship and was the university's first female valedictorian, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law. Before entering public office, Ms. Napolitano served as a clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law in Phoenix at the firm of Lewis and Roca.
Walter Natynczyk
Chief of the Defence Staff, Department of National Defence, CanadaGeneral Walter Natynczyk joined the Canadian Forces in August 1975. He was named vice chief of the defence staff in June 2006 and was installed as chief of defence staff in July 2008. He attended Royal Roads Military College and Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean, graduating with a degree in business administration. In 1983, General Natynczyk assumed duties as a squadron commander at the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1994, he served with the United Nations in the former Yugoslavia as sector south-west chief of operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then as chief of land operations. In June 1995, he was assigned to the vice chief of the defence staff within National Defence headquarters. He returned to Bosnia in 1998 as the Canadian contingent commander. He served as the deputy director of strategy, policy, and plans, and subsequently, as the deputy commanding general of the Multi-National Corps during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pauline Neville-Jones
former Minister of State for Security, United Kingdom Home Office Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones was formerly the minister of state for security in the United Kingdom. Most recently, she was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a special representative to business on cyber security. In 2007, Baroness Neville-Jones was appointed shadow security minister and national security adviser to the Leader of the Opposition. She is also an honourary fellow of Lady Margaret Hall and doctor of London University, City University and the Open University. She was made a companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1987 and a dame commander in the 1996 New Year’s Honours. From 1994 until her retirement, she was political director in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in which capacity she led the British delegation to the Dayton negotiations on the Bosnia peace settlement.
Natalie Nougayrede
Diplomatic Correspondent, Le Monde Ms. Natalie Nougayrède is a diplomatic correspondent for the French Daily Le Monde. In 2005 she won the Albert Londres Prize, the highest French award for journalists, for her coverage of Chechnya and particularly the Beslan school hostage crisis. She has been a staffer at Le Monde since 1996, formerly as a Moscow correspondent, and later as a journalist in its foreign affairs department.
Dixon Osburn
Director of the Law and Security Program, Human Rights First Mr. Dixon Osburn is the director of Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program, which advocates for national security policies that respect the rule of law and human rights. Mr. Osburn has an extensive background in legal and policy advocacy, having spent 14 years as executive director and co-founder of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, one of the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights and advocacy organizations. In that role, he is credited with significantly changing public opinion and reframing the debate over the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, leading to its repeal. He is also author of Making Giants Dance: Strategies and Social Change (publication pending), has published op-eds in major newspapers, and has appeared extensively on national television. Mr. Osburn received his J.D./M.B.A. from Georgetown University and A.B. from Stanford University.
Farah Anwar Pandith
Special Representative to Muslim Communities, United States Department of State Ms. Farah Pandith was appointed special representative to Muslim communities in June 2009 and is responsible for engaging Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organizational level. Prior to, she was Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, where she was responsible for policy oversight for integration, democracy, and Islam in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Before joining the Department of State, she served as the Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council.
Leon Panetta
Secretary of Defense, United States The Honorable Leon Panetta was sworn in as secretary of defense on July 1, 2011. From February 2009 to June 2011, Mr. Panetta served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Before joining the CIA, he spent 10 years co-directing with his wife, Sylvia, the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. In March 2006, he was chosen as a member of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan committee established at the urging of Congress to conduct an independent assessment of the war in Iraq. From July 1994 to January 1997, he served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and prior to that was director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Panetta represented California’s 16th (now 17th) Congressional District from 1977 to 1993, rising to House Budget Committee chairman. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a law degree from Santa Clara University.
Ruprecht Polenz
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, German Parliament The Honourable Ruprecht Polenz is chairman of the German Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, of which he has been a member since 1994. The focal points of his work are foreign and security policy, with regional emphasis on the Middle East, in particular Iran and Turkey and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He chairs the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Control Panel and is a substitute member of the Joint Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat of the Basic Law. In 2000, Mr. Polenz was the Secretary-General of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Today he sits on the executive committee of the North-Rhine/Westphalia CDU und is a member of the CDU’s Federal Committee on Foreign and Security Policy. He is a lawyer and has worked since 1980 for Northern Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, becoming its director for media and public relations in 1984.
Victor Renuart
Retired Commander, U.S. Northern Command and Northern American Aerospace Defense Command General (Ret.) Victor Renuart formerly led the U.S. Northern Command and Northern American Aerospace Defense Command. The general entered the Air Force in 1971 following graduation from Indiana University. He was commissioned through the Officer Training School in 1972. He served as Commander of the 76th Fighter Squadron during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and supported Operation Deny Flight as Director of Plans for the NATO Combined Air Operations Center at Headquarters 5th Allied Tactical Air Force. The general has served as the U.S. Central Command Director of Operations, wherein he oversaw the planning and execution of all joint and allied combat, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction operations for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to assuming his final position, General Renuart was the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C.
Condoleezza Rice
Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy, The Hoover Institution Dr. Condoleezza Rice is the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, professor of political economy in the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and professor of political science at Stanford University. From January 2005 to 2009, she served as the 66th secretary of state of the United States. Before serving as America’s chief diplomat, she served as assistant to the president for national security affairs (national security adviser) from January 2001 to 2005.
Gideon Rose
Editor, Foreign Affairs Dr. Gideon Rose is the editor of Foreign Affairs. He served as managing editor of the magazine from December 2000 to September 2010. From 1995-2000 he was Olin Senior Fellow and deputy director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 1994-95 he served as associate director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. In 1986-87 he was assistant editor at The National Interest, and in 1985-86 held the same position at The Public Interest. He has taught American foreign policy at Columbia and Princeton universities.
Daniel Runde
Director, Project on Prosperity and Development, Center for Strategic and International Studies Mr. Daniel Runde is the director of the Project on Prosperity and Development and holds the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, Mr. Runde was head of the foundations unit for the Department of Partnerships & Advisory Service Operations at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. He also has served as the director of the Office of Global Development Alliances (GDA) at the U.S. Agency for International Development and worked for CitiBank and BankBoston in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr. Runde received a master of public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Paul Salem
Director, Carnegie Middle East Center, Lebanon Mr. Paul Salem is the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon. He works and publishes on regional and international relations of the Middle East as well as issues of political development and democratization in the Arab world. Prior to joining Carnegie in 2006, Mr. Salem was the general director of the Fares Foundation, and from 1989 to 1999 he directed the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanon’s leading public policy think tank. In 2002, he was a member of the Senior Review Committee for the United Nations Development Programme’s Arab Human Development Report. In 2006, he served as a member of the National Commission for Electoral Law Reform in Lebanon. He is a frequent commentator on television and radio on political issues relating to the Middle East and Arab world. Mr. Salem is the author of a number of books and articles on the Middle East and writes regularly in the Arab press.
Randall Scheunemann
Owner and President, Orion Strategies, President of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq Mr. Randy Scheunemann is a foreign policy and national security analyst based in Washington D.C. In 2002, he founded the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) to promote freedom for the Iraqi people. He served as pro bono president and executive director of CLI until its mission was completed in 2003. In 2001, Mr. Scheunemann served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and from 1999-2000, he served as defense and foreign policy coordinator for the "McCain 2000" presidential campaign. During 1996, Mr. Scheunemann was a senior adviser to Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole and served on the 1996 Republican Platform Committee. Previously, Mr. Scheunemann served as national security adviser to Senate Republican and Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott from 1993-99.
Michael Semple
Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Mr. Michael Semple is a regional specialist on Afghanistan and Pakistan with 25 years of experience in the two countries. He currently holds a fellowship with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School. As a political officer with the United Nations he contributed to the build-up of the post-2001 Afghan political order, and from 2004 to 2007 served as deputy to the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan. He is consulted on issues concerning insurgency, reconciliation and political developments in the two countries. He has recently authored a book on reconciliation, published by the United States Institute of Peace, and articles in international publications such as Foreign Affairs. He regularly comments on the region for a range of television and radio channels.
Jeff Sessions
Senator, United States Senator Jeff Sessions has been a Republican U.S. senator since 1996, and is only the second freshman Republican senator from Alabama elected since Reconstruction. In 2002, he was reelected, becoming the first Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama. Before Congress, Sessions was elected Alabama Attorney General. In 1981, Sessions was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the United States Attorney for Alabama’s Southern District, a position he held for 12 years. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969 from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, and he received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama in 1973.
Najam Sethi
Editor-in-Chief, The Friday Times, Pakistan Mr. Najam Sethi, an award-winning Pakistani journalist, is the editor-in-chief of The Friday Times, a Lahore-based political weekly, and the editor-in-chief of Geo News where he hosts a popular political program: “aapas ki baat”. He is the only journalist in Asia to receive three international press freedom awards in a decade. He is the former founding editor-in-chief of Daily Times and Daily Aajkal and former editor-in-chief of Dunya TV. He also established Vanguard Books, an independent, liberal, secular publishing house which has published over 400 titles in history, politics and economics, and Beyond Borders, a public interest production company for South Asian television channels. He has been the Pakistan correspondent of The Economist since 1990 and of the Economist Intelligence Unit from 1999-2005.
Jeanne Shaheen
Senator, United States The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen is a Democratic Senator from New Hampshire. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008. She became the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire, serving three terms from 1997 to 2003. During her governorship, she led trade missions to Europe and later spent time in Nigeria, Armenia, and the Middle East as an election monitor for the National Democratic Institute. In 2005, she became the director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government. Senator Shaheen currently serves on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and is chair of the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water and Power. She is also a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Senator Shaheen earned a bachelor’s degree from Shippensburg University and a master’s degree from the University of Mississippi.
Robin Shepherd
Director, International Affairs, Henry Jackson Society Mr. Robin Shepherd is director of international affairs at the Henry Jackson Society, the London-based think tank. Previously, he was head of the Europe program at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He has held fellowships at numerous think tanks including the Woodrow Wilson International Institute for Scholars, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Prior to entering the think tank world, he was a foreign correspondent, his last position being Moscow bureau chief for The Times of London. Mr. Shepherd writes for a variety of international publications and appears regularly in the international media. His most recent book is A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel.
Mohammad Shtayyeh
Minister, Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh is a member of the Palestinian Delegation to the Final-Status Talks with Israel and minister for the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR). He is a former minister of public works and housing. Dr. Shtayyeh has a decorated career in Palestinian public service. He has previously headed the Palestinian Delegation to the Multilateral Talks on Regional Economic Cooperation and served as secretary general of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission. In addition to official offices held, Dr. Shtayyeh was also president of the Palestinian Center for Regional Studies. He is president of the Board of Trustees of Arab-American University and vice president of the Board of Trustees of Al-Quds University. Dr. Shtayyeh received his Ph.D. in development studies from Sussex University in the United Kingdom.
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter is the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. From 2009–2011, Dr. Slaughter served as director of policy planning for the United States Department of State, the first woman to hold that position. Prior to her government service, she was the dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law and director of the International Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. Dr. Slaughter also served as the convener and academic co-chair, with Professor John Ikenberry, of the Princeton Project on National Security, aimed at developing a new, bipartisan national security strategy for the United States. She received a B.A. from Princeton, an M.Phil and D.Phil in international relations from Oxford, where she was a Daniel M. Sachs Scholar, and a J.D. from Harvard.
James G. Stavridis
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe Commander, United States European Command Admiral Stavridis assumed duties as commander of European Command and as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe in early summer 2009. Stavridis is a 1976 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a native of South Florida. A Surface Warfare Officer, he commanded the Destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) from 1993-1995, completing UN/NATO deployments to Haiti and Bosnia, and a combat cruise to the Arabian Gulf. He holds various decorations and awards, including two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal and five awards of the Legion of Merit. In 1998, he commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and deployed to the Arabian Gulf, winning the Navy League’s John Paul Jones Award for Inspirational Leadership. He is the author or co-author of several books on naval ship handling and leadership, including Command at Sea, Destroyer Captain, and Partnership for the Americas, which is about his tenure in Latin America.
Janice Gross Stein
Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management, Director of Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto Dr. Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. Her most recent publications include Networks of Knowledge: Innovation in International Learning (2000). She is an honourary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has been awarded honourary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Alberta, the University of Cape Breton and McMaster University.
Ellen Tauscher
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, United StatesMs. Ellen Tauscher is the current under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs. She was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1997 until her resignation in 2009 upon joining the State Department. During her most recent term in the House, Ms. Tauscher served as co-chair of the Iraqi Women's Caucus, Department of Energy Facilities Caucus, Army Corps Reform Caucus, Intelligent Transportation Systems Caucus, and Research and Development Caucus.
Jonathan Tepperman
Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs Mr. Jonathan Tepperman was appointed managing editor of Foreign Affairs in January 2011. Mr. Tepperman started his journalism career at Foreign Affairs as a junior editor before moving on to Newsweek International, where he was deputy editor in charge of Asia, Europe, Africa, and Middle East coverage, and then to EurasiaGroup, where he was managing editor and a director. He has written about international and local politics, books and ideas for a range of publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, and The American Prospect. Jonathan has a B.A. in English Literature from Yale University and law degrees from Oxford and New York University. He is currently vice chairman of the board of Halifax International Security Forum.
Ishaan Tharoor
Writer/Editor, TIME Mr. Ishaan Tharoor is a writer-reporter at TIME’s headquarters in New York and editor of the Global Spin blog. After graduating from Yale, he joined TIME in 2006 at its Asia headquarters in Hong Kong and went on to report extensively on Asian geopolitics, traveling to, among other places, Maoist camps in Nepal, election rallies in the far south of the Philippines and to Mumbai in the aftermath of the 2008 terror attacks. He is an Indian by citizenship and a New Yorker by upbringing.
Eka Tkeshelashvili
Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Reintegration, Georgia The Honourable Eka Tkeshelashvili is the current deputy prime minister and state minister for reintegration, and is a former minister of foreign affairs. She graduated from the Faculty of International Law and International Relations at Tbilisi State University in 1999 and worked as a lawyer for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Georgia, and then for IRIS Georgia. She has also worked at the Chief Specialist Centre for Foreign Policy Research and Analysis in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
Victor Toews
Minister of Public Safety, CanadaThe Honourable Victor Toews was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 2000. In 2006, Mr. Toews was appointed minister of justice and attorney general of Canada and in 2007 named president of the Treasury Board. Prior to his election to the House of Commons, he was active in Manitoba provincial politics. In 1995, he was elected as the member of the Legislative Assembly for Rossmere and was appointed minister of labour. From 1997 to 1999, he served as the attorney general and minister of justice for the Province of Manitoba. Mr. Toews practiced law with the Manitoba provincial Department of Justice from 1976 to 1991 and in 1987 was appointed director of constitutional law for the province. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1991. Mr. Toews graduated from the University of Winnipeg and received his law degree from the University of Manitoba.
Mark Udall
Senator, United States; and Co-Chair, Halifax International Security Forum Congressional Delegation The Honorable Mark Udall has represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives since 1999. Senator Udall’s assignments on the Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources, Intelligence and Aging committees give him a unique perspective to address security issues spanning from natural resources to border control. In 2011, he introduced the Department of Defense Energy Security Act to spur the Pentagon’s renewable energy development to curb its reliance on oil, reducing costs and increasing troop safety. Senator Udall was born in Tucson, Arizona, graduating from Williams College in 1972. An avid mountaineer, he was Outward Bound’s executive director for a decade. He now lives in Eldorado Springs with his wife, Maggie Fox.
Peter Van Praagh
President, Halifax International Security Forum Mr. Peter Van Praagh is president of Halifax International Security Forum. Before being appointed president, Peter was senior director at the German Marshall Fund of the United States where he oversaw the creation and implementation of the Halifax International Security Forum, held each November in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to joining GMF, Peter served as the senior policy advisor to the minister of foreign affairs of Canada. He served as deputy vice president of programs at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC, and country director for the National Democratic Institute both in the former Soviet Union and in Turkey. Peter is a graduate of University College, the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics.
Julian Ventura
Undersecretary for North American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MexicoThe Honorable Julian Ventura, a career diplomat since 1990, was appointed undersecretary for North American affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September 2009. In Mexico, he has served as director-general for Asia-Pacific affairs; chief of cabinet to the secretary of external relations; and chief of cabinet to the undersecretary for Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and United Nations affairs. Abroad, Mr. Ventura has served as deputy chief of mission in the Embassy of Mexico in the United States; alternate representative to the Organization of American States for political and Inter-American drug control affairs; political affairs officer in the Embassy of Mexico in Cuba; and alternate representative in the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria. He holds a B.A. in history from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
Kurt Volker
Managing Director, International, BGR GroupThe Honorable Kurt Volker is a managing director for BGR Group, where he seeks to build bridges between business and governments. Mr. Volker is also a senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisory Group. He serves on the board of the Wall Street Fund and is a trustee of the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France. He was a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, with over 23 years of experience working on European policy under five U.S. administrations. He served as ambassador to NATO, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and acting senior director for European and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council. He holds a B.A. from Temple University and M.A. from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
Pamela Wallin
Senator, CanadaThe Honourable Pamela Wallin was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2008. She is chair of the Senate's National Security and Defence Committee, and serves on both the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs and the Special Committee on Anti-terrorism. She is also a member of the Senate's Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee. Senator Wallin is also an honourary colonel of the Air Force, appointed in 2009. Following the events of 9/11, Senator Wallin served as Canada's consul general in New York from 2002-2006. She continues to serve as the senior advisor on Canada-US relations at the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas in New York and Washington. She is also an officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour. She has fourteen Honourary Doctorates and among many other honours, she has been named to the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame; she received a national Visionary Award in Canada; and was twice recognized by Queen Elizabeth II for her public service and achievements.
Jonathan Weisstub
Head of New Partnerships, Infrastructure Ontario Mr. Jonathan Weisstub is chairman of the board of Halifax International Security Forum. Mr. Weisstub also serves as head of New Partnerships for Infrastructure Ontario. Prior to this appointment, he led government wide expenditure management initiatives as assistant deputy minister and head of the program review secretariat within the Ontario Ministry of Finance. Jonathan also served as vice president of corporate affairs for Gabriel Resources, a TSX listed gold company. Prior to joining Gabriel Resources, he practiced with the law firm of Stikeman Elliott LLP in the area of securities and corporate law. Jonathan also served as senior policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada, from 2004 – 2006. Jonathan has a B.A. from McGill University, a M.Phil in politics from Oxford University and a law degree from the University of Toronto.
Michael Werz
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Mr. Michael Werz is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where his work as member of the national security team focuses on the nexus of climate change, migration, and security and emerging democracies. Mr. Werz has been a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States where his work focused on transatlantic foreign policy and the European Union. He has held appointments as a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and as a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. He is a graduate of Frankfurt University’s Institute for Philosophy and was professor at Hannover University in Germany. He is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies.
James Winnefeld, Jr.
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, United StatesAdmiral Winnefeld serves as the ninth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation’s second highest-ranking military officer. Admiral Winnefeld graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology and received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Program. He subsequently served with three fighter squadrons flying the F-14 Tomcat, and as an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School. His awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal and five Battle Efficiency awards.
Nancy Youssef
Chief Pentagon Correspondent, McClatchy NewspapersMs. Nancy Youssef is chief Pentagon correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, focusing her coverage on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also serves as president of the Pentagon Press Association. Before covering the Pentagon, she spent four years covering the Iraq war, most recently as Baghdad bureau chief. She also served as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, covering legal issues, and traveled throughout Jordan and Iraq for Knight Ridder, covering the Iraq war. She began her journalism career at the Baltimore Sun. She has won several awards for her work including the University of Virginia’s Lawrence Hall Award for Distinguished Journalism covering the Middle East. Ms. Youssef holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia and is currently working on a master’s in security studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
Amberin Zaman
Correspondent, The EconomistMs. Amberin Zaman is the Istanbul-based Turkey correspondent of the UK weekly The Economist. Ms. Zaman, who is Turkish, also writes a column twice a week for the mass circulation Turkish daily Haberturk. Educated in New York and Switzerland, she has covered Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia for a wide array of international titles including The Daily Telegraph of London, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Ms. Zaman’s fields of interest are minority rights, the Kurds, and Turkish Armenian reconciliation.
Radwan Ziadeh
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Syrian Center for Political and Strategic StudiesDr. Radwan Ziadeh is the founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria and co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. He is also a visiting scholar at the Dubai Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ziadeh is currently the managing editor of the Transitional Justice in the Arab World Project. Before that, Dr. Ziadeh was editor-in-chief of Tyarat magazine and secretary of the Syrian Organization for Transparency. He has been one of the major players in the “Damascus Spring,” a period of intense debate about politics, social issues and calls for reform in Syria after the death of President Hafez al-Assad in 2000. He is a frequent political commentator and writes a bi-monthly op-ed for the leading Arab daily, Al-Hayat.