Laila is among the pioneer news anchorwomen in Arab television she was the first female journalist to host a political show on Arab satellite television.  Her professional TV career spans over 30 years beginning with a local TV station in the USA in 1991. After joining the BBC World Service in London in 1994 she went on to anchor several political and social programs in different Arab Satellite stations. She joined Middle East Broadcasting Center in 1996 and later Abu Dhabi TV in 1999. Her shows include Dialogue with the West (MBC), Agenda (MBC), Dunnia (ADTV) and Panorama (ADTV). In 2006 Laila joined Aljazeera network as principal news and program presenter.Her field experience includes the coverage of the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, the US war on Afghanistan, September 11 in Washington and the coverage of various international events.Among the people she interviewed: President Nelson Mandela, Col. Qhadafi,  and other prominent politicians and activists around the world.

Foreign Minister Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, MP has an accomplished and illustrated career. He was Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York during 2009 – 2015 when he served the UN system as Acting President of UNGA, President of UNICEF and Vice President of ECOSOC, Chairman of the 2nd Committee, Chair of LDCs, and Chairman of Peace Building Commission etc.He worked as a consultant to the World Bank, UNDP and Saudi Industrial Development Fund.His voluntary works for humanitarian causes earned him global acclaim.Having completed graduation and post-graduation from Dhaka University, he did his MBA and PhD in economics in USA. He obtained his MPA from Harvard University. He was the Chair of the Department of Economics and Business, Framingham State University. He also obtained a law degree. He taught economics and business at University of Massachusetts, Harvard University, MIT, Cambridge College, Merrimack College, Salem State University and Northeastern University.His family has a proud legacy of leadership in politics and public service. Dr. Momen was captured and tortured by the occupation army in 1971, during Bangladesh’s glorious War of Liberation.He got involved in active politics soon after relinquishing his charge as Bangladesh’s top diplomat to the UN. He got elected as a Member of National Parliament with overwhelming margin in 2018 followed by his appointment as the Foreign Minister.Since assuming office, he has been promoting Public Diplomacy and Economic Diplomacy that proposes to have more investment, more trade, gainful employment, and, of course, maintaining peace and stability across nations for a better future for all.Dr. Momen has authored several books on Bangabandhu, Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina featuring the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh as well as the history and development trajectory of the nation.

Sandra Gathmann is an award-winning journalist with Al Jazeera English. She's the host of the channel's flagship online current affairs show ‘Start Here’ - a video series that explains big stories for a global audience. Before AJE, Sandra was a TV correspondent based in Istanbul and Brussels, reporting for international channels and making documentaries.

Host and executive producer of series of documentaries on AJ360 about children affected by wars. Host and executive producer of Baad ams daily news podcast with Al Jazeera. More than 10 years experience in TV. Previously a news anchor at France24 and AlJazeera. Hosted and produced a show about women for Al Jazeera arabic channel. Expertise cover field work in Central African Republic, Somalia, Gaza, Lebanon, Bosnia and Turkey. Media trainer in ethics of personal stories.

Dareen Abughaida is a Principal Presenter at Al Jazeera English, based in Qatar. Widely experienced across the international agenda, Dareen hosts Al Jazeera's flagship news bulletins, and programs.Dareen has covered some of the worlds biggest news stories including the 2023 Gaza war, Brexit, the death of Muhammad Ali, the resignation of Pope Benedict, and Malaysia Airlines crash MH370.She was also instrumental in the network's coverage of the Arab Spring Revolutions and continues to cover the aftermath.Dareen also moderates panels and hosts events globally. Previous events include Qatar Foundation, the Doha Forum, the UN, the World Bank, the World Media Summit, and the International Press Institute. As a certified trainer, Dareen also trains journalists, media colleagues, and corporate clients on how to enhance both their on-air and off-air media and communication skills.Dareen's portfolio includes voiceover work on long format documentaries and short promos. Educated in Canada, Dareen has also been an anchor for Bloomberg, CNBC and Dubai TV.

Stefanie Dekker is a senior foreign correspondent with Al Jazeera English, having joined the channel in 2005.She has reported on a wide array of events across the world from the 2011 Egyptian revolution, to the 2014 Gaza war, The Taliban take over of Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, to Turkey’s earthquake earlier this year.She has reported extensively from Gaza since 2009, covering the 2014 war, the 2018/2019 border protests which culiminated with the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem and most recently covered the war on Gaza from the Gaza- Israel border.

As part of the Executive Office at UNDP, Keyzom works with governments and digital ecosystems to shape the future of development and the role of multilaterals in digital transformation.  She leads digital programmes across UNDP’s network of 171 countries, catalyzing new models of collaboration to create a community of ingenious people working collectively to solve complex challenges. She collaborates on frontier areas that member states face to foster new models of global digital cooperation across the UN and the multilateral system.

Dr. Vincent Biruta is Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International CooperationPrior to his appointment in November 2019, Minister Biruta served as Minister of Environment from 2017, Minister of Natural Resources from 2014 and Minister of Education from 2011. He also held the position of President of the Rwandan Senate from 2003 to 2011.He served as the President of the National Transition Assembly from January 2000 to August 2003, Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication from 1999 to 2000 and Minister of Health from 1997 to 1999.Minister Biruta is a qualified physician. He furthered his studies in Planning and Management of Health Services in Developing Countries at the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. He is also a holder of a post-graduate diploma in Public Health and Nutrition from the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium.

H.E Mr. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari is the Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development, managing the State of Qatar’s foreign aid and international development activities. Since 2014, he led the establishment, strategy-setting, operationalization, partnerships, and funding programs of the Qatar Fund for Development in variousdeveloping countries.Previously, Mr. Al-Kuwari was the Chief Operating Officer of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), wherehe oversaw the entire business support infrastructure and led several initiatives to improve theperformance of support functions. Prior to that, Mr. Al-Kuwari was the QIA Executive Director of JointVenture and International Business, where he managed the investment joint ventures and government-to-government relations.He has been appointed to the boards of leading companies and institutions such as Harrods, Volkswagen Group, Fairmont Raffles Group, Songbird Real Estate, Qatar Exchange, Katara Hospitality, and Mowasalat. He was also appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Bank of Britain, and Qatar and Algeria Investment. Mr. Al-Kuwari was a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Qatar Mining Company. He is also interested in social work within the State of Qatar and was elected to the Board of Directors of Qatar Foundation for Social Work, which includes social institutions such as Nama, Ehsan, Shafallah, Dreama, Wifaq, and Aman. Mr. Al Kuwari is the president of Qatar Leadership Centre Alumni Association Council, and a member of Qatar university Alumni Association. He is also a Chairman of the Qatar Academy for Science and Technology (QAST) Board of Advisors.Mr. Al-Kuwari started his career as an accountant and investment manager and handled variousresponsibilities at the Qatar Central Bank and Ashghal & Urban Planning Authority. He acquired in-depthexperience in accounting, auditing, financial analysis, and investment management. Mr. Al-Kuwari holds an Executive MBA in Business Administration from the London Business School in UK, an MBA in Accounting from Cleveland State University in the USA and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Qatar University. He graduated from the Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School in the USA and Qatar Leadership Center. Mr. Al-Kuwari also passed the Chartered Accountants'Examination in Ohio, USA.

Dr. Vjosa Osmani Sadriu is the sixth President of the Republic of Kosovo.President Osmani was elected on 4 April 2021, having previously served as the Speaker of Parliamentand after being elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Republic of Kosovo in five consecutivemandates. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Prishtina, and received herMasters and Doctorate degrees in international law from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania,United States. The President of the Republic of Kosovo is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Kosovo SecurityForce and leads the country’s foreign policy, as per Kosovo’s constitution. As a staunch advocate foran impartial and professional justice system, President Osmani has strongly supported extensive ruleof law reforms in Kosovo.As President, Vjosa Osmani has relentlessly championed women’s rights, in particular with regards totheir participation in processes of peace and security as well as their economic and politicalempowerment. The President is devoted to raising awareness for and supporting children with specialneeds. She is also committed to the empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups inKosovo. The President’s work has also focused on ensuring that action on climate change starts fromthe individual and gains further support at the highest political levels. In addition, empowerment ofyouth in different areas, from information technology to political decision making, has been animportant part of the work of the President.In the February 2021 elections, she achieved a historic level of popular support, becoming the mostvoted politician in the history of elections in the Republic of Kosovo. Prior to that, Vjosa Osmani wasthe first woman to have served as the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo havingbeen elected to the post on 3 February 2020, and has also served as Acting President of the Republicof Kosovo between November 2020 – March 2021. In previous terms as an MP, she chaired theParliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on European Integration and was theDeputy Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Reform.From 2006 to 2010 Vjosa Osmani served as Chief of Staff to President Fatmir Sejdiu and SeniorAdvisor on Legal and International Affairs, and represented the President in the Commission whichdrafted the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. She also served in the team that representedKosovo before the International Court of Justice in the historic case regarding Kosovo’s declarationof independence.Since 2006, President Osmani taught at the Faculty of Law of the University of Prishtina, and later shealso joined the faculty of the American University in Kosovo (RIT). Moreover, she taught at theUniversity of Pittsburgh in the U.S. as a visiting professor. In 2017, she was awarded the ShethInternational Award by the University of Pittsburgh. During her political career she has also receiveda number of other recognitions.President Osmani previously served as a member of the Board of the Parliamentary Network on theWorld Bank and the International Monetary Fund and a member of the Steering Committee of theGlobal Young MP’s Initiative of the World Bank and the IMF.Vjosa Osmani was born on May 17, 1982 in Mitrovica, and also completed her studies in elementaryand high school in her hometown. Apart for her mother tongue Albanian, President Osmani speaksEnglish and a few other foreign languages. She is married to Prindon Sadriu and they have two twindaughters, Anda Elisa Sadriu and Dua Tiara Sadriu. President Osmani and her family live in Prishtina.

Rory Miller is a Professor of International Politics, Co-Director of the Small States Research Program, and Director of Energy Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar where he teaches and researches on small states and regional security, intelligence and national security, external intervention and alliances. He was a member of the War Studies department and then head of the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Program at King’s College London between 1999 and 2014. In recent years, he has held a visiting professorship in the War Studies department of King's College London (2014-17), and a visiting research professorship at Trinity College Dublin (2020-21). He serves on several advisory boards, including the Foreign Policy Network of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He is currently the lead principal investigator on a multi-year funded research project on “Managing National Security Risk during and after the Blockade: Strategic Challenges and Opportunities for Qatar’s Energy Sector”. He is co-editor of the Cambridge University Press book series on “Intelligence and National Security in Africa and the Middle East.” He is the author or editor of 11 books including Inglorious Disarray: Europe, Israel and the Palestinians (Columbia University Press, 2011), Desert Kingdoms to Global Powers: The Rise of the Arab Gulf (Yale University Press, 2016) and, most recently, Overcoming Smallness: Challenges and Opportunities for Small States in Global Affairs (Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press with Fahad Al-Marri). He has published extensively in academic and policy journals and the international media including Foreign Affairs, The Economist, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, The National Interest, and The Wall Street Journal. His media appearances include Al Jazeera Arabic; Al Jazeera English; Al Jazeera Mubasher; BBC America; BBC World Service; Bloomberg; CNBC Europe; CNN International

H.E. Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General holding the post of High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) since January 2019- present.In February 2020, Mr. Moratinos was designated by the United Nations Secretary-General as the UN Focal Point to monitor Anti-Semitism and enhance a system-wide-response. He carries out this portfolio in addition to his other responsibilities.Mr. Moratinos has committed his professional and political career to international relationships and development cooperation, notably as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain from 2004 to 2010. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, Spain presided over the UN Security Council in 2004, held the chairmanships-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe and the Council of the European Union. Mr. Moratinos succeeded in fostering the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.With the Mediterranean in mind, H.E Miguel Ángel Moratinos was appointed Deputy Director General for Northern Africa (1987-1991) and then Director of the Institute of Cooperation with the Arab World (1991-1993). After his tenure at the Institute, he was appointed Director General of Foreign Policy for Africa and the Middle East, holding the position from 1993 to 1996. The highlight of his tenure was the organization of the historic Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in 1992.As Spain’s Ambassador in Israel from July to December 1996, Mr. Moratinos succeeded in fostering a strong network with both the Israelis and Palestinians. Building on that success, the European Union appointed him as the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process from December 1996 to June 2003. During this period, he promoted Peace Agreements and carried out actions on behalf of the EU strengthening the Arab-Israeli dialogue.As a true believer in the value of multilateralism, Mr. Moratinos helped in the creation and launching of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in 2005. He also supported the Group of Friends for UN Reform. Moreover, he contributed to the creation of innovative programmes for development, healthcare and women empowerment within the United Nations system. Mr. Moratinos promoted new projects and funds for water and sanitation in Latin American development countries. During his tenure as Spain’s top diplomat, he doubled Official Development Assistance funds and placed Spain as the sixth donor in the United Nations system.Following the end of his term in office in 2010, Mr. Moratinos engaged in parliamentary activities until November 2011. During that period, he ran to be elected Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with an agenda aiming at mobilizing international action towards the struggle against hunger and poverty, the promotion of food security and the right to food.In January 2012, he joined the team of the Global Dry Land Alliance in Qatar promoting this international treaty for food security in more than 15 member-countries in all continents. From 2012 to 2013 he was member of the High-level Advisory panel of the president of the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly.Prior to his appointment as High Representative, Mr. Moratinos was the Honorary Chairman of the CIRSD Board of Advisers (Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development), Senior Advisor of Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and member of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). In Spain, he also held honorary positions as the President of REDS, the Spanish network for Sustainable development affiliated to SDSN and the President of the Trobades Literàries Mediterràneas Association and the Trobades Albert Camus Award. In recognition for his distinguished achievements, Mr. Moratinos received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Saint-Petersburg, Malta, as well as Ben-Gurion, Al-Quds and Tel Aviv universities.On 19 March 2019, Mr. Moratinos was awarded with the “League of Arab States” Award by Mr. Ahmed Abulgheit, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States in a ceremony in Madrid in recognition for his role in strengthening Arab-Spanish relations.Born in 1951, Mr. Moratinos graduated in Law and Political Sciences at the University Complutense in Madrid and then in Diplomatic Studies at the Spanish Diplomatic School.

Andrew Parasiliti is president and chief content officer of Al-Monitor, where he is author of the ‘Week in Review’ column and newsletter.  Al-Monitor is a recipient of the International Press Institute’s Free Media Pioneer Award, the only American media outlet exclusively covering the Middle East to ever receive that honor.   Andrew previously served as director of RAND’s Center for Global Risk and Security where he co-authored studies on Levant integration, state collapse in Syria, and the future of ISIS, and the ‘will to fight’ among global militaries, while overseeing projects dealing with the impact of technological change, including AI, on national security. Previous positions include executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies-US (Washington DC) and corresponding director, IISS-Middle East (Manama); principal at the BGR Group; foreign policy advisor to US Senator Chuck Hagel; director of the Middle East Initiative at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; and director of programs at the Middle East Institute.  He received a Ph.D. from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, where he wrote his dissertation on Iraq.  He is an adjunct political scientist at RAND and a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Virginia Club of New York. 

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) in June 2015. He previously held the role of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Strategic Business Development Officer at QFC where he was responsible for leading the overall strategy and business development functions of the organisation.Prior to joining QFC, he was Head of Indirect Investment at the Qatar General Retirement and Pension Authority, which included overseeing the management of hedge fund, private equity, real estate, fixed income, and equity portfolio investments. He has also worked for Qatar Energy and Dolphin Energy early in his career.Yousuf serves as board member in leading local and international organisations including the World Alliance of International Financial Centers, the Qatar Financial Centre, the Qatar Finance and Business Academy, the Qatar Free Zones Authority, the Qatar Stock Exchange, the Investment Promotion Agency, and Sidra Medicine.He is also an advisory board member in the college of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University , and sits on the Advisory Council of Qatar University’s College of Business and Economics.Previously, Yousuf was on the boards of Nakilat QSC and the $1 billion strategic investment fund of Unicorn Investment Bank, as well as serving as Vice Chairman of Mayadeen Real Estate Company KSCC. He graduated from the University of Arizona, USA.

His Excellency Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari was appointed Minister of Finance in October 2021.His Excellency the Minister of Finance has extensive experience in government and the financial industry, spanning over 30 years. Prior to being appointed Minister of Finance, His Excellency held the position of Minister of Commerce and Industry. His Excellency became Qatar National Bank Group (QNB) Chief Executive Officer in July 2013 and held this position until November 2018.His Excellency is a member of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment. He is also a Board Member for Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Energy. He serves as the Chairman of Qatar National Bank, Qatar Development Bank and Katara Hospitality.His Excellency the Minister of Finance holds a master of science in Management Information System from Seattle Pacific University. He also earned his bachelor in Math and Computer Science from Eastern Washington University.His Excellency the Minister of Finance has overall responsibility for all Ministry of Finance issues, including:Regulating financial policiesOverseeing public financesDrafting and implementing Qatar’s State BudgetPromoting economic diversificationManaging and refining the fiscal policy in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030

Ali Aslan is an internationally renowned TV presenter, moderator and journalist with a global career spanning over 20 years, including at CNN in Washington DC, ABC News in New York and Deutsche Welle TV in Berlin. Recognized globally as one of the world's foremost moderators for high-level international events, Aslan regularly hosts global conferences, among others, for the United Nations, G20, EU, NATO and World Bank. Aslan has interviewed numerous world leaders, including former US President Bill Clinton, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Aslan holds master's degrees in International Affairs and Journalism from Columbia University as well as a bachelor's degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina was elected President of the African Development Bank Group in 2015, and re-elected in 2020. He previously served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture.   Dr. Adesina is an alumnus of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, and Purdue University, USA, from where he obtained a PhD in Agricultural Economics.  Dr. Adesina is a 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, and recipient of several international and national honors, as well as several honorary doctorates from universities in the US, Africa, and Canada.  As President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Adesina is spearheading an acceleration of Africa’s development. Under his leadership, the African Development Bank Group increased its share capital from $93 billion to $208 billion in 2019.

James Bays is Al Jazeera English’s Diplomatic Editor, based at the United Nations headquarters in New York. He frequently travels to cover major diplomatic events worldwide and interviews key newsmakers, offering insightful perspectives on unfolding international relations.As an award-winning journalist, Bays’s career is distinguished by his extensive field reporting. He has ventured to over 70 countries and reported from numerous conflict zones, including Iraq, Congo, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Panama, the former Soviet Union, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. As a roving correspondent, James frequently reported from Baghdad and Kabul. He filed reports for Al Jazeera following Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, which later took second prize in the Best TV Item category at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in 2008 and was nominated for a Royal Television Society award. Prior to his current role, he served as Al Jazeera’s Washington Editor.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal DemocraticRepublic of Ethiopia, January 2023 – To date;- Ethiopia’s Deputy Chief Negotiator for WTO & AFCFTAGovernment Posts and Professional Experience- December 2021–December 2022, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ethio – EngineeringGroup- October 2018–November 2021, State Minister, Ministry of Trade and Industry- May 2018–October 2018, State Minister, Ministry of Labor and Social Affair- November 2017–May 2018, Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister▪ H.E. Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Prime Minister▪ H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegne, Former Prime Minister- December 2013–November 2017, Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary andSpecial Envoy to the State of Qatar- July 2010–September 2013, Consul-General at Ethiopian Consulate in Dubai, and Head of Mission to the UAE- 2008 –2010, Director General for Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs- 2006 – 2008, Deputy Mayor and Bureau Head of Addis Ababa City Information andCulture, City Cabinet Member, Addis Ababa Millennium Council Vice-Chairman- 2005 – 2008, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Educational Qualification- Post Graduate Studies on Peace and Security, Addis Ababa University- Post Graduate Studies on International Relations, Brussels, Belgium- BA Degree in History, Minor Geography, Addis Ababa University

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian FederationBorn in 1950, Russian.1972 – graduated from the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Has command of English, French and Sinhalese.Started his career in 1972 at the Soviet Embassy in Sri Lanka.1976-1981 – worked in the Department of International Organizations of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.1981-1988 – First Secretary, Counselor and Senior Counselor in the Permanent Representation of the USSR at the UN.1988-1990 – Deputy Head of the Department of International Economic Relations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.1990-1992 – Director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations and Global Problems.1992-1994 – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.1994-2004 – Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the United Nations.Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation since 2004.Has the rank of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation.Decorated with government awards.Married, with one daughter.

Morgan D. Ortagus is the founder of POLARIS National Security and host of The Morgan Ortagus Show on SiriusXM Radio. She is also a principal at Rubicon Founders, a healthcare investment firm, and serves as an Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves. From 2019-2021, she served at the Department of State as the Spokesperson for the United States ofAmerica. At the State Department, she worked closely with the White House on the historic Abraham Accords and led U.S. government efforts to push back against sophisticated Chinese, Russian, and Iranian malign influence campaigns. She previously worked at the Department of the Treasury as an intelligence analyst, and from 2010-2011 was the deputyU.S. Treasury Attaché to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.In 2007, Morgan spent several months in Baghdad, Iraq at the USAID Mission, and was a national security contributor to Fox News. Morgan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Florida Southern College, and she earned a dual Master of Arts in Government Master of Business Administration from John Hopkins University in 2013. She lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, Jonathan, and their daughter, Adina.“Morgan Ortagus was a savvy department spokeswoman who had real foreign policy experience as a Navy reservist and former Treasury Department and USAID official. This made her a true weapon at the podium and on TV,” Mike Pompeo, Former United States Secretary of State.

Kim Dozier is a CNN Global Affairs Analyst. She has written for TIME Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast and the Associated Press. A Peabody-Award-winning former CBS Evening News correspondent, she has a track record of breaking national security, intelligence and foreign policy stories. She’s also edited news, analysis, and opinion pieces and managed team news coverage in Washington, D.C., London, Jerusalem and Baghdad.

Aug. 2022 - 2023: Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the United States of America.Oct. 2017 – 2022: Non-Resident Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.Feb. 2017 - 2022: Head of Mission of the State of Kuwait to the European Union (EU).Dec. 2016 - 2022: Head of Mission of the State of Kuwait to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Nov. 2016 - 2022: Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Kingdom of Belgium.Nov. 2013 - 2016: Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Republic of Korea.2012 - 2013: Deputy Director, Department of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.May 2011: Appointed as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the State of Kuwait to the United States of America. March 2007: Promoted to Counselor.June 2001: Appointed as First Secretary at the Embassy of the State of Kuwait to the United States of America.1997-2001:Appointed as Second Secretary at the Embassy of the State of Kuwait to Austria and at the Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations in Vienna.1993-1997 :Appointed as Third Secretary at the Embassy of the State of Kuwait to Japan. 1991-1992: Diplomatic Attaché, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Kuwait.

Becky Anderson is one of CNN International’s highest profile anchors. She hosts Connect the World with Becky Anderson, which airs weekdays at 5:00pm UAE time. She is based at CNN’s Abu Dhabi bureau, where she also serves as Managing Editor.In these roles Anderson has a distinctive regional perspective on some of today’s most important news stories, including the emerging politico-economic trends in the Gulf, the regional rivalries between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the deepening humanitarian crisis stemming from years of political instability in Syria and Iraq.Anderson is a skilled interviewer, adept at close questioning and has interviewed many of the world’s leading politicians, decision-makers and thought-leaders. She has conducted one-on-one interviews with top world leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abudllah bin Zayed, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and leading humanitarian leaders such as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. She is equally at home with celebrities, quizzing the world’s A-listers, including Jennifer Lopez, Will.i.Am, Akon, Oprah Winfrey, Juliette Binoche, Andrew Lloyd-Weber, Beyoncé, George Clooney, Lady Gaga, Tom Hanks, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt.Since moving Connect the World to Abu Dhabi, Anderson has spent much of her time travelling across the Middle East at an extraordinary time of upheaval and change. Anderson and the team were the first team to broadcast from Riyadh after the ban on women driving were lifted. She has broadcast special shows from Tehran to Jerusalem, from Istanbul to Beirut, bringing a range of interviews, reports and packages to CNN International viewers around the globe.

Dr Karin von Hippel became Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) on 30 November 2015.Karin von Hippel joined RUSI after serving for nearly six years in the US Department of State as a Senior Adviser in the Bureau of Counterterrorism, then as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, and finally, as Chief of Staff to General John Allen, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter-ISIL.Prior to that, she co-directed the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London. She has also worked for the United Nations and the European Union in Somalia and Kosovo, and has direct experience in over two dozen conflict zones.Dr von Hippel has numerous publications to her name, including Democracy by Force: US Military Intervention in the Post-Cold War World(2000), which was short-listed for the RUSI Westminster Medal in Military History. She holds a PhD from the London School of Economics, an MSt from Oxford University, and a BA from Yale University.

Kirsten Fontenrose is a nonresident fellow at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. Previously, Kirsten was director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs until December 2021. Focused on the issues that keep policymakers up at night, her team engages technical experts and decision-makers globally to develop bipartisan approaches to burning and long-term obstacles to regional security. Kirsten spent 2018 as Senior Director for the Gulf at the National Security Council, leading the development of U.S. policy toward nations of the GCC, Yemen, Egypt, and Jordan. Prior to this service at the White House,  Kirsten spent a year in the private sector consulting on specialized projects in the national security space. Her interagency experience includes five years at the Department of State leading the Middle East and Africa team in the interagency Global Engagement Center. Prior to this Kirsten worked with a field team studying foreign populations for US Department of Defense Theater Special Operations Commands.  For seven years ending in 2006 Kirsten was responsible for building relationships with military officers and diplomats from the Middle East and South Asia for the Near East Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, after spending a year establishing this Center for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Her career began in the non-profit sector at the National Council on US-Relations, and in the private sector working on US-Arab business projects. She holds a BA in Middle East Studies from the College of William and Mary, an MA in Middle East Studies from Indiana University, funded by a US government grant, and an MBA from Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.  She has appeared on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, Al Arabiya, BBC, Al Jazeera and other international news media outlets. She is quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and has published articles in the Washington Post, the National (UAE), Defense One, the National Interest and other international news publications.

Tuqa Nusairat is an expert on US policy in the Middle East and the director for strategy, operations, and finance at Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East Programs. In addition to managing a team of Washington-based fellows and staff, her research focuses on political reform, civil society, and human rights broadly in the region, with a special focus on Jordan and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since joining the Council in 2012, she has played a key role in shaping the direction and growth of the Council’s Middle East related programming, publications, outreach and development and has been instrumental in advancing relationships with vital stakeholders including donors, board members, and high-level contacts. Previously, she worked at the Project on Middle East Democracy and the National Endowment for Democracy. Nusairat holds an MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a BA in Government and International Politics from George Mason University.

Alain Délétroz has been serving as the Director General of Geneva Call since January 2018, bringing with him a longstanding experience of nearly three decades in conflict-stricken areas and politically tense contexts.Mr. Délétroz has extensive expertise in conflict assessment and resolution, democratic reforms, and humanitarian aid. He has worked on the ground in various regions, including Russia, North/South Caucasus, Central Asia, the Andean countries, and West Africa.Prior to his current role, Mr. Délétroz served as a Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy from 2014 to 2017 and as Vice-President of the International Crisis Group from 2002 to 2013. He was also Director of the Open Society Institute in Tashkent from 1998 to 2002 and a Delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Moscow from 1994 to 1998.Mr. Délétroz's passion for humanitarian and development work began in Peru, where he focused on adult literacy and capacity building from 1986 to 1991.

Mr. Skinnari worked as a Minister of International Trade and Development of Finland 2019-2023 as a key minister for the Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Cabinet. He is a well known Nordic speaker in foreign affairs with a focus on solution driven thinking and ambitious thoughts. Currently he serves as a Member of Parliament and chairs the Qatar friendship group. Mr. Skinnari has masters degree in commercial law and business degrees in finance and marketing.

Dr. Hussein Mwinyi is the President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. He had served as a Minister in the Tanzanian Government in different Potfolios since 2000.He was born in Zanzibar. He graduated with a degree in Medicine in Turkey at the University of Marmara in Istanbul and proceeded for specialization in Internal Medicine in UK from King's College at Hammersmith Hospital in London. Before joining Politics he worked as a medical Practitioner at Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton UK, Muhimbili National Hospital Tanzania and Hubert Kairuki Memorial Hospital in Dar es Salaam. He also taught as a senior lecturer at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University Medical School. DR. Mwinyi has been the Minister of Defence and National Service for ten years. In 2020 Dr. Mwinyi was elected as President of Zanzibar. 

H.E. Abshir was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the Federal Republic of Somalia in 2022. A seasoned diplomat, Abshir has been at the forefront of promoting and protecting Somalia’s interests and image regionally and globally. He was part of the diplomatic negotiations that led to the resumption of diplomatic relations which had remained severed. He was central in pushing for the membership of Somalia to the East Africa Community (EAC) including the EAC verification process in Somalia, which is a major milestone in Somalia’s move to join the EAC.As an entrepreneur, Abshir is committed to developing Somalia’s growing private sector to contribute to the welfare of the Puntland people. He is the Chairman of Huruse & Bros Properties Ltd, a Garowe-based hospitality company that also serves international clients. He is also the executive board member of private enterprises delivering technologically advanced solutions in the field of software development, energy, and communications. Public-private partnership in Puntland’s economic and sustainable development is at the heart of Abshir’s governance agenda.Scholar and PractitionerH.E Abshir is both a scholar and practitioner in the public affairs of Puntland and the entire Republic of Somalia. He is a Master of Arts (Post-War Reconstruction and Development) graduate of the University of York in the United Kingdom. He also holds a Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (DHA) from Geneva, Switzerland. Abshir is well grounded in the scholarship and practice of humanitarian interventions, negotiations, political crisis response and disaster management. This is so because Abshir has attended numerous humanitarian courses including the International Humanitarian Negotiator’s training in Barcelona, Spain. Overall, Abshir has vast experience in the implementation of humanitarian and social development.As a practitioner, Abshir was a senior Field Officer for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Puntland and Somaliland from 1996-2002. Upon return from his higher education in the United Kingdom, Abshir rejoined ICRC in 2004, where he served for 10 years as a Regional Coordinator. Notably, during the peak of the Somalia civil war, he took leadership in critical disaster response operations in humanitarian intervention and social support.

Julien Barnes-Dacey is the director of the Middle East & North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Jared Cohen is the President of Global Affairs and co-head of the Office of Applied Innovation at Goldman Sachs. He joined as a Partner in 2022 and is a member of the firm’s Management Committee and the Firmwide Client Franchise Committee.Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Cohen was Chief Executive Officer of Jigsaw, which he founded at Alphabet Inc. in 2016. In this role, his work focused on applying frontier technology to the greatest challenges facing humanity. Prior to that, Mr. Cohen was Google’s first Director of Ideas and Chief Advisor to Google’s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. From 2006 to 2010, he served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and as a close advisor to both Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Mr. Cohen is a New York Times bestselling author of six books, including One Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide, Children of Jihad, The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Business, and our Lives, which he co-authored with Eric Schmidt, Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America, and the forthcoming Life After Power. He is also the author of the children’s book Speaking of America, which is forthcoming. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, Financial Times and Foreign Policy. Mr. Cohen has been named to the "TIME 100" list, Foreign Policy's “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” Fortune’s “40 Under 40”, and Vanity Fair's "Next Establishment." Mr. Cohen is a member of and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and also a member of the Trilateral Commission. He serves on the Board of Directors of Gilded, Stanford University’s Freeman-Spogli Institute and the Chapin School. He serves on the advisory boards of RAND, the National Counterterrorism Center, Schmidt Futures and the Anti-Slavery Collective. He has also previously served as an advisor to Allianz, ScaleAI, RizviTraverse, ASAPP, Andreesen-Horowitz, and the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Advisory Board. Mr. Cohen received his B.A. from Stanford University and his M.Phil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He speaks fluent Swahili.

Justin Vaïsse is the Founder and Director General of the Paris Peace Forum, an independent non-profit. organization he created in 2018 under the impetus of French President Emmanuel Macron. The Paris Peace. Forum is an annual event that aims at reinforcing multilateralism and promoting new rules and solutions to address the global challenges of our time. The inaugural edition convened 75 heads of state and international organizations as well as 6 000 participants from the privatesector, NGOs, foundations and civil society at large. The following editions, gathering world leaders and citizens from around the world, happen every year on Nov. 11-13.Prior to that role, Justin Vaïsse was Director of Policy Planning at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 6 years. In this role, he advised the Minister on his strategic decisions and provided background analysis and forecast on international affairs.From 2007 – 2013, Justin Vaïsse was Director of Research for the Center on the United States and Europe and a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, where he initiated several projects, including the Brookings Eurozone Survey and the European Foreign Policy Scorecard with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) – an annual evaluation of Europe’s performance on the world stage.A historian specializing in international relations and American foreign policy, Dr. Vaïsse is the author or co-author of numerous books on the United States, including Neoconservatism – The Biography of a Movement (Harvard University Press, 2010), a book deemed “essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the contours of our recent political past” by the New York Times. His biography of former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski was published in France in 2016, in the US in 2018 under the title Zbigniew Brzezinski – America’s Grand Strategist (Harvard University Press) and in several other countries.A graduate student from L'Ecole Normale Supérieure and Sciences Po, he got his Agrégation in history in 1996, his Ph.D. in 2005 and his habilitation in 2011. He was a teaching assistant at Harvard University in 1996-1997 and an adjunct professor at Sciences-Po from 1999-2006 and at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University from 2007-2013.

Imam Omar Suleiman is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at SMU (Southern Methodist University).

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute. He was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where he built the Center’s Middle East program and also worked on broader issues related to U.S. national security.He has produced influential studies that have shaped important discussions around regional policy, often providing expert testimony to key congressional committees on his findings. Katulis has also conducted extensive research in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. His past experience includes work at the National Security Council and the U.S. Departments of State and Defense.EducationMaster in Public Affairs, Princeton University’s School of Public and International AffairsBachelor of Arts in history and Arab and Islamic studies, Villanova UniversityFulbright scholar in Jordan, 1994 - 1995Regions of ExpertiseEgypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories, JordanIssues of ExpertiseNational security, U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy 

Dr Rayana Ahmed Bou Haka was appointed as WHO Representative in Qatar in June 2022. Dr Rayana Bou Haka is a pediatrician with over 10 years of clinical experience in private practice in Beirut from 1990 to 2000. She also spent 6 years as the Emergency Unit Physician, American University of Beirut Medical Center from 1991 to 1997. Having joined WHO in 2000, Dr Bou Haka had occupied several posts at the three levels of the Organization, starting in headquarters in Geneva and alternating between country offices and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo. She was WHO Representative in Djibouti from February 2011 to August 2014; Medical Officer in the emergency humanitarian action programme in the Regional Office in Cairo from November 2008 to February 2011, as well as from July 2004 to December 2005; Chief of Emergency Operations and Health Cluster Coordinator in the WHO country office in Islamabad, Pakistan, from January 2006 to November 2008; and Medical Officer Health Action in Crises in WHO headquarters from October 2000 to June 2004. Dr Rayana was the Manager, Country Cooperation and Collaboration programme in the Regional Office from August 2014 until she was appointed in her current position as WHO Representative in Qatar. Since May 2017 she had been serving as the Desk Officer for Qatar based in Cairo. Dr Bou Haka has received her Bachelor’s in Sciences-Biology from the American University of Beirut in 1983 and completed her Medical Doctor degree also from the American University of Beirut in 1987. She specialized in pediatrics and received her specialty diploma in 1991 from the American University Medical Center. In 1992, she obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Faculty of Health Science in the American University of Beirut. In addition, she completed additional training and obtained different diplomas in disaster management, humanitarian programming, sphere standards training, leadership for emergency management and gender. 

Crisis Group RoleMurithi Mutiga is Program Director for Africa. He is based in Nairobi.BackgroundHe previously covered East Africa for The Guardian (UK) and before that served as a Contributing Op-Ed Writer to the International New York Times. Murithi was also an editor and columnist with the Sunday Nation.He holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics.