Themba Kalua was appointed as the Director for Pact of the Future Implementation in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General in February 2025. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in sustainable development, international cooperation, development coordination, humanitarian action, and strategy, having held senior roles across the United Nations system at country, regional, and global levels. His career has been dedicated to driving collective action to address complex challenges, deliver tangible results, and foster transformative impact. Previously, Themba served as the UN Resident Coordinator for Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, where he led 23 UN agencies, funds and programmes in advancing national priorities, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  He has also held leadership roles at UN Women, UNDCO, UNEP, UNDP, and WFP. Themba holds an Executive MBA from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), a Master’s in Strategic Management from the University of Derby (UK), and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science and Technology from the University of Malawi. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Birmingham (UK), focusing on systems leadership and systems thinking for addressing complex challenges. 

Dr. Togzhan Kassenova is a senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research, University at Albany, based in Washington, D.C. She is an expert on nuclear politics, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strategic trade controls, and financial crime prevention. Dr. Kassenova currently works on issues related to proliferation financing controls, exploring ways to minimize access of proliferators to the global financial system. She holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Leeds (UK). From 2011 to 2015, Dr. Kassenova served on the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, and in 2025, she was selected to serve on the UN Independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War. Dr. Kassenova is the author of the award-winning Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb (Stanford University Press, 2022). 

Kholood Khair is the founder and director of Confluence Advisory, a 'think and do tank' founded in Khartoum, that works on three priority policy areas: peace and security, economy, and governance. This year, Kholood is part of the inaugural Yale Peace Fellows working on inclusive peace. In Sudan, during its short-lived transition to democracy, Kholood also hosted and co-produced Spotlight 249, Sudan's first English language political discussion and debate show aimed at young Sudanese. Kholood career has, for almost two decades, spanned the fields of research, aid programming, mediation and policy in Sudan and across the Horn of Africa. She has written research and analysis pieces for several international publications and has provided analyses for research and policy institutions worldwide. Kholood has briefed the UNSC twice, as well as testified in the US Congress, twice and UK Parliamentarians. Kholood has an MSC in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS, University of London and an MSC in African Studies form the University of Oxford. 

Chair of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and Pakistan's 26th Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar is a prominent diplomat and politician. Serving her fourth term in parliament, she was first elected as a Member of Parliament from her home  constituency of Muzaffargarh on a seat previously held by her father, Ghulam Rabbani Khar. As Foreign Minister, she prioritized a ‘regional pivot’ towards neighbors: trade normalization with India,  cooperative outreach towards Afghanistan, and bolstering economic ties with Iran and Central Asia. Ms. Khar has held many key ministerial roles in Economic Affairs and Finance. Whether in office or not, she continues to represent Pakistan on the world stage at forums like the  Munich Security Conference, Paris Peace Forum, Davos, and various other regional and international  events. In her private life, she is a proud mother of two daughters and a son, as well as an entrepreneur, climber,  horse rider, and practitioner of yoga. 

Dr Klug is Honorary Fellow in Social Philosophy at Campion Hall, University of Oxford; Emeritus Fellow of Oxford University’s Faculty of Philosophy; and Fellow of the College of Arts & Sciences at Saint Xavier University, Chicago. He is Honorary Fellow of the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton, and was Visiting Scholar at the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding, University of South Australia, Adelaide. He has been a participant in two projects with the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, Vienna: ‘The Vienna Conversations’ (on “the missing sense of togetherness in Europe”) and ‘Arab-Jewish Engagement’ (ongoing). He is Associate Editor of Patterns of Prejudice and a member of the Advisory Boards of Islamophobia Studies Yearbook and ReOrient: The Journal of Critical Muslim Studies. He was a consultant with the FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) on ‘religion and human rights’. He is one of the authors of ‘The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism’ (2021).Dr Klug has lectured and published extensively on Judaism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism. His books include Being Jewish and Doing Justice; Offence: The Jewish Case; Words of Fire (editor); and A Time to Speak Out (co-editor). His essays have appeared in numerous books, including: Racialization and Religion; Antisemitism, Islamophobia and the Politics of Definition; The Arab and Jewish Questions; Instances of Islamophobia; The Medieval Roots of Antisemitism; Neuer Antisemitismus?; Sprachgewalt; The Spirit of Populism; Dynamics of Difference; Do I Belong: Reflections from Europe; and Religious Experience Revisited.

Dr Edward Kessler, MBE is Founder President of the Woolf Institute and a leading thinker in interfaith relations, primarily, Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations, as well as Chair of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees and Chair of the Advisory Board overseeing the unification of Reform and Liberal Judaism. He founded the Woolf Institute in 1998 and was elected Fellow of St Edmund's College in 2002; Dr Kessler was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement (London) as 'probably the most prolific interfaith figure in British academia' and was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations. He has written or edited 13 books, including An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations (Cambridge, 2010), Jews, Christians and Muslims in Encounter (SCM, 2013) and Jesus (The History Press, 2016). His Documentary History of Jewish-Christian Relations was published by Cambridge in 2024. In 2024 he was awarded the Seelisberg Prize for his contribution to fostering Jewish-Christian relations. Kessler regularly appears in the media commenting on religion and belief issues of the day, such as the impact of October 7th 2023 attacks on Israel and the Gaza War on the Leading Podcast, and hosted the weekly podcast Naked Reflections (2020-23). He also presented the series, Covid-19 Chronicles (2020), consisting of interviews with faith leaders on the impact of the coronavirus on religion and belief. He wrote and presented two A-Z podcasts (2018-20), An A-Z of Believing: From Atheism to Zealotry and An A-Z of the Holy Land: From Arab to Zion.

Merissa Khurma is Founder and CEO of AMENA Strategies LLC. She is Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute and a non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. She was the program director of the Middle East Program (MEP) at the Wilson Center (2018-2025) where she led programing on four key pillars: the region’s geopolitics and U.S. National Security, economic development in MENA, sociopolitical developments and civil society as well as the Middle East Women’s Initiative.  Merissa has leadership experience working in a range of policy initiatives and projects in the Middle East and Africa that focused on political risk, economic development and digitization, the refugees and migration, education, youth and gender development, governance and leadership. Additionally, Merissa served as a diplomat directing the Office of Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (2010- 2013) and serving as director of the Jordan Information Bureau in Washington, D.C. (2003-2010). Merissa has a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Science in international security and foreign policy from Georgetown University, and a bachelor of art in political science from McGill University. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University with a focus on leadership. Merissa speaks Arabic and French.

I was born on December 12,1948 in Skopje , Republic of Macedonia then part of The Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia.I attended and finished primary school in Skopje and then in Munich and Belgrade.I graduated from the faculty of Economics in Belgrade in 1972 with an average grade of 9.4 out of 10.I was awarded the golden diploma of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.The same year I was elected assistant in the subject: 'INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS '.I have made my master’s degree in 1977 on the topic: 'non-commodity transactions in the balance of payments of Yugoslavia from 1945-1975.My PhD in 1982 was on the topic :'THE ROLL OF ENDOGENOUS FACTORS IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES'.In the same year I was elected assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.Simultaneously with my academic titles and activities I had a political, diplomatic, and business carrier.In my academic work I have a total of 136 references among them 15 books and 120 articles in journals published in: Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, France, Germany, USA, China, and Russia.I have lectured as a guest at the Harvard Kennedy School and the London School of Economics, as well as the University of Bonn and the European Academy in Berlin, New York University and University of Hamburg, the Academy of Foreign Policy in Cairo, Vienna, Tokyo and Brasilia.My most important political appointments are:-Foreign Minister of Republic of Macedonia;-Minister for International Economic -Relations of Macedonia;-Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of former Yugoslavia.I have held a number of positions in multilateral diplomacy such as:-President of the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly,(2007/2008);-Vice President of the Financing for Development Summit in Mexico 2002;-Vice President of the World Conference on Sustainable Development in South Africa 2003;-Special Envoy for Climate Change of the UN Secretary General;-Special Adviser of the President of UNCTAD;I was running for the Secretary General of UN 2016 and reached the final round.I am holder of the highest state medals and decorations of Albania, Austria, Italy, Germany, Lichtenstein,and Maltese order as well as the State of Kentucky in USA.In my business career I was Vice President of COPECHIM France in Paris. I was also CEO of the WAZ Media Group in Germany as well as CEO of Ostholding in Vienna in charge of Southeastern Europe.My recent activities are focused in the following areas:I am member of the International Academy of Science and Arts in Sarajevo (IANUBIH);I am President of the Centre for European Cooperation and Conferences in Zagreb/Opatija;Vice-chairman of the Geoeconomic Forum of Croatia;Member of the Board of The Organization for International Economic Relations (OIER) VIENNA/MUNICH;Member of the Strategic Council for Foreign Policy of Macedonian Foreign Ministry.I am fluent in English, French, German, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, and Bulgarian.

Member of Parliament (Häme district, Social Democratic Party) 1991–2015, 2019–Minister of Justice 1999–2005Deputy Speaker of the Finnish Parliament 2007–2010Board Director of EBRD 2015–2018Chair of the Constitutional Law Committee 2011–2015Chair of the Finance Committee 2019–2023Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee 2024–Chair of the Supervisory Board of Finnfund Ltd

Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna. He is a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Board of Trustees of The International Crisis Group and member of the Board of Directors of GLOBSEC. He was a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times (2015-2021) and currently is a Financial Times contributing editor. Ivan Krastev is the author of "Is it Tomorrow, Yet? How the Pandemic Changes Europe" (Allen Lane/Penguin, 2020); The Light that Failed: A Reckoning (Allen Lane/Penguin, 2019), co-authored with Stephen Holmes - won the 30th Annual Lionel Gelber Prize; “After Europe” (UPenn Press, 2017); “Democracy Disrupted. The Global Politics on Protest” (UPenn Press, 2014) and “In Mistrust We Trust: Can Democracy Survive When We Don't Trust Our Leaders?” (TED Books, 2013). Ivan Krastev is the winner of the Jean Améry Prize for European Essay Writing 2020. 

Joshua Lincoln (PhD) is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Law and Governance (CILG) at the Fletcher School of global affairs, Tufts University. He sits on the board of directors of the Global Governance Forum and the board of advisors of Cambrian Futures, and is a member of the New Carbon Economy Consortium.  He also writes periodically for World Politics Review.  Dr. Lincoln’s current work is on pluralism in multilateralism, global governance, sustainability and geopolitics, including projects on the geopolitical and governance implications of the Net-Zero Energy Transition; the 2022-2025 negotiations for a global plastics treaty; and the geopolitics and reform of multilateral institutions.  Between 2000 and 2013, he worked at the United Nations, including as Chief of Staff to the Director-General of UNOG (Geneva) and Senior Officer in the cabinet of the Secretary-General (New York).  He worked earlier in preventive diplomacy with the UN Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission and peacemaking between both Ethiopia and Eritrea and North and South Sudan.  He has been a researcher for universities, think tanks and institutions including the World Bank, and served from 2013 to 2019 as Secretary-General of the Bahá’í International Community.  He holds degrees from Georgetown University and Tufts University.

Taylor Luck is the senior Middle East correspondent at The Christian Science Monitor based in Amman, Jordan. In his 18-year-career across the Middle East, his on-the-ground coverage has included the Arab Spring, the Syrian revolution, ISIS, the climate crisis, the rise of Gulf states as middle powers and the Gaza War. He previously served as a special correspondent at The Washington Post and as a Global Fellow at The Wilson Center. His narrative journalism blends reporting, analysis and storytelling to breathe humanity into the events and trends shaping the region. He appears on Arab and international news outlets as a commentator on regional developments. He is currently leading a special series in The Christian Science Monitor on the generational and geopolitical shifts occurring in the Middle East for 2026.

Dr. Ruiheng Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, and a Research Fellow in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Peking University, China. His research focuses on the great power competition, the Kurdish question and sectarian politics in modern Iraq. He is the author of The Kurdish Question in Iraq (1958-2003) (Beijng: China Social Science Press, 2024), and “The Failed Ba‘thification of Iraqi Kurdistan: The Ideological and Organizational Strategies of the Ba‘th Party in Northern Iraq, 1968-2003,” (The Middle East Journal 75, no. 3, 2021). During 2019-2020, he was a visiting scholar at the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies of Stanford University. 

Mr. Bo Li assumed the role of Deputy Managing Director at the IMF on August 23, 2021. He is responsible for the IMF’s work on about 90 countries as well as on a wide range of policy issues. Before joining the IMF, Mr. Li worked for many years at the People’s Bank of China, most recently as Deputy Governor. He earlier headed the Monetary Policy, Monetary Policy II, and Legal and Regulation Departments, where he played an important role in the reform of state-owned banks, the drafting of China’s anti-money-laundering law, the internationalization of the renminbi, and the establishment of China’s macroprudential policy framework. Outside of the PBoC, Mr. Li served as Vice Mayor of Chongqing—China’s largest municipality, with a population of over 30 million—where he oversaw the city’s financial-sector development, international trade, and foreign direct investment. Mr. Li was also Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. He started his career at the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he was a practicing attorney for five years. Mr. Li holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and an M.A. from Boston University, both in economics, as well as a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He received his undergraduate education from Renmin University of China in Beijing. 

Daniel Levy is a political commentator and President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). He previously served as MENA Director for the European Council on Foreign Relations and Head of the Middle East Taskforce at the Washington DC New America Foundation. Levy briefed the UN Security Council on four occasions in the past five years, the latest of which in February 2025. 

Dr. Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General of the International Association of Universities (IAU) serves the global higher education community. – IAU, ‘The global voice of higher education’, an international NGO with UNESCO Associate Status, and ECOSOC accreditation, will celebrate its 75th Anniversary in 2025. For over two decades, she has fostered the key role of higher education in societal transformation. She supervises the overall programme activities of the IAU, develops the Association’s strategic plans and oversees the everyday work of the secretariat. Hilligje van’t Land strongly believes in the importance of international cooperation and intercultural understanding and has developed multilateral projects related higher education and beyond. She positioned the IAU as partner in UNESCO work on Education for sustainable development and in particular the UNESCO ESD for 2030 Programme, the UNESCO Futures of Education initiative and Mission 4.7, and is a member of the High Level Advisory Board. She fosters the positioning of higher education as a key stakeholder for the UN Agenda 2030 – Transforming our world. She represents IAU in other working groups and expert committees including at the Council of Europe, European University Alliances Advisory Boards, the Global Cooperation for a Culture of Democracy. Hilligje van’t Land holds a PhD in comparative francophone literature, speaks six languages and published on higher education issues of relevance locally and globally. Examples of latest publications: The Promise of Higher Education; Higher Education’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Building a More Sustainable and Democratic Future, published as part of the Council of Europe Higher Education Book series. Higher Education and SDG 14: Integrating Ocean Research for the Global Goals, 2021; Global Survey Reports on the impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education around the World; IAU-UNODC Young Scholars Competition: Higher Education engages with SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; The Role of Higher Education and Life Long Learning Survey Report with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. She also initiated the IAU Webinar Series on the Future of Higher Education and is editor of the bi-annual magazine IAU Horizons. For further information on the above and on the IAU: www.iau.global. Latest IAU International Conferences and other events can be accessed here www.iau.global/events. 

Christina Lamb is one of Britain’s leading foreign journalists as well as a bestselling author. Her dispatches with the Afghan mujaheddin fighting the Soviet Union saw her named Young Journalist of the Year at the age of 22. She has since reported everywhere from Iraq to Ukraine, Israel to Zimbabwe and been awarded Foreign Correspondent of the Year seven times as well as Europe’s top war reporting prize, the Prix Bayeux, the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Editors and the Chesney Gold Medal for promoting the understanding of war.She has always particularly focused on what war does to women, and her book Our Bodies, Their Battlefields about sexual violence in conflict was described by leading historian Antony Beevor as ‘the most powerful book’ he had ever read and recommended by Queen Camilla in a speech. She has written ten books including co-authoring the international bestseller I Am Malala. She is a Global envoy for UN Education Cannot Wait, Honorary Fellow of University College Oxford, on the board of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and an Associate of the Imperial War Museum and was awarded an OBE in 2013.

Zahra' Langhi is the Inclusion & WPS Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Yemen. An international expert in peacebuilding, mediation, and women, peace, and security, she is the architect of the Strategy of the Arab Network of Women Mediators and the Committee of Protection of Women during armed conflict, both endorsed by the League of Arab States.Langhi has contributed significantly to research on the Libya & MENA region and is involved in initiatives promoting feminist foreign policies. She co-founded the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace and participated in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (Track I Un facilitated peace process), helping establish a roadmap toward Libyan national elections.She leads regional initiatives across the Middle East and North Africa, collaborating with moderate religious leaders to develop counter-narratives to religious extremism. Her diplomacy has fostered partnerships with renowned institutions such as Al-Azhar and Al-Zaytuna universities, enhancing community resilience against violent extremism.Langhi's influence is recognized globally. The Guardian named her one of “Seven Women to Watch in Global Politics,” while she received accolades from the Rockefeller Foundation for her leadership in inclusive peacemaking. She has shared insights in TED Talks, highlighting her unique vision for empathy-based mediation and compassionate justice.

Charles Lister is a senior fellow and director of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where he focuses on Syria, terrorism, and insurgency across the Levant.  At MEI, Mr. Lister leads two major international initiatives. The Resolving the Detainee Crisis project, a joint effort with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR), brings together governments and NGOs to address the challenges of detaining thousands of terrorist fighters and their families in northeast Syria. Separately, the Syria Strategy Project, in collaboration with the Atlantic Council and the European Institute of Peace, engages over 80 experts and 25 governments and Syrian entities to shape multilateral approaches to resolving Syria’s conflict. In March 2025, the project published a report, “Reimagining Syria: A Roadmap for Peace and Prosperity Beyond Assad.” Mr. Lister has served as a consultant to the United Nations and an expert witness and advisor on counterterrorism for US, European, and Australian law enforcement and judicial bodies. Before joining MEI, he was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a senior consultant to the multinationally-backed Syria Track II Dialogue Initiative, where he led years of direct engagement with the leadership of more than 100 Syrian armed opposition groups. He is the author of The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency (Oxford University Press, 2016), The Islamic State: A Brief Introduction (Brookings Press, 2015), and of Winning the Battle, Losing the War: Addressing the Drivers of Non-State Armed Actors and Extremist Groups (MEI, 2019). His next book on Syria is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. 

Eric Li S. M. is chairman of Chengwei Capital. He is founder and chairman of Guancha. He serves as a trustee and chairman of the advisory council of the China Institute and chairman of the strategic advisory council of the Institute of International Studies, both at Fudan University. He also serves on the boards of School of SciTech Business at University of Science and Technology of China, Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, Asia Society Hong Kong, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). He received his B.A. in economics from University of California, Berkeley, MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and Ph.D. in political science from Fudan University. He is a frequent contributor to leading global publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Economist. He is the author of Party Life - Chinese Governance and the World Beyond Liberalism, published by Palgrave Macmillan. 

Stefan Löfven was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014-2021 and Leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) from 2012-2021. He led SAP to victory at both the 2014 and 2018 general elections in Sweden. He was elected President of the Party of European Socialists on 14 October 2022, at the PES Congress With Courage For Europe. Known for his strong commitment to democracy, European values and human rights, as Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven was the driving force behind the proclamation and signing of the European Pillar of Social Rights at the Gothenburg Social Summit for fair jobs and growth in 2017. Thanks to his leadership, this remains a defining moment for a more social, fair and sustainable Europe.He studied social work at university and worked as a welder for a manufacturer of railcars, before becoming a trade union representative, and ultimately the President of IF Metal (2006–2012), a Swedish trade union for industrial workers and metalworkers.Stefan Löfven is also Chair of the Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) as well as Chair of the Board of the Olof Palme Memorial Fund. In February 2022 he was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres to lead a UN High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism. In Fall 2022, he took up a position as a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.

Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki holds degrees from the National Institute of Administration in Rabat (1974), the Mohamed V university of Rabat and the University of Paris/Sorbonne (1979). He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco in 1974 and, since then, has served as Legal Counsel (1982-1991); Head of the Legal Department , Director-General of Multilateral Affairs and International Cooperation (2003-2006); Ambassador coordinator of relations with the MINURSO (1999-2001); and staff member and, later, Chef de Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (1991-1995). In the course of his long diplomatic career, Mr. Loulichki, who has been the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations in New York from  2008 to 2014, has held the posts of Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (2006-2008), Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2001-2003) and Ambassador to Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995-1999). Ambassador Loulichki has also served as Vice-Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 (2001) (the “Counter-Terrorism Committee”) (2012), Chair of the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations (2012) and Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2048 (2012) concerning Guinea-Bissau. As a member of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Loulichki has served as facilitator of the review process of the status of the Human Rights Council (2010-2011); facilitator on the question of the relationship between the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008); facilitator on the general guidelines for the preparation of national reports under the universal periodic review (2007); facilitator of the Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (2006-2007); and Vice-President of the Council (2006-2007). Mr. Loulichki has also served as Chair of the Moroccan National Monitoring Committee for Nuclear Issues (2003-2006); Deputy Coordinator of the Group of 77 and China in New York (2003); and Coordinator of the Group of African States at the International Telecommunication Union (2008). 

Dr. Mabel Lu MIAO is the Co-founder and Secretary General of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) a leading Chinese non-government think tank and the only think tank in China granted “Special Consultative Status” at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In addition, she is Founder and Secretary General of Global Young Leaders Dialogue (GYLD) program, Deputy Director General of the Alliance of Global Talent Organizations (AGTO), a Munich Young Leader 2020 and Co-Chair of T20 Multilateralism Task force. She has been invited to speak at many global forums including Munich Security Conference, Paris Peace Forum, Doha Forum, Athen Democracy Forum, Boao Forum and many more. In 2021, as the representative of Munich Young Leader, she was invited to post questions to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the Munich Security Conference Special Edition 2021. Led by Dr. Miao, GYLD (Global Young Leaders Dialogue) program has aroused wide attention and received positive responses at home and abroad, endorsed by over a dozen heads of state, including President Xi from China. Dr. Miao holds a Ph.D. degree in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Studies from Beijing Normal University. She was a visiting fellow at New York University and Harvard University, a post-doctoral fellow of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUS), and a Lien Fellow at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is an adjunct Professor of International Relations at University of International Business and Economics and a Research Fellow at Beijing University of Foreign Studies.

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (from July 1, 2022 — present) Lawyer, Doctor of Philosophy Date and place of birth: July 4, 1981, Volnovakha, Donetsk region, Ukraine Family status: Married since 2004. With son and daughter Dmytro Lubinets is an experienced Ukrainian politician and human rights advocate with over a decade of public service. Since 2022, he has served as the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, appointed by the Verkhovna Rada to oversee the protection of civil liberties during wartime and beyond. Prior to this role, he was twice elected as a Member of Parliament representing Donetsk region and chaired the Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation, and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories. Dmytro has actively contributed to international parliamentary cooperation through the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly and has championed minority rights and interethnic dialogue. With a strong academic background — including a PhD in Political Science, a law degree, and a specialization in international relations — he brings legal expertise and a diplomatic approach to human rights advocacy.

Omeed Malik is the Co-Founder and President of 1789 Capital, a growth equity investment firm focused on financing American companies in the Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Growth (“EIG”) economy. He is also the Founder and CEO of Farvahar Partners, a boutique investment bank and broker-dealer advising venture-backed businesses and institutional investors. In addition, he served as Chairman and CEO of Colombier Acquisition Corp I & II, both NYSE-listed SPACs that successfully merged with Public Square Holdings and GrabAGun Holdings, respectively. Prior to founding his firms, Omeed was a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he ran the Prime Brokerage business and Emerging Manager Program within Global Equities. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Vice President at MF Global, helping to restructure its global distribution platform. Before entering finance, Omeed practiced corporate law at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, specializing in capital markets, private equity, and governance. He also held roles in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Omeed holds a J.D. with honors from Emory Law School and a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from Colgate University, where he graduated cum laude. He serves on the Board of Directors of Fannie Mae and holds multiple FINRA registrations. 

Safwan M. Masri is Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) and a Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Since joining GU-Q in October 2022, Dean Masri has championed initiatives that have strengthened the university’s position as a hub for global dialogue and interdisciplinary scholarship. Under his leadership, GU-Q has expanded its academic and research collaborations, launched new community engagement programs, and hosted signature events, such as the Hiwaraat conference series. Before joining Georgetown, Professor Masri served as Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University, where he oversaw the university’s global engagement strategy, and was a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Prior to that, he held the position of Vice Dean and Professor at Columbia Business School, and previously taught engineering at Stanford University. Dean Masri is the author of Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly (Columbia University Press, 2017). He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an honorary fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. He is the founding chairman of King’s Academy and Queen Rania Teacher Academy in Jordan. Currently, he serves as a trustee of International College in Beirut, and is a director of AMIDEAST and of Endeavor Jordan.

Charles McLean is the Founder and Managing Director of the Borderless Consulting Group. He is a senior public affairs and communications consultant specializing in international government communications. Mr. McLean formerly served as a foreign correspondent for NBC News and as Director of Communications for the World Economic Forum. Mr. McLean formed the Borderless Consulting Group after serving for nine years as a Partner with London-based Portland Communications, during which time he headed Portland’s New York office and led Portland’s on-site communications teams in Astana, Kazakhstan; Amman, Jordan; and Doha, Qatar. At the World Economic Forum, Mr. McLean organized exclusive gatherings for top international journalists at Davos. His guests at these events included Bill Gates, Thabo Mbeki, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatar’s Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, and Kofi Annan. Mr. McLean began his career as a broadcast journalist with NBC News. During his fifteen years with the network he covered news in 57 countries and served for five years as Africa Bureau Chief. In 1990 he directed the network’s coverage of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. Out of Africa, Mr. McLean won an Emmy Award for his work as a correspondent in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square uprising.

Erin McCandless is Professor of Politics and International Relations and Director of the Qatar-South Africa Centre for Peace and Intercultural Understanding at the University of Johannesburg. She serves as Senior Advisor at the Centre for Mediation in Africa, University of Pretoria, and holds affiliations with the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and Global Institute for Strategic Research in Doha. She previously held the Distinguished Visiting Professorship of Public Value at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.Over three decades across 25 conflict-affected countries, Professor McCandless has pioneered research on transformative approaches to peace processes and social contracts, emerging and non-Western actors in mediation and global governance, and the humanitarian-development-peace-climate nexus. She bridges rigorous scholarship with high-level policy engagement, including advisory roles to senior UN leadership, political dialogue facilitation, designing and overseeing multi-stakeholder research, and involvement in shaping multilateral peace, development and governance frameworks.As co-founder and chief editor for 15 years of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development – now a Q1 peer-reviewed journal – she elevated Global South perspectives internationally. Professor McCandless has authored over 100 publications including several policy-shifting UN reports. A frequent speaker at high-level forums in Doha, Stockholm, Geneva, the World Bank, OECD-DAC and across the UN, and contributor to Al Jazeera, SABC, News24 and other international media, she brings analytically rigorous, practice-informed perspectives to advancing inclusive political settlements, justice, and transformative global governance.

Mrs. Esther Maina is the Secretary Administration at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs. She joined the Public Service in March 1996 after graduating from Egerton University with a First degree in Sociology and Public Administration. She has worked with the Ministry of Interior and National Administration for 29 years with expansive experience both in field and office administration across various Ministries. She has risen through the ranks from an Assistant Secretary to Secretary of Administration; the highest rank in the cadre of Administration. Esther has a wealth of experience on security, community mobilization, conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence, and coordination of government activities across Ministries. She’s chaired County and later Regional Development implementation coordination committees for a total of 8 years. She has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Strategic Management (Jomo Kenyatta University), trained in Paramilitary Training (Administration Police Training College-Kenya), Advanced Public Administration, Strategic Leadership Development Programme (Kenya School of Government), and Public Administration in African countries (Peking University, China)

Serri (Sura) Mahmood is a dedicated human rights professional with over 15 years of experience, currently serving at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), where she coordinates the work on sport and human rights. Her work focuses promoting and protecting human rights in and through sport, while also focusing on the racism and other forms of discrimination in sport. With extensive expertise in research, multi-stakeholder coordination, and strategic engagement and advisory, her efforts aim to challenge structural and institutional barriers within the sports ecosystem, uphold human rights, and ensure that sport embodies a human rights-based approach. Before joining OHCHR, Ms. Mahmood worked for the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women, and Humboldt University, and served on the Board of the Baghdad Women Association.She holds an MA in International Affairs and an MA in Humanitarian Action from the Graduate Institute of Geneva.

Karim Makdisi is an Associate Professor of international politics and founding director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He is also at senior fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and an affiliated researcher in the Critical Security Studies working group in the Arab Council for the Social Sciences. Makdisi is an elected member of the Board of Directors at The Academic Council on the United Nations System. He is the co-editor of Land of the Blue Helmets: The United Nations in the Arab World (University of California Press) and Interventions in Conflict: International Peacemaking in the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan). His current book project, Disarming Syria: The International Politics of Eliminating Syria’s Chemical Weapons (with C. Pison-Hindawi) is under contract with Routledge Press. He is the co-host of the Makdisi Street Podcast. 

Sara Minkara is a former Ambassador-level U.S. diplomat and global strategist who advises Fortune 500 executives and senior government leaders on disability, authentic leadership, and reimagining the future.   Appointed by President Biden as the U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, she integrated disability across U.S. foreign policy in more than 70 countries and created the Disability Foreign Policy Playbook, a unified framework for embedding disability within foreign policy priorities across bureaus, embassies, and senior leadership. She advanced disability perspectives in key global arenas, including AI and digital economies, climate, trade, and peace and security. She also led the U.S. Delegation to the G7 Disability Ministerial and elevated disability through APEC, ASEAN, and C5+1.   Sara is the founder and principal of In the Dark, a blindfolded experiential methodology that accelerates decision-making, strengthens communication, and builds high-trust leadership across global corporations and institutions.   Through her independent advisory practice, she guides public- and private-sector leaders on embedding disability within strategy, risk, operations, and emerging domains.   She has developed and is teaching the first-ever course on Disability and Diplomacy at Georgetown University, advancing a new academic and policy frontier and equipping future diplomats with the tools to advance disability in foreign policy.     Previously, Sara founded and led Empowerment Through Integration, a global nonprofit expanding opportunities for youth with disabilities in the Middle East and North Africa.   A graduate of Wellesley and Harvard’s Kennedy School, Sara’s work has been recognized by Forbes 30 under 30, the Clinton Global Initiative, Vital Voices, and the MIT IDEAS Award. 

H.E. Dr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, serving his second term following his re-election in 2022. A prominent educator and peace advocate, he previously served as President from 2012–2017 and was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people for his leadership in reconciliation and state-building.

Sarah Mostafa-Kamel manages Gulf Sustain, a regional initiative of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) that strengthens responsible business conduct across the Gulf. She works across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and the UAE, engaging ministries, private-sector leaders, and diplomatic partners on governance, sustainable development, and practical implementation pathways.Drawing on IHRB’s wider work on mega sporting events and the hospitality sector, she contributes to initiatives that support responsible growth in Gulf economies, with a particular focus on worker welfare and applying international standards in practice.Previously, Sarah held leadership roles in institutions responsible for workforce relations and organisational systems in Canada, where she managed teams, led negotiations, and supported institutional improvement. Based in Nairobi, she also works along Africa–Gulf corridors on labour mobility and sustainable investment.

Mr. Mihalos is an entrepreneur economist with broad and extensive experience in the business, investment and political arenas, united by one common objective: promoting economic growth, national development, business partnerships and investment, in Greece, the greater region of Southeast Europe, the Middle East, the Gulf States and beyond.Following his studies in Mathematics and Economics (B.Sc.) at The City College of New York (CCNY), then Finance and Business Administration (MBA) at Baruch College both of the City University of New York, he began his professional career in Finance and Marketing in the United States, spending 10 years J.E. Seagram & Sons Inc. in New York.In 1987, settling back to Greece, he founded Frigo Food SA, a Frozen Foods Importing and Trading Co.In 1990, he joined the cabinet of Antonis K. Samaras, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and later Prime Minister of Greece, as political Chief-of-Staff.In 1993, in Athens, he founded DTZ Mihalos SA, later renamed the Southeast Real Estate Group, a pioneer real estate development, investment and services group, and in 2001 he founded Hellenic Land, a joint venture with the George Soros Real Estate Fund, for Real Estate investment in Greece and South East Europe. Mr Mihalos has been a pro-active real estate and investment professional in Greece and the region, encouraging the modernization of the industry through his efforts as a business catalyst, both in his own organizations and in trade associations.In 2007 and 2010 Mr. Mihalos was elected President of the Hellenic Entrepreneurs Association (EENE)z resigning in 2012 to join the government, then elected Honorary President, playing a pivotal role in the institutional development and international networking of the Greek entrepreneurial community.In 2012 he was appointed, by Prime Minister Samaras, Secretary General for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (a political appointment equivalent to a State Minister), where he led global efforts to upgrade Economic Diplomacy for Greece. At the Ministry, he was responsible for reforming the Economic Diplomacy apparatus of Greece, the promotion of international trade, the attraction of investment, and was in charge of the successful campaign to have the Azeri natural gas flow to Europe through Greece, for which he negotiated and completed successfully the Tripartite Intergovernmental Agreement (Greece, Albania, Italy, in collaboration with Azerbaijan).In January 2015, upon the governing party losing the elections, Mr. Mihalos returned to the private sector and pursued his interests in Energy, Real Estate and Founding Orion Capital, a boutique investment firm, focused on creating, developing and facilitating transnational business and Investment in Greece, the Gulf States and S.E. Europe.In 2018, Mr. Mihalos launched Mihalos & Associates, a premier political lobbying and business consulting firm with an international practice. The firm serves political entities including sovereign governments, political movements and non-governmental organizations, Institutions and multinational corporations pursuing market development, investment and project participation.In 2020, the newly elected Greek Government appointed Mr. Mihalos as Special Envoy to the Arab World (MENA & Gulf Region) for the development of Bilateral Relations in the wider fields of Investments, Trade and the Economy.In 2021 he founded the Georgios M. Mihalos Foundation – Sustainability of Nisyros , an international center for the exchange of views and fruitful dialogue on issues of the Eastern Mediterranean, to contribute to the protection and promotion of the natural and cultural heritage of Nisyros, a small volcanic akritic island in the southeastern tip of the Aegean Sea, the crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean, by placing it on the global narrative and turning it into an international symbol of sustainable development of the human and natural wealth, contributing to the opening of new avenues for Peace, Security and Growth in the Eastern Mediterranean.In 2022 he founded the Nisyros Dialogues - Bridging the East Med, the Foundation’s model Think Tank|Forum for Dialogue, for the exchange of views and fruitful dialogue on issues of Geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean, Energy and Security, Environment & Climate Change, Akritic Island Sustainable Development and Interculturalism of Eastern Mediterranean. Producing and advancing ideas and strategic initiatives to transform the Eastern Mediterranean into a region of Sustainable Prosperity, Mutual Intercultural Understanding and International Cooperation.Mr. Mihalos is Honorary President of the Hellenic Entrepreneurs Association (EENE), is Founder and Chairman of the Greece - Qatar and Greece - Kuwait Business Councils. Was founding member and Vice Chairman of the Greece-USA Business Council, former Member of the Board of the Hellenic Centre for European Studies, Member of the Commercial and Industrial Chamber of Commerce, Member and former Board Member of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Member of RICS, Guest Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA, in International Real Estate, Masters of Science Department and Founding Member of the Board of the Greek Foundation for the Repatriation of Greeks Abroad.He is married to Christina Karantani and they have one daughter.

Alex Marquardt is an award-winning foreign policy and security journalist who was most recently CNN’s Chief National Security Correspondent.Marquardt has led domestic and international breaking news coverage on a wide range of issues, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. In his role as the network’s top security reporter, he has reported on the Trump and Biden administrations’ intelligence community, National Security Council, State Department and Pentagon.Prior to CNN, he was a foreign correspondent for ABC News based in Moscow, Jerusalem, Beirut and London. He arrived in the Middle East in 2011 as the Arab Spring was ignited, among the first correspondents in Cairo as the revolution there exploded. He covered the Libyan revolution and made many trips into Syria to report on the war, from both the regime and rebel sides. Marquardt was deeply involved in the coverage of the growing migrant crisis and terror attacks in Europe from 2015 onwards.Before his international posts, Marquardt was a political reporter with CNN during the 2008 presidential election. Marquardt has won Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. He graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service after growing up Europe and the Middle East.

Nawal Al-Maghafi is a three-time Emmy award winning broadcast journalist with over a decade of experience reporting for the BBC. Known for her in-depth coverage of conflicts, human rights abuses, and geopolitical issues. Nawal has gained a reputation for her thorough investigations, often working on the ground in some of the world’s most challenging environments.Her reporting has extensively covered the ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen, along with other conflict zones including Haiti, Syria, Sudan, and beyond. Her work often highlights the experiences of ordinary people caught in the crossfire, with a focus on human trafficking, the recruitment of foreign fighters, and the broader impact of war on civilians.Her coverage spans a range of topics, from the rise of ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the Middle East, to pressing social issues such as mental health, child sex abuse, and climate change. Nawal has become a respected voice in journalism, particularly for her ability to bring attention to underreported issues and her unwavering commitment to telling stories that matter.

Francisco Marmolejo is Higher Education President at Qatar Foundation (QF), where he leads QF’s work in support of 8 prestigious universities established at Education City in Doha offering more than 70 academic programs to students from more than 110 countries. During 2012-20, he worked at the World Bank, where he served as the Global Coordinator of Higher Education, based in Washington, DC., and later as Lead Higher Education Specialist for India and South Asia, based in New Delhi. As part of his activities at the World Bank, he coordinated the internal thematic group on higher education supporting the exchange of ideas among the more than 100 Bank’s staff members and consultants across the globe.  During 1995-2012, he served as founding Executive Director of the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration, a network of more than 160 colleges and universities primarily from Mexico, Canada, and the U.S based at the University of Arizona, where he also worked as Assistant Vice President for Western Hemispheric Programs. He has been American Council on Education Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Academic Vice President of the University of the Americas in Mexico, and International Consultant at OECD in Paris. He has been Senior Fellow of NAFSA and is Founding Scholar of the Centre for Internationalisation of Higher Education at UNICATT in Milano. He has received honorary doctorate degrees in Mexico from five Mexican universities including his Alma Mater, the University of San Luis Potosi. 

Robert Malley is a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. He is the author, with Hussein Agha, of Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine. Mr. Malley has served as Special Envoy for Iran under President Joe Biden; White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf Region under President Barack Obama; and Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs and Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs under President Bill Clinton. He was also President and CEO of the International Crisis Group. Mr. Malley served as a law clerk to Justice Byron R. White of the United States Supreme Court in 1991-1992. He is a graduate of Yale University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, England, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is the author of The Call from Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution and the Turn to Islam, and of articles published in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Le Monde, and several other publications. 

Peter Millett is an experienced former diplomat who  served as British Ambassador to Libya from 2015 to 2018.  During that time he played a role in supporting the UN's efforts to negotiate and implement the Libya Political Agreement.  He built relationships with all the key political, security and economic players in Libya and in the international community.   Before Libya, he was British Ambassador to Jordan from 2011 to 2015 and High Commissioner to Cyprus from 2005 to 2010.  Earlier in his career he had diplomatic postings in Venezuela, Qatar, Brussels and  He now works as a consultant and is the Chairman of the Libya British Business Council.

Jordan is the Director of Programmes at Forward Thinking, a London based conflict resolution NGO. He has related expertise in frontline mediation, negotiation, and the facilitation of national political and community dialogue processes. He has over a decade of experience working at the political and diplomatic level in the MENA-Gulf region. 

With a rare 360° career spanning Wall Street, government, and academia, Erika Mouynes is a geopolitical strategist and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama. She has managed multi-billion-dollar investment portfolios in more than 30 jurisdictions, advised on complex cross-border transactions, and spearheaded major initiatives across Latin America. She serves on several advisory boards, including the Smithsonian and the Atlantic Council, and is a double Senior Fellow at Harvard University, where she frequently publishes research on geopolitics, investment, and global strategy. A regular speaker at leading international forums, she brings a unique perspective at the intersection of finance, diplomacy, and global affairs. 

Julian Mueller-Kaler is the Director of the Strategic Foresight Hub in the Executive Office at the Stimson Center and also serves as Chief of Staff to the President and CEO. He researches global trends, evaluates the implications of emerging technologies on society and politics, and writes about the rise of populism, US-China relations, and the future of the liberal international order.  Before joining Stimson, Mueller-Kaler was a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council GeoTech Center and the Scowcroft Strategy Initiative where he worked on the geopolitics of technology and lead the GeoTech Center’s AI Connect program – a joint work stream with the U.S. Department of State that encouraged the responsible stewardship of AI technologies in the Global South. He also serves as a non-resident fellow at the American-German Institute (AGI) in Washington D.C., as an associate fellow at German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, and previously consulted in the office of the German Executive Director at the World Bank Group. Mueller-Kaler graduated as a Fulbright-Schuman scholar (M.A.) from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a degree in International Relations (B.A.) from Zeppelin University in southern Germany. 

Dan Murphy is a correspondent and anchor of Access Middle East. Based in the UAE, Dan covers global business, markets, economics, and geopolitics from the heart of the region. Dan provides high-level insight into the Gulf’s rapidly evolving economic landscape, and the vast pools of capital driving transformation across the region. His field reporting spans major financial hubs and geopolitical hotspots - from anchoring live coverage in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar to covering critical elections in Turkey and Israel, and delivering high-stakes interviews in Egypt and Russia. A leading voice in energy and geo-economics, Dan was awarded the 2023 GI International Energy Journalism Award for his reporting on global energy markets. He regularly reports from OPEC meetings in Vienna, and also serves as an Energy Journalism Fellow at Columbia’s Center of Global Energy Policy. Dan regularly reports from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Riyadh, and Dubai, and has led more than 100 high-level panels at global conferences and events focusing on the Middle East, finance, banking, energy, technology, aviation, and leadership in the Arab world. In 2024, Dan was named one of thirty-six Young Global Leaders by the Atlantic Council and selected for the prestigious Millennium Fellowship, which recognizes leaders shaping the future of international affairs. Dan began his career with CNBC in Singapore in 2015, and was part of the team that launched the network’s Gulf bureaus in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in 2018. Prior to CNBC, he reported for Sky News in Australia.

His Excellency (H.E.) has been the Secretary-General of the National Planning Council since May 2024 and the President of the Civil Service and Government Development Bureau since October 2021. Additionally, H.E. is a member of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA), the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Qatar UniversityIn his current professional capacity, H.E. oversees the formulation and implementation of national visions and development strategies, directs future planning and forecasting efforts, manages national statistics, and fosters regional and international cooperation in development. Additionally, HE oversees workforce management in the government sector, drives the modernization of organizational structures and institutions, enhances the quality of government services, facilitates government housing for employees, and ensures the allocation of buildings to government agencies.H.E. has more than 20 years of experience in several key sectors in the State of Qatar, during which he led numerous projects and launched multiple initiatives that directly impacted the development of the private and entrepreneurship sectors in the country. His experience spans the energy sector, small and medium enterprise development, entrepreneurship, the financial sector, and the services sector.During his professional career, H.E. held various positions, including CEO of Qatar Development Bank for up to eight years, CEO of Qatar Small and Medium Enterprises Development Company, and other roles at Shell and Kahramaa (the utility corporation). H.E. was also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elan Media Group, Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development, Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC), and Qatar Fintech Hub.He was born in 1978 and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, USA, an MBA from Qatar University, and a PhD in Business administration from Warwick University in Britain.

Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu assumed her position as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs on 1 May 2017. Prior to taking on this post, Ms. Nakamitsu served as Assistant Administrator of the Crisis Response Unit at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 2014.  She has many years of experience within and outside the United Nations system, most recently as Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow-up to the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants between 2016 and 2017. She was previously Director of the Asia and the Middle East Division of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations between 2012 and 2014, and Director of the Department’s Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training, from 2008 to 2012.  Between 2005 and 2008, Ms. Nakamitsu was Professor of International Relations at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where she also served as a member of the Foreign Exchange Council to Japan’s Foreign Minister, and as a visiting senior adviser on peacebuilding at the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Between 1998 and 2004, she was the Chef de Cabinet and Director of Planning and Coordination at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, based in Stockholm, Sweden.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Nakamitsu was a member of the United Nations Reform Team of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. She also held positions with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including within the office of Assistant High Commissioner for Policy and Operations Sergio Vieira de Mello, and in UNHCR field operations in the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and northern Iraq.  Born in 1963, Ms. Nakamitsu holds a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Law degree from Waseda University in Tokyo.  She is married and has two daughters. 

Azu Nwagbogu is an internationally acclaimed curator, interested in evolving new models of engagement with questions of decolonization, restitution, and repatriation. In his practice, the exhibition becomes an experimental site for reflection, civic engagement, ecology and repatriation – both tangible and symbolic. Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non- profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. He also serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the publisher of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas. In 2021, Nwagbogu was awarded “Curator of Year 2021” by the Royal Photographic Society, UK, and also listed amongst the hundred most influential people in the art world by ArtReview. In 2021, Nwagbogu launched the project “Dig Where You Stand (DWYS) - From Coast to Coast” which offers a new model for institutional building and engagement, with questions of decolonization, restitution and repatriation, the exhibition took place in Ibrahim’s Mahama’s culture hub SCCA in Tamale, Ghana. In 2023, Nwagbogu was appointed “Explorer at Large” by National Geographic Society to serve as an ambassador for the Organization and receive support to continue his storytelling work across Africa and globally, a title bestowed on a select few global change makers. Most recently in 2024, Nwagbogu curated the first ever Benin Pavilion at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. Nwagbogu’s primary interest is in reinventing the idea of the museum and its role as a civic space for engagement for society at large

Jonathan Panikoff is the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program, where he leads the Atlantic Council’s efforts on Middle East pan regional and inter-regional political, leadership, and security issues. Panikoff served as the deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) from 2015 to 2020. In this role, he oversaw production of the IC’s assessments on the region, represented the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) at the assistant secretary-level for interagency policy meeting, and briefed the most senior policy customers on the region, including the President. Following this role, he led the IC’s analytic support to the 2020 presidential transition before taking on his final IC assignment as director of ODNI’s Investment Security Group, overseeing a team of twenty-six and leading the IC’s efforts on foreign investment. Panikoff holds a JD and MA in International Relations from Syracuse University and a BA in international affairs and political science from the George Washington University. 

Trita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. He is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. He has been named by the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 25 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington DC for five years in a row since 2021, and preeminent public intellectual Noam Chomsky calls Parsi “one of the most distinguished scholars on Iran.” His first book, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States (Yale University Press, 2007), won the silver medal of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award. Parsi’s latest book – Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017) – reveals the behind the scenes story to the nuclear deal with Iran. Parsi was born in Iran but moved to the United States as an adult do complete his PhD at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies, where he studied under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN, where he served in the Security Council, handling the affairs of Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Western Sahara, and in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, addressing human rights in Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Iraq. 

Clarisse Pasztory is the Deputy Head of Mission of the OSCE Presence in Tirana. She brings over 20 years of diplomatic crisis management experience in the Balkans (2001-2007) and the Middle East (2007-19). From 2016-19 she headed the EU Office in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Previous MENA postings include Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Before moving to the Middle East, Clarisse specialized on the Western Balkans and was part of successive crisis management missions in North Macedonia, Kosovo and BiH. She holds degrees in International Studies/Economics (BA) and International Relations (MA) from the US and an MPhil in Political Sciences from Austria, with postgraduate studies in non-profit management and strategic planning in Switzerland and Arabic and Islamic Studies in Syria. She speaks German, English, Albanian, French, Italian and basic Arabic. 

Neil Patel is the co-founder and CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network. He is also the founder and Publisher of The Daily Caller and the founder and Chairman of the Daily Caller News Foundation. Neil served in the White House from 2001 to 2009. From 2001 to 2004, he was Staff Secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney. From 2005 to 2009, he served as the chief policy advisor to Vice President Cheney. Throughout his eight-year tenure, Neil also held the role of Assistant to the Vice President for Special Projects, working on national security and intelligence matters directly for the Vice President and the Chief of Staff. He maintained Top Secret and above security clearances during this period and regularly represented the Vice President in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process. Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Neil was Assistant General Counsel at UUNET Technologies. Earlier in his career, he practiced law at Dechert Price & Rhoads and served as Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security. Neil received his B.A. from Trinity College (CT) and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife, Amy, and their three children, Caroline, Bela, and Charlie. Neil serves on numerous boards and is actively involved in social and charitable initiatives

Prof. Katarzyna Pisarska is a Polish civic activist, scholar and an expert in international security. She is the Founder of the European Academy of Diplomacy (2004) and Co-Founder of the Casimir Pulaski Foundation (2005), the Warsaw Security Forum (2014) and the International Center for Ukrainian Victory (2022). Since 2024 she is also the Head of the Advisory Council to the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Parliament. In addition to her social entrepreneur work, Prof. Pisarska pursues a career in academia. She is Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics.Previously, Prof. Pisarska was a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (2007), a Visiting Scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (2010), at the Australian National University (2015), at the University of Southern California (2019) and at the University of Malaga (2022/2023). She specializes in EU foreign policy, Eastern Partnership, EU-Russia relations, and public diplomacy, among others having authored the monograph “The Domestic Dimension of Public Diplomacy – Evaluating Success through Civil Engagement” (Palgrave 2016). In 2025 Prof. Pisarska was a co-screenwriter and main protagonist of the international documentary series “Dancing with the Russian Bear“. For her leadership accomplishments, Prof. Pisarska has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (2014) and a Munich Young Leader by the Munich Security Conference (2021). She has also received the Order of Merit from the President of Ukraine (2025). 

Dr. Richard Ponzio is Director of the Global Governance, Justice & Security Program and Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center, where he also co-directs the Global Governance Innovation Network, serves on the T20 Advisory Council and Steering Committees for the Mary Robinson-led Climate Governance Commission, Coalition for the UN We Need, and Academic Council on the UN System, and earlier directed the Albright-Gambari Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance (2014-2016). Widely published, Dr. Ponzio has served in senior peacebuilding roles with the United Nations and U.S. State Department in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, New York, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, and Washington, D.C. He is the author of Democratic Peacebuilding: Aiding Afghanistan and other Fragile States and co-author (with Dr. Arunabha Ghosh) of Human Development and Global Institutions: Evolution, Impact, Reform. He completed his doctorate in politics and international relations at the University of Oxford on a Clarendon Scholarship and undertook earlier studies at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (M.A.), The Graduate Institute Geneva (M.A.) as a MacJannet Fellow, and Columbia University (B.A). 

Alejandro “Pacha” Sánchez was born in Montevideo in 1980. He is a politician and a member of the left-wing coalition Frente Amplio, in which he has held various positions in the Uruguayan government, including serving as President of the House of Representatives in 2015 and later taking the Senate seat vacated by former President José “Pepe” Mujica. Since March 2025, he has been the Secretary of the Presidency of Uruguay, a high-profile role equivalent to a cabinet-level minister. In 2007, he was appointed Secretary-General of the Montevideo local council, and in 2009 he was elected National Representative, being re-elected twice more, in 2014 and 2019. In 2020, after the retirement from legislative work of former President José Mujica, Sánchez took his place in the Senate. During this period, Sánchez played an increasingly important role in the leadership of the Frente Amplio, becoming one of the strongest voices of the opposition when the coalition was not in government. In the 2024 election, he headed the ballot of the Movimiento de Participación Popular, the largest faction within the Frente Amplio. This made him the most-voted Senator, while Yamandú Orsi was elected President of Uruguay. At the start of the new government in March 2025, he was appointed Secretary of the Presidency of Uruguay, a key role in facilitating dialogue and internal negotiations both within the Cabinet and with the political opposition. From this position, he has become one of the main architects of Uruguay’s new policy on mediation and dialogue facilitation, believing that the stability and trustworthiness of Uruguay as a small country from Latin America can help it contribute to conflict resolution and dialogue facilitation in the region and around the world. 

Charles Powell has been the director of the Elcano Royal Institute, Spain’s leading international relations think tank, since 2012, and a professor of Contemporary History at CEU San Pablo University since 2001. He read History and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, which also awarded him a Doctorate in History for a thesis on Spain’s transition to democracy. While at Oxford, he was a lecturer at Corpus Christi College, a J. A. Pye Fellow at University College, and a Junior Research Fellow at St. Antony's College. He has also been a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Lisbon and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr Powell has published seven books and dozens of articles on Spanish political history and foreign policy, European integration, and the liberal international order. He has also supervised eight doctoral theses, examined thirty, and taught and lectured in more than fifty countries in Europe, Africa, America, and Asia. He is an Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy (2015), a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (2017), a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Romania (2020), and a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2021). 

Ms Poutanen has over two decades of experience in peace mediation, with a longstanding focus on advancing gender- and youth-responsive approaches in peace processes. At CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, she leads the organisation’s methodological priorities aimed at strengthening inclusive mediation practice and addressing both the opportunities and risks that digital technologies present for peacemaking.She has advised, designed, and facilitated inclusive dialogue processes across diverse conflict-affected contexts, including Yemen, Palestine, South Sudan, and Nepal. Her work spans national and subnational tracks, supporting mediators, peace stakeholders, and grassroots actors in developing more representative and sustainable peace process architectures.Ms Poutanen holds a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from the University of Helsinki and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar. Johanna has also served as Fellow-in-Residence at Durham University (UK) within the research programme “Mediation for the 21st Century,” focusing on inclusive mediation design and practice.She is a member of the Nordic Women Mediators network and contributes regularly to regional and international policy fora on mediation, Women, Peace and Security, and the future of peacemaking.

Michael Robbins serves as the director and co-principal investigator of Arab Barometer. He has been part of Arab Barometer since its inception and served as its director since 2014. Robbins has led or overseen hundreds of surveys around the world and is a leading expert in methods for ensuring survey data quality. His work on public opinion in MENA, survey methodology, and political behavior has been published in numerous journals, including Foreign Affairs, Comparative Political Studies, the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, the Journal of Democracy, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Statistical Journal of the IAOS.  His analysis has been featured by major media outlets around the world including the BBC, CNN, the Economist, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Times of London, Der Spiegel, and Science Magazine.  He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Date and place of birth: 1977, Baku, Azerbaijan 1994-1998 – BA in International Relations, Baku Institute of Political Science and Social Management 1998-2000 – MA in International Relations, Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan 2000-2003 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2003-2005 – Mission to OSCE, Vienna 2005-2008 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2008-2011 – Mission to EU, Brussels 2011-2013 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2013-2015 – Director, International Cooperation Dept., Ministry of Education June 2015-January 2017 – Deputy Chief of Staff, Ministry of Education January -June 2017– Chief of Staff, Ministry of Education Since June 2017 – Deputy Chief, Secretariat of the First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Since September 2020 - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Majda Ruge is a senior policy fellow with the United States programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in Berlin. Her areas of focus include US foreign policy and transatlantic relations, as well as the Western Balkans. Most recently, she has written and published on the foreign policy debates in the Republican party and the impact of domestic polarization on the US foreign policy and the transatlantic alliance. Before joining ECFR, she spent three years at the Foreign Policy Institute/SAIS at the Johns Hopkins University. She has twice testified as an expert witness at hearings of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Western Balkans. From 2014 to 2016, she lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she was associated with the Gulf Research Center. Between 2012 and 2014, she was a post-doctoral fellow and lecturer at the Otto-Suhr-Institute of the Free University of Berlin, where she taught courses on international relations and nationalism. Ruge worked in management and advisory capacities for the Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this time she participated in key state-building reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which merged the sub-state customs and tax administrations into a single state-level institution. Ruge holds degrees from the European University Institute (Ph.D.,2011 and M.A., 2006), Central European University in Budapest (M.A. in International Relations and European Studies, 2001) and Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia (B.A. in International Relations, 2000). 

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

William Rook is the Deputy CEO of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, an organisation he helped co-found in 2018. He is a business and human rights lawyer with extensive experience establishing international initiatives and developing strategies to promote responsible business across global sectors. His background includes work in sport, construction, hospitality, security, and extractives, with a strong focus on labour rights in the Gulf. He has collaborated with companies, governments, international organisations, and civil society to advance human rights due diligence and worker welfare practices. From 2015 to 2019, William was based in Qatar with the Institute for Human Rights and Business, where he helped establish IHRB’s presence in the Middle East. He worked closely with the ILO, trade unions, civil society groups, and government agencies to strengthen labour rights in the context of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Earlier, he co-founded the Business, Human Rights and Environment Research Group at the University of Greenwich, trained as a solicitor with Slaughter and May, and practised as a regulatory investigations lawyer. William is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events & Human Rights and serves as a series editor for the Routledge Sport & Human Rights series. He has written on corporate leadership, governance, education, procurement, remedy, and human rights issues across multiple sectors. He sits on the Advisory Board of the UN’s Football for the Goals initiative and has served on oversight bodies and human rights boards for major tournaments. 

Dr.Donald Rukare is an access to justice and human rights specialist with over 30 years’ experience working in legal, justice, rule of law and human rights issues in Uganda and the region. Donald’s experience cuts across the public, private, international community and academia worlds. He has worked as a lawyer, a governance advisor with the Inspectorate of Government (IG), bilateral aid donors including Embassy of Ireland and European Union, civil society and also managed large multilateral initiatives focused on human rights and access to justice and undertaken consulting and research assignments on justice, governance and human rights issues.  Donald is an avid sports person, a former national swimmer and currently holds a number of high level positions including President of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC), immediate past President  of the Uganda Swimming Federation,  Interim President of the Commonwealth Games Federation ( CGF), World Aquatics ( Aqua formerly FINA) Bureau member representing Africa since 2017, Vice President of  Africa Aquatics (AA), and an arbitrator of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).  Dr. Rukare is a MEMOS Professor and teaches Governance on the IOC MEMOS Master’s Program. Dr. Rukare has been appointed as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) consultant/advisor and in this regard undertaken missions/assignments to Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Lesotho and Sudan.

Christopher Sabatini is senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, and was formerly a lecturer in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University.  Chris is on the Advisory Committee for Human Rights Watch’s is also an HFX Fellow at the Halifax International Security Forum.  He is a frequent contributor to policy journals and newspapers and appears in the media and on panels on issues related to Latin America and foreign policy. Chris has testified multiple times before the US Senate and the US House of Representatives.  In 2015, Chris founded and directed a new research non-profit, Global Americas and edited its news and opinion website. From 2005 to 2014 Chris was senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and the founder and editor-in-chief of the hemispheric policy magazine Americas Quarterly (AQ). At the AS/COA, Dr. Sabatini chaired the organization’s rule of law and Cuba working groups. 

Academic Qualifications- Master's student in "Financial and Banking Sciences" Idlib University (Discussion Stage)- Educational Qualification Diploma (2008)- Bachelor’s degree in Economics – University of Aleppo (2007)Practical and Professional Experience2025 - So far: Head of the Planning and Statistics Commission- Syrian Arab Republic2025-Present: Head of the National Development Identity Team - Syrian Arab Republic 2025-Present: Member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Statistical AgenciesFeb 2025- Apr 2025: Director General of the Central Bureau of Statistics - Syrian Arab Republic2024-2025: Secretary of the Cabinet in Syria2022-2024: Secretary of the Salvation Government - the Salvation Government in Idlib2019-2022: Director of Planning in the Salvation Government - Salvation Government in Idlib2019-2018: School Principal2016-2018: Assistant Director2016-2017: Director of Supervision and Licensing General Authority for Monetary and Consumer Protection

Francisco de Santibanes is the president of the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI), a leading Latin American think tank. The author of four books, he has published in Armed Forces and Society, Survival and the Oxford Handbook on Geoeconomics and Economic Statecraft, among other publications. De Santibanes has given talks at Chatham House, the French Institute of International relations (IFRI) and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).   Before joining CARI he was a professor at Austral University in Buenos Aires and a global fellow at the Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington DC. 

Margaritis Schinas is the former European Commission Vice-President for Promoting the European Way of Life (2019 - 2024). Schinas began his career in the European Commission in 1990 holding various roles before being elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2007. He later returned to the European Commission, and became the Chief Spokesperson under President Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2019. During his tenure as Vice-President, Schinas was tasked by President Von der Leyen to coordinate the Commission’s policies on migration, security, health, education, culture, and skills, promoting integration and solidarity across the European Union. Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Schinas holds a degree in Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master's in European Administrative studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and a MSc on Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer is member of the Executive Board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and a leading expert on European and international affairs. She is honorary professor of political science at Freie Universität Berlin and senior fellow at Harvard University. Since 2025, Daniela Schwarzer has been serving as the honorary president of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and as co-chair of the German-Japanese Forum. She previously served as Executive Director for Europe and Central Asia at the Open Society Foundations, as director and CEO of the German Council on Foreign Relations, and as head of the Europe research group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. She is a member of the supervisory boards of BNP Paribas and Covivio, a honorary board member of DGAP and non-executive board member of the Jacques Delors Centre (Paris, Berlin) and a Council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. From 2020 to 2022 she served as special advisor to the Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell. She also advised France and Poland during their respective EU presidencies. In 2017, she was inducted into the French Legion of Honour. 

Senator Rania EizEldin Sedky is a distinguished Egyptian senator, business leader, and advocate for women’s empowerment and sustainable development, with more than three decades of experience in political, social, and economic leadership. As a member of the Egyptian Senate, she has been deeply involved in shaping strategies focused on women’s inclusion, entrepreneurship, peacebuilding, and countering extremism. Senator Sedky holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo and has represented Egypt in numerous high-level international forums under the auspices of the Arab League, African Union, and United Nations. She is a member of the National Council for Women in Egypt, the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, the African Alliance for Women’s Empowerment, the COMESA Business Council, and the Women’s Network of the World Trade Organization. A committed champion of gender equality, youth empowerment, and sustainable development, Senator Sedky has contributed to major regional initiatives promoting cultural dialogue, social cohesion, and inclusive economic growth. Through her extensive leadership and diplomatic engagement, she continues to strengthen cooperation between regional and global institutions and advance transformative agendas for peace, security, and equitable development across Africa and the Arab world. 

Nika Soon-Shiong is the Publisher of Drop Site News, an independent investigative newsroom. She is the founder of the Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI), which operates universal basic income programs across 15 U.S. states and in 14 federal prisons. Previously, Nika worked in the Office of the President of the World Bank Group, helping to establish the Bank’s Disruptive Technology Initiative. Nika completed her Doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford, where her research exposes the evolution and implications of India’s biometric surveillance infrastructure. She is also a producer of three feature documentaries, including Shooting the Messenger, told through the lens of two young journalists in Gaza.She serves on the boards of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Compton Development Corporation, and is Board Chair of One Fair Wage. Nika speaks Spanish, Italian, Xhosa, and intermediate Hindi. She earned her Master’s degree in African Studies and Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University.

Armin Seif is Co-Director of the Europe–Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He specializes in governance and state fragility, with research projects at the University of Oxford on hybrid warfare and the impact of emerging technologies on institutional resilience. He brings extensive expertise in European foreign and security policy and its intersections with the socio-political dynamics of the Middle East, particularly Iran. He has previously directed the governance programme at a leading Iraqi think tank and continues to collaborate with major policy platforms in Iraq to address pressing challenges such as security sector reform, Iraq’s evolving regional dynamics, and the impact of conventional and emerging threats, including drone warfare. 

Ahmed Shaheed, PhD, is Professor in the Essex Law School and Human Rights Centre and an Academic Affiliate of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford. He directs the Essex Religion and Equality Project and co-directs the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project. His areas of expertise include human rights implementation, countering hate speech, human rights impacts of emerging technologies, freedom of religion or belief, securitization of minorities, and human rights diplomacy. He has made ground-breaking contributions on combatting antisemitism and islamophobia, and on protecting the freedom of thought. He chairs the Universal Rights Group, and the Essex Human Rights 30 Forum. He has served two mandates as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, first on Iran from 2011-2016, and later on religious freedom, from 2016-2022. Since 2014, he has served as a member of the advisory committee on countering religious hatred at the UN Office on Genocide Prevention. He is currently in his second term as a member of the Panel of Experts advising the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on freedom of religion or belief and is also currently a member of the OSCE advisory board on security and religious freedom. A career diplomat, he served as Maldives’ Foreign Minister from 2005-2010 and played key roles in Maldives’ democratic transition of 2008 and in the sweeping human rights reforms that started in 2003. He is a graduate of the University of Aberystwyth, UK and the University of Queensland, Australia. 

Howard J. Shatz is a senior economist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. He specializes in international economics, international development, and economics and national security. His RAND research has included Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and economic issues related to Russia’s war on Ukraine; international economic competition, including U.S.-China competition and the U.S. role in the global economic order; great power competition in the Middle East; and socio-economic policy projects in China, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia. From 2007 to 2008, he was on leave from RAND, serving as a senior economist at the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Shatz has held research fellowships at the Brookings Institution and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and has worked as a consultant to the World Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University. 

Wael Shawky’s work, rooted in extensive research and enquiry, examines national, religious, and artistic identity through film, performance, and storytelling. Whether instructing Bedouin children to reenact the construction of an airport runway in the desert or organizing a heavy metal concert in a remote Egyptian village, Shawky reframes contemporary culture through the lens of historical tradition and vice versa. Mixing truth and fiction, childlike wonder and spiritual doctrine, he has staged epic recreations of medieval clashes between Muslims and Christians in his trilogy of puppet and marionette – titled Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show Files (2010), The Path to Cairo (2012), and The Secrets of Karbala (2015). His three-part film Al Araba Al Madfuna uses child actors to recount poetic myths, paying homage, rather than mere lip service, to the important narratives of yesteryear. For the Egyptian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, Shawky presented Drama 1882 (2024), a filmed musical directed, choreographed, and composed by the artist, centered on Egypt’s nationalist Urabi revolution against imperial influence (1879 - 82). In addition to his artistic practice, Wael Shawky founded the education space MASS Alexandria in 2010. He currently serves as the Artistic Director for the inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar. He is also the Artistic Director of Fire Station, where he launched the Arts Intensive Study Program (AISP) – a transformative initiative designed to foster critical thinking, hands-on research, and professional development for emerging Qatari and international artists. Born in Alexandria in 1971, where he continues to live and work, Shawky has held recent solo exhibitions at: • LUMA Arles, Arles, France (2025) • Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2025) • Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2025) • Barakat Contemporary, Seoul, South Korea • MOCA, Los Angeles, USA (2025) • Daegu Art Museum, South Korea (2024) • Pompeii Archaeological Park, Italy (2023) • M Leuven Museum, Belgium (2022) • The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, USA (2021) • The Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2020) • ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2018) • MOCA Yinchuan, China (2017) • Castello di Rivoli, Italy (2016) • Fondazione Merz, Turin & Zurich (2016) • Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2016) • Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar (2015) • MoMA PS1, New York, USA (2015) • K20 Düsseldorf, Germany (2014–15) • Serpentine Galleries, London, UK (2013–14) • KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (2012) • Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2011) • Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (2011) • Delfina Foundation, London, UK (2011) • Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, Italy (2010) He has represented Egypt at La Biennale di Venezia (2024) and participated in:• 14th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2015) • 11th Sharjah Biennial, UAE (2013) • Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012) • 9th Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2012) • SITE Santa Fe Biennial, USA (2008) • 9th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2005) • 50th Venice Biennale, Italy (2003) Shawky’s awards include: • The inaugural Mario Merz Prize (2015) • Award for Filmic Oeuvre created by Louis Vuitton and Kino der Kunst (2013) • Abraaj Capital Art Prize (2012) • Schering Foundation Art Award (2011) • International Commissioning Grant and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Award (2005)

Elizabeth Sidiropoulos is the Chief Executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), a position she has held since 2005. Her areas of expertise lie with South African foreign policy, Africa and external powers, global governance and South-South cooperation. She has served on the UN Under-Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs since 2020.  Elizabeth has been researching G20 related issues for a number of years. She is the co-convenor, together with the Institute for Development and Sustainability, of the Think20 Africa Standing Group, established in 2017 during the German presidency of the G20. She has served as co-chair of various taskforces in the Think20 engagement group of the G20 over the years and in 2024 she was coordinator of the General Secretariat of the Think20 Brazil International Advisory Council. Her most recent co-edited volumes include Values, Interests and Power: South African Foreign Policy in Uncertain Times (2020), and The Palgrave Handbook of Development Cooperation for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (2021). Her other work includes the rise of new development cooperation providers and the institutionalisation of their assistance, which were explored in two edited volumes, Development cooperation and emerging powers: New Partners or Old Patterns (Zed Books, 2012) and Institutional Architecture and Development: Responses from Emerging Powers (Jacana, 2015).  She is the Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of International Affairs, a policy-oriented, peer-reviewed and interdisciplinary forum on Africa’s and South Africa’s international relations.  

Mohamed Salem Soufi is a distinguished Mauritanian political scientist, diplomat, and media expert with more than three decades of experience in international relations, cultural diplomacy, and strategic communications. He currently serves as Director of the International Center for Intelligent Studies and Consultations in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Dr. Soufi holds a Doctorate in Political Science and a Master’s degree in History and Civilization, with a specialization in Arab-African affairs, conflict resolution, and the role of regional and international organizations in mediating crises. From 2015 to 2023, he was Director General of the Afro-Arab Institute, and in 2013 he served as Minister Delegate to the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, where he also headed the Department of Cultural Affairs and Dialogue of Civilizations. In addition to his diplomatic and academic roles, Dr. Soufi has over 25 years of experience in media and journalism, including leadership and correspondent positions with Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Asharq Al-Awsat. He is the author of several books on African and Arab geopolitics and conflict dynamics. Dr. Soufi is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Djibouti in Mauritania and an active member of multiple regional literary and scholarly associations. 

Mohammed is the editor of Semafor Gulf, which was launched in September 2024. He was previously an energy and commodities editor at Bloomberg. Mohammed has covered private equity, finance, energy, geoeconomics, and politics for nearly two decades for Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, the Council on Foreign Relations, among other outlets. A winner of a Webby Award for a deep dive on Islam’s sectarian divide, his career has included stints in Doha, Dubai, Riyadh, and New York, as well as extensive reporting from rebel-controlled territories during the war in Syria.