Svyatoslav Senyuta is the Vice President, Head of Visa Government Solutions for Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, covering 86 countries. Svyatoslav joined Visa in 2015 and is currently based in Dubai, UAE.His key focus is to establish strategic partnerships with governments as they digitize economies and deliver sustainable social impact, by working with cross-functional teams across the company. Svyatoslav holds a PhD degree in Law, Master’s degree in business administration from the Institute of Management Development (Lausanne, Switzerland), Master’s degree in Law, and Public Policy certifications from the Harvard Kennedy School.

David Schenker is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute.  Confirmed by the Senate on June 5, 2019, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs through January 2021.  Previously, from 2002-2006, Mr. Schenker served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Levant country director, the Pentagon's top policy aide on the Arab countries of the Levant. He was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in 2005. 

Rory Stewart is the Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University and a former UK cabinet minister. Rory served as a Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border and was the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice,  Minister of State in Foreign Office and DFID and Minister for the Environment and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.Rory’s diplomatic career included serving in Jakarta, Montenegro, and Iraq, where he was Deputy-Governor of two provinces post-2003 intervention. He left diplomatic services to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.In 2005, Rory established the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, working to restore a section of the old city and promote Afghan crafts globally. In 2008, he became the Ryan Professor of Human Rights at Harvard Kennedy School.  Rory has authored a number of international bestselling books, including, "The Places in Between" and "Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within."In addition to his teaching at Yale Rory Co-presents the UK’s top podcast, "The Rest Is Politics," with Alastair Campbell. 

Zhandos Shaimardanov has served as the Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KazISS) since June 2025. He leads the nation’s central analytical institution responsible for strategic assessments, policy research, and long-term foresight that support presidential and governmental decision-making.Mr. Shaimardanov holds a degree in Economics and Finance from the University of York (United Kingdom) and a Master’s in Business Analytics and Big Data from IE University (Spain).He previously held key roles across major state bodies and national development institutions, including the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, Bureau of National Statistics, National Bank of Kazakhstan, Ministry of National Economy, Baiterek Holding, QazTech Ventures, and the Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund. His expertise spans economic policy, strategic planning, data governance, institutional reform, and evidence-based decision-making.Throughout his career, he has contributed to major national reform initiatives, the modernization of statistical and analytical systems, and the development of long-term policy frameworks. His work integrates strategic foresight, economic transformation, and institutional innovation-helping shape Kazakhstan’s position in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

Christian van Stolk is Deputy Chief Executive at RAND Europe. He has worked extensively on health and wellbeing in the workplace. His work in the past has focused on improving the health and wellbeing of staff in the National Health Service in the UK, maintaining and gaining employment for those with common mental health conditions, building an evidence base for health interventions in workplace settings, and looking at the relationship between productivity and health and wellbeing outcomes.Christian advised large private sector employers, the UK government, European institutions, OECD, and the World Bank over the years. He also managed RAND's work on the Britain's Healthiest Workplace competition with Vitality Health and Asia’s Healthiest Workplace competitions with AIA.He sits on several expert panels for the UK government including those on occupational health, mental health and employee health and wellbeing in the NHS. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science and fellowships at the Royal Society of Medicine and Royal Society of the Arts.

Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Carl Skau is WFP’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he leads the organization’s overall coordination, strategic direction, humanitarian diplomacy, and support for field operations. He also supports corporate efforts to maximize WFP’s inter-agency collaboration and partnerships. Mr. Skau has over 20 years of experience working in diplomacy, humanitarian affairs, peace-building and development across different regions and organizations. He is a recognized and experienced leader with a track record in forging strong bilateral and multilateral partnerships, mobilizing resources, international negotiations, strategic communications, and leading and motivating empowered and diverse teams. Prior to joining WFP, Mr. Skau headed the Department for Multilateral Partnerships at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where he led its response to humanitarian crises across the globe, including the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as Sweden’s Ambassador and Special Envoy to Venezuela, and was Ambassador and Deputy Representative to the United Nations in New York during Sweden’s two-year term on the Security Council. His previous positions have included Deputy Representative to the European Union Political and Security Committee in Brussels, in addition to postings for the EU and UN in Africa and Latin America. He began his career with UNHCR and UNDP. Mr. Skau, a Swedish national, holds a bachelor’s degree in social science, and a master’s degree in political science from Lund University. He is fluent in English and Spanish. He is married with three children.

Dr. Abdulaziz Sager - A Saudi strategic expert specializing in international politics and regional security issues, he is the Founder and Chairman of the Gulf Research Center. Dr. Sager has also been a visiting professor at a number of universities, and member of various councils, advisory and academic committees, institutes and international research centers. He participates in international and regional conferences that address issues pertaining to the Gulf region. Notably, he has authored and edited numerous publications and has many articles in local and international newspapers related to Gulf affairs and regional issues, and he frequently contributes to major international media outlets. He is also the editor-in-chief of "Araa" a monthly Arabic-language magazine focused on Gulf affairs and is the editor-in-chief of "The Gulf Yearbook”. Dr. Sager holds a PhD in politics and international relations from Lancaster University.

Shoshana Stewart is the President of Turquoise Mountain, an NGO founded in 2006 in Afghanistan by His Majesty King Charles, to preserve cultural heritage and support artisans where their traditions are under threat. Shoshana joined Turquoise Mountain in Afghanistan in 2006 where she lived for five years, and has led the project create over 25,000 jobs, bring over $17 million of crafts to market, build the Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture, restored over 150 historic buildings in the Old City of Kabul, and provided primary healthcare for almost 200,000 people. She has also expanded the project to work with Myanmar, Saudi, Syrian, Jordanian and Palestinian artisans. Shoshana has an MBA from the London Business School, a Master’s Degree in Education, and a Bachelor's Degree in Astrophysics. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. 

Akio Takahara is Senior Adjunct Fellow and Councillor of the Japan Institute of International Affairs and Emeritus Professor of The University of Tokyo. He currently serves also as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and Trustee of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, among other positions. His expertise is in contemporary China’s politics and diplomacy. He received his DPhil in 1988 from Sussex University. Before joining The University of Tokyo, he taught at J. F. Oberlin University and Rikkyo University. Akio had visiting appointments at the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, Harvard University, Peking University, the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), and the Australian National University. He served as President of the Japan Association for Asian Studies, Secretary General of the New Japan-China Friendship 21st Century Committee, Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo, and Director of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. His publications in English include The Politics of Wage Policy in Post-Revolutionary China, and Japan-China Relations in the Modern Era (co-authored). He is currently involved in a research project that looks into how smaller countries proactively interact with China. 

Lord Thomas has been President of the Qatar International Court since 2018. Lord Thomas was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1969, becoming a Queen’s Counsel in 1984. In 1996, he was appointed a High Court Judge and was assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division, serving on the Commercial Court. In 2003, he became a Lord Justice of Appeal and was appointed to the Privy Council. He served as the Senior Presiding Judge from 2003 to 2006. In 2008, he was appointed Vice President of the Queen’s Bench Division and Deputy Head of Criminal Justice. In 2011, he became President of the Queen’s Bench Division. Thereafter, in 2013, he succeeded Lord Judge as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He retired from that post in 2017, prior to taking up the present position in Qatar where he succeeded Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers. Lord Thomas holds several extra-judicial posts, including as Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, Fellow at the Universities of Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Bangor, and Honorary Doctor of Law of the Universities of South Wales, the West of England, Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University. He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. In 2016, he established the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts. He was appointed Chairman of the Financial Markets Law Committee in November 2017. He has been Chancellor of Aberystwyth University since January 2018.

Mr. Tareq Talahma currently serves as the Head of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy in Damascus, having assumed his duties on 1 March 2024.Mr. Talahma brings over 20 years of extensive experience in political, humanitarian, and development affairs through his work with the United Nations. He has held several key positions, including Deputy Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the Middle East and North Africa, and Acting Director of the Operations and Advocacy Division in New York.Throughout his career, Mr. Talahma has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving in complex and sensitive contexts across Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. He possesses substantial expertise in crisis management, negotiation and mediation, programming, and planning in conflict-affected environments, in addition to a solid understanding of the n humanitarian and -development nexus. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Talahma worked as a specialist in institutional reform and community engagement on a project implemented by Environmental Resources Management (ERM-London), where he contributed to developing poverty-reduction strategies.Mr. Talahma is a Palestinian national. He holds a master’s degree in Community Development and Planning in Turbulent Environments from York University in Canada, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Birzeit University in Palestine. He is fluent in both Arabic and English.

Ms. Tetteh is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Prior to that she held a number of senior positions in the UN as follows: (2022-2024) UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa; (2019-2022) Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office to the African Union; and (2018) Director General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi. Ms. Tetteh has decades of experience in international relations, foreign policy and governance at the national, regional and international levels.Ms. Tetteh served in Government in the Republic of Ghana as a Cabinet Minister and as a Member of Parliament. She was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (January 2013-January 2017), and in this position was also a member of the National Security Council and the Armed Forces Council. During her tenure as Foreign Minister between 2014 to 2015, she was also the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and of the Mediation & Security Council of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) at the time when Ghana was chairing the organization.Ms. Tetteh served as Minister for Trade and Industry (February 2009 to January 2013) and in this position was Chairperson of the Ghana Free Zones Board, Member of the National Development Planning Commission and Member of the Board - Millennium Development Authority. She served two terms as a Member of Parliament, representing the Awutu Senya West Constituency.Ms. Tetteh was previously involved in high-level mediation activities when she was appointed Co-Facilitator of the Forum for the Revitalisation of the Agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (2017-2018). She qualified as a Barrister in 1992 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana, Legon (1989), and completed her post graduate professional legal studies at the Ghana School of Law.

Her Royal Highness Princess Ghida Talal of Jordan is the founder and Chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) and Center (KHCC). For the past 25 years, she has led and overseen this internationally-accredited cancer center which has treated over 70,000 patients. Under Princess Ghida’s leadership, KHCF/KHCC have become Jordan’s largest charitable organization, pioneering life-saving awareness and early detection efforts in Jordan, and becoming a national and regional reference for oncologic training and capacity-building.A longtime advocate of cancer research, Princess Ghida established the King Hussein Award for Cancer Research in 2020, with the goal of strengthening cancer research efforts focused on the Arab world. She also prioritizes raising awareness around mental health, and ensuring universal cancer coverage in Jordan. Princess Ghida’s international advocacy work includes representing Jordan in 2011 and 2018 at the United Nations by addressing the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).Princess Ghida earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and serves on the Board of its Master of Science in Foreign Service program. She is an honorary trustee of the Board of the Institute of International Education (IIE), which she first joined in October 2013. Princess Ghida helped launch IIE’s Iraq Scholar Rescue Project, and her efforts earned her IIE’s Humanitarian Award for International Cooperation in 2008. In 2021, she received Lebanon’s state medal and Jordan’s Medal of Independence for her work against cancer.Princess Ghida was born Ghida Salaam to a leading political family in Lebanon. Prior to her work against cancer, Princess Ghida pursued a career in journalism. She married HRH Prince Talal Bin Muhammad of Jordan in 1991, and is the mother of three children: Hussein, Rajaa and Muhammad.

Born in Melito di Porto Salvo in 1982, she has built a distinguished career at the intersection of international affairs, political leadership, and youth engagement. She holds a degree in International and European Community Political Studies from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and a master’s in Economic Security, Geopolitics and Intelligence from SIOI. Early in her career, she served as an expert for the Popolo della Libertà (PDL) group in Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, contributing to legislative drafting and policy analysis.She has worked extensively with regional governments, coordinating on issues related to EU relations, European funding, Mediterranean regional cooperation, development policy, and migration—key priorities of Italy’s State-Regions Conference. A long-time advocate for youth participation in politics, she rose through the ranks of Forza Italia Giovani, later becoming National Head of the Organisation Sector and Deputy National Secretary of the Young Italians in the European People’s Party. Her commitments extended to European platforms, including service on the Council of Presidents of YEPP.Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2018, she became Forza Italia’s Group Leader in the Defence Committee and contributed to the Parliamentary Inquiry on the death of Giulio Regeni. Since October 2022, she has served as Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Alex Thier is CEO of Lapis, a social impact company working on education, training, health, and media across South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. For over 20 years, Lapis has created innovative, high-quality programs in over 20 countries, reaching over 100 million people in the world’s most challenging environments. Alex was appointed by President Obama as Chief of Policy, Planning, and Learning at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and as the senior official in charge of assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In these roles, he coordinated policy on key priorities including sustainable development, technology and innovation, climate change and renewable energy, gender equality and economic empowerment, development finance, and democracy and governance. Alex managed 1000+ staff with over $12 billion in programs. He co-chaired the US-China Development Dialogue and oversaw the creation of the first-ever U.S. Strategy to End Extreme Poverty. Alex served as Executive Director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, a preeminent global think tank with programs and over 500 staff, fellows, and associates in 40 countries; and as CEO of a $100m+ global anti-trafficking fund. He was Co-Director of the bi-partisan Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Promote Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism, and has held appointments at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the US Institute of Peace, Freedom House, and the United Nations.

Nathalie Tocci is Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, part-time professor at the School of Transnational Governance (European University Institute), Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen and independent non-executive director of the multi utility company Acea. She has been Special Advisor to EU High Representatives Federica Mogherini and Josep Borrell. In that capacity, she wrote the European Global Strategy and worked on its implementation. She is Europe’s Futures fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, IWM). She was Pierre Keller Visiting Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and, prior to joining Acea, she was independent board member first of Edison and then of Eni. She has held research positions at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, the Transatlantic Academy, Washington, the European University Institute, Florence, and has taught at the College of Europe, Bruges. 

Jelena Trkulja, Senior Advisor for Academic and Cultural Affairs at Qatar Museums and Editorial Director of QC Talks. Her work advances the role of art, design, architecture, and education in societal development, with a focus on how cultural institutions can foster collaboration across museums, universities, and schools through cultural diplomacy and strategic partnerships.With a Ph.D. in art and archaeology from Princeton University, Trkulja brings a broad interdisciplinary perspective to her work. Her academic research spans Byzantine, Islamic, and Western Medieval art, as well as modern and contemporary architectural history and design theory. She has taught at universities in the USA  and Europe. Her career has also included work in museums, research institutes, and a consulting firm. In Doha, Trkulja has served as Director of Education at Qatar Museums and has collaborated with Qatar’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education to develop school art curricula and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to create a cultural diplomacy training program for diplomats. 

Claudia is an International Safeguarding Specialist & Consultant with experiences working with Major Event Organisers, International Sport Federations and National Governing Bodies to develop and implement safeguarding best practices. Claudia serves as Head of Safeguarding at the Centre for Sport & Human Rights and is part of the Council of Europe pool of International Experts on Safe Sport as well as the International Safeguards for Children in Sport working group, IOC International Safe Sport Framework Core Group,  faculty member for the safeguarding in sport IOC course and UNESCO Global Safe Sport Taskforce.  Claudia’s approach to safeguarding is rooted in two decades of dedicated service to children affected by trafficking, abuse, and exploitation. Her strategic leadership and collaboration with local governments, law enforcement, health, and education sectors have influenced critical policies and procedures on child sexual abuse and exploitation, leaving a lasting legacy. Claudia is also a recognised humanitarian sector expert; leading and developing support services for refugees and asylum seekers at both the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and British Red Cross where she still volunteers as a member of the Psychosocial Support Team to support people in crisis. Her passion and dedication in this field has been recognised with the Queen’s Award. 

Dr Leslie Vinjamuri is director of the US and Americas programme at Chatham House. She is also Professor of International Relations at SOAS University of London. At Chatham House, Leslie leads research on the U.S. and International Order, and a multi partner initiative on Reimagining Multilateralism. Her recent publications include ‘Why Multilateralism Still Matters’ (Foreign Affairs, October 2023, and Building Global Prosperity: Proposals for Sustainable Growth (Chatham House, 2022). The latter was the result of a multi-authored Chatham House initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation that looked at G7 proposals for countering China’s influence in the developing world. She is co-editor and contributing author (with Charles A. Kupchan) of Anchoring the World: International Order in the 21st Century, a publication by members of the Lloyd George Study Group on World Order, a joint Centenary project of Chatham House, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, published by Foreign Affairs. Also Human Rights Futures (Cambridge University Press, 2017), US Foreign Policy Priorities (Chatham House, 2020), and ’Trials and Errors: Strategies of International Justice” (with Jack Snyder). She is a regular commentator in the international news media and has contributed pieces in the Financial Times, Guardian, Sunday Times, Telegraph, and the Independent. She is deputy chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and a trustee of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs.She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and on the Advisory Board of LSE IDEAS and the LSE Phelan United States Centre, and is vice president of the board for the Institute for Integrated Transitions.From 2014-2016 she was director of the Center on Conflict, Rights and Justice (and previously co-director). She was previously on the academic faculty of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a fellow of the John M. Olin Institute at Harvard University.She began her career at Congressional Research Service and also worked in the Asia Bureau at USAID. Leslie received a BA from Wesleyan University (Phi Beta Kappa), an MSc (Distinction) from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from Columbia University.  

Jeroen van den Hoven is university professor and full professor of Ethics and Technology at Delft University of Technology and editor in chief of Ethics and Information Technology (Springer Nature). He is currently the scientific director of the Delft Digital Ethics Centre (www.tudelft.nl/digitalethics ). He was the founding scientific director of 4TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology (2007-2013). In 2009, he won the World Technology Award for Ethics as well as the IFIP prize for ICT and Society for his work in Ethics and ICT. Jeroen van den Hoven was founder, and until 2016 Programme Chair, of the program of the Dutch Research Council on Responsible Innovation. He published Designing in Ethics (Van den Hoven, Miller & Pogge eds., Cambridge University Press, 2017) and Evil Online (Cocking & Van den Hoven, Blackwell, 2018) He is a permanent member of the European Group on Ethics (EGE) to the European Commission. In 2024 he was appointed as Commissioner in the Global Commission REAIM on AI and The Military (Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM) - Mainpage - HCSS ). He also is also a co-director of a Responsible AI and Health Lab in collaboration between Delft University of Technology, Erasmus Medical Center and SAS.  In 2017 he was knighted in the Order of the Lion of The Netherlands. 

Jean Van Wetter is the CEO of Enabel, the Belgian agency for international cooperation. Together with its Belgian and international partners, Enabel offers solutions addressing pressing global challenges – Climate Change, Social and Economic Inequalities, Urbanization, Peace and Security, Human Mobility – and promoting Global Citizenship. Enabel has over 20 years' experience in areas ranging from education and health care to agriculture, environmental protection, digitalization, employment and governance. Enabel’s expertise is eagerly sought-after by partners around the globe – ranging from the Belgian government, European Union institutions, governments of other countries and the private sector. We work with civil society, research institutes as well as businesses. With over 2,200 staff, Enabel manages about 170 projects in more than twenty countries, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Jean Van Wetter graduated from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management at the University of Brussels (ULB) and started his career as a strategy consultant for Arthur Andersen before moving into the international cooperation sector. He was the Executive Director of the NGO Humanity and Inclusion/Handicap International and lived in several countries in Africa, Europe and Asia. He is a frequent panelist on issues related to international cooperation and sustainable development goals. He is married and has three children. 

Matthew G. Whitaker assumed his role as the Permanent Representative of the United States to NATO on April 3, 2025.Before this appointment, he built a distinguished career in private practice and public service.Ambassador Whitaker previously served as Acting Attorney General of the United States from 2018 to 2019, following his tenure as Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  Earlier, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, serving from 2004 to 2009.In private practice, Whitaker was the managing partner of Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff, LLP, a Des Moines-based law firm, from 2009 until he rejoined the U.S. Department of Justice in 2017. He most recently served as a Senior Fellow at the American Cornerstone Institute, Co-Chair of the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute, a Senior Fellow at the American Conservative Union Foundation, and was Of Counsel with the Graves Garrett Greim law firm.A graduate of the University of Iowa, Whitaker earned a Master of Business Administration, Juris Doctor, and Bachelor of Arts. During his time at Iowa, he was a three-year letterman on the football team, contributing to a Big Ten Championship and playing in the 1991 Rose Bowl. He was also awarded the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor for his academic and athletic achievements.

Patrick Wintour is a British journalist and currently serves as Diploma/c Editor for The Guardian, one of the United Kingdom’s leading newspapers. Educated at Westminster School and later at Corpus Chris/ College, Oxford, Wintour developed early on a deep interest in politics and international affairs — foundations that would shape his distinguished career in journalism. Wintour began his professional career at New Statesman (1976–1982), before joining The Guardian in 1983 as Chief Labor Correspondent. His insightful political analysis and strong reporting soon earned him senior positions. Over the decades he has held multiple key roles within the Guardian family: Chief Political Correspondent (1988–1996; 2000–2006), Political Editor of The Observer (the Guardian’s Sunday-sister paper) between 1996 and 2000, and Political Editor of The Guardian from 2006 to 2015. In 2007 he was recognized with the prestigious British Press Awards “Political Journalist of the Year,” reflecting his reputation for authoritative and agenda-setting coverage. In 2015 he transitioned to his current role as Diploma/c Editor, expanding his focus from domes/c British poli/cs to global foreign policy and international affairs — offering readers analysis and reporting on diplomacy, geopolitics, and global crises. Known for his deep understanding of political structures, commitment to factual and balanced journalism, and a network of longstanding contacts across political and diplomatic circles, Wintour remains a respected voice in British and international journalism 

For a half century Robin Wright has traveled across 150 countries on seven continents as a global affairs correspondent, specializing in wars, revolutions and uprisings. She is a leading expert on the Middle East. She now writes for The New Yorker and is a former diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post. She has also been a fellow at the Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as well as at Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford, and the University of California.She has numerous awards, including the U.N. Correspondents Gold Medal for international reporting, the National Magazine Award, the Overseas Press Club Award for “exceptional courage and initiative,” and was selected as journalist of the year by the American Academy of Diplomacy. She is a frequent analyst on prime-time news programs. Her eight books include Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World, which was selected as the Best Book on International Affairs by the Overseas Press Club, and Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, which both The New York Times and The Washington Post selected as one of the most notable books of the year.

Dov Waxman is the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Israel Studies and a professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of London’s Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism. From 2020-2024, he served as the director of UCLA’s Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Before joining UCLA, he was a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and holder of the Stotsky Chair of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies at Northeastern University. He has also had visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University, and Tel Aviv University. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and his B.A. degree from Oxford University. He is the author of four books: The Pursuit of Peace and The Crisis of Israeli Identity: Defending / Defining the Nation (2006), Israel’s Palestinians: The Conflict Within (2011), Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel (2016), and, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know (2019). His writing has also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic, among many other publications. 

Distinguished Fellow, Middle East Programs, The Atlantic Council, Washington DC; Associate Fellow, Chatham House Middle East Programme, London. Former British Ambassador to Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and UK Syria Envoy. Currently working on US/Europe collaboration on the Middle East and private sector development in Iraq and Syria. 

Dr. SUN Xuefeng is Professor of International Relations and Dean of Institute of International Relations, Tsinghua University. He also serves as Deputy Secretary-General of World Peace Forum and Editors-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of International Politics. His current research focuses on International Relations Theory, International Order and International Relations in East Asia. He is the author/co-author of dozens of academic papers and books, including Zhongguo jueqi kunjing (Dilemma of China’s Rise, first edition in 2011; second edition in 2013), Guoji hefaxing yu daguo jueqi (International Legitimacy and The Rise of Great Powers, 2014), Dongya anquan shizu yu Zhongguo zhoubian zhengce zhuanxing (East Asian Security Order and Transformation of China’s Neighborhood Policy, 2017), Guoji guanxi yanjiu shiyong fangfa (Practical Methods of International Studies, first edition in 2001; second edition in 2007; third edition in 2021) and Shuzi shidai de anquan jingzheng yu guoji zhixu (Security Competition and International Order in the Digital Age, 2023). Dr. SUN is a Fulbright Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at National University of Singapore (NUS), and a recipient of multiple Tsinghua University Teaching Excellence Awards. 

Tang Xiaoyang is the chair and a professor in the Department of International Relations at Tsinghua University and a China Forum expert. His research interests include political philosophy, China’s engagement in the developing countries and global modernization process. He is the author of Coevolutionary Pragmatism: Approaches and Impacts of China-Africa Economic Cooperation(Cambridge University Press 2020) and has published extensively on Belt and Road Initiative. He completed his Ph.D. in the philosophy department at the New School for Social Research in New York. He earned his M.A in philosophy from Freiburg University in Germany and his B.A in business management from Fudan University in Shanghai. He also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, UNDP, USAID and various research institutes and consulting companies. Before he came to Tsinghua, he worked at International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington DC.

 Mona Yacoubian is director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has more than thirty years of experience working on the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on conflict analysis, governance and stabilization challenges, and conflict prevention. She was previously vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where she managed field programming in Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia as well as Washington, D.C.–based staff. In 2019, she served as executive director of the congressionally appointed Syria Study Group. From 2014 to 2017, Yacoubian served as deputy assistant administrator in the Middle East Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she had responsibility for programming across Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. Prior to joining USAID, Yacoubian was a senior adviser at the Stimson Center and a special adviser on the Middle East at USIP. From 1990 to 1998, Yacoubian served as the North Africa analyst in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets, and she has testified to Congress six times. Yacoubian was a Fulbright scholar in Syria, where she studied Arabic at the University of Damascus from 1985 to 1986. She has held an international affairs fellowship with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and is a CFR member. She earned a master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s in public policy from Duke University. 

His career has spanned the academic and think-tank world as a faculty member in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington; Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School; and Senior Fellow at Brookings and Director of the Brookings Doha Center. His involvement with public policy includes working at the Middle East Department at the International Monetary Fund; the Middle East and North Africa region of the World Bank; and the UN Millennium Project.  He has a PhD in economics from Harvard University. His research has focused on the economic development and political economy of policy reform in the Middle East. He has contributed more than 80 articles, chapters, and reports, and co-edited several volumes including most recently Public Sector Reform in the Middle East and North Africa: Lessons of Experience for a Region in Transition (Brookings Institution Press, 2020); The Gulf Cooperation Council at Forty: Risk and Opportunity in a Changing World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022); and The Middle East's Fragile Reset: Actors, Battlegrounds, and (Dis)order (Middle East Council on Global Affairs, 2023).

Upon graduating from The University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law in March 1986, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After pursuing further studies in Portugal (PGD in European Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon) and the United States (MA in National Security Studies, Georgetown University), he served as Counsellor to the Embassy of Japan in Thailand and the Embassy of Japan in the United States; Director, First North American Division, North American Affairs Bureau; Executive Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister's Secretariat; Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat; Counsellor, International Legal Affairs Bureau; Deputy Assistant Minister, Minister’s Secretariat; Director-General (Ambassador), Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Science Department, Foreign Policy Bureau; Director-General (Ambassador), Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau; and Director General of Public Diplomacy, Press Secretary, Minister’s Secretariat. Following a stint as Director, Refugees Assistance Headquarters, Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People, he was appointed Chief Executive Director of The Japan Institute of International Affairs in October 2023.

Zouera Youssoufou is the Managing Director/CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), the largest private Foundation in sub-saharan Africa, based in Lagos. She leads the Foundation’s mission to enhance opportunities for social change through strategic investments that improve health and wellbeing, promote quality education, and broaden economic empowerment opportunities.She also sits on several Boards including Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, ABC Health, Women’s World Banking, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and ONE Global Leadership Circle.Before joining ADF, Zouera was World Bank Group’s Country Manager for Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tomé and Principe. Her other experiences include working with the European Union on private sector development issues, and management consulting with Deloitte.Zouera holds an MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a BBA in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Isenberg School of Business. She is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Hausa.

Byung-se YUN served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea from March 2013 until June 2017, becoming the longest-serving Foreign Minister since 1981. Prior to that, he served as Deputy National Security Adviser to the President responsible for Korea’s foreign, defense and unification policy and as Senior Coordinator at the National Security Council.  As a career diplomat with 37 years of experience, he served in postings including the United States, the United Nations in New York and Geneva, Singapore and Australia. At the headquarters, he was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. He graduated from Seoul National University’s College of Law, earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and later served as a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies of Sogang University in Seoul.  He currently serves as Chairman of Seoul International Law Academy, Chair of the REAIM Global Commission (Military AI). He is on the board of Korea Peace Foundation and the NEAR Foundation and is affiliated with several global ex-leaders’ forums. He is a co-editor of the recent book “Korea-U.S.-China Trilateral Relations in the Xi Jinping Era” published by Rowman and Littlefield. His global survey report 2023 was published by the NEAR Foundation under the title of “Quo Vadit Mundus: Competing for Order in a Fragmenting World”. He regularly contributes articles to the Korea JoongAng Daily, MK Daily and the Korea Times and participates in the CSIS-JoongAng Conference, Jeju Forum, and Korea-Europe forums frequently. 

 Akram Zaoui is a Senior International Relations Specialist and Chargé de Mission to the Executive President at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). Prior to this, he was Manager of Research Support and the Public Policy Lab at the PCNS. His main area of interest is the geopolitical economy of the Extended Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. From 2018 to 2020, Zaoui was the coordinator of a network of 70+ civil society organizations (CSOs) across France, working with foundations, government, local communities, and the private sector. Zaoui holds a dual degree in corporate and public management from HEC Paris and Sciences Po, as well as a bachelor's degree (licence) in history from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He audited courses in Iranian and Shia Studies at École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) in 2015-2016. Zaoui is an alumnus of the MENA Japan Experts Program organized by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and a Raisina Fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a New Delhi-based think tank. 

Dr. Waleed Ziad is Associate Professor in History at Georgetown University-Qatar. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor in the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an Islamic Law and Civilization Research Fellow at Yale Law School. In the last decade, Ziad has conducted fieldwork on historical and contemporary religious movements and networks in over 140 towns across Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.His books include Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus (Harvard, 2021, winner of the Albert Hourani prize, the most prestigious award in Middle Eastern studies, among other awards), In the Treasure Room of the Sakra King: Votive Coinage from Gandharan Shrines (American Numismatic Society, 2022), The Extraordinary, Enchanted Lives of the Female Sufi Masters in the Afghan Empire (Harvard, exp. 2026), and Beyond the Khutba and Sikka: Sovereignty and Coinage in Sindh (in progress). His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy and major dailies internationally. He completed his BA, MA/MPhil, and PhD in History at Yale, where his dissertation won the university-wide Field Prize. He has studied Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Sindhi, Uzbek, French, and Romanian.

Wojciech Zajączkowski, currently serves as Undersecretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He previously held the posts of Polish ambassador to Bucharest, Moscow, and Beijing. His diplomatic experience also includes assignments in Ukraine and Turkmenistan. In the past he used to work as the Prime Minister’s of Poland chief advisor for the energy security. He also headed the Policy Planning Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Zajączkowski earned his PhD from the Institute of Political Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences and collaborated for an extended period with the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw. 

Irina D. Zvyagelskaya – Professor, Doctor of Science (History), a Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Head of the Center for Middle East Studies of the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO). For many years, Irina has been lecturing at Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Russian Foreign Ministry (MGIMO) and at the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University. Her area of expertise includes contemporary history, conflicts, international relations, and security issues in the Middle East and Central Asia. She authored over 250 publications, including books, chapters and articles.