Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Hermitage Capital Management

Author of five New York Times bestsellers

Secretary of Defense (2011-2013); Director, Central Intelligence Agency (2009-2011)

Chairman and Founder, Stratfor

Washington Correspondent, Quartz

Senior Advisor to President Obama (2009-2011); Institute Director, The University of Chicago Institute of Politics

Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver; Former Ambassador to Iraq, Poland, Republic of Macedonia and Special Envoy to Kosovo

Reach beyond the headlines with the World Affairs Council!

Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States

Senior Policy Analyst, Google

Introduced by Ambassador James K. Glassman, former executive director, George W. Bush Institute

USMC (retired)

Professor and Program Director, INSEAD

Beijing Correspondent, National Public Radio

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States

President and CEO, CARE

Senior Energy Writer, The Wall Street Journal

Mark Penn, Pollster for President Bill Clinton; Jan van Lohuizen, Pollster for President George W. Bush; Moderated by Mark Kennedy, Director, George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management

White, a lawyer and chairman of the financial management firm Lazard Houston, describes himself as a fiscal conservative. He served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy from 1993 to 1995 in the Clinton Administration and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His civic involvement in Houston -- from fitness to fiscal -- is legendary. He ser…

Senior Fellow, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, Brookings Institution

Pia Orrenius, Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Antonio Ortiz-Mena, Head of Section, Economic Affairs, Mexican Embassy, Washington, D.C.

Reach beyond the headlines with the World Affairs Council!

Reach beyond the headlines with the World Affairs Council!

Hong Kong Commissioner to the United States, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a man who understood the “New Deal” on a personal basis. He had faced a “new deal.” In its description of James Tobin's biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the publishing house Simon & Schuster describes FDR's battle with polio and ascension to the presidency as “the most remarkable comeback in the history of Ameri…

The challenge of illuminating the life and emotions of this president was taken on by a biographer with solid credentials. Berg is a consistent New York Times best-seller and winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for biographies.Par A. Scott Berg

Could the creation of a single post-war office solve diplomatic and practical issues before they happen in war-torn nations? Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen believes such an office is the answer to many nation re-building problems.Par Stuart Bowen

Kip Tindell is the CEO and Chairman of The Container Store as well as a proponent in the Conscious Capitalism movement. Tindell received the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Gold Medal Award, which honors key industry leaders for distinction in service and is regarded as the most coveted award in retail.…

Just as the United States and NATO combat forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan – due out in 2014 -- there comes a boots-on-the-ground examination of the effects and costs of the “surge” that put them there in the first place.Par Rajiv Chanderasekaran

He’s called “The Twitter Ambassador” because he gracefully embraced social media as an effective communication method – with more than 110,000 followers (@dinopattidjalal) from Washington to Jakarta. You also can find him well-represented on YouTube, discussing strategy, ambition and economic challenges facing Indonesia.…

Red Sparrow is a novel. But how much of it is fiction? Therein lies the tale. Only author Jason Matthews knows. He spent 33 years as a covert operative with the CIA’s National Clandestine Service before creating this debut novel. Matthews, using a sturdy foundation of knowledge acquired on the job, writes of romance and spies, deceit and surprises.…

Timothy Beardson is the Chairman of the China Oxford Scholarship Fund and is actively involved in the Chinese education system. He frequently speaks with governments, universities, boards and central banks on economic and strategic issues.Par Timothy Beardson

Texas Monthly Senior Writer Erica Grieder to the Council with a newly published book whose title promises a different perspective: Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas.Par Erica Grieder

Mr. Tillerson is a member of the executive committee and is a former chairman of the American Petroleum Institute. He is also a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.Par Rex Tillerson

Tony Wagner has worked for more than thirty-five years in the field of school improvement. He recently accepted a position as the first Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard. He was the founder and co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of education for more than a deca…

A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Liberty, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger needs no introduction.Par Dr. Henry Kissinger

Co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market John Mackey is also the co-founder of the Conscious Capitalism Movement. The four key pillars of this movement are higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management.Par John Mackey

The World in… provides readers with a unique global perspective on the upcoming year, across the spheres of business, finance and economics, technology, sport, media, arts, culture and more.Par Daniel Franklin

The president-elect seems eager to strengthen international ties leaving behind the more insular policies of the past administration. He spent the past few months visiting neighbors, like economic powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, and has reached out to Spain, offering support in its financial crisis.…

In the midst of another election season, the economy is on every American’s mind. Social security reform, universal healthcare, unemployment and the budget deficit are at the forefront of both national and kitchen table discourse.Par Peter Orszag

Are the Syrian rebels strong enough to take down the Assad regime without foreign assistance? Will Secretary Clinton be successful in swaying China’s stance on the war? When the dust finally settles, will lines be redrawn creating a new map of the Middle East? Tune in live to pose questions for Ambassador Djerejian and help guide the conversation.…

Edward Lucas uncovers the real story of Chapman and her colleagues in Britain and America, unveiling their clandestine missions and the spy-hunt that led to their downfall. It reveals unknown triumphs and disasters of Western intelligence in the Cold War, providing the background to the new world of industrial and political espionage.…

The Art of Intelligence draws from the full arc of Crumpton’s espionage and covert action exploits to explain what America’s spies do and why their service is more valuable than ever. From his early years in Africa, where he recruited and ran sources, from loathsome criminals to heroic warriors; to his liaison assignment at the FBI, the CIA’s Count…

Voices of Afghanistan Jim Falk’s Insight and Interviews from AfghanistanPar Jim Falk

Join the Council to hear Harbert discuss our own energy reality and what we are and are not doing to face it and more importantly, what opportunities lie before us to change our energy future, create jobs and generate investment in our economy...Par Karen Harbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy

Ambassador Rachad Bouhlal was appointed as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United States in 2011. He previously served as Ambassador to Germany, the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg...Par His Excellency Rachad Bouhlal, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the U.S.

With the past economic downturn, the federal government is making cutbacks to all departments. Efforts to rein in federal spending means the State Department is reducing plans to grow its Foreign Service staff...Par Charles Kupchan, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

The World Affairs Council is pleased to welcome former National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley, as speaker for its annual International Educator of the Year Award Luncheon..Par Former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush and Senior Advisor for International Affairs, United States Institute of Peace

..a second-generation diplomat, has been ambassador to the U.S. since 2008. He joined the Egyptian diplomatic corps in 1976. Ambassador Shoukry has served his country in many diplomatic postings, such as permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva and then to the International Organizations in Vienna, as well as ambassador to Austria..…

Dr. Jeremi Suri has spent his life researching the complex events and power dynamics that have regularly restructured our world—for example, wars, migrations, and major societal shifts. From this background, he brings us his newest book, Liberty’s Surest Guardian...Par Author, Liberty's Surest Guardian; Professor, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, University of Texas