His Excellency Dr. Abul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK in 1973. He received a degree in aircraft engineering with distinction from Perth College, Scotland in 1978. In 1980 he earned Masters with honors in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio, USA. He was awarded PhD for his research in operations from the Naval War College in 1986. He graduated from Command and General Staff College(CGSC), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1988.

He has occupied many high-ranking positions in Bahrain Defense Forces, the last of which was Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations until 2004. He was appointed Head of Public Security with the rank of General. Thereafter he became adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2010. In April 2011, he was appointed Secretary-general of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in 2011.

He worked as a lecturer in Arabian Gulf University. He also worked as Professor of Mathematics and Statistics in Maryland University, Bahrain, and as Professor of Quantitative Methods in Bahrain University.

HE Ghassan Hasbani is the Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon. After completing his studies in London, he occupied several industry leadership positions in Europe and the Middle East, the most notable of which was vice-president and partner in a strategic and management consulting firm "Booz Allen Hamilton" and CEO of international operations at STC Group (Saudi Telecom Company).

He is a current and former member of several boards of directors for multinational companies with various sizes in Europe, Asia and the Middle East; he is also a member of the global agenda council with the world Economic Forum and a fellow of the global leadership network of the "Aspen Institute".

He has written several books including: "Republic outside the cave, Lebanon in a changing world" and "Oasis Economies, The Middle East in 2030" in addition to several other local and international writings, papers articles and lectures.

Hasbani holds a first class honors degree in Engineering and an MBA from the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Engineering Council of the UK, and the President of Cedar Institute for Economic and Social Affairs in Lebanon.

Her Excellency Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi is the Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development whose primary mission is to promote the acquisition of knowledge and the overall cultural environment.

Prior to this, Her Excellency was appointed as the UAE Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs to act as the key link between the Cabinet and the Federal National Council.

Noura is also Chairwoman of the Media Zone Authority - Abu Dhabi (MZA) and twofour54. She is also a board member of the UAE's National Media Council, Abu Dhabi Media, Image Nation, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the United Arab Emirates University.

H.E. Noura Al Kaabi holds B.A. in MIS from UAE University in 2001 She has also completed the Executive Leadership Programme from London Business School in 2011.

For more than 30 years as a journalist, May Chidiac fought for the freedom of the Lebanese people through her show, "Nharkom Saiid". In 2005, Chidiac was attacked by a car bomb causing her to lose her left leg and arm. After ten months of numerous surgeries and rehabilitation, she returned to the TV screen in a prime time political talk show called "Bi Kol Joraa". In parallel, Chidiac published an award-winning book: "Le Ciel M'attendra", to be followed later on by another prized book "La Télévision Mise à Nu". In 2008, May Chidiac obtained her PhD in "Sciences de L'Information et de la Communication" with high distinction from Université Panthéon -Paris II Assas. She also continued her teaching career as Professor of Radio/ TV at Notre Dame University-Louaizeh till present.

Throughout her career, Chidiac received numerous international awards and prizes, of which: "Le Prix de la Francophonie pour la Liberté d'Expression", and the "UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Award", in 2006. Later that year, with the support of the USA President, Bill Clinton, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice congratulated Dr. Chidiac for winning the 2006 UNESCO Award, and highlighted her outstanding work as a media personality.

In October 2006, she was awarded the IWMF (International Women Media Foundation) "Courage in Journalism Award" delivered in Los Angeles, New York and Washington. IWMF's work celebrates the courage of women journalists who overcome threats and oppression to report and bear witness to global issues. May Chidiac is a member of the High Panel on Peace and Dialogue among Cultures-UNESCO (New Avenues for Peace). In April 2010, the International Press Institute, a leading Vienna- based organization in press freedom named Dr. May Chidiac a "hero", and honored her as one of the honorary heroes in press history.

In 2016, she was asked to be the chairwoman and jury member for the UNESCO/Emir Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. In July 2017, she became a "Dame de l'Ordre de Saint Grégoire-le-Grand" at the Vatican and in November 2017, she was awarded the "Minerva Anna Maria Mammoliti Prize for Human and Civil Rights" in Rome, in the "Women in the World" Category. In January 2019, Her Excellency Dr. May Chidiac was designated Minister of State for the Administrative Reform in the government of His Excellency the President of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Saad Hariri.

Mohamed Dayri, is a Libyan politician. He has been the foreign minister of Libya from the Tobruk-based Council of Deputies since 28 September 2014.

He graduated in Law faculty at the University of Grenoble, and got a master's degree in law from the same university. He is a diplomat since.

Mr. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Mubadala Investment Company, responsible for ensuring that the business strategy is aligned with Abu Dhabi's economic diversification efforts. He is a member of the company's Board Executive Committee and is Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority (EAA), which provides strategic policy advice to the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, of which he is also a member. In October 2018, he was appointed as the UAE Presidential Special Envoy to China.

In addition, he is a member of the UAE Supreme Petroleum Council of the government of Abu Dhabi. Mr. Al Mubarak's other board positions include Chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA); and Manchester City Football Club. He is also a member of the New York University Board of Trustees.

Mr. Al Mubarak holds a degree in Economics and Finance from Tufts University, U.S.A.

General David H. Petraeus is one of the most prominent U.S. military figures of the post-9/11 era and has been described as "one of the great battle captains" in American military history. Following his military service, he served as Director of the CIA. He is now a Partner with the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute.

During his 37-year career in the United States Army, General Petraeus was widely recognized for his oversight of the organization that produced the U.S. Army's counterinsurgency manual and overhauled all aspects of preparing leaders and units for deployment to combat; for his leadership of the Surge in Iraq; and for his command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. He culminated his military career with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, a record believed unmatched in the post-World War II era.

A graduate with distinction from the United States Military Academy and the top graduate of his Command and General Staff College Class, General Petraeus also earned a Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary program of international relations and economics from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He taught economics and international relations at the United States Military Academy and, after leaving government, he was a visiting professor of public policy for 3-1/2 years at the City University of New York's Macaulay Honors College.

After General Petraeus' retirement from the military, following confirmation by the Senate by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA as the Agency played the central role in a number of achievements in the global war on terror, established a strategic campaign plan for the Agency, and pursued initiatives to invest additional resources in the Agency's most important element, its human capital.

General Petraeus has been Chairman of the KKR Global Institute for five years and a partner with the firm for three-and-a-half years. He is also a member of the board of Optiv (a global provider of cyber security services), a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California, and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center.

Over the past dozen years, General Petraeus has been named a runner-up for Time magazine's Person of the Year, the Daily Telegraph man of the year, a Time 100 selectee, and one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 public intellectuals.

General Petraeus has been awarded numerous U.S. military, State Department, NATO, and United Nations medals, including four awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger Tab, and Master Parachutist Wings. He has also been decorated by 13 foreign countries.

Alistair Burt was Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister of State at the Department for International Development from June 2017 to March 2019. Alistair served as Minister of State for Community and Social Care at the Department of Health from May 2015 until July 2016. Previously he served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from May 2010 until October 2013. He entered Parliament for the first time in 1983 and was elected Conservative MP for north east Bedfordshire in 2001.

Alistair was educated at Bury Grammar School, and studied at St John's College Oxford, where he was president of the university law society.

Previous political roles:
• Member of Parliament for Bury North 1983 to 1997
• Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Environment, for Education and Science and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1985 to 1990
• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State then Minister of State, Department of Social Security 1992 to 1997
• Member of Parliament for north east Bedfordshire 2001 to present
• Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition 2002 to 2005
• Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government 2005 to 2008
• Opposition Assistant Chief Whip 2008 to 2010
• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Foreign & Commonwealth Office May 2010 to October 2013 • Minister of State for Community and Social Care at the Department of Health from May 2015 to July 2016

Sir John Scarlett served as Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) from 2004 to 2009. Sir John joined SIS in 1971 and over the next 20 years served in Nairobi, Paris and twice in Moscow as well as several assignments in London.

He was appointed Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) in September 2001. On 01 August 2004 Sir John rejoined SIS as its Chief. Sir John's current roles include Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley; Chairman, International Advisory Group, Equinor; Advisor, Swiss Re; Chairman, SC Strategy Ltd; Director, Times Newspaper Holdings; Vice Chairman, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Advisor, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC. Sir John is a member of the State Honours Committee; Vice- President of the Association de la Legion d'Honneur and a Trustee of the Friends of the French Institute in the United Kingdom.

Brett McGurk is the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute.

McGurk recently served as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS at the U.S. Department of State. He helped build and then led the coalition of seventy-five countries and four international organizations and was responsible for coordinating all aspects of U.S. policy in the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and globally.

McGurk previously served in senior positions in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, including as Special Assistant to President Bush and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan, and then as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran and Special Presidential Envoy for the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State under Obama.

McGurk has led some of the most sensitive diplomatic missions in the Middle East over the last decade, including negotiations with partners and adversaries to advance U.S. interests. His most recent assignment established one of the largest coalitions in history to prosecute the counter–ISIS campaign in Iraq and Syria. He was a frequent visitor to the battlefields in both countries to help integrate military and civilian components of the campaign.

In 2015 and 2016, McGurk led 14 months of secret negotiations with Iran to secure the release of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezain, U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, and Pastor Saad Abadini, as well as three other American citizens. He is credited with restoring diplomatic relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia after three decades of frozen ties, and helping to facilitate the formation of the last two Iraqi governments following contested elections in 2014 and 2018.

During his time at the State Department, McGurk received multiple awards, including the Distinguished Honor Award and the Distinguished Service Award, the highest department awards for exceptional service in Washington and overseas assignments.

McGurk is also a nonresident senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Hossam Zaki is Senior Political Advisor for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Ahmed Aboul Gheit since 2007. He is also Deputy Chief of Cabinet as well as Official Spokesperson of the Ministry. He was Egypt's Deputy Chief of Mission to the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2007. From 2003 to 2005, on detail at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zaki was appointed Spokesperson for the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa.

He worked at the Egypt's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1996 to 2002, where he assumed responsibility for Middle East and Arab Affairs. He was a member of his country's Delegation to the United Nations Security Council in 1996-97. He was also Rapporteur of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations for six years.

Hossam Zaki has also assumed other posts at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Head of the Department of East Arab States from 2002 to 2003. He was a member of the Cabinet of the Minister from 1994 to 1996, during which time he was the Political Officer for African Affairs, the Organization of African Unity, horn of Africa and the Nile Basin. He was posted to the Embassy of Egypt in Addis Ababa from 1990 to 1993. Prior to it, he worked for one year at the Department of Israeli Affairs.

After graduating with the degree of BS in Business Administration at the Helwan University in Cairo, he obtained an International Diploma in Public Administration from the "Ecole National d'Administration" (ENA), Paris in 1989. He received his basic education at the French Jesuites School in Cairo.

His Excellency Hoshyar Zebari is an Iraqi politician who formerly served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq in 2014 and also as the Finance Minister until 2016. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 until 2014.

He earned a Bachelor of Artsin Sociology from The University of Jordan in 1976. He also earned a Master of Arts in Sociology of Development from the University of Essex, United Kingdom in 1980. While studying in United Kingdom, he led the Kurdish Students Society in Europe and also served as the chairman of the Overseas Student Committee from 1978 to 1980.

Date of Birth: 7/11/1936.
Nationality: Kuwaiti
1959 B.A Cairo university
1961-1960 Balliol college, oxford
1960 Joined Kuwait foreign Diplomacy
1964-1971 Director, office of the Foreign Minister
1971-1981 Ambassador of Kuwait to the United Nations
Feb-1979 president of the security council
1981-1993 Secretary general of Gulf Cooperation Council
Member of G.C.C Advisory Council since 1998.
Advisor to research Centers, and a regular columnist and lecturer on Diplomacy and Strategy.
President of Diplomatic Center for Strategic Studies
Coordinator; British-Kuwait friendship society

Amre Moussa was the Egyptian Ambassador to India (1983-1986). Then he became the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the U.N (1990-1991), the Foreign Minister of Egypt (1991-2001) and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States (2001-2011).

He ran for President of Egypt in the first democratic elections following the 25th of January Revolution as an independent candidate with a vision for democracy and a firm call for reforming Egypt's bureaucratic and economic infrastructure. He lost the elections but continued his political career and was elected member of the Constitutional Assembly to write the constitution of 2012. He led the Liberal members' efforts to produce a more liberal constitution, and then led a collective withdrawal protesting attempts to monopolize the drafting of the constitution.

Moussa then founded the Congress party of Egypt and was the convener of the meeting of the Egyptian opposition that launched the National Salvation Front on the same day the dictatorial Constitutional decree of November 2012 was issued by ex-President Morsi. Moussa called all political forces to meet few hours after the decree was issued, to organize the opposition to the decree. He played a principal role in the popular move that caused it to be retracted.

Amre Moussa was one of the leaders who called for and marched during the June 30th revolution brought in reforms in accordance with a Road Map that started with amending the 2012 constitution and holding parliamentary and presidential elections. Moussa was elected chairman of the 50-member Constituent Committee to amend the constitution. The assembly succeeded in producing the new constitution which was approved on 18th January 2014.

Amre Moussa continues to work with several Arab and International political think tanks. In Egypt, he was selected as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nile University and member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian British University and the Library of Alexandria. Moussa also founded the association to protect the Constitution, a civil society organization.

He was awarded the Order of the Nile from Egypt, the Order of the Two Niles from the Sudanese Republic, the Supreme Order of the Renaissance from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a high order from the State of Qatar, in addition to orders and decorations from Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Ján Kubiš (born 12 November 1952) is a Slovak diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs who has been serving as United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon since 2019. He was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres.

From 2015 until 2018, Kubiš served as the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI); he was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 5 February 2015. Also, he was the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Previously, he served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakiafrom July 2006 until January 2009.

Ambassador Ramzy's diplomatic career spans over 43 years in which he served in the United Nations, the League of Arab States and the Egyptian diplomatic service. His main areas of expertise lie in conflict resolution, mediation, international security, and non-proliferation. His latest assignment was as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Special Envoy for Syria ( 2014-2019). His 38 year career at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs culminated in the position of Senior Under-Secretary. He served as ambassador to Germany, Austria ,Brazil, Slovakia, Suriname and Guyana. He was Permanent Representative to UN and other international organisations in Vienna ,where he was Governor on the IAEA Board, as well as Permanent Observer to the OSCE. He served at the Egyptian embassies in Washington, Moscow , and at the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. He also served as the League of Arab States Permanent Observer to the UN and other international organisations in Vienna. Ambassador holds a B.A in Economics from the American University in Cairo and, an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

His Excellency Andrei Fedorov graduated from Moscow State University and Diplomatic Academy, PhD in Political Science. He is a Member of the Russian Academy for Economic, Finance and Law. He worked in international youth and student movement, then as Senior adviser in the International Department of Central Committee of Communist Party. In 1990, he joined Russian government as adviser to the Prime minister, Deputy Foreign minister, adviser to Vice-President of Russia.

From 1994 to 2010, he was a member of the Board, Political projects director of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. From 2010 to 2015, he was General Director of the National Information Center.

He founded in 1994 the Fund for Political Research and Consulting and currently is its Director. He is also a Member of the Advisory group for Presidential Administration, in addition to being a guest expert to major Russian and foreign TV channels, including Al-Jazeera.

Amb. (ret.) Robert S. Ford is currently a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington where he writes about developments in the Levant and North Africa. Amb. Ford retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. In this role, Amb. Ford was the State Department lead on Syria, proposing and implementing policy and developing common strategies with European and Middle Eastern allies to try to resolve the Syria conflict. Prior to this, Amb. Ford was the deputy U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2008 to 2010, and also served from 2006 until 2008 as the U.S. Ambassador to Algeria, where he boosted bilateral education and rule of law cooperation. Amb. Ford served as deputy chief of mission in Bahrain from 2001 until 2004, and political counselor to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2004 until 2006 during the tumultuous establishment of the new, permanent Iraqi government. In 2014 he received the Secretary's Service Award, the U.S. State Department's highest honor. He also received in April 2012 from the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston the annual Profile in Courage Award for his stout defense of human rights in Syria. He has appeared on CNN, PBS, Fox, MSNBC, NPR, the BBC and Arabic news networks as well as in The New York Times and Foreign Policy.

Professor Dr Srgjan Kerim was born in 1948 /Skopje/Macedonia. He used to teach International Economics and Politics at four Universities (in Belgrade, Hamburg, New York and Skopje). As a diplomat, he served as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of former Yugoslavia 1988-1991.

He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia from 2000-2001, and President of UN General Assembly 2007/2008. He was Special Envoy of UN Secretary General for Climate Change in 2008/2010, and Special Envoy and Ambassador of Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe in 1999/2000.

He worked in the private sector: Vice ]President of Copechim France/1992-93/;CEO of WAZ Media Group for Southeastern Europe/2003-2011/; Member of the Metropolitan Club in New York since 2006. He writes columns for RTL TV Channel since January 2019 and has been the Special Envoy of Ecolog International since 2018.

Dr. Nabil Elaraby is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. Previously the Secretary General of the League of Arab States July 2011 – 2016. He was appointed Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs in March 2011.

He served as director of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration from 2008 to 2011. Previously he was a Judge at the International Court of Justice from 2001 until 2006, He was appointed the Permanent Representative to the UN in New York from 1991 to 1999; a member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations from 1994 to 2001; President of the Security Council in 1996; the Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva from 1987 to 1991.

He was Legal Adviser and Director in the Legal and Treaties Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1987; Head of the Egyptian delegation to the Taba dispute; Ambassador to India from 1981 to 1983; He was Legal Adviser and Director in the Legal and Treaties Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1976 to 1978; and was Egypt's Legal Advisor to the Camp David Middle East peace Conference in 1978.

Philip H. Gordon is the Mary and David Boies senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was special assistant to the president and White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region from 2013 to 2015. As the most senior White House official focused on the greater Middle East, he worked closely with the president, secretary of state, and national security advisor on issues including the Iranian nuclear program, Middle East peace negotiations, the conflict in Syria, security in Iraq, U.S. relations with the gulf states, the democratic transitions in North Africa, and bilateral relations with Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon.

He chaired numerous interagency processes, regularly engaged foreign leaders, and directed a staff of some twenty directors and other national security specialists. Gordon is a senior advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group (in the Europe and Middle East Practices).

From 2009 to 2013, Gordon served as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. As head of the department's largest bureau, he managed a Washington, DC-based staff of nearly four hundred, an overseas staff of more than seven thousand, and oversaw a budget of over $1 billion. Gordon was responsible for fifty countries in Europe and Eurasia as well as for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Working closely with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his priorities for the region included cooperation with Europe on global issues; promoting U.S. commercial and business interests; extending stability, prosperity and democracy to eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Caucasus; and developing bilateral cooperation with Russia and with Turkey.

Gordon received his PhD in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in 1991; he also has an MA from SAIS (1987) and a BA from Ohio University (1984). Gordon is the author of a number of books and monographs on international relations and foreign policy and has published numerous articles in journals and magazines such as Foreign Affairs, National Interest, American Interest, Survival, and International Security. He has been a regular contributor of opinion pieces to newspapers including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Le Monde.

Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Diller–von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His current work focuses on U.S. foreign policy writ large as well as on China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and geoeconomics. Blackwill served as counselor to CFR in 2005. Most recently, he was a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, from 2008 to 2010, after serving from 2004 to 2008 as president of BGR International. As deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush, Blackwill was responsible for government- wide policy planning to help develop and coordinate the mid- and long-term direction of U.S. foreign policy. He also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Blackwill went to the National Security Council (NSC) after serving as the U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. He is the recipient of the 2007 Bridge-Builder Award for his role in transforming U.S.-India relations. In 2016 he became the first U.S. Ambassador to India since John Kenneth Galbraith to receive the Padma Bhushan Award from the government of India for distinguished service of a high order.

Prior to reentering government in 2001, Blackwill was the Belfer lecturer in international security at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. During his fourteen years as a Harvard faculty member, he was associate dean of the Kennedy School, where he taught foreign and defense policy and public policy analysis. He was faculty chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and Kazakhstan, as well as military general officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China.

His latest book, War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft (Harvard University Press, April 2016), coauthored with Jennifer M. Harris, was named one of the best foreign policy books of 2016 by Foreign Affairs. His Council Special Report titled Trump's Foreign Policies Are Better Than They Seem was published in April 2019.

Ambassador Rolf Ekéus is a Distinguished Associate Fellow with the SIPRI Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme. Ekéus has been the Chairman of the SIPRI Governing Board from 2002–2010. He is a Swedish diplomat.

From 1978 to 1983, he was a representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and he has worked on various other disarmament committees and commissions. Between 1991 and 1997 he was Director of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq, the United Nations disarmament observers in Iraq after the Gulf War.

Founder and senior partner of Alem & Associates, a leading 60+ lawyers Beirut based regional law firm with offices in Riyadh and Dubai. Mohamed is one of the highly reputable lawyers in the Middle East on account of his practice where he focuses on complex commercial, financial and investment cross-border advisory work. He is also a recognized international arbitrator and counsel in transnational disputes.

Mohamed is one of the forerunning legal practitioners in the regulatory fields having advised Governments in Lebanon and the region on a large number of legal reforms be it in public procurement, e-government, capital markets, corporate governance and transparency, etc. Combining in-depth understanding of Government and institutional work with the advances of modern societies in terms of internal organizations has further allowed Mohamed to spearhead regulatory reform related work.

Mohamed has also been in the forefront of civil society in Lebanon where he has acted respectively as:

Secretary General of the Lebanese Transparency Association (local chapter of Transparency International);

Founder and Chair of the Beirut Committee of Human Rights Watch (HRW, the most influential human rights organizations in the world);

Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Lebanon Branch) (the largest professional training institutes for professional arbitrators in the world); and

Chair of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS) (the leading Lebanese thin tank).

Additionally, Mohamed has served on the following committees with the Lebanese Government:

Senior Legal Advisor to the Office of the President of the Council of Ministers;

Senior Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Finance Committee in charge of the accession of Lebanon to the Global Forum on Tax Transparency;

Chair of the Beirut Bar Committee on the accession to the WTO and the EuroMed partnership;Senior Legal Advisor to the Central Bank on electronic banking and e-transactions.

Badih Moukarzel is the managing partner of Huqooq Legal Practice (HLP) for the UAE offices. He has extensive experience in the hotel and leisure industry both within the GCC region (Gulf Co-operation Council for Arab States of the Gulf) and internationally. There is a particular complexity in corporate structures for companies operating in the region relating to the differing laws and regulations of individual states, which can produce conflicting requirements on a group of companies operating in the region. Badih has particular experience in the structuring and restructuring of groups of companies so as to achieve the optimum solution in terms of management control and tax mitigation. Badih combines a particular diversity of commercial and academic experience. Not only did he spend 5 years in Paris with a hotel and restaurant group with businesses in London and Eastern USA as well as France, acting in an executive role for legal, tax, finance and management administration issues but he is currently a visiting lecturer in administrative law, tax and public international law at the Université Saint Joseph as well as being the Founder and President of the Environmental Association in Lebanon (Action Environment). His clients include governments, hotel and leisure groups, postal, freight and logistic services, private equity funds and companies operating mainly in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.

Bob Harward is the Chief Executive (CE) for Lockheed Martin Middle East and has lived in Abu Dhabi for five years. In his role as CE, he guides and supports all aspects of the company's business interests in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, including strategy, operations, and the growth of Lockheed Martin business. A National Security Expert, in both theory and application, he served on the National Security Council for the Bush administration, commissioned the National Counter Terrorism Center, and has extensive combat/counterterrorism experience as a US Navy SEAL, in Afghanistan, Iraq (he led both invasions in 2001 and 2003), Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Bosnia.

A US Naval Academy alumni, he holds a Masters degree in International Security Affairs, and is a graduate of the Naval War College and the MIT Foreign Policy Program. He also served as an executive fellow at RAND and speaks Farsi. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, he was a Vice Admiral (SEAL) in the United States Navy, with his last assignment as Deputy Commander, US Central Command (USCENTCOM).

He currently serves on the Secretary of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC) where he chair's the Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Task Force.

His Excellency Yang Honglin was born in Hebei Province, China.

He is the former Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bahrain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia; Senior Researcher, China Foundation for International Studies; Standing member, Institute of Diplomatic History of PR China.

His Excellency Dr. Danilo Türk is Emeritus Professor of International Law, a diplomat and politician.

Prior to his term as the third President of the Republic of Slovenia (2007-2012) he was teaching international law at the faculty of Law, University if Ljubljana (1982- 1992 and 2005-2007). He also worked as a human rights expert, both in Slovenia and within the UN.

Upon independence of Slovenia he was appointed Ambassador of Slovenia to the UN (1992-2000). He served on the UN Security Council in 1998-1999. Upon successful conclusion of his term, the then Secretary-General Kofi Annan invites him to serve as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs (2000-2005). He returned to Slovenia in 2005 where he was elected third President (2007-2012).

In 2016 he was one of the candidates for the post of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In 2015-2017 he was chairman of the Global High Level Panel on water and peace.

His Excellency Michel Duclos is a nonresident senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East focused on Syria and the Levant.

Amb. Duclos began his diplomatic career at the Policy Planning Staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France, where he served as Deputy Director from 1984 to 1987. He then became Counsellor at the French Embassy in Moscow and subsequently in Bonn during the time of perestroika and the unification of Germany. He directed the MFA's disarmament section from 1994 to 1998 when France resumed nuclear testing, and was involved in negotiating the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

In Brussels from 1998 to 2002, he served as Ambassador of France to the WEU. He was Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations in New York from 2002 to 2006, during the conflict over Iraq and the reform summit of the 2005 United Nations. He served as Ambassador of France to Syria from 2006 to 2009 at a key moment during bilateral Franco-Syrian relations. He subsequently served as Diplomatic Counselor in the Cabinet of the Ministry of the Interior from 2009 to 2012 and as Ambassador of France to Switzerland from 2012 to 2014.

His Excellency has written extensively on international issues, and has always followed closely the work of think tanks and parallel diplomacy structures. In February 2016 he assumed the leadership of the International Diplomatic Academy as Director General, where he focuses on governance issues, economic diplomacy and mediation as a means toward conflict resolution. He also serves as a Senior Advisor for Institut Montaigne, a French think tank focused on improving economic competitiveness and social cohesion."

Nabil Fahmy is the founding dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) at The American University in Cairo (AUC), where he is also a professor of practice. Fahmy served as foreign minister of Egypt from July 2013 to June 2014. He steered the course of Egypt's diplomacy during times of immense challenges. During his tenure as minister, Fahmy formulated a strategy to reorient Egypt's foreign policy, ensuring that Egypt had numerous foreign policy options, both regionally and globally. He also restructured the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in order to address the future challenges confronting Egypt's foreign policy. During his distinguished diplomatic career Fahmy served as Egypt's ambassador to Japan from 1997-1999 and the United States from 1999 to 2008, as well as in numerous government and international positions, focusing in his work on many areas including: international and regional security; disarmament and non-proliferation; and Arab Israeli diplomacy. He was a member of the Egyptian delegation to many international conferences and boards including: the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference; the Review Conferences of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; Rapporteur of Committee on Principles in the United Nations Conference on Promoting International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy; United Nations Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters; International Atomic Energy Agency Board; and general conferences as well as numerous sessions of the United Nations General Assembly since 1977. He was elected vice chairman of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) of the 44th Session of the General Assembly in 1989. Following his retirement from active government service in 2009, Fahmy founded the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) and became engaged in several initiatives in the field of research and academia and has served as a non-resident chair of the Middle East Non-Proliferation Project at the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Strategies in Monterey, California from 2009 - 2013. After his tenure as the minister of foreign affairs (2013 – 2014), Fahmy resumed his position as dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at AUC. A prolific writer on regional and global affairs, Nabil Fahmy is the author of numerous publications in both Arabic and English. He is married with three children and currently lives in Cairo. Publications Ambassador Fahmy has written extensively in English and Arabic on Middle East politics, peacemaking, regional security, disarmament, and good governance.

He has been in the media industry since 1991. From 2000 to 2008, he was Deputy Director General of RTR and the Director of the Department of Information Programs of the Russia TV. In 2000-2013 Mr. Bystritsky was a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of international broadcasting company Euro news. From 2008 to 2014, he was the Chairman of the Voice of Russia State Radio Company.

Since 2008, he has been the head of the Council of the Heads of Government and Public Television and Radio Organizations of CIS Countries. Since 2014, Mr. Bystritsky has been the Chairman of the Public Supervisory Council of the Russian Ministry of Communications.

He is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Media and Design at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics and a member of the Union of Writers. In June 2007, he received the Order of Honour. Mr. Bystritsky is the author of books and numerous publications in newspapers and magazines.

Hani Ashkar is the Territory Senior Partner for the Middle East region of PwC, which comprises the GCC, Levant and North Africa. He joined PwC in 1994 and was admitted as a partner in 2004. As part of his regional leadership role, Hani represents the Middle East on PwC's global Strategy Council as well as the EMEA Leadership Team.

Prior to his appointment as Senior Partner for the ME, Hani led the growth of our Deals business into its market leading position, adding business recovery, forensic, deals strategy, corporate finance and capital projects and infrastructure services to our leading transaction services practice. Hani has also led our practice in Saudi Arabia and is currently the country senior partner for the United Arab Emirates. Hani started his career with PwC as an auditor, before completing a secondment to London, where he specialised in transaction services for private equity and corporate buyers and also participated in a number of flotations. Hani has advised numerous regional and multinational corporate and private equity investors on mergers and acquisitions across the Middle East region, with a particular emphasis on Saudi Arabia and the GCC. Over the years, he has been involved in hundreds of transactions involving a cross section of industries.

Hani is an active board member on regional external boards in the ME region including the AIWF (www.aiwfonline.com), which supports and enhances the role of women in the social and economic development of the Arab region, and the Pearl Initiative (www.pearlinitiative.org) and the Board Directors Institute (http://www.gccbdi.org) which help to create a corporate culture of accountability and transparency in the GCC. He is a graduate of McGill University in Canada and is a fluent Arabic and English speaker.

André Loesekrug-Pietri, of both French and German nationality, held leadership positions in private equity, government, industry and as an entrepreneur.

Starting as assistant to the CEO of Aerospatiale-Airbus, he then spent 15 years in private equity and venture capital, including 10 years with China, investing in European companies with global ambitions. In 2017, he paused from the private sector to become Special Advisor to the French Minister of Defence, responsible in particular for European Defense policy as well as technology and innovation.

He is currently speaker (pro-bono) of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative (J.E.D.I.), aiming to accelerate France and Germany's leadership in disruptive innovations. Graduate from HEC and from Harvard Kennedy School, he attended Sup-Aero aerospace engineering school. Nominated Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, he is a private pilot and Colonel with the French Air Force People's Reserve.

Dr. Shennib is an internationally recognized cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and an opinion leader in health care policies and international relations. He has a keen interest in foreign policy and has played key roles in international conflict resolution. He participated in the Middle East world economic forum as part of the Canadian delegation. Chaired the Libya European Benghazi Children with AIDS Working Group and made presentations to the European Union Parliament on this subject of Bulgaria-Libya conflict. He is in the Canadian Who's Who registry. He held leadership posts like president, National Council on Canada Arab Relations, President of the Quebec Muslim Association, and was appointed member of the board of governors of Concordia University in Montreal in 2002.

Dr. Shennib serves regularly as an advisor in designing regional health care models worldwide and has participated in the development of educational and health care projects and reviews for numerous countries including Bosnia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Egypt and Libya and received an honorary PhD from Kazakhstan Institute of Medical Sciences at Astana for his contributions.

Dr. Shennib is currently a Professor at the College of Medicine, University of Arizona and Adjunct Full Professor at McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal. After completing his postgraduate residency training in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at London University in the UK and McGill University in Montreal he underwent further fellowship training in Thoracic Surgery and Transplantation at the University of Toronto and in Vascular and Endovascular therapy at the Arizona Heart Institute. He holds the American Board Certifications in Surgery, Thoracic Surgery and Vascular Medicine. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American College of Surgeons and is a member of numerous specialty societies, co- editor of medical journals and has published over 200 original articles. Dr. Shennib also holds a Master of Science degree in Experimental Surgery from McGill University. He is an inventor and holds 17 patents.

Dr. John Duke Anthony is the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. On June 21, 2000, H.M. King Muhammad VI of Morocco knighted Dr. Anthony, bestowing upon him the Medal of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, the nation of Morocco's highest award for excellence. Dr. Anthony currently serves on the United States Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy's Subcommittee on Sanctions.

Dr. Anthony is the only American to have been invited to each of the Gulf Cooperation Council's Ministerial and Heads of State Summits since the GCC's inception in 1981. In addition to establishing and heading the National Council since its inception, as well as consulting, lecturing, and serving as an Adjunct Faculty Member of the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management (DISAM) since 1974.

Since 1986 and continuing to the present, Dr. Anthony has accompanied more than 200 Members of Congress, their chiefs of staff, defense and foreign affairs advisers, and legislative and communications directors on fact-finding missions to the Arab world. From 1996 to the present, he has also served as the principal scholar-escort for delegations to various GCC countries, Egypt, and Yemen comprised of 144 officers assigned to the staff of successive Commanding Generals of the U.S. Central Command.

Dr. Anthony is the author of three books, the editor of a fourth, and more than 175 articles, essays, and monographs dealing with America's interests and involvement in the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world.

Dr. Anthony holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Singh was senior director for Middle East Affairs at the White House from 2007-2008, and a director on the NSC staff from 2005-2007. Earlier, he served as special assistant to Secretaries of State Powell and Rice, and at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv.

He co-chaired Mitt Romney's State Department transition team in 2012, and served as Middle East advisor to the Romney campaign. Mr. Singh has been an adjunct fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and an economics instructor at Harvard College.

His writings have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, International Security, and elsewhere, and he has appeared as a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and other outlets.

Mr. Singh earned his bachelor's degree in economics summa cum laude from Princeton University and an MBA with high distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School.

Ms. Mirna Sleiman is the founder and CEO of Fintech Galaxy, a global crowdsourcing platform that connects the fintech ecosystem. A senior executive with 15+ years of experience in government relations, business strategy, digital communications and journalism, mostly within the MENA region.

Driven by passion for innovation and positive impact, Mirna has a track record in leading digital transformation projects, marketing comms strategies and global partnerships with public and private entities, focusing on knowledge economy development, regulatory infrastructure and financial markets.

She managed public sector business for Thomson Reuters across MENA and partnered with international organizations to promote innovation and social change. She sits on the advisory board of the Union of Arab Banks and MENA Research Partners.

She Spent more than 10 years as a financial journalist with Reuters, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal and Zawya. Awarded three EMEA Dow Jones awards and received a Global William Clabby Award in investigative reporting, Thomson Reuters Over And Above award for strategic relations and the IPRA trophy for the impact on the region's corporate world.

She is certified from MIT university in Fintech and ecommerce, certified from Columbia University in Digital Marketing and Communications, and an Executive MBA candidate with City University of London (Strategy - Digital Transformation).

Dr. Oleg Barabanov is the Program Director of the Valdai Disccussion Club since 2014.

From 2015 he has the Honorary Title of Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Professor (from 2005) at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Academic Director of the MGIMO Master Program in international relations for employees of various Russian Ministries responsible for international cooperation.

In 1997-2004 – Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. Author of Valdai Club publications on Russian global strategy, on relations of Russia with Middle East, China, on Russian policy in Islamic World.

From 2016 expert on international policy at the Russian NTV Channel and regular participant (4-5 times per week) at political talk-shows at leading Russian TV Channels (such as NTV, Russia-1, 1st Channel, TVTs) with 20-25 % of share points of audience according to Gallup statistics.

Theresa Fallon is the founder and director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. She is concurrently a member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Current research is focused on EU-Asia relations, Sino-Russian relations, maritime security, global governance, and China's Belt & Road Initiative.

She has testified numerous times to the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Security and Defense, and has been featured in international media including the BBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Previously she was a member of the Strategic Advisors Group for the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and lived and worked in both Russia and China. She was educated at the University of Chicago, Loyola University and The London School of Economics.

27 years working experience in the investment and economic sector 1976 - 2002.

Journalist / Political Columnist.

Member of the Shura Council 2006 – 2012 (The upper chamber).

Minister of State for Information Affairs, and the Official Spokesperson for the Government 2012-2014.

Minister, The Special Envoy for the Royal Court – Kingdom of Bahrain – since 2015.

Ms. Nora Müller heads the International Affairs Department of Körber Foundation, one of Germany's largest private foundations. From 2004 to 2006, Nora served as an advisor in the Middle East division of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. In 2007, she joined the International Affairs Department of Körber Foundation to establish and build up the Körber Dialogue Middle East.

Nora holds a joint Master's degree in European Studies from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Technische Universität Berlin as well as a Bachelor's degree from Tel Aviv University. During her studies, she focused on the role of the European Union in the MENA region in general and in the Middle East Peace Process in particular.

Nora earned a certificate in Facilitation of Dialogue Processes and Mediation Efforts from Folke Bernadotte Academy – The Swedish Academy for Peace, Security and Development. Nora is a regular commentator on foreign policy issues in the German and international media including DIE ZEIT, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (faz.net), Tagesspiegel, Handelsblatt, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Judy Dempsey's Strategic Europe and Süddeutsche Zeitung as well as Deutsche Welle TV, Deutschlandradio Kultur, MDR, SR 2 KulturRadio and WDR Radio.

Nora is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Recent publications:

Judy Asks: Can Europe Defend Multilateralism? On: Judy Dempsey's Strategic Europe, May 17, 2018.

Der Nahe Osten nach dem Rückzug der USA aus dem Iran-Deal: Im Nahen Osten zieht ein "perfekter Sturm" auf In: Tagesspiegel, May 10, 2018.

Türkische Invasion in Afrin: Die Türkei bleibt ein Partner In: Tagesspiegel, April 20, 2018

Judy Asks: Is the West Selling Itself Short? On: Judy Dempsey's Strategic Europe, February 17, 2018.

Europa droht die Spaltung In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (faz.net), January 17, 2018.

Nada Debs is a Levantine designer living and working in Beirut. Her work spans scale and discipline: from product and furniture design to one-off commissions across craft, art, fashion and interiors.

Nada grew up in Japan, studied design at Rhode Island School of Design in the United States and has spent time living and travelling the world, finding connections between different cultures. What ties her work together is her ability to distil culture and craftsmanship to create pieces of emotional resonance. She believes design can cross time and border and touch us on a primal level. She calls her approach: handmade and heartmade.

As the first Yemeni undergraduate to be admitted to Yale University, Shady has just finished his second-year majoring in Economics and Political Science. Having been to eight schools in five countries, including Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, the UK and the USA, his schooling has been rich in diversity and left him feeling like a wandering Bedouin.

At Yale, Shady is heavily involved in a number of activities: he is President of the College Council, President of the Arab Students Association, President of the Yale Arab Conference, President of the Table Tennis Club and an active member of the Model United Nations Team.

Shady also works as a Student Assistant at the Macmillan Center's Council on Middle East Studies. In addition, he has co-founded Yemen's first non-aligned and non-governmental legal organization 'Adalah', which is based in London but operates in Washington and Sana'a. Currently, Shady serves as Adalah's Chief Operating Officer and Director of Economic Affairs.

Mr. Sumit S Jamuar serves as Chairman & CEO of Global Gene Corp (GGC), a genomics data, insights and applications company with a vision to democratise healthcare through genomics. The company's mission is to map the world's genomic diversity and make it accessible and useful in delivering high-quality life and longevity for each one of us.

Mr. Sumit serves as member of the World Economic Forum's Global Precision Medicine Council, BIA Genomics Advisory Committee, and is elected to the UK's National Genomics Board. He previously served as Managing Director & Global Head at Lloyds Bank and CEO at SBICAP (UK), the European Investment banking subsidiary of State Bank of India. He has also served as consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Mr. Sumit is a Senior Associate at the Royal Society of Medicine, and has previously served as Fellow of Institute of Directors, Member of BAFT-IFSA European Council and Board Director at GEFCO plc. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and an MBA from INSEAD.

Mr. Samer Abou-Ltaif is the President of Microsoft Middle East and Africa. As President of Microsoft Middle East and Africa (MEA), Samer Abu Ltaif leads Microsoft's operations in an area that represents one of Microsoft's fastest growing and most diverse markets. Microsoft MEA's 3 000 team members span 40 offices covering 79 countries across three continents with more than 18 000 partners.In this role, Abu Ltaif is responsible for the company's strategy and advancing its position as an innovative industry leader, a socially responsible enterprise and a recognised, diverse, inclusive and great place to work. He took up this role in February 2017.

Abu Ltaif joined Microsoft in 2004 and has held many senior roles within the organisation. Most recently, he was the General Manager of Microsoft Gulf, where he led landmark Microsoft initiatives aimed at empowering governments and citizens through innovation, revolutionising education, stimulating SME growth and entrepreneurship; all to enhance the markets global competitiveness and modernisation.

Abu Ltaif studied computer science at the American University of Beirut. He is based in Dubai with his wife and two children.

Danielle Pletka is senior vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at AEI, where she oversees the Institute's work on foreign and defense issues. Ms. Pletka writes regularly on national security matters with a special focus on the Middle East. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. Before joining AEI, she was a senior professional staff member for the Middle East and South Asia for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Ms. Pletka has contributed to and authored a variety of studies, monographs, and books, including the forthcoming Seven Pillars: The Roots of Instability in the Middle East; "Tehran Stands Atop the Syria-Iran Alliance" (2017); the chapter "America in Decline" in Debating the Obama Presidency (2016); "America vs. Iran: The Competition for the Future of the Middle East" (2014); "Iranian Influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan" (2012); "Containing and Deterring a Nuclear Iran" (2011); and "Dissent and Reform in the Arab World: Empowering Democrats" (2008). She is a political analyst for NBC News.

Dr. Qiang Liu is the Co-chair and Secretary-General of Global Forum on Energy Security based at Beijing, China. Qiang works for Chinese Academy of Social Sciences since 2004, he has been the Director of Energy Economics Division, Institute of Quantitative & Technical Economics at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) since 2014 and was the deputy director of the division since 2010. Qiang is consulting expert for United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) on energy and Belt & Road Initiative.

Qiang is also Professor, Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences since 2008. Qiang was a visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies of John Hopkins University at Washington D.C., focusing on Sino-American economic interaction. Qiang holds PhD of economics from the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Principal Prem Kumar supports ASG's Middle East and North Africa practice. Mr. Kumar was formerly Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council staff at the White House, and before that served as a U.S. diplomat focusing on Middle East issues for many years. Prior to his government service, he was an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in New York City.

Ms. Thalia Dergham works primarily within the fashion, luxury, lifestyle and beauty sectors, helping brands realize their communications potential through robust research driven brand strategy, communications platforms, content strategy and creative.

Thalia is a specialist in delivering trend-based cultural insights and brand strategy across multiple sectors globally, with a strong background in in customer insight, segmentation, and localisation strategies in the retail sector from her previous work at YOOX NET-A-PORTER.

Dr. Irina Zvyagelskaya, Dr.of Sc. (History), is the Head of the Center for the Middle East Studies at Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO of Russian Academy of Sciences).

She is a Professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations under the Russian Foreign Ministry. She also keeps her affiliation with the Institute of Oriental Studies. Dr. Zvyagelskaya's area of expertise includes contemporary history, conflicts, international relations and security issues in the Middle East and Central Asia. She authored over 200 publications. Dr. Zvyagelskaya is a member of the IISS.

Ms. Cassandra Kelly is a global thought leader, speaker and coach to leaders who dare: corporate and political. A tech entrepreneur and former CEO, Cassandra has served as advisor, board director and chair for some of the world's most influential organizations. She has worked in most of the world's continents.

She co-founded the multiple award-winning global corporate advisory firm, Pottinger, and subsequently CChange. Pottinger works with leaders to help them solve their most complex problems through creating destination-led strategyTM and assisting on inorganic growth. CChange accelerates meaningful outcomes by working with influencers and leaders to make change happen quickly. Cassandra's ability to compel organizations to embrace new opportunities, challenge the status quo and seize opportunities has resulted in numerous accolades.

She works with the B20/G20, was appointed as an international expert advisor to China's One Belt One Road initiative and is a member of the European Union's Global Tech Panel.

Firas Maksad is director of Arabia Foundation, a Washington DC think tank focused on the Middle East, and an adjunct professor at George Washington University. His areas of expertise include US foreign policy in the Middle East, the politics of Syria, Lebanon and the Arab Gulf. Prior to joining Arabia Foundation Firas served as an associate to Ambassador Dennis Ross, the former US–Middle East presidential envoy.

He worked on Capitol Hill for the House International Relations Committee and was a political consultant for global law firm DLA Piper. He also oversaw research on the Levant at Eurasia Group, a prominent political risk advisory firm. Firas' articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times and other publications. He completed his graduate studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and his undergraduate degree in political science at American University of Beirut.

Mr. Chaker Khazaal is a reporter, speaker, Huffington Post contributor, and author of Tale of Tala and Confessions of a War Child trilogy.

Born in 1987 as a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, Chaker immigrated to Canada. Being one of four recipients of the Global Leader of Tomorrow Award, Chaker studied at York University in Toronto and graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in International Studies.

He then worked as a public speaker and web shows host before publishing his first novel, Confessions of a War Child (Part One) in March 2013, later followed by part two (subtitled Lia) and part three (subtitled Sahara). His latest novel, Tale of Tala (2017), ranked second in worldwide sales on Amazon. He traveled to refugee camps and conflict zones to inspire the events of his novels.

Chaker is an advocate for refugees and aspiring young writers. A savvy communicator, he has spoken at a number of platforms including United Nations Headquarters (New York) and Google (San Francisco) among many other venues.

In 2015, Esquire Middle East named him Man of the Year and in 2016, Chaker was ranked by Arabian Business Magazine first in the 100 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40. In 2017, Queen Silvia of Sweden presented him with Mentor Award.

Mr. Peter Maurer was born in Thun, Switzerland, in 1956. He studied history and international law in Bern, where he was awarded a doctorate. In 1987 he entered the Swiss diplomatic service, where he held various positions in Bern and Pretoria before being transferred to New York in 1996 as deputy permanent observer at the Swiss mission to the United Nations. In 2000 he was appointed ambassador and head of the human security division in the political directorate of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern.

In 2004 Mr Maurer was appointed ambassador and permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. In this position, he worked to integrate Switzerland, which had only recently joined the United Nations, into multilateral networks. In June 2009, the UN General Assembly elected Mr Maurer chairman of the Fifth Committee, in charge of administrative and budgetary affairs. In addition, he was elected chairman of the Burundi configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. In January 2010 Mr Maurer was appointed secretary of State for foreign affairs in Bern and took over the reins of the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, with its five directorates and some 150 Swiss diplomatic missions around the world. He succeeded Jakob Kellenberger as ICRC president on 1 July 2012.

Under his leadership, the ICRC carries out humanitarian work in over 80 countries. Mr Maurer's priorities for his presidency include strengthening humanitarian diplomacy, engaging States and other actors for the respect of international humanitarian law, and improving the humanitarian response through innovation and new partnerships.

Since taking over the presidency of the ICRC, Mr Maurer has led the organization through a historic budget increase, from 1.1bn CHF in 2011 to over 1.8bn CHF in 2016.

In 2018 Mr. Nik Gowing co-authored (with Chris Langdon) "Thinking the Unthinkable". In this era of a new disruption leaders reveal that they are 'scared', 'confused' and 'overwhelmed' especially by the new short termism. Nik founded the ongoing, dynamic project in 2014.

Nik was a main news presenter for BBC World News 1996-2014. He presented The Hub with Nik Gowing, BBC World Debates, Dateline London.

For 18 years he worked at ITN. He was bureau chief in Rome and Warsaw, and Diplomatic Editor for Channel Four News (1988-1996). He has been on the councils of Chatham House (1998–2004), the Royal United Services Institute (2005–present), the Overseas Development Institute (2007-2014), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (1996-2005).

Nik was been a Visiting Professor at Kings College, London and Nanyang University (NTU), Singapore. In 2018 advised the President of the UN General Assembly on leadership challenges.

Wafa Ben-Hassine leads Access Now's policy and advocacy arms in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) as the organization's local Policy Counsel. Wafa is also a Global Policy Counsel, engaging on and advocating for global digital rights issues within United Nations institutions and other multilateral organizations. Most recently, she completed an Open Technology Fund fellowship at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she researched counter-terrorism and cybercrime laws in select Arab countries and their impact on various human rights. Prior to her fellowship, Wafa has interned at the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon in The Hague and the U.S. Department of State Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in drafting its annual human rights reports. Wafa received her JD from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and her BA in Political Science from the University of California San Diego. Wafa is licensed to practice law by the state bar of New York. More than anything, Wafa loves the internet, classical music, and lemon sorbet.

Malak Al Akiley is Founder and Managing Director of Golden Wheat for Grain Trading, Ltd., represent international Grain Trading companies in Jordan. She is the sole female owner of such company in the MENA region with over ten years of experience in agricultural commodities trading with focus on food security.

Malak is co-Partner in Golden Kayan for Marketing Consulting Co. for Oil & Energy.

Have been appointed in April 2019 as an adviser and MENA development Manager for Cerealia Co. Blockchain platform for Agri-commodities Trading and Financing. Malak Al Akiley have been selected as a Young Global Leader (YGL), class of 2017, an honor bestowed by the World Economic Forum.

Founding Member in FutureTalks, Norway and went to the Arctic Expedition with 100 brilliant people from all sectors and all continents, exploring the Arctic and engaging in the most important discussions of our time which made her the first Jordanian women to cross 80 degrees' north pole.

Keynote Speaker at Oslo Innovation week with DNB Bank, Norway about Theme "Sustainability as Competitive Advantage" & also at Professional Women Norway "Shifting Diversity Gear".

Partner and Business Development consultant on Oil and Aviation investment projects in East Africa. Have been selected by U.S. Deparment of States, United States of America to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program, "Entrepreneurship as the Engine of Prosperity and Stability: Women Fostering Economic Security.

She was also the youngest member of both the Public Financial Policies Committee, Economic Committee for Jordan's Vision 2021 and currently a member in the Investment Encouragement committee in his Excellency Dr.Talal Abu Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum.

Malak is the Manager and Director of "Women BeeBuzzers" project in Jordan, Women BeeBuzzers, is a project that aims to introduce beekeeping as a secondary and main source of income for women in rural areas in Jordan.

Malak holds an MBA in Management Business Administration from the German-Jordanian University.

Ahmed el-Gaili is the Managing Partner of the Dubai office of Vinson & Elkins LLP, an international law firm. He represents companies and governments on complex cross-border M&A and private equity transactions as well as energy projects. He continues to be recognized for the past five years by Chambers Global in its list of leading legal experts on Iraq. He was named "UAE Energy Lawyer of the Year" by Lawyer Monthly in 2013. He previously worked at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in London and at Morgan Stanley in New York.

He received a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2003 and a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Economic Development Studies from Harvard College in 1998. Prior to Harvard, he attended Dhahran Ahliyyah Schools and Phillips Academy Andover. He is currently the Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).

Ahmed also currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Beirut Institute, a regional think tank. He previously served as the President of the Harvard Arab Alumni Association (HAAA) and on its Executive Board from 2010-2016. He is an amateur chef and classical Arabic poet.

Mahmood Sariolghalam is Professor of International Relations at the National University of Iran in Tehran (Shahid Beheshti). He earned his PhD and MA in international relations at the University of Southern California in 1987 and 1982 respectively. He also completed his bachelor's degree in political science at the California State University. Professor Sariolghalam pursued a post doctorate at the Ohio State University. He specializes in international politics of the Middle East, Iranian foreign policy and political culture, and has written extensively in Farsi, Arabic and English.

He has made 546 presentations in 114 countries over the last 26 years. His recent publications are Sources of Continuity In Iran's Foreign Policy, in Gulf Politics and Economics in a Changing World edited by Michael Hudson and Mimi Kirk (World Scientific Publishing Co., 2014); Rationality and Iran's National Development, 2014, Thirteenth edition; Iranian Authoritarianism During the Qajar Period (Farsi), 2014, Seventh edition; Transition in the Middle East: New Arab Realities and Iran, Middle East Policy, spring 2013; The Evolution of State in Iran: A Political Culture Perspective, published by the Strategic Studies Center of Kuwait University, 2010; Iran's Political Culture, a field research in Farsi based on 900 questionnaires, Seventh edition, 2010; International Relations in Iran: Achievements and Limitations, in International Relations Scholarship Around the World edited by Arlene Tickner and Ole Waever (Routledge, 2009) and Iran in Search of Itself, in Current History, December 2008.

Professor Sariolghalam spent the 2009-2010 academic year at Kuwait University. He is a member of International Studies Association (US), Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum (Switzerland) and a Non-Resident Scholar at ASERI (Italy). Professor Sariolghalam was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC in early 2012.

Céline Semaan-Vernon is a Lebanese-Canadian designer, advocate, writer and founder of The Slow Factory, a sustainable fashion agency which aims to re-architect fashion into a zero waste, circular economy and The Library Study Hall, which produces a conference series promoting sustainability literacy called Study Hall. She became a Director's Fellow of MIT Media Lab in 2016, and served on the Board of Directors of AIGA NY, a nonprofit membership organization that helps cultivate the future of design in New York City from 2016-2017.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi is a distinguished Palestinian leader, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. Making history as the first woman to hold a seat in the highest executive body in Palestine, she was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2009 and most recently in 2018. As a civil society activist, she founded the Independent Commission for Human Rights (1994), MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (1998) and AMAN, the National Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (1999). She serves on the advisory and international boards of several global, regional and local organizations, and she is the recipient of numerous awards from all over the world, , including the distinguished French decoration, "d'Officier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur" (2016), and several academic accolades, including eleven honorary doctorates from universities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Arab world.

Fadi Ghandour is the Executive Chairman of Wamda Group, a platform that invests, nurtures and builds entrepreneurship eco-systems across the Middle East and North Africa. Fadi is also the Founder of Aramex, one of the leading global logistics companies. Fadi spent the first 30 years of his work life as CEO of Aramex, building the company, making it the leading emerging market logistics company, employing over 15,000 people working in over 250 offices in 90 countries. He took the company public twice, first on Nasdaq making it the first company from the Arab world to do so, then on Dubai Financial market. He continues to be active on the Aramex board. Fadi is a serial entrepreneur. In his career, he was involved with founding, investing and launching tens of companies and non-profits, ranging from digital tech, hospitality, fitness & wellness to security. Passionate about impact and social entrepreneurship, Fadi founded and chairs Ruwwad for Development, a private‐sector led community empowerment platform that helps marginalized communities, across several countries in the MENA region, overcome marginalization through activism, civic engagement, education and financial inclusion. He has also co-founded and continues to support Al-Riyadi, one of the leading not-for-profit sports clubs in Jordan. Fadi also served and continues to serve on several global and regional boards of companies, education institutions and non-profits.

Natasha Franck is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EON and Founder of the Global Connect Fashion Initiative. EON is the leading Digital Identity company across fashion, apparel and retail. EON's mission is to power our circular and regeneration future. Connect Fashion is an industry-wide initiative to establish the shared foundation for circular economy. Connect Fashion is introducing CircularID™ - the global standard and digital system for identification and management of products in the circular economy. Before EON, Natasha was the Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Delos, a technology and real estate start-up. Natasha supported the launch of Delos' International WELL Building Institute and lead the global expansion of WELL program through North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining Delos, Natasha worked at Jonathan Rose Companies where she consulted on smart cities and urban design and development. Natasha holds a Bachelor's Degree from Georgetown University.

Architecture is at KHYELI's heart and genesis. It was during his architectural studies that designer Ahmed Alkhyeli began exploring the materiality of fabric and the construction of clothing, inspired by the evocative nature of fashion, the stories it told and its transformative power. A prodigious draper and pattern-cutter, Alkhyeli enrolled at the Paris School of Fashion Istituto Marangoni where he swiftly discovered his vocation for dressmaking and unique vision for modern luxury. The turning point came with his design of a formal gown for an acquaintance which attracted widespread attention, and numbers of women who had fallen in love with the dress started commissioning their own. Alkhyeli moved to London and launched KHYELI in 2017.

The brand is Alkhyeli's vision of modern haute couture, an ebullient celebration of craft, construction, quality and escapism in fine Italian fabrics. In the couturier tradition, KHYELI's collections aspire to transport their wearers through the marriage of creativity and impeccable artisanship. Beyond the gowns, KHYELI creates an experience for its clients in its high-ceilinged, snow white showroom at 17 Cavendish Square, designed to cater to a customer's every need, from adjustments to entirely bespoke creations. Exclusivity is a pillar of the brand's ethos:

KHYELI makes its wearer feel unique, empowered, and beautiful, with every detail of the garment tailored and considered to suit the client.

The label has garnered widespread support and exposure, written about in such publications as Harper's Bazaar Russia, Vogue Arabia, Marie Claire Italia, Luxury and Lifestyle Magazine, GFUK and Glamour Russia, and featured notably in Vogue Italia, Modeliste Magazine, Tatler Russia, and Gate magazine amongst others. The label is hailed as standing at the forefront of a new generation of haute couture, with its unique blend of contemporary tailoring and timeless romance.

Alkhyeli's presiding philosophy carries through every cut, fit, and fabric: to showcase the elegance, femininity, confidence, and sense of adventure of leading, luxurious women around the world.

Lyndsay C. Howard is a Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and is the Executive Director of the Center's Project on America and the Future of World Order. Ms. Howard worked for a decade in the U.S. Intelligence Community and was assigned to American Embassies in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, among others. During this period, she was a member of the Intelligence Community Working Group that traced Islamic terrorist activities and identified their specific locations in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; and also served on Secretary James A. Baker's staff; in the Office of the White House Legal Advisor; and on the Delegation of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty negotiation in Vienna. One of two Western representatives who attended the decommissioning of the Semipalatinsk Soviet nuclear weapons test facility,

Ms. Howard also led a research team on the UN/World Bank/USAID multibillion-dollar cleanup of the Aral Sea. While in government, she received several Superior Honor and Achievement awards. After leaving government, she founded and for ten years led Pangaeia Group, a boutique strategic communications firm. She worked for, inter alia, the chairmen or principals of Access Industries, Lehman Brothers, the World Economic Forum, Lockheed Martin Telecommunications, the Albright Stonebridge Group, and NYC's Randall's Island Park Alliance.

Ms. Howard is foreign policy advisor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at Bloomberg LP in New York. She is a founding delegate in the Bloomberg New Economy Forum; is on the boards of the Hermitage Museum Foundation and People's Symphony Concerts of New York; and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Mr. Michel Abboud is renowned in the United States and the Middle East for his avant-garde portfolio. in 2010, his vision for the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York City further catapulted Michel into prominence. Such notoriety has led to a subsequent influx of invites as speaker and guest of honor at prestigious universities across the United States and Europe.

Having earned a Masters in Architecture from New York's University of Columbia subsequent to graduating from the American University of Beirut, Michel Abboud has a reputation for provocative projects which deliver both forward thinking and user-friendly functionality. Michel's defiant no compromise stance in terms of design, continuously raises the bar in the design world and has gained him respect among a loyal client base and fellow design professionals.