Dr. Kenneth Pollack, the director and senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, is an expert on Middle Eastern political-military affairs, with an emphasis on the Persian Gulf region. With an extensive background in national security, intelligence, and foreign policy, he has also written myriad books and articles. Pollack began his career as an Iran-Iraq military analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and twice served on the staff of the National Security Council. He addresses foreign policy, the Middle East, national security, and intelligence.

Porter Goss, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is a leading expert on globalization, homeland security, and intelligence. Before the CIA, Goss served as a Congressman (R-FL) for 16 years. During his tenure, he was chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for eight years and co-chaired the inquiry into the attacks of 9/11. He is the second director of the CIA to serve in Congress. He addresses intelligence, security, the impact of the CIA on American life, the role of ethics in domestic and foreign policy, transparency, and technology.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are best known for breaking the Watergate story for The Washington Post, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and setting the standard for modern investigative journalism. For this work, they and The Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Their work has been called “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time” by longtime journalism figure, Gene Roberts, and the book they co-authored on their experience, All the President’s Men, went on to become a New York Times best-seller and an Academy Award-winning feature film. 

A lifelong entrepreneur, key strategist, presidential confidante, party chairman, best-selling author, and the 72nd Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe has played an incalculable role in 21st Century American politics. Today, he serves as a Distinguished Visting Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and a Visiting Fellow at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. His dynamic presentations never fail to deliver his trademark charisma and optimism, and he entertains crowds while demonstrating why he’s considered one of the keenest political minds in America.

For 35 years Dr. Harry G. Broadman has been prominently at the vanguard of the formulation and execution of many of the most critical global business and economic policy decisions of our time. Dr. Broadman delivers exceptionally stimulating insights drawing on the rich mosaic of his high-level practitioner experiences, coupled with his record as an ingenious thought-leader, widely-cited book author and globally sought-after speaker.

Ambassador Douglas Lute is the former United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s standing political body. Appointed by President Obama, he assumed the Brussels-based post in 2013 and served until 2017. During this period he was instrumental in designing and implementing the 28-nation Alliance’s responses to the most severe security challenges in Europe since the end of the Cold War. He received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award.

Dr. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist who analyzes the macroeconomy and global affairs. She has travelled to more than 80 countries over the last decade, during which time she has developed a unique knowledge base on the political, economic, and financial workings of emerging economies, in particular the BRICs and the frontier economies in Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Her work examines the interplay between rapidly developing countries, international business, and the global economy, while highlighting the key opportunities for investment. She is the author of multiple New York Times best-selling books, including Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth - and How to Fix It, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, How The West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly - And the Stark Choices Ahead, and Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World. Moyo was recognized as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by TIME magazine, and was named to the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Forum. Her work regularly appears in economic and finance-related publications, such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Peter Conradi has worked in national and international journalism for more than three decades. As the Paris-based Europe Editor and former Foreign Editor of The Sunday Times, he can speak authoritatively on many aspects of international affairs. In his present role, he covers the big stories in France, Germany, Italy and beyond, trying to make sense of events across the continent. Now based in Paris, Peter has a strong interest in European politics and in the implications of Brexit. It helps that he speaks fluent German, French and Italian as well as Russian. Russia is an area of specialism and he was based there from 1988 to 1995, during which time he experienced at first hand the end of Communism and the break-up of the Soviet Union. These experiences informed his book, Who Lost Russia? How the World Entered a New Cold War, which was critically well received on both sides of the Atlantic. The New York Times called it ‘a smart, balanced analysis of the internal developments that have shaped Russia’s course since the break-up of the Soviet Union’. A Russian speaker, he continues to follow events in Russia and the broader region.

Douglas A. Rediker is the founding partner of International Capital Strategies, LLC, a Washington, DC-based boutique advisory firm that provides clients with insights and advice on the intersection of geopolitics, macroeconomics, policy and global financial markets. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development programs at the Brookings Institution, as well as a member of the Center on the United States and Europe, where he is one of Brookings’ leading experts on the economic and financial aspects of the Russian war in Ukraine. Doug previously represented the United States on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2010 to 2012, having been nominated by President Obama in 2009 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early 2010. In that role he served as a senior official of the U.S. Treasury Department and interacted with IMF, Finance Ministry and Central Bank counterparts from around the world, focused in particular on the response to the eurocrisis and its economic, financial and strategic consequences. He served as co-Head of the Biden Campaign International Economic Policy Team for Markets and Macroeconomics.

One of the most dynamic minds on the frontlines in the battle to keep the digital sphere safe for all, Tarah Wheeler is an information security executive, white hat hacker, and social scientist who equips organizations and individuals with the knowledge and tools they need to safeguard their data and reputations. Her experiences as a cybersecurity executive, advisor, and thought leader extend across various industries and institutions — from technology and commerce to government and academia. In her daily work, she develops and implements comprehensive cybersecurity programs at some of the world’s most important and complex organizations, advises on global cyber policy, and serves as a leading voice for the advancement of women in tech.

Michael Vickers is one of the most accomplished and legendary senior intelligence officials of the last four decades. The former under secretary of defense for intelligence – the “CEO” of our nation’s defense intelligence enterprise that includes agencies like the NSA, he understands the current geopolitical environment like no one else. This Green Beret-turned-CIA operative-turned top Pentagon intelligence official shares insights and eye-opening stories on challenges to the current world order (including what’s at stake for American business) and where we still have work to do.

Four-Star Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld is the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second highest-ranking officer in the entire United States Armed Forces. A highly decorated leader, his nearly 40-year, celebrated military career includes extensive time as a fighter pilot and as an instructor at TOPGUN before he led at the Pentagon. He was one of the Navy’s best pilots before taking on larger leadership roles and commanding at every level, including serving as an aircraft carrier commander during 9/11. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said, “He’s been the grease in the machinery between our special operations forces and our most senior decision makers, helping remove some of the worse terrorists from the fight.”