SPEAKERS in 2020
Christian Wulff Video Message
Former Federal President of Germany
As former Federal President of Germany (2010-2012) Christian Wulff is dedicated to the cause of the integration of people with a migration background and with interreligious dialogue. He is Chairman of the Foundation Board of Germany´s Integration Foundation, Honorary President of Euro-Mediterranean-Arab Association (EMA) and Global Chairman of GASME (Global Alliance of small and midsize enterprises). He regularly represents Germany at the international level, for example, during the German-Katarian Cultural Season, the official introduction of the Argentinean President Macri and the conference “Tunisia 2020”.
Christian Wulff was honored by the Turkish Community in Germany and received the Award of Tolerance of the Protestant Academy Tutzing. The Central Council of Jews in Germany honored him with the Leo Baeck Award in 2011. He is President of the German Choir Association and member of the Transatlantic Council on Migration as well as of the German Society of the Club of Rome. He acts as a patron of German Multiple Sklerosis Society and the RTL Com.mit Award 2017. Christian Wulff is member of the board of trustees of Felix-Nussbaum-Foundation and Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation.
As honorary doctor of the Tongji-University in Shanghai and the University of Tsukuba in Japan, he also works to foster Germany’s relationship to Asia. He is a guest professor in political science at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
From 1998-2010 Christian Wulff was deputy chairman of the CDU, from 2000-2010 deputy to the chairwoman Angela Merkel. From 2003-2010 he was Prime Minister of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). Prior to that he was the head of the parliamentary group of the Christian Democrats in Niedersachsen.
Hubert Védrine
Former Foreign Minister of France
He studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and also obtained a degree in history. He joined the French National School of Administration (ÉNA) and graduated in 1974. Following his appointment to the French Ministry of Culture, he joined the Directorate-General for Cultural, Scientific and Technical Relations of the French Foreign Ministry in 1979. Then He became Diplomatic Adviser to François Mitterrand, then spokesman for the Élysée (1988-1991), after a period spent at the French Conseil d'État (Council of State) in 1986. He also worked with François Mitterrand and witnessed three French Presidencies of the European Community and the European Union, in 1984, 1989 and 1995. He also took part in the preparations for the Fontainebleau and Strasbourg European Councils (1984 and 1989 respectively) and was involved in developing Franco- German relations during their most prolific years.
After Jacques Chirac was elected President of the Republic in 1995, Hubert Védrine returned to the Conseil d'État. Hubert Védrine was therefore Minister for Foreign Affairs from June 1997 to May 2002. Later in 2003, Hubert Védrine founded Hubert Védrine Conseil, a geopolitical strategy consultancy firm that has worked with several major French companies, as well as the law firm, Gide Loyrette Nouel. He teaches at an international relations seminar in the Paris Institute of Political Science. Since 1995, alongside his professional and political activities, he has regularly published books and articles.
Hassan Wirajuda
Former Foreign Minister of Indonesia
Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda was the Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009 and Member of the President's Advisory Council from 2010-2014. As a career diplomat, he was Ambassador to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador to Egypt, Director General of Political Affairs and Director of International Organizations. He was a proponent of promoting democracy and human rights in ASEAN and the Asia Pacific region and an avid advocate for more political and security cooperation in the East Asia region. He initiated the establishment of the Bali Democracy Forum and the Institute for Peace and Democracy.
Akira AMARI
Former Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific-Partnership(TPP), and Head of the LDP Research Commission on the Tax System
Akira Amari is a member of House of Representative (12th term) and currently serving head of the LDP Research Commission on the Tax System. He was the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2006 to 2008. Later he served as Minister of State in charge of Administrative Reform and the Minister of State for Economic Revitalization from 2014. In 2013, he was selected as one of the 50 Most Influential ranking published by Bloomberg.
Hideki MAKIHARA
State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Mr. Hideki MAKIHARA
coming soon...
Takehiko NAKAO
Former President, Asian Development Bank
Takehiko Nakao was the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors. He was elected as the President by ADB’s Board of Governors and assumed office in April 2013. He stepped down as the President on January 16, 2020.
Before joining ADB, Mr. Nakao was the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance of Japan, and fostered close ties with leading figures in the Asia-Pacific region, G7 and G20 nations. He held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance in Japan, which he joined in 1978, including Director-General of the International Bureau. He was assigned as Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C., between 2005 and 2007, and served as Advisor, Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund between 1994 and 1997.
Yasushi KUDO
President, The Genron NPO (Japan)
Yasushi Kudo is the founder and president of the Genron NPO since its establishment in 2001. In 2005, he launched annual civil dialogue (“Tokyo-Beijing Forum”) and joint opinion poll between Japan and China, which have been conducted over the 12 years since then. In 2013, he newly launched a dialogue, the Japan-Korea Future Dialogue, between Japan and Korea and has conducted a comparative opinion poll on impression of each other’s country. From 2012, Mr. Kudo has served as Japanese delegation of the Council of Councils, an international think tank network initiated by the Council on Foreign Relations. “The Asia Forum of Opinion Leaders” has also been established as a venue for open and free debate for intellectuals in Japan and Southeast Asian countries to jointly identify common challenges, and advocate solutions to them, while collaborating to bolster democracy and address challenges to democracy.
James M. LINDSAY
Senior Vice President, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) (The United States of America)
James M. Lindsay is senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he oversees the work of the more than six dozen fellows in CFR’s David Rockefeller Studies Program. He has written widely on the American foreign-policymaking process and the domestic politics of American foreign policy. His latest book is The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership, co-authored with Ivo H. Daalder and published by Public Affairs in October 2018. His previous book with Ambassador Daalder, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, was awarded the 2003 Lionel Gelber Prize. Dr. Lindsay writes The Water’s Edge blog and hosts The World Next Week and The President’s Inbox podcasts.
Rohinton P. MEDHORA
President, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) (Canada)
Rohinton P. Medhora is president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), joining in 2012. He served on CIGI's former International Board of Governors from 2009 to 2014. Previously, he was vice president of programs at Canada’s International Development Research Centre. His fields of expertise are monetary and trade policy, international economic relations and development economics.
Rohinton was recently named to The Lancet and the Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030, as well as the Commission on Global Economic Transformation, co-chaired by Nobel economics laureates Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz. He serves on the boards of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and the McLuhan Foundation, and is on the advisory board of the WTO Chairs Program and UNU-MERIT. Rohinton received his doctorate in economics in 1988 from the University of Toronto, where he also subsequently taught for a number of years.
Volker PERTHES
Executive Chairman and Director, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) (Germany)
Volker Perthes has been Executive Chairman and Director of SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, since October 2005.
In 2015/2016 he also served as UN Assistant Secretary General and Senior Adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria; from 2016 - 2018 he chaired the Ceasefire Task Force (CTF) for Syria on behalf of the UN.
Volker Perthes earned his doctoral degree in 1990 and his habilitation in 1999 from the University of Duisburg. He was an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut from 1991 to 1993, and has been teaching International Relations at Humboldt University Berlin and other schools.
Volker Perthes serves on various national and international bodies such as the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) (as chairperson), the International Advisory Council of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) or the Robert Bosch International Advisory Council.
Dr Perthes is a frequent commentator in German and international media on German and European foreign and security policy, international relations and geopolitics, and regional dynamics and transitions in the Middle East.
Ettore GRECO
Executive Vice President, Institute of International Affairs (IAI) (Italy)
Ettore Greco is Executive Vice President of the IAI and also heads the Italy's foreign policy and the Multilateralism and global governance programmes of the institute. He was also Director of the IAI from 2008 to 2017. He worked as visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution from January 2006 to July 2007. He taught at the universities of Parma and Bologna. From 2000 to 2006 he worked as correspondent for the Economist Intelligence Unit. From 1993 to 2000 he directed the IAI's program on Central and Eastern Europe. He was also Deputy Director of the IAI from 1997 to 2008. From 2000 to 2006 he was Editor of The International Spectator. He is the author of a number of publications on the EU's institutions and foreign policy, transatlantic relations and the Balkans. He has been a free-lance journalist since 1988.
Robin Niblett Video Message
Director, Chatham House (United Kingdom)
Dr. Robin Niblett CMG has led Chatham House since January 2007. Previously he was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 2001 to 2006.During his last two years at CSIS, he also served as director of the CSIS Europe Program and its Initiative for a Renewed Transatlantic Partnership.
He is a frequent panelist at conferences and events around the world and has testified on a number of occasions to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as US Senate and House of Representatives committees on European Affairs. He received his BA, MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University.
Sunjoy JOSHI
Chairman, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) (India)
Sunjoy Joshi Heads the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi as its Chairman and Chief Executive. He has over the last 10 years spearheaded the rise of the ORF as India’s premier think tank and window into the world of Global Affairs.
He took premature retirement in 2009 in order to pursue his academic interests. Since then he has developed expertise in the field of Energy, Climate Change, Technology and Development. He has been Visiting Associate at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London and Distinguished Visitor to the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, University of Stanford, USA. He speaks, publishes and comments on the world of technology, energy, and development, framing them in the context of global shifts and the challenges to growth and employment faced by emerging economies. To generate serious interest on these subjects among a wider audience he has initiated a regular Youtube commentary on Global and Current Affairs called India’s World which attracts a diverse audience and remains the only one of its kind in Hindi on such diverse subjects.
ONG Keng Yong
Executive Deputy Chairman, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) (Singapore)
Ambassador ONG Keng Yong is Executive Deputy Chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore since November 2014. Concurrently, he is Ambassador-at-Large in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Singapore’s non-resident High Commissioner to Pakistan and non-resident Ambassador to Iran. He was High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia from July 2011 to October 2014. Mr Ong was Secretary-General of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), based in Jakarta, Indonesia from January 2003 to January 2008.
Carlos Ivan SIMONSEN LEAL Video Message
President, Getulio Vergas Foundation (FGV) (Brazil)
Professor Carlos Ivan Simonsen Leal is President of the Getulio Vargas Foundation since August 2000. In 1980, he graduated in Civil Engineering from the Engineering School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), but opted for an academic life and graduated in Mathematical Economics from the “Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada”, in 1982. Doctor degree at the “Escola de Pós Graduação em Economia” - EPGE of Getulio Vargas Foundation (1980-1982) and obtained the title of Doctor in Economics from Princeton University (USA) in 1986. At FGV, he held the following positions: director of FGV Business, 1992-4; general director of EPGE, 1994-7; and vice-president of FGV, 1997-2000.
Paul TRIOLO
Practice Head Geo-Technology, Eurasia Group(The United States of America)
Paul S. Triolo leads the firm's newest practice, focusing on global technology policy issues, cyber-security, internet governance, ICT regulatory issues, and emerging areas such as automation, AI/Big Data, ambient intelligence, and fintech. He is building a cross-issue and cross-regional team that helps clients understand and assess the risk generated by the complex intersectionof politics, technology innovation, security threats, and the changing global regulatory environment.
Prior to joining Eurasia Group, Paul served in senior positions ithin the US government for more than 25 years, focusing primarily on China's rise as ascience and technology (S&T) and cyber power. He provided analytic supportto the president and senior policymakers, and was the lead drafter for anumber of widely acclaimed national estimates on China S&T innovation andindustrial policies, as well as cyber-space issues. Paul's technical background, including a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Penn State University and work experience in Silicon Valley, along with his extensive work on internet governance and policy issues in government, have prepared himto tackle the substantial challenges companies will face in cyber-space.
Nicholas HILL
Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy in Japan
A member of the Senior Foreign Service, Nicholas M. Hill became Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for Embassy Tokyo on July 20, 2019. Previously, he served as Minister Counselor for Economic and Science Affairs in Mission Tokyo. Prior to Tokyo, Mr. Hill served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo between 2012 and 2015. He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia between 2008 and 2011. Other overseas assignments include Tokyo, Zagreb, Budapest, Belgrade, and Montreal. He also served at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. Mr. Hill holds a B.A. in History and Economics from Bowdoin College, a Masters in International Relations from George Washington University, and a Masters in Security Studies from the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Yoshiko KOJO
Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo
coming soon...
Ichiro FUJISAKI
President, The America-Japan Society; Former Ambassador to the United States of America
Ichiro Fujisaki is President of the America-Japan Society, Inc. Born in 1947 and entered the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969. He was the Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2012, after serving as Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Ambassador to the permanent mission of Japan to the international organizations in Geneva
Seiichi KONDO
Director, Kondo Institute for Culture & Diplomacy ; Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs
Ambassador Seiichi KONDO is Director, Kondo Institute for Culture & Diplomacy.
He is Special Envoy for U,N, Affairs appointed by Foreign Minister, works for local governments, such as Chief Director of the Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation, , etc. He is visiting professor of Tokyo University of the Arts, and chairman of many cultural foundations. He served as Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs from 2010 to 2013. He was previously Ambassador to Denmark (2008-2010), and to the UNESCO (2006-2008). He graduated from the University of Tokyo, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972. Ambassador Kondo is the author of many books in Japanese and English.
He received many decorations including Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur (France), 200, The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Silver Rays (Japan), 2016
Yuji MIYAMOTO
Chairman of the Miyamoto Institute of Asian Research, former Ambassador to China
Yuji Miyamoto is the chairman of the Miyamoto Institute of Asian Research. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as the Director of China Division, Consul General of Japan in Atlanta, Deputy Director-General of the Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Science Department, Ambassador to Myanmar, and Ambassador to China between 2006 and 2010.