Former senior director for democracy and human rights, senior director for the Near East, and deputy national security adviser handling Middle East affairs in the George W. Bush administration. Former assistant secretary of state for UN affairs, human rights, and Latin America in the Reagan administration. Author of Tested by Zion, winner of the 2013 Washington Institute for Near East Policy's bronze prize.

Former Financial Times Washington bureau chief. Co-directed the Independent Task Force on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy (2011) and directed the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy (2009). Latest book, The Closing of the American Border, examines U.S. visa and border policies in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Former deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia, with more than two decades of experience working on the region across the nonprofit, private, and government sectors. Author of Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan. Currently writing a book about India.

Former legal adviser for the U.S. Department of State and National Security Council. Currently directing a roundtable series on international and national security law. A partner at Arnold & Porter, LLP.

Former commissioner to the National Commission on Terrorism and former staff member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Current work examines the U.S. national security agenda. Author of American Force: Dangers, Delusions, and Dilemmas in National Security and Arnold A. Saltzman professor of war and peace studies in the political science department, director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, and director of the international security policy program in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Award-winning author of Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle. Former associate professor and Elihu Root chair of military studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies. Current work examines U.S. defense policy and strategy.

Former director for human rights and gender on the White House National Security Council and senior advisor to the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues. Researcher focused on gender, security, women’s leadership, and economic development. 

Former deputy assistant to the president, deputy national security adviser for strategic planning, and presidential envoy to Iraq under George W. Bush. U.S. Ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. Author of Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World; Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China; Xi Jinping on the Global Stage; and War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft. Current work focuses on American foreign policy writ large as well as China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and geoeconomics. 

Expert on global health and international trade, investment, and regulatory policy. Adjunct professor of law, former U.S. trade negotiator. Currently directing the first Independent Task Force at the Council on Foreign Relations devoted to a global health matter, which focuses on noncommunicable diseases.

Award-winning author, historian, and military strategist. Author of The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power, War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today, and, most recently, the New York Times best-seller Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the African Union; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for refugee and migration affairs; Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University

Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations with over twenty-five years' experience in global issues, UN affairs, European Union and transatlantic relations,  and human rights. She is currently examining cooperation and competition in the global commons.

Researcher exploring the intersection of social media and conflict, as well as its implications for U.S. defense planning

One of the top Southeast Asia experts in the United States, with a long career in the region that spans academia, government and business. She was a leading architect of U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia during the Clinton and Bush Administrations and focuses on economic policy making in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar.

Colonel Brian R. Bruckbauer, U.S. Air Force, served as the commander of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and 673d Air Base Wing in Alaska where he was responsible for 5,500 personnel, $11.4B in infrastructure, and support to over 35,000 throughout Alaska. Previously he was the military assistant to the under secretary of defense for policy.

Colonel Bruckbauer holds a BA from the University of St. Thomas, an MA from the George Washington University, an MS from the College of Naval Command and Staff, and an MS from the National War College.

Global Chief Economist at Citigroup.  Formerly Chief Economist at the EBRD and external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.  Taught at Princeton, Bristol University, LSE, Yale and Cambridge.

Former ambassador to Nigeria (2004–2007) and career Foreign Service officer. Other tours included deputy assistant secretary for human resources, dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Language Studies, and director of the Office of UN Political Affairs. Author of Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink. He writes the blog Africa in Transition and edits the Nigeria Security Tracker and Sub-Saharan Security Tracker.

Captain Clint Carroll, U.S. Navy, commanded Amphibious Squadron 3, the Essex Amphibious Ready Group, and USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG-49). He has deployed to the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Captain Carroll served as the deputy commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, in the operations directorate of The Joint Staff, and as a Quadrennial Defense Review analyst on the Chief of Naval Operations' staff.

Captain Carroll holds a BS from the U.S. Naval Academy, an MBA from San Diego State University, and an MS from the National War College. He was a Joint Staff Fellow for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Program.

Captain Gregory D. Case, U.S. Coast Guard, commanded Coast Guard Sector Saint Petersburg, where he led 2,700 people and twelve units directing Coast Guard operations along the west coast of Florida and Tampa Bay, which included anti-terrorism activities and operations to stem the flood of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs He also served at multiple staff and operational commands throughout the nation's ports and waterways.

Captain Case holds a BA from Southern Illinois University, an MS, and a graduate certificate from the University of Washington.

Oil and gas equity analyst at Citigroup and adjunct fellow for energy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Author of Market Madness: A Century of Oil Panics, Crises, and Crashes.