Hady Amr

Director of the Brookings Doha Center

Hady Amr is a fellow at the Saban Center at Brookings and founding director of the Brookings Doha Center. Throughout his two decade career, he has been based in a half-dozen Muslim-majority countries and Common Challenges 11 territories from Sub-Saharan Africa, to the Balkans, to the Mid­dle East and traveled to 20 Muslim-majority countries. He was the lead author of major reports on subsets of the Muslim world, including the groundbreaking “The State of the Arab Child,” and “The Regional Statistical Report on the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2,” as well as “The Situation of Children Youth and Women in Jordan,” for UNICEF. Amr was an appointee at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University and a senior advisor to the World Economic Forum. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon and raised in Greece, Saudi Arabia, and the United States and earned his M.A. in economics from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University

Farah Pandith

Special Representative for Muslim Communities, U.S. Department of State

Farah Pandith was appointed Special Representative to Muslim Communities in June 2009. Her office is responsible for executing Secretary Clinton’s vision for engagement with Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organizational level. Prior to this appointment, she was Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Before joining the Department of State, she served as the Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives for the National Security Council. Special Representative Pandith served on the staff of the National Security Council 2010 U.S. - ISLAMIC WORLD FORUM Writing the Next Chapter 42 from December 2004 to February 2007. Prior to joining the NSC, Special Representative Pandith was Chief of Staff for the Bureau for Asia and the Near East for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She received a Master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she specialized in International Security Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Southwest Asia, and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She concentrated on the insurgency in Kashmir and has spoken on the subject in international and domestic forums. Prior to graduate school, Special Representative Pandith worked at USAID as the Special Assistant to the Director of Policy. She received an A.B. in Government and Psychology from Smith College.

Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani

Vice President for Education, Qatar Foundation

David Chavern

COO and Executive Vice-President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

David C. Chavern is executive vice president and chief operating officer at the United States Chamber of Commerce.  Chavern has responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Chamber including finance, small business and Mid-Market membership, information technology, and human resources, and he serves as chair of the Chamber’s Management Committee. Chavern also is responsible for the Chamber’s Capital Markets and Intellectual Property policy initiatives. In addition, he has over­sight for the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC) and the Office of the General Counsel. NCLC is the Chamber’s public policy law firm.  Chavern previously served as the Chamber’s chief of staff and vice president of its Capital Markets initiative, where he quickly became one of the nation’s leading voices on corporate governance and on the regulation of U.S. capital markets. Earlier, he served in several senior positions at the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, including deputy general counsel.

Martin Indyk

Vice-President and Director of the Foreign Policy Program, The Brookings Institution

Martin Indyk is the convener of the Saban Forum and was the founding Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He currently serves as the Director for Foreign Policy and Vice President at the Brookings Institution. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 1995 to 1997 and 2000 to 2001. Before his first posting to Israel, Indyk was Special Assistant to President William J. Clinton and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 1997 to 2000. Before entering the U.S. Government, Indyk was founding Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He currently serves as Chairman of the International Council of the New Israel Fund. His book, Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of U.S. Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East was published in January 2009 in both Hebrew and English. Most recently, Indyk contributed to the book Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran(2009) in conjunction with several other Saban Center and Brookings Senior Fellows. Indyk received a B.Econ. (Hon.) from Sydney University and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Australian National University.

His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, the State of Qatar

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani is Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar. Previously, he served as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 1982-1989 he was the Director of the Office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. In July 1989, Al-Thani was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture and in May 1990, served as Deputy Minister of Electricity and Water for two years. He has also served as Chairman of the Qatar Electricity and Water Company, President of the Central Municipal Council, Director of the Special Emiri Projects Office, member of Qatar Petroleum Board of Directors, and member of the Supreme Council for Planning. Additionally, Al-Thani has held several other key positions including member of the Supreme Defense Council, head of Qatar’s Permanent Committee for the Support of al-Quds, member of the Permanent Constitution Committee, member of the Ruling Family Council, and member of the Supreme Council for the Investment of the Reserves of the State.

President Barack Hussein Obama, 44^th President of the United States (via video)

His Excellency Abdelaziz Belkhadem

Special Envoy of His Excellency Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria

His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Prime Minister, Republic of Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey since March 2003.  He is also the Chairman of the Justice and Development Party, which has held the majority of seats in the Parliament since 2002.  Since coming to power, Mr. Erdoğan and his party have implemented economic reforms that have helped increase per capita annual income and reduce the public debt in Turkey.  In addition to economic reforms, many credit the Erdoğan government with reforming other aspects of the government and modernizing the country.  Further, Mr. Erdoğan has received many accolades for his role in promoting peace between cultures and recently won the King Faisal International Prize for “service to Islam” from the King Faisal Foundation.  Before his current role as Prime Minister, Mr. Erdoğan served as the Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 until 1998.

Senator John Kerry

Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, United States

John Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  Before being elected to the United States Senate in 1984, he served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1983 until 1985.  Since then, he has served in many capacities in the Senate, including as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs from 1991 until 1993.  In addition to his role as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Kerry currently serves on three other committees:  the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology; the Finance Committee; and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.  After graduating from Yale in 1966, he served in Vietnam with the U.S. Military on two tours of duty and received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts.

Shibley Telhami

Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland, United States

Shibley Telhamiis a nonresident senior fel­low at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Devel­opment at the University of Maryland. He is the author of The Stakes: America and the Middle East (2002) and Power and Leadership in International Bargaining: The Path to the Camp David Accords (1990), and coauthor of Liberty and Power: A Dialogue on Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy in an Unjust World (2004). He was an advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and to Congressman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Indiana). Telhami received a B.A. from Queens College of the City University of New York, an M.A. from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Pradeep Ramamurthy

Senior Director for Global Engagement, National Security Council, United States

Pradeep Ramamurthyis the Senior Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council. The Global Engagement directorate was created by President Obama “to drive comprehensive engagement policies that leverage diplomacy, communications, international development and assistance, and domestic engagement and outreach in pursuit of a host of national security objectives.” Mr. Ramamurthy is a career civil servant who has served at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Immediately prior to his current assignment, he was a director on the Homeland Security Council staff responsible for counterterrorism issues. From November 2007 – November 2008, Mr. Ramamurthy was the first-ever intelligence fellow for homeland security and counterterrorism, serving as an advisor on to the President’s Homeland Security Advisor. Before serving at the White House, Mr. Ramamurthy was a PDB Briefer to senior officials from 2006-2007. From 2005-2006, Mr. Ramamurthy was involved in the establishment of the FBI’s National Security Branch (NSB) and served as the special assistant to the NSB’s deputy director. Prior to 2005, Mr. Ramamurthy served in analytic positions focused on counterterrorism. Pradeep has a MA from the University of Chicago and a B.Sc. from Georgetown University.

Anwar Ibrahim

Leader of Parliamentary Opposition, Malaysia

Anwar Ibrahim is currently leader of Malaysia’s parliamentary opposition.  He served as deputy prime minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998 and as minister of finance from 1991-1998.  Highly respected for his principled stance against corruption and his skillful management of the Malaysian economy during the turbulent period of its financial crisis, Ibrahim is also viewed as one of the forefathers of the Asian Renaissance and a leading proponent of greater cooperation among civilizations.  He is an ardent supporter of democracy and is an authoritative voice bridging the gap between East and West. Recently he is credited with leading Malaysia’s opposition to unprecedented victories in the March 2008 Malaysian elections.  Ibrahim has held lecturing positions at Oxford University, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  In March 2006 he was named honorary president of the London-based think tank, AccountAbility.

Nabil Fahmy

Founding Dean of the School of Public Affairs, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Ambassador Fahmy is the founding Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Cairo. He is also the Chair of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies’ Middle East Project. Since September 1, 2008, he has been Ambassador at Large at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry after completing his post as Ambassador of Egypt to the United States since October 1999. He served as Egypt’s Ambassador to Japan from September 1997-September 1999 and before that as the Political Advisor to the Foreign Minister from 1992-97 and has held numerous posts in the Egyptian Government since 1974. As a career diplomat, Ambassador Fahmy played an active role in the numerous efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, as well as in international and regional disarmament affairs. He headed the Egyptian delegation to the Middle East Peace Process Steering Committee in 1993 and the Egyptian delegation to the Multilateral Working Group on Regional Security and Arms Control emanating from the Madrid Peace Conference from December 1991. Over the years, Ambassador Fahmy has been a member of the Egyptian Missions to the United Nations (Disarmament and Political Affairs) in Geneva and New York. He was elected Vice Chairman of the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security Affairs of the 44^th Session of the UN General Assembly in 1986. And from 1999 until 2003, he was a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board of Disarmament Matters where he served as its chairman in 2001. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics/Mathematics and his Master of Arts in Management, both from the American University in Cairo. He also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, an affiliate, of Middlebury College in May 2009.

Saeb Erakat

Member of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee, Palestinian National Authority

Strobe Talbott

President of the Brookings Institution

Strobe Talbott became President of the Brookings Institution in July 2002. He was previously Founding Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. Talbott served in the U.S. Department of State from 1993 to 2001, first as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union, and then as Deputy Secretary of State for seven years. He entered government after twenty-one years with TIME Magazine, during which he covered Eastern Europe, the U.S. Department of State, and the White House. He was TIME’s Washington Bureau Chief, Editor-at-Large, and Foreign Affairs Columnist, and he was recently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He began his publishing career by translating and editing two volumes of Nikita Khrushchev’s memoirs and has written eight books. His most recent book is The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation (2008). A Rhodes Scholar, Talbott received a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Litt. from Oxford University.

The Honorable Hillary Clinton

Secretary of State of the United States

On January 21, 2009, Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as the 67^th Secretary of State of the United States. Secretary Clinton joined the State Department after nearly four decades in public service as an advocate, attorney, First Lady, and Senator.  As First Lady of the United States, Hillary Clinton became an advocate of health care reform and worked on many issues relating to children and families. She led successful bipartisan efforts to improve the adoption and foster care systems, reduce teen pregnancy, and provide health care to millions of children through the Children's Health Insurance Program. She also traveled to more than 80 countries as a representative of the U.S., winning respect as a champion of human rights, democracy and civil society.  In 2000, Hillary Clinton made history as the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate, and the first woman elected statewide in New York. In the Senate, she served on the Armed Services Committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Budget Committee and the Select Committee on Aging. She was also a Commissioner on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.  As a Senator, Clinton worked across party lines to build support for causes important to her constituents and the country, including the expansion of economic opportunity and access to quality, affordable health care.  In 2006, Senator Clinton won reelection to the Senate, and in 2007 she began her historic campaign for President. In 2008, she campaigned for the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and in November, she was nominated by President-elect Obama to be Secretary of State.

Ken Pollack

Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings

Kenneth M. Pollack is the Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution and a Brookings Senior Fellow. He has served as Director of Persian Gulf Affairs and Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, Senior Research Professor at the National Defense University, and Iran-Iraq military analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. Pollack’s most recent book is A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East (2008), and he is the lead author of Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy toward Iranwith several other Brookings Senior Fellows. He is also co-author with Daniel L. Byman of Things Fall Apart: Containing the Spillover from an Iraqi Civil War (2007) and author of A Switch in Time: A New Strategy for America in Iraq (2006), ThePersian Puzzle: The Conflict between Iran and America (2004), The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq (2002), and Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 (2002). Pollack received a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Department of State

Richard C. Holbrooke is the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, where he was also a member of President Clinton’s cabinet (1999-2001). As Assistant Secretary of State for Europe (1994-1996), he was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia. He later served as President Clinton’s Special Envoy to Bosnia and Kosovo and Special Envoy to Cyprus on a pro-bono basis while a private citizen. From 1993-1994, he was the US. Ambassador to Germany. During the Carter Administration (1977-1981), he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and was in charge of U.S. relations with China at the time Sino-American relations were normalized in December of 1978. After joining the Foreign Service in 1962, he served in Vietnam (1963-66), including a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta for AID. He worked on Vietnam issues at the Johnson White House (1966-68); wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers; and was a member of the American delegation to the Vietnam Peace Talks in Paris (1968-69). He was Peace Corps Director in Morocco (1970-72), Managing Editor of Foreign Policy (1972-77), and held senior positions at two leading Wall Street firms, Credit Suisse First Boston (Vice Chairman) and Lehman Brothers (Managing Director). He has written numerous articles and two best-selling books: To End a War, a memoir of the Dayton negotiations, and co-author of Counsel to the President, Clark Clifford’s memoir. He previously wrote a monthly column for The Washington Post. He has received over twenty honorary degrees and numerous awards, including several Nobel Peace Prize nominations. He was the Founding Chairman of the American Academy in Berlin, a center for U.S.-German cultural exchange; formerly President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition, the business alliance against HIV/AIDS; and former Chairman of the Asia Society. Previous NGO board memberships have included the American Museum of Natural History, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Citizens Committee for New York City, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Refugees International. He was Director Emeritus of The Africa-America Institute, was on the Advisory Board of MEMRI, was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and formerly a member of the U.S. Board of Governors of Interpeace, and a former Professor-at-Large, Brown University.

Ashraf Ghani

Chairman, Institute for State Effectiveness, Afghanistan

Ashraf Ghani is currently Chairman of the Institute for State Effectiveness. As Adviser to the UN Secretary General he advised on the Bonn Agreement for Afghanistan and then as Afghanistan's Finance Minister he is credited with a series of successful reforms in Afghanistan, including reform of the treasury, customs, budget and the currency. He prepared Afghanistan's first National Development Framework and Securing Afghanistan's Future, a $28bn reconstruction program for the country. As Chancellor of Kabul University, he instituted a style of participatory governance to enlist the students in managing their university's transformation. Dr Ghani is involved on the advisory boards for a number of activities supporting the reform of global institutions, including the Commission on the UN High-Level Panel on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, IDEA, and The Brookings Institution's project on global insecurity, the Atlantic Council, and the World Justice Project of the American Bar Association. He is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at The Brookings Institution.  He was educated at the American University Beirut and Colombia University, and taught at Johns Hopkins and Berkeley Universities before joining the World Bank, where for a decade he led work on country strategies and policies.

Asha Haji Elmi

Chairperson, Save Somali Women and Children, Somalia

Asha Hagi Elmi is chair and founder of Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC). She has managed to unify women across en­trenched clan and ethnic divides to advocate for their rights and development concerns in the national political processes. At the peace and reconciliation conference in 2000, Hagi served as a vice-chair on behalf of the Sixth Clan. She has since been elected as a member of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Parliament and sworn in as a member of the Pan African Parliament in Johannesburg in May 2006. She was honored for her tireless human rights and peace-building work by receiving the Alternative Nobel Prize, often called the world’s premier award for personal courage and social transfor­mation. She is a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award 2008 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hagi holds a Laureate of Arts in economics from the Somalia National University, and a mas­ter’s in business administration and organizational development from the U.S. International University Africa in Nairobi.