International Affairs Speakers

Patrick Mercer, Member of Parliament for Newark since 2001, previously worked as a journalist and as a soldier with the British Army.

Patrick Mercer has a reputation as a lively and uncompromising British conservative politician, whose fascinating career experiences and robust political engagement on security and anti-terrorist issues make him a formidable, direct ‘no-nonsense’ speaker.

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After nearly a decade in Parliament and before that successful work in journalism and the British Army, Patrick Mercer invariably makes an impact both privately and as a forceful public speaker.

Patrick Mercer read History at Oxford University before following his father’s example and joining the British Army, being commissioned into the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in 1975. He completed nine tours in Northern Ireland and commanded his battalion in Bosnia, Canada and Tidworth.

He was Mentioned in Despatches in 1983 while serving in Northern Ireland and earned a gallantry commendation in 1990 and the MBE in 1992. In 1997 he received the OBE for services in Bosnia. He left the Army in 1999 as a Colonel, having been head of communications and strategy at the Army Training & Recruiting Agency.

He then became the Defence Correspondent for the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme and worked as a freelance for the Daily Telegraph; this involved him reporting from many trouble-spots, including Kosovo and East Timor where he helped design newly independent East Timor’s first national defence policy.

In 2001 he was Member of Parliament for Newark in the English Midlands, defeating the Labour candidate in a strong personal success. After serving as a back-bencher on the Defence Select Committee he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. In 2003 he took up a senior new Opposition position as Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, a position he held until March 2007 when he resigned following a controversy over remarks made about race relations in the Armed Forces.

In 2004 Patrick Mercer introduced a Private Member’s Bill intended to give stronger legal protection to householders defending their property from burglars; this initiative received much popular support but did not proceed after the 2005 general elections.

Patrick Mercer is now known for his clear and uncompromising conservative positions on defence and intelligence issues. He supported the Iraq intervention and opposes further European Union powers, favouring a strong national UK defence effort. On domestic questions he has opposed the introduction of a national identity card scheme and favours reduced central state control of education.

Patrick Mercer now maintains a lively media profile and has written three books, including two vivid historical novels with Victorian/imperial military themes and a very well received account of the 1854 Battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War.

His novel To Do and Die was praised by Bernard Cornwell: ‘A tremendous achievement by a storyteller who knows the humour, the fear and the frenzy of men in battle.’

Patrick Mercer has firm convictions and trenchant views, drawn from his unusually varied career often spent applying policies to tough real-life military and anti-terrorist circumstances in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. He speaks fluently and with passion, including memorable and thought-provoking examples from past and present where lethal force has been used, for better or worse.

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP is Member of Parliament for Blackburn, having previously served in successive senior Cabinet positions in Labour governments from 1997 through to 2010

Jack Straw is one of the most experienced British and European politicians. During his long career including continuous Cabinet-level roles, he has taken a leading part in many momentous political decisions in both national and international politics.

He has a reputation for clear thinking and professional, pragmatic good sense.

After a prominent radical role in national student politics in the 1960s, he qualified and worked as a barrister, did three years as an advisor to two Cabinet Ministers (Barbara Castle, and Peter Shore), and was then on Granada TV’s flagship “WORLD IN ACTION” programme. He was a London borough councillor, and Deputy Leaders of the Inner London Education Authority.

He first entered Parliament as a Labour MP representing Blackburn in 1979. He had a number of Shadow Cabinet roles before becoming Home Secretary after the Labour Party’s 1997 election victory, and then Foreign Secretary in 2001 and Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal in 2006. He served as Lord High Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2007 until 2010.

Now again in Opposition, Jack Straw continues to play a leading role in national politics, on home and foreign policy, and not least in issues involving the UK’s Muslim population (his constituency Blackburn has a sizeable Muslim community). His deft personal style combines with his immense domestic and foreign policy insight (he was closely involved in key decisions before and after the intervention in Iraq) to make him a formidable and fascinating expert speaker.

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After three decades in Parliament and successive Cabinet positions, Jack Straw is one of the most experienced and insightful British and international political figures.

Jack Straw read law at Leeds University and in the 1960s became a national student leader known for radical positions, to the point of being described by the Foreign Office as a “troublemaker acting with malice aforethought” for his political activity involving Chile. After qualifying as a barrister he had various media roles and entered Parliament in 1979 as the MP for Blackburn. He was Shadow spokesman on Education, then Environment and Shadow Home Secretary before being appointed Home Secretary after the Labour Party won the 1997 general election.

His time as Home Secretary had its fair share of controversies (including new measures to increase police powers to deal with suspected terrorists) but also saw the European Convention in Human Rights incorporated into British law.

Appointed Foreign Secretary in 2001, he soon played a leading role in the dramatic and difficult foreign policy problems arising from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and then the interventions in Afghanistan and then Iraq. He publicly defended these decisions, although later in January 2010 he told the Iraq Inquiry in London that the 2003 decision to go to war “had haunted him”. In 2006 he was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal with responsibility for parliamentary reform. He returned to the Opposition benches after Labour lost the 2010 general elections

Jack Straw has attracted publicity for some of his policy positions concerning Muslim issues, not least his call in 2006 for Muslim women not to wear the full veil: “I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone ‘face-to-face’ whom I could not see”. His close relations with his very diverse Blackburn constituency (including his position as honorary vice president of Blackburn Rovers football club) mean that he has given a lot of thought to sensitive community relations issues in a modern democracy. In 2009 on the BBC’s Question Time TV programme he was a member of the panel which included British National Party leader Nick Griffin.

Although often criticized for his firm approach to a number of civil liberties questions concerning suspected terrorists and then his high-profile role in supporting the Iraq intervention, Jack Straw remains a popular figure in the UK and Europe, not least for his wry sense of humour: as Home Secretary he joked that his large department was “full of civil servants working diligently on projects that might ruin my career”.

His disarmingly understated, professional style as well as his formidable intellect and practical experience in so many policy areas give him a unique profile, not only in the UK and European Union but also at the international level. Few active politicians today match his insight and breadth of senior policy knowledge. He has many striking personal anecdotes and thoughtful examples of what works in politics – and what does not.

Christine Ockrent is both producer and anchor of the weekly current affairs program France Europe Express on France 3 Television.

She is also president of the advisory board of METRO International France, and a columnist for various French and Swiss newspapers.

Born into a family of diplomats, Christine Ockrent is a graduate of The Institute of political Studies in Paris. She began her career as a journalist for American television when she made her career televisual “scoop” in 1979. While going to interview in prison a former Prime Minister for the Shah of Iran a few days before her execution.

Previously she was editor in chief of the weekly news magazine, L’Express, the only journalist granted an interview with Saddam Hussein in the middle of the Gulf War. As well as becoming the first woman to anchor and edit the prime time news. She has had an outstanding career in television, both as producer of documentaries and anchor of the evening news, where she shaped a style as the first woman presenter and editor.

Ms. Ockrent was also deputy director general of TF1 Television and an editor with RTL Radio. She began her career in broadcast journalism at NBC News and worked for eight years at CBS’ 60 Minutes. She has been awarded several French and international distinctions for her work in TV journalism.

She is a graduate of the Institut d’études politiques in Paris and studied at Cambridge University.

She has written eight books, one of which translated in German (“Wie Julius Caesar den Euro erfand” Rowohlt).

Christine Ockrent is also the author of eight books, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and member of the board of directors of Reporters without borders, she is married to Bernard Kouchner, a senior French Minister and founder, organizer and president of “Médecins sans Frontières” (1971-1979); and of “Médecins du Monde” (non-profit-making organization whose members, all voluntary and doctors and nurses, help in times of emergency and situations of inadequate medical care in the third world) (1980-1988).

Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP has an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of government, both as a Minister of State for Europe at the Foreign Office and as deputy Foreign Secretary.

Dr MacShane has spoken to diverse audiences from both public and private sector in the UK and abroad. He specialises in penetrating political and economic analysis laced with stories about the many senior politicians with whom he has enjoyed close working relationships.

As the MP who suggested in a changing room of the Commons to David Cameron that Mr Cameron should run for Leadership of the Conservative Party, Dr MacShane has made a small contribution to choosing the new Prime Minister.

He is one of Parliament’s most forceful speakers, known for the sharpness and wit of his interventions. He appears regularly on BBC and Sky TV and on the Today programme. His columns appears in The Times, Daily Telegraph. Observer, Independent and he writes regularly on European political affairs for Newsweek.

As a member of the Privy Council and Foreign Office minister, Dr MacShane had many dealings with the royal family which he builds into his speeches and talks with humorous insights. He specialises in CEO retreats and business conference and dinners where participants want a full and frank insight into how ministers and politicians arrive at their decisions, particularly relating to European affairs.

Dr MacShane speaks French, German and Spanish and writes regularly for European and North American papers. His latest books include a biography of Edward Heath and a study of global anti-semitism. He has four children and won an award as the fastest skier in Parliament. He has been MP for Rotherham since 1994.

Books by Rt Hon Denis MacShane include:

Buy Denis MacShane’s books here

Specific topics:

The global economy – challenges, risks, where the action is

Europe – yesterday’s dream, today’s problem

Lifting the veil on goverment – how it really works

The real controllers of power in britain

Why Labour lost and the Coalition will too

From Downing Street to buckingham place – why monarchs last and prime minister don’t

Ten things you didn’t know (but should) about the world economy

The end of foreign policy

Rachel Marsden is an internationally renowned political affairs commentator, a communications strategist, analyst, writer, and broadcast journalist.

“Rachel offers incisive comment, witty insight, informed opinion and a rare slice of beauty to modern political commentary” THE POLITICONOMIST

Currently based in Paris, she has presented programmes in varying capacities on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business, Al Jazeera, LCP TV France, Paris Premiere (France), iTele (France), France24, Global Television, Sirius Satellite Radio and other TV and radio outlets.

Unique in many respects, Rachel is immersed and informed in political affairs on both sides of the Atlantic. This rare knowledge has made her a popular conference and consultancy choice with many leading global corporations.

Marsden is a contributor to London’s Daily Telegraph online, Human Events, Townhall.com, and many other publications.

Previously a weekly columnist with Sun Media, she contributes to publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Washington Times/United Press International, Newsmax Media, and The Vancouver Sun. Marsden has also written a twice-weekly political column for the National Post – one of Canada’s two national newspapers – with one weekly column about national/international politics, and the other about Toronto/Ontario affairs.

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Marsden was raised in the birthplace of political talk-radio, where she grew up listening to Jack Webster and watching Liberal Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, flip people off. She still holds several major records in competitive swimming from her days as an international level competitor.

The fully bilingual former print and runway model was schooled almost exclusively in French until high school. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Simon Fraser University on a full academic scholarship before pursuing graduate studies in law and criminology, a journalism degree at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, then political journalism at the National Journalism Center in Washington, DC. For her academic achievements, she was awarded the Canadian Governor General’s medal for academic excellence.

After working as a producer, anchor, camerawoman, and reporter for a cable news outlet in her hometown, and as a videographer for Rugby Canada and BC Rugby, her first major media position was with ABC News’ 20/20 in New York City, where she apprenticed under Connie Chung and learned that you can’t live in New York City on $5/day. After an apprenticeship in talk-radio at the Radio America Network in Washington, DC, Marsden was hired as Director of a DC-based conservative think-tank that was a key component of President George W. Bush’s beltway coalition during the lead-up to the Iraq War.

She returned to her native Canada to work as an operative on two simultaneous federal campaigns for current Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party in the province of British Columbia, specializing in communications strategy and opposition intelligence.

At the same time, she began contributing to United Press International (UPI), and hosting a call-in talk-radio show in Vancouver, BC, where she interviewed and debated guests ranging from Canada’s then Deputy Prime Minister, Sheila Copps, and current International Trade Minister, Stockwell Day, to Ann Coulter and Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy of the Richard Nixon administration.

It was this hour-long interview with Liddy – in which he talked in-depth about his role in Watergate and the scandal’s aftermath – that caught the attention of David Asper, the Executive Vice-President of the CanWest Global media empire, who offered her a Toronto-based political columnist position at the National Post, in conjunction with then publisher, Lester Pyette.

Having quickly established a unique, controversial, populist conservative voice in the Canadian media, she switched to a regular column in the Sun Media chain, and started her own public relations and communications company on Toronto’s Bay Street.

While based in Toronto, Marsden started out with the Fox News Channel in 2004 as the Canadian Correspondent for The O’Reilly Factor — the top-rated cable news show in the world — after she was spotted as a regular panelist on Dennis Miller’s CNBC show in Los Angeles. She was recruited by Rupert Murdoch’s chief lieutenant and former Ronald Reagan communications strategist, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who personally selected her to be the only conservative on a daily national talk show with three other male co-hosts.

After several months, Marsden left the show when it underwent a format change, stating, “The show has drastically changed direction since its inception and apparently no longer has a place for a political pundit.” She has since appeared on Fox Business.

Marsden has since returned to her entrepreneurial roots, picking and choosing interviews, appearances and projects, and working with various television and radio networks as a free-agent. She continues to work as a political operative, opposition intelligence (“oppo”) researcher and media/strategy consultant, in France, the USA, UK, emerging democracies, Canada and elsewhere.

She speaks on Capitol Hill and elsewhere on topics such as national and international politics; the impact of current political events on business; political strategies applied to business; crisis management; the war on terrorism; national security; leveraging media and public relations in business; media and technology; politics and technology; election analysis; the cultural and economic impact of immigration; and various other public policy issues.

In February 2008, Marsden launched an online political talent project and magazine, GrandCentralPolitical.com to cultivate new and emerging media and political talent.

Roger is one of the BBC’s most experienced presenters and correspondents. He has covered nine wars and twenty two elections as well as coups, revolutions and other major events across the world for TV and radio. Since 1999 he has been presenting the World Today, Newshour and other BBC World Service programmes, along with the World Tonight on Radio Four, and Talking Point on BBC World TV.

After many years in high-level diplomacy Charles Crawford has a unique profile as an imaginative, dynamic and even provocative speaker who has addressed audiences large and small in English, Polish and Serbian

After an Honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University he qualified as a Barrister before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

From 1985-87 Charles served as Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe’s official Speechwriter, contributing ideas/language for speeches by the Foreign Secretary (major set-piece speeches, Parliamentary debates and less formal after-dinner remarks)

His first job on joining the FCO in 1979 was to head the Indonesia Section, followed by his first posting, to communist post-Tito Yugoslavia. He returned to London in 1984 and after a year on the Aviation Desk was appointed FCO Speech-writer. He was posted to South Africa in 1987 as part of the Embassy team led by Ambassador Robin Renwick working to end apartheid.

Returning to London in 1991 he worked in the FCO Department dealing with the Soviet Union as communist rule collapsed. He then spent three years in Moscow as Political Counsellor and then served three times as HM Ambassador: in Sarajevo (1996-1998); in Belgrade (2001-2003) and most recently in Poland (2003-2007).

In 1987 he wrote the FCO’s first Guide to Speech-Writing, a dynamic text full of real-life examples on how to write speeches – and how to weed out lugubrious mistakes. Two decades later it remains a core part of the FCO’s speech-drafting training

He subsequently contributed to speeches by members of the Royal Family and successive Prime Ministers, as well as different Ministers and other senior personalities in public and commercial life

He left the FCO at the end of 2007 to start a new career as writer, consultant, mediator and trainer. In 2009 he joined the UK Conservative Party candidates list

In recent months Charles Crawford led training courses for senior EU and other officials and private clients aimed at improving their communication skills. He has written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Independent, DIPLOMAT and Total Politics.

In 2009 his audiences included the Headmasters Conference and Conservative Friends of Poland, as well as private groups and academic gatherings

In 2010 he and other former British Ambassadors in partnership with ADR Group launched a new senior strategic dispute resolution panel, ADRg Ambassadors

Charles Crawford’s trenchant observations on public policy issues are now available to a growing readership on his blog




Such honesty has no place in modern government…it’s bloody dangerous!
Andrew Dodge (Samizdata)

The most telling critique of this delusional foreign policy comes in regular instalments in the form of a blog by the former British ambassador to Poland, Charles Crawford. It’s called www.charlescrawford.biz, and if you want to know just how much in despair many of our diplomats are, this is the place to look
Dominic Lawson (The Times, 2010)

In 2005 a humorous FCO email he wrote as Ambassador to Warsaw (a satirical speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair damning other countries’ selfishness on EU Budget issues) caused a stir when it was leaked to the Sunday Times

His FCO written work was praised at the highest levels in London, NATO and the EU for its uncompromising dynamic style:

“fabulously readable and interesting analysis, with practical application … just about the best scenesetter [No10 staff] have ever seen”

“acrobatic and eye-catching in his use of language”

As a speaker Charles Crawford draws on dramatic episodes from his diplomatic career to explain wider policy themes, paradoxes and trends. His presentations are interesting and thought-provoking, but above all memorable

He is strong on foreign and public policy issues such as:

o Communism (and Vampires)
o Dealing with extremists and war criminals
o Climate change and PPP (perverse precautionary principles)
o Amazon Space: how the Internet is changing the strategic policy context
o International negotiation (as explained by Shrek, the Joker and Clint Eastwood)
o UK/European Union relations: Too Big (not) to Fail

Stephan Shakespeare is widely known as the charismatic founder of YouGov, PoliticsHome, ConservativeHome and 18 Doughty Street, the world’s first political internet TV station. Born in post war Germany, Shakespeare saw politics at work from an early age through his father who was a Journalist and press officer.

His family relocated to the UK in 1962 where he continued his education graduating from Oxford. Shakespeare was founding Principal of Landmark West Preparatory School in Los Angeles and held several senior teaching positions in California before returning to Britain as a political commentator, including a stint as a pollster for the Conservative party and spokesman for Jeffrey archer. Education remains an area of particular interest to him; he writes regularly for the national press on education policy.

Stephan Shakespeare has an unrivalled ability to understand and predict political outcomes. In the general election of 1997, he was beaten for the Colchester seat by Lib Dem candidate Bob Russell.

Within a year of founding market research and polling company YouGov he scored a major coup by predicting 2001 election victory for Labour to an accuracy of 1%. Shakespeare’s reputation as a fearsome innovator and businessman equals his political ability. YouGov has aquired major investment and now operates in the USA.

The Guardian included him in their line up of UK 100 most influential media personalities in 2008, rating him as “the pollster with the uncanny ability of getting it right”.

In 2008 Shakespeare along with Freddie Sayers established PoliticsHome which became rapidly established as the definitive source for political research and news.

PoliticsHome has become one of the most visited sites for political professionals and commentators, as with YouGov the operation has extended its services to America, and its innovative methods have been applied to the commercial sector across the world.

Alan Fisher is a Scottish broadcast journalist, currently working as the London correspondent for Al Jazeera International. He was born and raised in Motherwell and studied at journalism at Napier College in Edinburgh. He joined Moray Firth Radio in Inverness and then Northsound Radio in Aberdeen.

He moved to television, initially working at Grampian Television for the regional news programme North Tonight and then, Scottish Television as a reporter on Scotland Today. He joined GMTV as Ireland correspondent setting up their bureau in Belfast.

He was promoted to Chief Correspondent and reported from Bosnia, Rwanda and Iraq during the first Gulf War. He has also appeared in Bad Girls where he played a reporter.

Since his arrival at Al Jazeera, he has reported from across the globe including stints in Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and many countries across Europe. He is also a columnist with the on-line current affairs magazine Scottish Review and a patron of the Young UK Programme.

Michael Portillo was born in North London in 1953. His father, Luis, had come to Britain as a refugee at the end of the Spanish Civil War, and his mother, Cora, was brought up in Fife. She met Luis while she was an undergraduate at Oxford.

Michael attended a grammar school, Harrow County, and went to Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree in History. Leaving Cambridge in 1975, he worked for a shipping company for a year before moving to the Conservative Research Department in 1976, staying three years.

At the General Election in 1979 he was responsible for briefing Margaret Thatcher before her press conferences and for the next two years was special adviser to the Secretary of State for Energy.

He worked for Kerr McGee Oil (UK) Ltd from 1981 – 1983. He contested the Birmingham Perry Bar seat at the 1983 Election.

Michael returned to politics as a special adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Nigel Lawson) and in December 1984 won the by-election in Enfield Southgate, caused by the murder of Sir Anthony Berry MP in the Brighton bombing. Michael represented the seat for thirteen years but was defeated in the 1997 Election.

He joined the Government in 1986, and remained a member until 1997. He was a whip, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Social Security, Minister of State for Transport, Minister of State for Local Government and Inner Cities; and as a Cabinet Minister was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Employment, and Secretary of State for Defence. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1992.

After his 1997 electoral defeat, Michael returned to Kerr McGee as an adviser. He also turned to journalism. He wrote about walking as a pilgrim on the Santiago Way, and working as a hospital porter. He had a weekly column in The Scotsman. He had a three part series for Channel 4 about politics Portillo’s Progress, and a programme in BBC2’s Great Railway Journeys series, which was partly a biography of his late father, and radio programmes on Wagner and the Spanish Civil War.

Michael was re-elected to Parliament in a by-election in Kensington and Chelsea in November 1999 and was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer February 2000 – September 2001. Following the Conservatives’ election defeat in 2001, Michael unsuccessfully contested the leadership of the party. In 2005 Michael left the House of Commons.

Michael has made a number of television programmes for BBC2 including Art that shook the world: Richard Wagner’s Ring, Portillo in Euroland, Elizabeth I in the series Great Britons, When Michael Portillo became a single mum, and Portillo Goes Wild in Spain (a natural history programme). For BBC4 he has made several series of Dinner with Portillo, a discussion programme. In 2006 he joined The Moral Maze team on BBC Radio 4. In 2003 he began the weekly political discussion programme This Week on BBC1 with fellow presenters Andrew Neil and Diane Abbott MP. Beginning in 2004 Michael became a weekly columnist on The Sunday Times and was the theatre critic of The New Statesman between 2004 and 2006.

Michael is a member of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the former Yugoslavia (which organises the identification of massacre victims) under the chairmanship of Jim Kimsey, and sits on of the Board of BAE Systems plc.

Former Vice President Al Gore is Chairman of Generation Investment Management and also serves as Chairman of Current TV, is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer and a Senior Advisor to Google. He is also a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University.

Gore was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976, to the Senate in 1984 and 1990, and was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1993. During the administration, he was a central member of President Clinton’s economic team, served as President of the Senate, a Cabinet member, a member of the National Security Council, and as the leader of a wide range of Administration initiatives.

He led the Clinton Administration’s efforts to protect the environment, authoring a best selling book on the topic, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992). He led the administration’s efforts to protect the environment without weakening the US economy – working with the Big Three car makers to support the development of a new generation of fuel embodied this ethos.

In January 2006, the documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Vice President Gore, was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film, a visually arresting presentation designed to disabuse doubters of the notion that climate change is debatable caused debate which has led to many global initiatives and increased awareness, especially within the United States of America.

As Vice President of the United States, winner of the popular vote in the mind-whirling campaign of 2000, congressman, Vietnam veteran and journalist, Al Gore offers a unique perspective on national and international affairs. He is also one of the most powerful champions of environmental awareness in America today.

His multimedia presentation, which is a mesmerizing account of the consequences of climate change, was turned into the critically acclaimed documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, and is making headlines across the country.

In addition to his impassioned efforts with the environment, he has also carved out a considerable business career as Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a new London-based fund management firm that creates environment-friendly portfolios; Senior Advisor to Google; one of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer and is President of the recently launched and successful Current TV, a cable television network aimed at 18 – 24 year olds which is best described as a cross between MTV and CNN.

• An Inconvenient Truth

In a visually stunning multimedia presentation that both admonishes and inspires audiences, Vice President Gore confronts environmental issues in the world today and their impact on our global civilization.

• Thinking Green: Economic Strategy for the 21st Century

Arguing that the physical changes in our planet will eventually influence our global economy, Vice President Gore encourages business audiences to consider broader issues – environmental, social and political – when planning economic strategy.

• The Democratization of Technology

Consistently an active leader in technology, Vice President Gore discusses technological advancement and the potential of user involvement. He identifies key opportunities and challenges, charting a new digital society.

Carl Bildt is the current Foreign Secretary and former prime minister of Sweden from 1991-1994, and European Union envoy to ex-Yugoslavia from 1995-1997. He became Special Envoy for the Balkans and Chairman of Sweden’s opposition party, the Moderate Party.

With the issue of a “Greater Europe” being a topic of intense debate, thanks to the proposed expansion of the EU and of NATO in Europe, Carl Bildt’s vast experiences in East and West enable him to comment authoritatively on the Europe of the future.

With his unchallenged leadership and negotiation skills in highly adverse situations, he offers a privileged insight to those who want to place their business advantageously for the future.

In 1991 Carl Bildt was elected Prime Minister and formed a government in coalition with three other non-socialist parties. He held the position until 1994 and became the Leader of the Opposition, a position he still holds today. In June 1995, Carl Bildt became the European Union’s Special Representative for former Yugoslavia and Co-chairman of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia. In December at the Peace Implementation Conference he was appointed High Representative by the international community, with responsibility for the implementation of the civilian parts of the Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a position which he stepped down from in 1997.

Carl Bildt was elected a Member of Parliament in 1979. Since 1981 he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Moderate Party. He was also a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1986, and has been a member of the Royal Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs since 1982. In 1986 he became the Chairman of the Moderate Party, a post he still holds today.

Carl Bildt is a very informative and charismatic keynote speaker. With keen observations that reflect his dedication to the process of political and economic integration in Europe, he shows the qualities necessary for any business to prosper in the “Greater Europe”.

His topics include:
• The Greater Europe after Bosnia and Herzegovina, and now Kosovo
• The future of Europe and its position in the world

His publications include :
1. Landet som steg ut i kylan (1972, The Country that Stepped out into the Cold)
2. Framtid i frihet (1976, A Future in Freedom)
3. Hallänning, svensk, europe (Bonniers 1991, A Citizen of Halland, Sweden and Europe)

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998. He also served as Minister of Finance for Malaysia 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, Anwar 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. Anwar was invited to join the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the ruling political party in Malaysia, and the government in 1982, by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. His rise in the party and in the government was meteoric.

He was elected in 1984, as Leader of UMNO Youth and in 1986, became a Vice-President of UMNO. He served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1983; Minister of Agriculture in 1984; and Minister of Education in 1986, prior to his tenure as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the 90s.

Active on the national front, Anwar has also been highly engaged in the international arena. He has been a strong advocate for civilizational dialogue and has worked tirelessly towards the ideals of Convivencia, the mutual coexistence of civilizations and the interplay of different social, cultural, and spiritual ideas.

Anwar also was Chairman of the Development Committee of World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 1998. During his tenure he strongly endorsed the initiatives of debt cancellation and reprieve for poor countries, particularly those in Africa.

Throughout his career in public service, Anwar was unrelenting in his campaign against corruption and has been committed to the ideals of empowerment, justice, and equity. He has stressed the need for internal reforms in order to reinforce civil and democratic institutions and to expand the democratic space. As acting Prime Minister in 1997 he introduced the controversial but effective Anti-Corruption Legislation. His emphasis on social justice, poverty eradication, education and civil society has guided his government involvement to the end.

During his tenure as Finance Minister, Malaysia enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and economic growth and joined the ranks of other Asian countries as an “Asian Tiger.” Anwar’s impact on the economy was immediate. Shortly after becoming Finance Minister, Euromoney named him as one of the top four finance ministers and in 1996, Asiamoney named him Finance Minister of the Year.

In the midst of Asian Financial Crises of 1997, Anwar was hailed for guiding Malaysia through this period of instability. He backed free market principles and called for “creative destruction”, highlighting the need to reconsider the proximity of business and politics in Malaysia. He advocated for greater accountability and refused to offer government bail-outs to companies facing bankruptcy. He also instituted widespread spending cuts and gut government expenditure on mega projects. These prescriptions saved the Malaysian economy and earned Anwar many accolades, including the title “Asian of the Year” by Newsweek International in 1998.

As Anwar amplified his calls for reform in 1998, fearing that he was losing his grip over the country, then Prime Minister Mahathir dismissed Anwar from the government and had him tried on trumped up charges.

Anwar’s trial and subsequent conviction were widely discredited in the international community. Amnesty International stated that the entire trial proceedings “ exposed a pattern of political manipulation of key state institutions including the police, public prosecutor’s office and the judiciary” Many world leaders including US Vice President Al Gore as well as the US Senate called for his release from prison.

His conviction was overturned by the Malaysian Supreme Court and Anwar was finally released from solitary confinement on September 2, 2004.

Since 2004 he has held lecturing positions at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford, the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and at the School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. Anwar was recently appointed as Honorary President of the London-based group AccountAbility as well as Chairman of the Beirut-based Foundation for the Future. Anwar is also currently advisor to the People’s Justice Party (Keadilan), Malaysia.

He is an internationally renowned speaker on the subjects of democracy, freedom, governance, Islam and democracy and the need for accountability. He resides in Malaysia with his wife and six children.

Anatole Kaletsky is one of the country’s leading commentators on economics, he was formerly Economics Editor and is now Editor-at-large of The Times and writes for The Times Comment pages on Thursdays. He has won many awards for his financial and political journalism. Before joining The Times, he worked for 12 years on the Financial Times. He is also a founding partner of GaveKal Research, a Hong Kong-based consultancy which provides economic policy analysis to 500 financial institutions and multinational companies around the world.

Mr Kaletsky’s journalistic work has won numerous awards and distinctions. In 1996 he was named Newspaper Commentator of the Year in the BBC Press Awards and has twice received the British Press Award for Specialist Writer of the Year, as well as the Wincott Award for economic journalism administered by the Institute of Economic Affairs and the first Cernobbio-Europa prize for European Journalist of the Year.

Mr Kaletsky was educated at Cambridge University, where he graduated from King’s College with a First Class degree in Mathematics, and at Harvard University, where he was a Kennedy Scholar and gained a Master’s degree in Economics.

Born in 1952 in Moscow, he also lived as a child in Poland and Australia. In addition to English he speaks fluent Russian, has a working knowledge of French. Since 1966 he has lived in Britain and America.

politics, economics and international relations.

Rt Hon. Lord (Paddy) Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon KBE was leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. After leaving British politics, Paddy Ashdown served as the High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 until 2006. In recognition of his service as High Representative Paddy was awarded the highest diplomatic service honour, the GCMG. Lord Ashdown became a life peer in 2001 and now sits in the House of Lords as a liberal Democrat peer. A regular broadcaster, including Question Time and Any Questions, he has published several books, including two volumes of Diaries

Paddy Ashdown was born in New Delhi on 27 February 1941, the eldest of 7 children. When he was 4 years old, his family returned to Britain to buy a farm in Ulster. Between 1959 and 1972 he served as a Royal Marines Officer and saw active service as a Commando Officer in Borneo and the Persian Gulf. After Special Forces Training in 1965, he commanded a Special Boat Section in the Far East. He went to Hong Kong in 1967 to study Chinese. He returned to England in 1970 to lead a Commando Company in Belfast.

In 1972 Paddy left the Royal Marines and joined the Foreign Office. He was posted to the British Mission to the United Nations in Geneva where he was responsible for Britain’s relations with a number of United Nations organisations and took part in the negotiation of several international treaties and agreements between 1974 and 1976. He was also involved in some aspects of the European Security Conference (the Helsinki Conference).

After leaving the Foreign Office Paddy worked in local industry in the Yeovil area in South-West England between 1976 and 1981, firstly with the Westlands Group (Normalair Garrett) and then with Morlands’ Yeovil-based subsidiary called Tescan. In 1981, Paddy went to work as a Youth Worker with the Dorset County Council Youth Service, where he was responsible for initiatives to help the young unemployed.

He stood as the Liberal Parliamentary candidate for the Yeovil constituency in 1979 and raised the Liberal vote there to its highest ever level. Shortly after entering Parliament in the 1983 General Elections, Paddy was appointed as the Liberal spokesman on Trade and Industry Affairs within the Liberal/SDP Alliance team at the House of Commons. He became Education spokesman in January 1987. He was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats in July 1988 and was appointed as a Privy Councillor on 1 January 1989. In the 1997 General Election he further increased his majority in his Yeovil constituency to over 11,000. Paddy stood down as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1999 and retired from the Commons in 2001. He was knighted in 2000 and was made a peer in 2001.

During the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paddy was one of the leading advocates for decisive action by the international community. He argued strongly that this would help bring the conflict to an early close, and that this was in the interests of all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina whatever their ethnic background. He visited the country many times during the conflict and subsequently. He took up his duties as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 27 May 2002.

Sir David Frost has had a highly illustrious career in broadcasting and like many of his peers was part of the Cambridge Footlights in his University days. He has not only won all the major television awards, his professional activities have been so diverse that he has been described as “a one man conglomerate.”

Sir David currently hosts Frost over the World for Al Jazeera, examining world events and exploring global issues of the day.

Host and co-creator of That Was The Week That Was, producer of countless television programs, author of 17 books, producer of seven films, publisher, lecturer, impresario; he was later a co-founder and presenter of the UK breakfast television station, TV-am in 1983 and presented 500 editions of the Sunday morning interview programme Breakfast with Frost for the BBC.

Sir David’s interview of Richard Nixon was the most widely watched news interview in the history of television. Shown in almost every televised nation in the world, it garnered the largest audience ever achieved for a new interview in the U.S.

In 1988, Sir David undertook a 14-hour syndicated television series, The Next President With David Frost, featuring hour-long interviews with all the Presidential candidates.

In January, 1993, Sir David’s Sunday news program was launched on the BBC and is widely considered to be the most authoritative weekly news interview. He is the author of (with co-author Michael Shea) The Mid-Atlantic Companion and The Rich Tide, an in- depth study of the Americans who have most influenced Britain and the Britons who have most influenced America.

In 2005 Sir David Frost was awarded the Bafta Academy Fellowship. Frost’s last Bafta, the Richard Dimbleby Award, had been awarded as far back as 1967. On May 29, 2005 Sir David Frost presented his final Breakfast with Frost after 500 editions.

Lady Margaret Thatcher described Sir David Frost as a “giant in his profession”. Tony Blair said of Frost, “Although his questioning was always courteous, he always managed to get reams of information out of you”.

Educated at Nottingham High School and Cambridge. The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP is a barrister-at-law, having been called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1963 and becoming QC in 1980. He has practised on the Midland Circuit, based in Birmingham.

Kenneth Clarke first became active in politics at Cambridge where he was President of the Union. Life in the House of Commons began on his election as MP for Rushcliffe in the 1970 general election and he has retained the seat to this day.

His career within the House has been a long one and he held positions within the Department of Transport before being appointed Minister for Health in 1982. Kenneth Clarke joined the Cabinet in 1985 as Paymaster General and Minister for Employment, and following the 1987 general election, became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Trade & Industry. He subsequently held the posts of Secretary of State for Health, Education & Science and Home Office before becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in May 1993, a position he held until the general election of May 1997.

On 19 January 2009, he rejoined the Conservative Party front bench team as Shadow Business Secretary.

Among the most energetic of former Conservative cabinet ministers in broadening his business interests since the election, Kenneth Clarke has recently been appointed non-executive chairman of Uni-Chem, non executive deputy chairman of BAT and a non-executive director of Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust.

Renowned for his powerful performances in the House and credited with having taken the UK economy to a healthy state, Kenneth Clarke is one of the most impressive people on the political scene today.

Famous also for his lively sense of humour and “the chuckle”, Kenneth Clarke’s vast experience of world economic and political affairs make him a much requested keynote speaker at senior-level conferences.

A child chess prodigy who started playing as a five year old, Kasparov qualified as an International Chess Master at the age of sixteen. Those close to Garry know his unrestrained contagious laugh, his kindness and caring and know him as a multi-faceted and unique person.

All of his adult life the courage of his convictions have been put to the test. His matches against Anatoli Karpov were widely regarded as a show of individual opposition to the authoritarian state. Kasparov was in the fore-front of the anticommunist movement and the resulting threats to his well-being were real.

In 1988, a computer program was devised to analyze a vast collection of chess statistics, in order to create a ranking of the all-time chess greats. Top of the list, was the twenty-five year old Russian, Garry Kasparov. Today, in his late-thirties, Kasparov has been THE WORLD CHAMPION for fourteen years.

He has successfully defended his title more times than any other champion in modern times. On each occasion, his famous attacking style of play and brilliant strategy have proven too much for his opponents.

The restless Russian is always looking for new challenges and for the past decade has astounded the Chess world by beating some of the world’s strongest Olympic chess teams, playing four or six Grandmasters simultaneously.

In February 1996, in Philadelphia, he played IBM’s Deep Blue computer. His opponent was able to analyze 50 billion moves in three minutes. In NYC in May 1997, Kasparov again played the monster computer. The series stands at one match each and the World Champion has challenged IBM to a tie-breaking third match.

The Brain Club and Synapsia elected Garry as its first ‘Brain of the Year’ and described him as ‘The World Chess Champion, athlete and humanitarian both, and a cultivated and curious man who closely follows literature, films and politics’.

He has authored several books on chess and is a regular contributor for the Wall Street Journal. Other recent contributions have been made to TIME magazine and Forbes. His speeches are as dynamic as his chess.

Everywhere he goes he is a guaranteed news story. This is brought about by his forceful personality, his outspoken political and economic views and his greatest passion of all – an undying love of the game of Chess.

Charlie Beckett is the founding Director of Polis, a new forum for the debate, research and teaching of journalism and society at the LSE and London College of Communication.

Before Polis, Charlie Beckett was a programme editor at Channel 4 News, ITN, for seven years where he edited Channel 4 News on major events like 9/11 and the London bombings. He also launched two new programmes for Channel 4 – Channel 4 News at Noon and More4 News. He also edited Channel 4 News’ US election coverage and it’s award-winning News From Africa week. Before that he spent ten years at BBC news and current affairs, working for programmes like Public Eye, On The Record, Panorama, and Breakfast News and he was a launch editor on BBC News 24.

During his time at the BBC he was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford where he wrote a thesis on the effects of new technology on the emerging media in a developing country.

Charlie started his career on local papers in his native south London before joining LWT.

Experience keywords: Journalism; Media; International Media/Journalism; Globalisation; News; Online; Blogging

Ed Stourton joined the Today programme in January 1999 and left in December 2008 following an illustrious career as a foreign correspondent and television news presenter. Things could have been very different. In his first interview for a broadcasting job after leaving university, John Birt (then at LWT) told him: “I could send you a polite letter saying we had no vacancies, but frankly, it would be a waste of the postage stamp.”

Ed went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read English literature before joining ITN as a graduate trainee in 1979. He was a founder member of Channel Four News in 1982, working as a scriptwriter but adding producer, duty home news editor and chief sub-editor to his duties.

He reported from Beirut for the first time in 1983 and spent most of the next decade covering foreign news. He was appointed Channel 4′s Washington correspondent in 1986 covering the final years of the Reagan presidency and the 1988 presidential campaign.

In 1988, he joined the BBC as Paris correspondent. In 1990 he returned to ITN as diplomatic editor, and during his three years in the job he reported from Baghdad during the Gulf War, from Bosnia during the siege of Sarajevo, from Moscow in the final days of the Soviet Union and from Europe throughout the negotiations leading up to the Maastricht summit.

In 1993, he returned to the BBC to present the One O’Clock News and editions of Correspondent, Assignment and Panorama before joining the Today team in 1999.

An expert on Roman Catholicism, in 1997 he presented Absolute Truth, a landmark, four-part series for BBC Two on the modern Catholic Church and wrote a book to accompany the series.

In addition to his presenting duties on Today, Ed often reports for Radio 4 on religion and current affairs.