Speakers

Dr. Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, world traveler and best-selling author. He is Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm. Parag's newest book is The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century (2019). He is author of a trilogy of books on the future of world order beginning with The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order (2008), followed by How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance (2011) and concluding with Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization (2016). Khanna was named one of Esquire’s “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century,” and featured in WIRED magazine’s “Smart List.” He holds a Ph.D. from LSE and master’s degrees from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Khanna is also a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

Dr. William J. Parker III is the CEO and President of the EastWest Institute. An award-winning author, Parker has published over fifty articles and co-authored the books Jihadist Strategic Communication as practiced by Usama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Guaranteeing America’s Security in the Twenty-First Century. Parker is a retired senior U.S. naval officer who commanded three warships, and later, a squadron of warships. He was the 2009 recipient of the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. He served as the Chief of Staff for U.S. Naval Surface Forces. In addition to multiple combat tours, he held the post of senior advisor and strategist with U.S. Embassies in Iraq and Pakistan. Parker holds a Doctorate from George Mason University, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s JFK School of Government where he was the Arthur S. Moreau Scholar, and a BSc from the United States Air Force Academy, where he was a distinguished military graduate.

Moderator

Farwa Aamer, Director, South Asia Program, EastWest Institute