Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. He is also the host of FP Live, the magazine’s video channel and podcast, on which he regularly interviews world leaders and policymakers. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He has shared a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer, and his writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

Dr. Mayesha Alam is vice president of research at FP Analytics where she oversees the research team and leads research development for clients and partners. She previously helped establish and served as deputy director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and has also worked with the United Nations, World Bank, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and various nongovernmental organizations. Dr. Alam is the author of two books, Women and Transitional Justice and, with Robert Egnell, Women and Gender Perspectives in the Military, as well as reports on conflict, climate change, health, and gender. Her commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, CNN, NPR, Newsweek, and elsewhere. A nonresident senior fellow of the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, Dr. Alam is a professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and holds a Ph.D. from Yale University.

James Appathurai was appointed to this post in September 2021. As DASG, he works on policy development and implementation in the fields of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, cyber security, energy security, the security implications of climate change, the protection of critical infrastructure, and hybrid defence. Mr. Appathurai previously served as DASG for Political Affairs and Security Policy, as well as Special Representative to Central Asia and the Caucasus. He was NATO’s Spokesperson from 2004 to 2010. He served as Deputy Head and Senior Planning Officer in the Policy Planning and Speechwriting Section of NATO’s Political Affairs Division from 1998 to 2004. He served in the Canadian Defence Department from 1994 to 1998.

General Chris Badia was born in Bavaria on September 28th 1963. After finishing school, he joined the German Air Force as a cadet in 1984 to become a jet-pilot and officer. Trained in the US between 1986 and 1987 his first assignment led him to Fighter Wing 71 “Richthofen”. General Badia gained experience for 8 years as a fighter pilot before taking his first command as Squadron Commander of the 1st Sqd. of that Wing between 1996 and 1998. He then was nominated to attend the 43rd Command and General Staff Officers Course at the Federal Armed Forces Command and General Staff College in Hamburg. His first assignment after the academy was with NATO as Personal Assistant to COM/ DCOM HQ Allied Air Forces Northern Europe in Ramstein. After his follow-on assignment as Director Ops of the 4th Air Force Division in Aurich, General Badia was posted as Assistant Branch Chief for Military Policy Concepts for Operations and Exercises to the German Ministry of Defence in Berlin.

Following a tour in the Office and as the Head of Office to the Parliamentary State Secretaries Kolbow and Dr. Pflueger, General Badia assumed responsibility on his second commanding position, as Commander Fighter Wing 71 “Richthofen.”

After three years of Command, he was posted for three consecutive assignments to the Ministry of Defence, as Branch Chief Concepts and Doctrine in the Air Staff, following his promotion to Brigadier General as Assistant Chief of Staff Air Force Future Development/Plans and Policy and as Division Chief for Strategic Defence Planning and Concepts in the MoD.

Following two commanding assignments, first as Commander, European Air Transport Command, in Eindhoven and then as Director General of the German Military Aviation Authority in Cologne, in 2018 he assumed responsibility as Director General for Planning in the Ministry of Defence.

On July 7th, 2022, General Badia was appointed as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander

Dr. Janet Martha Blatny is the Director of the Total Defense Division at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) and is since 2014 a member of FFI’s Executive Management Group. She is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Institute for Security Science and Technology at Imperial College UK, and she has a part time position at the Office of Chief Scientist, NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO) in Brussels.

FFI is the prime institution responsible for defense-related research in Norway. Her division is responsible for research within total defense, national security covering areas within resilience, civil-military collaboration, foreign information manipulation and interference, cognitive warfare, climate & security, human performance, CBRN & explosives, terrorism, and modeling & simulation.  She has more than 30 years of experience within academic and applied research including for military and civilian sectors.

Blatny was the Chair of the NATO STO Human Factors and Medicine Panel during 2021-2023. She has coordinated and chaired several international research projects in particular within EDA, EU and NATO. She attended the Senior Executive Course at the Norwegian Defense College in 2009 and the NATO Defense College Senior Course in 2024.  Blatny received her PhD in Biotechnology Engineering in 1997 from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Scott W. Bray is NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security. Mr. Bray ensures that the NATO intelligence organizations operate as an enterprise to meet the challenging demands of the Alliance. He also is the senior advisor to the Secretary General for intelligence and security matters.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Bray spent his career in the US Intelligence Community and has extensive experience in intelligence analysis and collection, leadership of the Intelligence Community’s East Asia efforts, interagency integration at the IC’s highest levels, and Directorship of Naval Intelligence.

Mr. Bray was the Acting Director of Naval Intelligence during August to November 2023 and the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence during January 2020 to November 2023, where he led the Naval Intelligence Enterprise, delivered comprehensive intelligence assessments to Navy leadership, oversaw intelligence activities and policies within the Navy, and represented the Navy in the Intelligence Community. Concurrently, Mr. Bray served as the Director of the Naval Intelligence Activity, an echelon two command for oversight and management of the Naval Intelligence Enterprise.

Mr. Bray served at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2020. During 2012 to 2020, Mr. Bray was the National Intelligence Manager for East Asia, the senior US intelligence official for East Asia matters. He oversaw and integrated all aspects of the IC’s collection, analytic, counterintelligence, foreign partnerships, and resourcing efforts for East Asia and served as the IC’s senior representative to the White House and the interagency process for East Asia issues.

During 2010 to 2012, he was the Principal Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Military Issues, where he oversaw the production of National Intelligence Estimates and other assessments on worldwide military issues.

Mr. Bray served as a Special Assistant to the US Defense Attaché in Beijing in 2007-2008. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2007.

He held a number of analytic positions within the Office of Naval Intelligence, specializing in submarine operations and readiness, integrated naval warfare, and naval production.

Mr. Bray earned a BS of International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996 and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University in 1998. Georgia Institute of Technology named Mr. Bray a Distinguished Alumnus of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs in 2015. He is a Presidential Rank Award, Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Service Award, Under Secretary of Defense Medallion for Distinguished Service, National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, and Navy Superior Civilian Service Award (two awards) recipient.

Tom Burt leads a cross-disciplinary team that works to improve customer trust in the safety and security of the digital ecosystem by advocating for global cybersecurity policy, partnering with public agencies and private enterprises to disrupt nation-state cyberattacks and support deterrence efforts, and combating cybercrime. CST is also responsible for managing Microsoft’s government clearance and national security compliance.

Allison Carlson is the Executive Vice President of FP Analytics & Events at Foreign Policy. She oversees FPA’s cross-cutting research at the intersection of policy, technology, and global markets as well as Foreign Policy’s global dialogues and convenings. Prior to these roles, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for more than a decade, evaluating evolving policies, regulations, and market factors to identify opportunities for project development and advanced technology deployment internationally. Before joining FP, she led the Latin America program for a boutique consulting firm assisting European companies on investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. Carlson has presented her work at a variety of international conferences and before the U.S. Senate. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she received a master’s degree in international relations and international economics.

Jack Detsch is Foreign Policy’s Pentagon and national security reporter. He was previously a staff writer for Al-Monitor covering intelligence and defense.

Benedikt Franke is Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Munich Security Conference. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation and the strategic development of its formats and activities. Additionally he serves as the Executive Director of the Munich Security Conference Foundation.

Before joining the MSC, he worked as Special Assistant for former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan and as Senior Advisor for Strategic Affairs at the Christian Social Union.

Benedikt Franke holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He publishes regularly on foreign and security policy topics and sits on several relevant committees such as the Foundation Council of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen and the International Commission of the CSU. In his (limited) leisure time he works as Special Envoy of the Sovereign Order of Malta.

Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy, covering the State Department. Before he joined FP in 2016, he managed the NATO portfolio at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, for three years. He’s a graduate of American University, where he studied international relations and European affairs.

Rishi Iyengar is a reporter at Foreign Policy, covering the intersection of geopolitics and technology. Prior to joining FP, he spent six years at CNN Business as India editor in New Delhi and a technology writer in San Francisco, as well as two years reporting for Time magazine from Hong Kong. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fergusson College in Pune, India, a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, and is an alumnus of the Young India Fellowship.

Dr. Radha Iyengar Plumb assumed the role of Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, a Principal Staff Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense on April 9, 2024. In this role she is leading the acceleration of the DoD’s adoption of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate decision advantage.

Prior to this appointment, she served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (DUSD(A&S)) and was responsible to the Under Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear defense; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base.

Previous DoD assignments include serving as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, where she was responsible for leading the executive staff, providing counsel and advice to the Deputy Secretary, and ensuring Deputy-led governance processes were aligned with key leadership priorities. In addition, she served as Acting Deputy Director of Administration and Management within the Department of Defense.

Prior to her appointment as Chief of Staff, she was the Director of Research and Insights for Trust & Safety at Google and had previously served as Global Head of Policy Analysis at Facebook. Before her Silicon Valley work, Dr. Plumb was a senior economist at the RAND Corporation where she focused on improving measurement and evaluation of readiness and security efforts across the Department of Defense. In that capacity she served as lead author on a number of critical reports including assessing the implications of open service of Transgender Service members and review of security and suitability screening efforts.

From 2014-2015, Dr. Plumb served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Energy, where she led policy processes including budget and policy reviews related to modernizing nuclear infrastructure and efforts to enhance energy sector security and resilience. Previously, she was the director of personnel and readiness at the National Security Council, where she was instrumental on executive actions on sexual assault in the military. She also served as policy advisor and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, and as a civilian in Afghanistan conducting measurement and assessment work to support the Counterinsurgency Advisory and Assistance Team for the Commander, International Security Assistance Force.

Dr. Plumb received her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. Her research has covered empirical evaluations of policies aimed at reducing violence, including criminal violence, sexual assault, terrorist behavior, and sexual and intimate partner violence. At the outset of her career, she was an assistant professor at the London School of Economics and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at Harvard.

Bonnie Denise Jenkins, Ph.D., is the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State. She previously served as Special Presidential Envoy and Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs, legal advisor to the former U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Counsel on the 9/11 Commission, and General Counsel to the U.S. Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. A retired U.S. Naval Reserve Officer, she also worked for the Ford Foundation and the Rand Corporation and founded the nonprofits Organizations in Solidarity and Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas is the Minister of National Defence, appointed in March 2024.

Mr Kasčiūnas defended his PhD thesis on “Implications of the EU’s Internal Integration on External Europeanisation: Case Studies of Ukraine and Russia” in 2012. From 2006 to 2012, he studied at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, graduating with a PhD in 2012, a Master’s degree in Political Science in 2006 and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2004. Mr Kasčiūnas graduated from Vilnius Ąžuolynas Secondary School in 2000.

From 2015 to 2016, he was the Director of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre, and from 2009 to 2012, he was the Foreign Policy Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Ms Irena Degutienė. From 2007 to 2016, Mr Kasčiūnas worked as a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas started his political career in 2011 as a member of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats party. Since October 2016, he has been a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the Committee on National Security and Defence. Due to his expertise in the field of defence, Mr Kasčiūnas was appointed Chairman of the Committee on National Security and Defence in November 2020.

Mr Kasčiūnas speaks English, German and Russian. In his spare time, he plays football, reads books and fishes.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas and his wife have four children.

Aditi Kumar is the Deputy Director for Strategy, Policy, and National Security Partnerships at DIU. In this role, Aditi drives DIU’s collaboration with the Military Departments, Joint Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to deliver capabilities at scale to meet warfighter requirements. She further leads our teams focused on policy, interagency partnerships, legislative affairs, and international affairs.

Prior to joining DIU, Aditi served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment. At A&S, she supported some of the Department’s highest priority initiatives including security assistance to Ukraine, industrial production expansion and acceleration, supply chain risk management, and military installation and housing policy.

Before joining DoD, Aditi was the Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Aditi also led the Belfer Center’s Economic Diplomacy Initiative, focused on research and expertise at the intersection of international affairs and economic policy.

Aditi was previously a Principal at management consultancy Oliver Wyman in the financial services and public policy practices. She worked primarily with U.S. commercial and investment banks as well as U.S. regulators and policymakers on designing and implementing financial regulation. She also served as a Project Manager at the World Economic Forum, responsible for leading policy discussions among financial sector executives and policymakers on managing financial risk and designing effective global financial regulation.

Aditi has a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program, an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Aditi immigrated from India when she was nine and grew up in Missouri.

Andrei Muraru has been accredited by the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the United States on July 7, 2021. The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, accepted his Letters of Credence on September 15, 2021.

Andrei Muraru (born 1982) holds a PhD in History (2011) from the University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” in Iași, as well as an MA (2007) and BA (2005) in History from the same university.

He had worked at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) – a governmental agency coordinated by the Romanian PM – since its foundation (2006), holding different offices, from expert-researcher to Executive President (2012-2014). Between 2006 and 2009, he acted as counselor within the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Romania and was also personal advisor to the General Director of the National Archives of Romania (CNSAS). He was also a member of the Administrative Board of the Romanian Television (2014). Between July and December 2014, he was personal advisor to the President of the National Liberal Party, Klaus Iohannis.

Between 2014 and 2021, Andrei Muraru was Senior Advisor to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, at the Presidential Administration, serving as the head of the Department of Relationship with Public Authorities and Civil Society.

Andrei Muraru is a university lecturer at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Department of International Relations and European Integration) and scientific researcher III at The Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania.

He was an Erasmus-Socrates student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2004-2005), as well as a Doctoral Fellow at New Europe College (2009-2010) and at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2010-2011). He received a doctoral scholarship funded by a POSDRU program (2008-2011). Andrei Muraru received a postdoctoral fellowship at Yad Vashem – The International Institute for Holocaust Research for the year 2020.

He is the author of the volume “Vișinescu, the Forgotten Torturer: the Prison, the Crimes, the Trial” (Polirom Publishing House, 2018), the coordinator of several volumes – “The Book of the Romanian Communist Prisons 1945-1967” (Polirom, 2008), “The King, the Communists and the Crown: The True History of Michael I’s Abdication” (together with Alexandru Muraru; Polirom Publishing House, 2017), “The 1989 Revolution. Winners and Losers” (together with Anneli Ute Gabanyi, Alexandru Muraru, Daniel Sandru; Polirom Publishing House, 2020), and co-author of “A History of Communism in Romania. High-School Handbook” (Polirom Publishing House, 2008, 2nd edition 2009, 3rd edition 2014), the only existing handbook about communism in Romania.

He has frequently published studies and reviews in peer-reviewed journals and participated in numerous international conferences and has recurrent contributions on recent history topics.

He was awarded, by H.M. King Michael I, the Medal “King Michael for Loyalty” for his contribution to the historiography of the Romanian monarchy (2008) and he was granted the distinction of Officer in the Order of the Crown for his activity as head of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) (2015). In 2019, Andrei Muraru was awarded the ”Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” by the President of the Italian Republic, H.E. Sergio Mattarella.

Ms. Deborah G. Rosenblum currently serves as the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (DUSD(A&S)). In this role, she is responsible to the Under Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear defense; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base.

Prior to this appointment, she served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (ASD(NCB)). In this capacity, she was the principal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary of Defense on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and biological and chemical programs.

While serving as the ASD(NCB), she perfomed the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)). In this capacity, she developed and managed the Department’s policies and programs designed to maintain the U.S. defense industrial base; execute small business programs and policy; assess geo-economic events and trends; monitor and assess the impact of foreign investments in the U.S. (CFIUS) and assess impacts related to mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to her appointment as the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Rosenblum was the Executive Vice President at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). As part of NTI’s executive leadership team, she helped to oversee the organization’s operations, development, and programs, managing an annual operating budget of $25 million. Rosenblum also spent seven years as Vice President of The Cohen Group, an international consulting firm. She led numerous client focused teams, developing business opportunities in the defense and homeland security market, and her market assessments supported international merger and acquisition deals.

Prior to joining the private sector, Rosenblum served in senior positions with the U.S. Department of Defense, with a broad range of policy responsibilities, including representing the United States as a negotiator with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on multiyear bilateral negotiations around its nuclear program.

Rosenblum holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. She is fluent in French.

Patrick leads capacity and ecosystem building at the NIF and is responsible for Central and Eastern Europe coverage. Based between the NIF’s regional offices in London and Warsaw, he works closely with startups, other VC funds, NATO’s DIANA, as well as industry and government partners, to ensure that the NIF delivers on its mission to boost deep tech entrepreneurship and foster innovation in regions where there is too much talent and too little venture capital.

Previously, Patrick was a founder and partner at Beast Ventures, where he focused on seed stage deep tech in Europe and invested in startups in food security, health, AI, data, autonomous systems and biotech. Prior to that, Patrick worked in foreign policy and spent several years in the corporate intelligence and security industry where he supported international companies operating in Central and Eastern Europe. Patrick has a BA in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, a MSc in US Foreign Policy from the University of London and a MS in Management Science from MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also the founder of Capital Acceleration for Sovereign Technology and Resilience (CASTAR) – a group focused on connecting dual use startups with government – and is a cofounder of MIT Alumni Angels U.K.

Andrew Sollinger is the publisher and CEO of Foreign Policy, which he joined in 2018. Previously, he was executive vice president at Business Insider, executive director of Capital New York (now Politico NY) and managing director of the Financial Times Americas. Sollinger was part of the executive team that built Money-Media, a digital news startup focused on the fund management industry, and sold it to the FT. A former reporter and editor for Institutional Investor magazine’s newsletter division, Andrew has lived in London, Hong Kong and New York. He is a graduate of Clark University, where he was executive editor of The Scarlet.

Brandon Tseng is Shield AI’s Co-Founder and President. As of December 2023, Shield AI is one of two multi-billion-dollar defense-tech companies founded in the past 20 years and has raised over $700M in venture capital to build AI pilots for unmanned aerial systems to protect service members and civilians. Prior to founding Shield AI in 2015, Brandon proudly served in the Navy for seven years as a SEAL at SEAL Team 5 and SEAL Team 7, and as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52). While in the Navy, he deployed to Afghanistan (x2), the Pacific Theater, and the Arabian Gulf. At Shield AI, he leads all aspects of growth – business development, corporate development, strategy, fundraising, marketing, and government relations – to help Shield AI achieve its mission at a global scale. Brandon earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Andy Weber is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks’ Janne E. Nolan Center on Strategic Weapons. Mr. Weber has dedicated his professional life to countering nuclear, chemical, and biological threats and to strengthening global health security. Mr. Weber’s decades of U.S. government service included five-and-a-half years as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. He was a driving force behind Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction efforts to remove weapons-grade uranium from Kazakhstan and Georgia and nuclear-capable MiG-29 aircraft from Moldova, to reduce biological weapons threats, and to destroy Libyan and Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles. In addition, he coordinated U.S. leadership of the international Ebola response for the Department of State.

Prior to joining the Pentagon as Advisor for Threat Reduction Policy in December 1996, Mr. Weber was posted abroad as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Hong Kong. Mr. Weber is an independent consultant and a Strategic Advisor for Ginkgo BioWorks. He serves on the Board of Healthcare Ready and the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies International Advisory Council.

He taught a course on Force and Diplomacy at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service for seven years, and was a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Mr. Weber graduated from Cornell University and holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) degree from Georgetown University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.