Guest Biographies
The Forum's aim is to promote discussion on relevant topics of the day between our members and as such it is not our aim to produce pamphlets and documents which are prescriptive and are solely views of their authors. The success of the Global Strategy Forum will rely on the contributions of its members and invited authors. We believe in the 'bottom-up' as opposed to the 'top-down' approach to policy development. In this way we hope that Forum members can contribute to the wider debates of the day.
We therefore invite other Think Tanks, Policy specialists, Academics and others to trawl the Forum for ideas and inspiration. Our contributors (alphabetically) have included:
Michael Ancram PC DL QC
Chairman - Global Strategy Forum
Michael Ancram is the first Chairman of the Forum. Michael Ancram served in the last Conservative Government and from 2001 to 2005 held the portfolios of Deputy Leader, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary. He served on the House of Commons Intelligence Select Committee until he stood down from Parliament at the May 2010 General Election.
Lord Ashcroft KCMG
Conservative Peer
Lord Ashcroft, KCMG is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative party and is also Deputy Treasurer of the International Democratic Union. He was Belize’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations until April 2000 and currently economic adviser, Embassy of Belize to the United States.
Ambassador John Bolton
Guest Speaker
Ambassador John Bolton served as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006. During his tenure at the United Nations (August 2005 – December 2006), Mr. Bolton was a tenacious and outspoken advocate of U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, push Syria out of Lebanon and bring African peacekeepers into shaky Somalia. He pushed a sanction resolution through the U.N. Security Council after North Korea’s nuclear test, and formed the resolution to end Hezbollah’s 2006 attack on Israel. Mr. Bolton was also an advocate for human rights, arranging the Security Council's first deliberations on Burma's human rights abuses. He invited George Clooney and Elie Wiesel to brief the Security Council on the mass-murders in Darfur, Sudan, and later sent 22,500 U.N. peacekeepers to the region. Prior to his term at the U.N., Mr. Bolton served for four years as Under- Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. In the private sector, he was Senior Vice President of the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit public policy center dedicated to preserving and strengthening the foundations of freedom through research, education and open debate. Mr. Bolton’s upcoming book, ‘Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the U.N. and Abroad’, published by Simon and Shuster and will be released in November 2007.
Jonathan Freedland
Guest Panellist
Jonathan Freedland - is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He writes a weekly column in The Guardian, as well as a monthly piece for The Jewish Chronicle. He served for four years as the Guardian’s Washington Correspondent and the US remains an area of specialist interest — along with the politics of Britain and the Middle East. Jonathan was a panellist on GSF's March 2007 Debate 'What boundaries to Mediation in the Middle East?’
Lord (Tim) Garden
Guest Chair - Trident Debate of 27th February 2007
Sadly Lord Garden passed away in August 2007. Lord Garden was a Liberal Democrat Peer sitting in the House of Lords as Defence spokesman for that party. He had enjoyed a successful military career, serving in the Royal Air Force. As a group captain, he was the Director of Defence Studies for the RAF and lectured internationally on strategic studies. As a Chinook pilot, he was Station Commander of RAF Odiham and then spent six years at the Ministry of Defence on both the air staff and central staffs. His last MOD appointment was as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff with responsibility for long term defence programme planning for all three services. As an Air Marshal, he went on to be Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock
June Lecture guest
Sir Jeremy Greenstock will be delivering his thoughts on ''The Promotion of Democracy - what will the Middle East vote for?' on Tuesday 13th June 2006.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock has been Director of the Ditchley Foundation since 2004. He is also a Special Adviser to the BP Group, a non-Executive Director of De La Rue plc, a Governor of the London Business School and a member of the International Rescue Committee (UK). A career diplomat from 1969 to 2004, he served in the Middle East, the United States and France, ending up as Political Director in the Foreign Office (1996-98), UK Ambassador to the United Nations (1998-2003) and UK Special Envoy for Iraq (2003-04).
General the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB LVO OBE
Guest Speaker
General Lord Guthrie is a former Chief of the Defence Staff (1997-2001. He was commissioned into the Welsh Guards in 1959. In 1966 he joined the SAS and served in the Middle East, Malaysia and East Africa. In 1970 he returned to the Welsh Guards and for two years commanded an armoured infantry company in Germany. From 1975-1977 he was the Brigade Major of the Household Division and from 1977-1980 he commanded the Welsh Guards in Berlin and Northern Ireland. He was appointed as a Colonel to the branch overseeing operations worldwide and during his time there became briefly the Commander British Forces New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and recaptured the island of Espirito Santo, which had been taken over by insurgents. In 1981 he was appointed Commander of the 4th Armoured Brigade in Munster, West Germany, following which he was Chief of Staff, Headquarters 1st British Corps in Bielefeld. He became the General Officer Commanding the 2nd Infantry Division and North East District in 1985. In 1986 he became Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps. After a further tour in the Ministry of Defence he became in succession the Commander of the 1st British Corps, the Northern Army Group, the British Army of the Rhine before becoming the Chief of the General Staff. He is Colonel of The Life Guards, Gold Stick to The Queen and Colonel Commandant of the SAS.
Rt Hon William Hague MP
Guest Speaker
Before entering the House of Commons William Hague worked for Shell UK and spent five years working for the management consultants, McKinsey and Co. Mr Hague was elected as Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire at the 1989 by-election. Mr Hague has held several posts in Government including Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt Hon Norman Lamont MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990-93; Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the DSS from 1993-94; and Minister of State, DSS (with responsibility for Social Security and Disabled People) from 1994-95. He joined the Cabinet in 1995 as Secretary of State for Wales. In June 1997 he was elected Leader of the Conservative Party, a position he held until June 2001. During this period Mr Hague was elected Chairman of the International Democrat Union, the global alliance of Conservative, Christian Democrat and like-minded parties of the centre and centre right and he is currently the Assistant Chairman. In December 2005, Mr Hague was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary and Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet. Mr Hague also enjoys writing. His first book, a biography of William Pitt the Younger, was published in September 2004 and won the title “History Book of the Year” at the National Book Awards in April 2005. His following book, a biography of William Wilberforce, was published in June 2007. William Hague delivered GSF's 2nd July 2007 Lecture, ‘Vital Steps in the Middle East: What the British Government Should Do Now’.
Lord Howell of Guildford
Lecture - Tuesday October 27th 2009
Lord Howell is the former Secretary of State for Energy, and later for Transport in Mrs Margaret Thatcher's first Cabinet (1979-83). He was Minister of State in Northern Ireland (1972-74) and has held several other Government posts. He was Chairman of the International Energy Agency Ministerial meeting in May 1979. From 1987-97, he was Chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and is the Shadow Spokesperson in the House of Lords on Foreign Affairs. He is also adviser to the Conservative Opposition leadership on European Reform. Since June 2005, he has been Shadow Deputy Leader of the Lords.
Sir Christopher Hum KCMG
Guest Speaker
Sir Christopher Hum KCMG was born on 27 January 1946 and educated at Pembroke College Cambridge, where he graduated with First Class Honours and is now an Honorary Fellow. He joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1967 and in 1968 was posted to Hong Kong to study Mandarin Chinese at Hong Kong University. Some 18 years of his diplomatic career were spent working in or on China, culminating in almost four years as British Ambassador in Beijing (2002-2005). He was also closely involved in the negotiations in the 1980s and 1990s which led to the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Other diplomatic postings were in Brussels (European Communities), Paris, New York (United Nations) and Warsaw (as Ambassador, 1996-1998). He was knighted in 2003. In January 2006, on retirement from the Diplomatic Service, Christopher Hum was elected Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the China Policy Institute in the University of Nottingham, and of the Executive Committee of the Great Britain – China Centre. Sir Christopher delivered GSF's 17th July 2007 Lecture, ‘Managing China's Rise’.
Andrew Krepinevich
Guest Speaker - 18th July 2006
Andrew F. Krepinevich is Executive Director at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.
Dr. Krepinevich is an accomplished author and lecturer on defense and national security with extensive executive and strategic planning experience. His areas of expertise cover Strategic Assessments and Planning, the Military Revolution, Transformation of the Military, Counterinsurgency. Before retiring from the US Army in 1993, Dr. Krepinevich served on the personal staff of three U.S. Secretaries of Defense. He has served on the National Defense Panel, the Joint Forces Command Advisory Board, and several Defense Science Board Task Forces. Dr. Krepinevich is the author of “The Army and Vietnam,” and numerous monographs and opinion editorials. Dr. Krepinevich also has given expert testimony on numerous occasions before the U.S. Senate and House Budget Committees, and the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, including recent testimony on the QDR. Dr. Krepinevich is a graduate of West Point, holds an MPA and a PhD from Harvard University, and is Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University.
Donald C McKinnon
Guest speaker
Don McKinnon is a New Zealander with a long and distinguished career in international politics and diplomacy. He was elected to his current position as Commonwealth Secretary-General at the November 1999 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Durban, South Africa and secured a second term in the job in December 2003 at the CHOGM in Abuja, Nigeria.
Mr. McKinnon became Commonwealth Secretary-General after a 21-year career in New Zealand politics. After being elected to Parliament in 1978, Don McKinnon was New Zealand's longest serving Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was named 'Foreign Minister of the Year' by the World Economic Forum magazine. He held a number of senior posts within the government, including Deputy Prime Minister (1990 to 1996), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1990-1999) and Leader of the House of Representatives (1992-1996. Mr. McKinnon became a member of the Privy Council in 1992. Don McKinnon is widely credited with initiating and overseeing the brokering of a ceasefire between Bougainvilleans and the Papua New Guinea Government, leading to the signing of a peace agreement in 1997, for which he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He holds two honorary Matai (chiefly) titles from Samoa and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Lincoln University, the four Universities of Manchester and the Heriot-Watt University. Mr McKinnon delivered GSF's 19th June Lecture ‘Multilateralism: a crowded highway’.
Lord Mark Malloch-Brown
Guest Speaker - 5th November 2007
Lord (Mark) Malloch-Brown was appointed the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN attending Cabinet in June 2007. His responsibilities include Africa, Asia (Afghanistan, Sub-Continent and Far East), the UN, the Commonwealth, human rights, global and economic issues, and FCO Services, as well as FCO business in the House of Lords. He served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations from April to December 2006. Before this, from January 2005, he had been the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet. Partly concurrently, he served from July 1999 until August 2005 as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. After stepping down from the UN, he briefly took up the role of Vice Chairman of Soros Fund Management. Before the UN, he worked at the World Bank, joining in 1994 as Director of External Affairs and subsequently serving as Vice-President for External Affairs and Vice-President for United Nations Affairs from 1996 to 1999. Before joining the World Bank, he was the lead international partner from 1986 to 1994 in a strategic communications management firm, the Sawyer-Miller Group, where he worked with corporations and governments. He founded The Economist Development Report and served as the Report’s editor from 1983 to 1986. Previously, from 1977 to 1979, he had been the political correspondent of The Economist. From 1979 to 1983, he worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). From 1979 to 1981, he was stationed in Thailand, where he was in charge of field operations for Cambodian refugees. He is the recipient of a number of honorary degrees and awards and at the end of 2006, he became a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Globalisation at Yale University.
Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG
Guest Speaker
A career diplomat until 2003, Sir Christopher was Ambassador to the United States, Britain’s top diplomatic appointment. He spent 5½ years (1997-2003) in this position, the longest period for a British Ambassador since the 2nd World War. Sir Christopher’s time in Washington coincided with extraordinary events: the war in Kosovo, the impeachment of President Clinton, the inauguration of President Bush, 9/11, the war against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and the preparations for war in Iraq. Throughout these events Sir Christopher was at the heart of the British-American relationship. In his 36 years as a career diplomat, Sir Christopher has occupied a number of key positions: British Ambassador to Germany; press secretary to Prime Minister John Major; press secretary to British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey (now Lord) Howe and speech writer to three Foreign Secretaries in the 1970s. Sir Christopher started his career in the old Soviet Union and, besides Moscow (twice), has seen service in Madrid, in Brussels at the European Union and, in an earlier incarnation, in the USA. He was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Centre for International Affairs from 1988-1989 and is an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge University. Sir Christopher Meyer has been Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission since March 2003. He is also a non-executive director of GKN. In 1998, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 2005 Sir Christopher published a book of memoirs entitled ‘DC Confidential’.
Dr Asher Susser
Author & Academic
Dr Asher Susser, PhD (Tel Aviv University, 1986) is presently Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University.
Sir Crispin Tickell
Guest Speaker
Sir Crispin Tickell is Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization. He was formerly Chancellor of the University of Kent, and is associated with several other British and US universities. His main interests are in the fields of environment and international affairs. Most of his career was in the Diplomatic Service. He was Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission (1977-80), Ambassador to Mexico (1981-83), Permanent Secretary of the ODA (now DFID) (1984-87), and British Permanent Representative to the UN (1987-90). He then became Warden of Green College, Oxford (1990-97), and Director of the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding (1992-2006). He was President of the Royal Geographical Society (1990-93); He has chaired numerous initiatives including the Board of the Climate Institute of Washington DC (1990-2002); the International Institute for Environment and Development (1990-94); the Government’s Advisory Committee on the Darwin Initiative (1992-99); Convenor of the Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994-2000). He was a member of the Committee for the Public Understanding of Science, and has sat on two Government Task Forces: on Urban Regeneration (1999), and on Potentially Hazardous Near Earth Objects (2000). Sir Crispin is the author of Climate Change and World Affairs (first published in 1977). He has contributed to many other books on environmental and related issues. He has been decorated as a Knight of Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) and a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).
