ECFR - Key Persons
Areas of expertise
Russia, Ukraine, British domestic politics
Languages
English, French, Russian
Biography
Adam Harrison is an editor at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Harrison joined ECFR in November 2016. He previously worked as Deputy Editor of Progress magazine, and has previously worked in the European parliament, an opinion polling company and a legal publishing house. He studied French and Russian at Cambridge University and later completed a Master's degree in European Union International Relations and Diplomacy at the College of Europe in Bruges.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Shelby Cullom Davis Chair of History & Director of the European Institute, Columbia University
Biography
Adam Tooze is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of history at Columbia University and director of the university's European Institute. He previously held the Barton M Biggs professorship at Yale University, where he succeeded Paul Kennedy as the director of international security studies. Prior to that, he taught at the University of Cambridge as reader in modern history at Jesus College. He is the author of numerous studies on German and economic history, and his work has won several awards, including a Leverhulme prize fellowship. He holds a PhD in economic history from the London School of Economics.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Research Professor at the Wits School of Governance
- Fellow With the Africa Programme at the European Council
- Visiting Fellow
Areas of expertise
International relations; governance and human rights
Languages
English
Biography
Adebayo Olukoshi is a visiting fellow with the Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
His experience spans over 35 years in the academic sector, as well as in intergovernmental institutions. Olukoshi is a former director for Africa and west Asia at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and was a member of the African Union Assessment Panel. He has also chaired the board of several think-tanks, including the European Centre for Development Policy Management and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
Olukoshi is a distinguished research professor at the Wits School of Governance in the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg). He holds a PhD in politics from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Deputy Director, Operations
Areas of expertise
Infrastructures, trade, energy, European Union
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships ( SPSM )
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, Asia Programme
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, Paris Office
Job Titles:
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Areas of expertise
Climate finance, Bretton Woods institutions, Development, geopolitics of Africa
Job Titles:
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Director
- Research Assistant
- Research Assistant to the Director
Areas of expertise
EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, Transatlantic Relations, Israel/Palestine
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Andrzej Olechowski has served as both minister of foreign affairs and minister of finance of Poland. He has twice been a presidential candidate and is a co-founder of the political party Civic Platform. Previously, he served as secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and deputy governor of the National Bank of Poland. He has also worked as an economic affairs officer in Geneva and as an economist at the World Bank in Washington, DC. He sits on the boards of various charitable and educational foundations and is the author of numerous publications on foreign policy.
Job Titles:
- Research & Project Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Dean of the Paris School
- Dean, Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po
Biography
Arancha González Laya is the dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po. Previously, she served as Spain's minister of foreign affairs and as assistant secretary general at the United Nations. She was also executive director of the International Trade Centre and chief of staff to the World Trade Organisation's director-general, Pascal Lamy. At the WTO, she played an active role in launching the organisation's ‘Aid for Trade' initiative and served as the director-general's representative to the G20. Prior to that, she held several positions at the European Commission, where she negotiated trade agreements and assisted developing countries in their trade development efforts.
Job Titles:
- Head, ECFR Rome / Senior Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Associate Senior Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Deputy Head, Paris Office
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Co - Chair of ECFR 's Council / Former Prime Minister and Former Foreign Minister of Sweden
- Co - Chair of the Council
Biography
Carl Bildt served as both prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden. Under his leadership, the government initiated major liberal economic reforms and negotiated Sweden's accession to the EU. Previously, he served as EU special envoy to the former Yugoslavia, high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN special envoy to the Balkans, and co-chair of the Dayton Peace Conference. He also chaired the Global Commission on Internet Governance. In 2021, he was appointed WHO special envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, European Power Programme
Areas of expertise
Energy and mining development and transitions; financing, governance and sustainability of large-scale infrastructure projects; geopolitics and international relations; Africa and Europe.
Job Titles:
- Office Coordinator
- Programme Coordinator, US Programme
Areas of expertise
The Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region, European relations with the Gulf countries
Job Titles:
- Programme Assistant, Wider Europe
Job Titles:
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Programme
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, Middle East and North Africa Programme
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senate / Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy
Biography
Emma Bonino is an Italian senator and former minister of foreign affairs. She also served as minister for international trade and European affairs and has been a member of both the Italian and European parliaments. She is a former European commissioner for humanitarian aid, fisheries, and consumer policy. During her career, she has instigated several international human rights campaigns, including ‘Stop FGM', and contributed to the establishment of the International Criminal Court.
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, European Power Programme
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Member of the Bundestag
Franziska Brantner has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013 and was appointed parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in 2021. She was previously the spokesperson for European policy and parliamentary secretary of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. Prior to joining the Bundestag, she was a member of the European Parliament, where she served as foreign policy spokesperson for the Green/EFA Group. She has also worked for the Bertelsmann Foundation in Brussels, consulting on EU foreign policy issues.
Job Titles:
- Associate Senior Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Programme Assistant, Wider Europe Programme
Job Titles:
- Research and Data Officer
Areas of expertise
Iraqi politics; Iraqi foreign policy; democratisation in Iraq; federalism; international development
Areas of expertise
Transatlantic Relationship, EU Digital Policy, EU Politics and Institutions
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Biography
Helle Thorning-Schmidt was the first female prime minister of Denmark. She also served as a member of parliament and leader of the Social Democrats. Prior to her career in national politics, she was a member of the European Parliament and worked as an adviser to the Confederation of Trade Unions. She has tackled significant global issues, specifically with regards to children's rights as CEO of Save the Children. She currently is a board member of Vestas, a co-chair of Facebook's Oversight Board, and a member of the WHO Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Founder of Celerant Consulting
- Founder of the International Advisory Firm Celerant Consulting
Biography
Ian Clarkson is the founder of the international advisory firm Celerant Consulting, later acquired by Hitachi Consulting. When Celerant was sold, it was one of the ten largest operational consultancies in the world and had a global footprint. He is an expert on delivering large scale operational and technology transformation programmes to global companies. He served as a board member for a range of professional services businesses, including the educational consultancy Bright Field, and currently chairs the board of Mentore Consulting to help companies achieve diverse leadership teams.
Job Titles:
- Office and Programme Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies
Biography
Ivan Krastev chairs the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and is a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna. He is a founding board member of ECFR, a member of Open Society Foundations' global advisory board, a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times, and the author of the widely acclaimed book "After Europe". In 2020, he was awarded the Jean Améry Prize for European essay writing. Previously, he served as executive director of the International Commission on the Balkans and as editor-in-chief of the Bulgarian edition of Foreign Policy.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Areas of expertise
Geopolitics, emerging technologies, geoeconomics in the Indo-Pacific, US-China relations, Indian foreign policy, Southeast Asia, UK and US foreign policy
Job Titles:
- Head, ECFR Berlin / Senior Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Cancelliere
- Director, Asia Programme
Job Titles:
- Research Director / Director, US Programme
Areas of expertise
Transatlantic relations; US foreign policy
Job Titles:
- Project Assistant, European Power Programme
Job Titles:
- Programme Manager, Middle East and North Africa
Areas of expertise
Middle East; human rights; refugees; humanitarian issues
Areas of expertise
Civil-military relations; Russian domestic politics; Policymaking
Areas of expertise
Russian Orthodox Christianity and its influence on Russian politics and society; church-state and church-public relations in eastern Europe; political and cultural history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th and 21st centuries; Russian media and journalism, propaganda, and ideology
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Strategic Partnerships
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, Defence, Security and Technology
Areas of expertise
Exploration and mining investment, governance of natural resources companies and projects, mineral policy and regulation in Africa, responsible sourcing and mineral value chains
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Co - Chair of ECFR 's Council / Director of the Danish Think Tank Europa
- Co - Chair of the Council
- Director of Denmark 's Think Tank Europa
Biography
Lykke Friis is director of Denmark's Think Tank Europa. Previously, she served as prorector at the University of Copenhagen; Danish minister of climate, energy, and gender equality; and the Danish liberal party's spokesperson for European affairs. In 2007, she was appointed as a member of the EU reflection group on the future of Europe. She also covered Germany as a correspondent for the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende. Besides ECFR, she chairs the board of directors of Denmark's House of Energy, is a board member of Team Denmark, and is president of the Danish Cancer Society.
Mabel van Oranje is an entrepreneur for social change working globally to advance equality, freedom, and justice. She played a key role in the global movement to end child marriage, including in the creation and growth of three entities supporting girls' futures: Girls Not Brides, the Girls First Fund, and VOW for Girls. She is a board member of Fondation Chanel and the Sigrid Rausing Trust, as well as an advisor to Apolitical Academy Global, Co-Impact's Gender Fund, Global Witness, and The Elders.
Job Titles:
- Office and Programme Coordinator, ECFR Sofia
Job Titles:
- Programme Assistant, Africa Programme
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Asia Programme
Job Titles:
- Director, Wider Europe Programme
Areas of expertise
Europe's Eastern neighbourhood, Russia, protracted conflicts
Job Titles:
- International Director of Policy at Stanford University 's Cyber Policy Centre
Marietje Schaake is international director of policy at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Centre, policy fellow at the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and president of the CyberPeace Institute. Previously, she was as member of the European Parliament, where she led the alliance of liberals and democrats for Europe on the International Trade Committee and served as her party's spokesperson for transatlantic and digital trade. She also founded the European Parliament Intergroup on the Digital Agenda for Europe and was featured by Politico as one of the 28 most influential Europeans in 2017.
Areas of expertise
European energy and climate policies, energy transitions, social acceptance of low-carbon technologies, energy citizenship
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
Biography
Mark Leonard is co-founder and director of ECFR. He hosts the weekly podcast "Mark Leonards's World in 30 Minutes" and writes a column on global affairs for Project Syndicate. Previously, he worked as director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform and as director of the Foreign Policy Centre. He has spent time in Washington, DC as a transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and in Beijing as a visiting scholar at the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences. In September 2021, he published his latest book The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict.
Areas of expertise
Geopolitics and Geoeconomics; China; EU-Russia relations; transatlantic relations; EU politics and institutions; public diplomacy and nation branding; UK foreign policy
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Senior Advisor Europe, the Aspen Institute
- Senior Advisor for Europe at the Aspen Institute
Biography
Marta Dassù is senior advisor for Europe at the Aspen Institute and editor-in-chief of Aspenia. Previously, she served as Italy's deputy minister of foreign affairs. She is a regular contributor to the Italian newspaper La Stampa and the author of various books and essays. She sits on the board of directors of Istituto Affari Internazional and is a member of the strategic council of the European Policy Centre. In 2020, she was appointed as a member of the group of experts to support the NATO 2030 initiative and provide advice on how to further strengthen NATO's political dimension.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Associate Senior Policy Fellow
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Co - Chair of ECFR 's Council Member of the Bundestag
- Co - Chair of the Council
- Member of the German
Biography
Norbert Röttgen has been a member of the German parliament since 1994 and chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag from 2014 to 2021. Previously, he served as German federal minister for the environment, nature conservation, and nuclear safety, as well as spokesperson for legal policy and parliamentary secretary of the Christian Democratic Party's parliamentary group. He is vice-chair of the board of directors of the transatlantic association Atlantik-Brücke and a member of the Advisory Council at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Strategic Partnerships
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Visiting Fellow / Areas of Expertise
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Professor
- Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, Oxford University
Biography
Rana Mitter is professor of the history and politics of modern China at St Cross College, University of Oxford. In his current role, he studies the emergence of nationalism in modern China, the impact of China's war with Japan, and the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture. He is the author of several award-winning books, including "China's War with Japan" which the Financial Times' and The Economist's 2013 book of the year. He holds a PhD from King's College, Cambridge and is a fellow of the British Academy.
Job Titles:
- Associate Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
United Nations system; European security and defence policy; Africa; Western Balkans
Rishi Sunak has reintroduced sensible pragmatism to British foreign policy - but the nature of today's Tory party means he is not out of the woods yet
Job Titles:
- Office Coordinator
- Executive Assistant, Management Team
Job Titles:
- Board and Council Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director
- Professor of History at Columbia University
- Shelby Cullom Davis Chair of History & Director of the European Institute, Columbia University
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant, Asia Programme
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Programme Assistant, Asia Programme
Job Titles:
- Senior Director for Strategy and Transformation
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, Africa Programme
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Editorial Director, Le Monde
- Editorial Director, Lead Writer, and Columnist at the French
Biography
Sylvie Kauffmann is editorial director, lead writer, and columnist at the French newspaper Le Monde, for whom she writes a weekly column on global affairs. Her opinion pieces on European and international politics have also appeared in the New York Times. Previously, she was the first female editor-in-chief of Le Monde, a position she held during the Wikileaks collaboration with El País, the Guardian, and the New York Times. She has reported from Asia, Eastern Europe, and the United States, where she wrote a prize-winning series of articles about life in the US following the 9/11 attacks.
Areas of expertise
North African migration, Tunisia's foreign relations, decentralisation, and local governance
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director, Wider Europe
Job Titles:
- Programme Manager, ECFR Rome
Areas of expertise
Italian foreign policy, Poland in Europe, Visegrád Group, geopolitics and International Relations
Job Titles:
- Director, Africa Programme
Areas of expertise
Horn of Africa: Sudan/South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea; Red Sea political/security/economic aspects; mediation/conflict resolution; humanitarianism
Areas of expertise
African geopolitics and international relations, energy transition and low-carbon industrialisation, natural resource governance, international trade
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Deputy Director and Head of ECFR 's Sofia
- Deputy Director, Programmes and Advocacy
Biography
Vessela Tcherneva is deputy director and head of ECFR's Sofia office. Between January and July 2022, she held the position of Foreign Policy Advisor to the Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. From 2010 to 2013, she was the spokesperson for the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov's political cabinet. Previously, she was secretary of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and former German President Richard von Weizsäcker; supervising editor of the Foreign Policy Bulgaria magazine; and political officer at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, DC.
Areas of expertise
EU foreign policy; Western Balkans and Black Sea regions; transatlantic relations; regional studies; energy
Areas of expertise
Central and south-east Europe in the EU, China in central, eastern, and south-east Europe, EU politics and EU conditionality
Areas of expertise
Digital transformation, economic growth, start-ups, public policy, Latin America
Job Titles:
- Programme Coordinator, ECFR Warsaw
Areas of expertise
Economic growth, digital regulation, public policy, Latin America