Dr. Bates Gill

National Security Expert

United States

Dr. Bates Gill is currently a professor affiliated with the Department of Security Studies at Macquarie University and the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at Australian National University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Prior to that, he was the the chief executive officer of the U.S. Studies Centre and the University of Sydney from 2012 to 2015. Gill was also director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and has a long record of research and publication on international and regional security issues, particularly regarding arms control, nonproliferation, peacekeeping and military-technical development.

Before joining SIPRI, Gill held the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He served as a senior fellow in foreign policy studies and director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. He has also directed East Asia program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute and at SIPRI.

Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej

Civic Leader

India

Jamshyd N. Godrej is chairman and managing director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company, Ltd. in India. He is deeply involved in environmental and humanitarian causes, and serves as the vice president of the World Wide Fund for Nature-International, Chairman Emeritus of Aspen Institute India and member of the board of the World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute. Previously, Godrej served as president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association. For his contributions to Indian industry, Godej was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award in 2003 by the president of India.

Prime Min. Felipe González

Political Leader

Spain

Prime Minister Felipe González is chairman of the advisory board of Atomium Culture and a member of the Club of Madrid, an independent non-profit composed of former heads of state coming together to support democratic leadership and response to crisis and post-crisis situations. González was first elected to the Spanish Parliament in 1977. He remains the longest-serving prime minister in Spanish history serving from 1982 to 1996. While in office, he oversaw the continued development of Spain’s democracy, grew the economy and brought Spain in to what would become the European Union.

In 1998, González served as special representative of the EU to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2007, heads of state and government of the European Union appointed González as chairman of a think tank on Europe’s future, tasked with writing a report on the challenges that Europe will face from 2020 to 2030. From 2010 to 2015, González was independent director of Gas Natural Fenosa, a Spanish energy company.

Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev

Political Leader

Russia

President Mikhail Gorbachev was the last head of state of the Soviet Union. Together with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, he signed a series of important agreements to reduce the nuclear danger. At Reykjavik in 1986, the two nearly agreed to a treaty framework that would have eliminated each country’s nuclear arsenals completely.

Gorbachev initiated a major process of change – perestroika, the transformation of Soviet society – during his time as president. Gorbachev’s reforms contributed to a fundamental change in the international environment and played a prominent role in ending the Cold War. In recognition of his outstanding achievements as a reformer and world political leader, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. From 1993 to 2017, he served as president of Green Cross International, an environmental organization with branches in more than 20 countries. He was also a member of the Club of Madrid.

Gorbachev passed away in August 2022.

Amb. Peter Gottwald

Diplomat

Germany

Ambassador Peter Gottwald served as the federal government commissioner for disarmament and arms control of Germany. He was previously the permanent representative of Germany to the United Nations and served in the U.S. and U.K. embassies for many years. Gottwald entered into the German Foreign Service in 1977 after working for the U.N. Development Program in Nigeria. He has long been involved with efforts toward nonproliferation, serving as the secretary for disarmament and security policy in the German Embassy in Washington in 1987 and going on to serve as deputy head for the Conference on Disarmament with the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Recently, he has been active with various organizations including the Global Security Institute, the British American Security Information Council and the Center for Strategic Decision Research. He has served in leadership roles at both the German Association of International Procedural Law, and the International Association of Procedural Law.

Amb. Thomas Graham, Jr.

Diplomat

United States

Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr. is internationally known as one of the leading authorities in the field of international arms control and nonproliferation agreements. He has served as a senior U.S. diplomat involved in the negotiation of every major international arms control and nonproliferation agreement during the period 1970 to 1997.

In 1993, Graham served as acting director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). From 1994 through 1997, he served as the president’s special representative for arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament. He is currently director and chairman of the board of Lightbridge.

Amb. Efraim Halevy

Diplomat

Israel

Ambassador Efraim Halevy is head of the Shasha Center for Strategic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Public Policy and Government. Halevy served as head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2002 under Prime Ministers Netanyahu, Barak and Sharon, capping a 40-year career in the Israel Intelligence Service. He has also served as Israel’s ambassador to the European Union from 1996 to 1998 and as national security advisor from 2002 to 2003. In 2002, he was awarded the Director’s Award of the CIA for his commitment to the relationship between Israel and the United States.

Hon. Lee Hamilton

Political Leader

United States

The Honorable Lee Hamilton is a distinguished scholar in the School of Global and International Studies and professor of practice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. In 1999, he founded the Center on Congress at Indiana University, serving as its director until 2015. He previously served as president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, an intellectual center in Washington, DC where scholars engage in nonpartisan dialogue on public policy issues. A former U.S. congressman, Hamilton represented Indiana’s 9th congressional district for 34 years, establishing himself as a leading congressional voice on foreign affairs. He served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, co-chaired the Iraq Study Group and served as vice chair of the 9/11 Commission.