, March 26-27 2015 Courtyard Marriott Hotel CONFERENCE SPEAKERS Larry Diamond Director of CDDRL at Stanford University

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Stud- ies, where he directs the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Diamond also serves as the Peter E. Haas Faculty Co-Director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford. He is the founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy and also serves as Senior Consultant (and previously was co-director) at the International Fo- rum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy. During 2002-3, he served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and was a contributing author of its report Foreign Aid in the National Interest. He has also advised and lectured to the World Bank, the United Nations, the State Depart- ment, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies dealing with governance and development. His latest book, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World (Times Books, 2008), explores the sources of global democratic progress and stress and the prospects for future democratic expansion.

At Stanford University, Diamond is also professor by courtesy of political science and sociology. He teaches courses on comparative democratic development and post-conflict democracy building, and advises many Stanford students. In May 2007, he was named “Teacher of the Year” by the Associated Students of Stanford University for teaching that “transcends political and ideological barriers.” At the June 2007 Commencement ceremony, Diamond was honored by Stanford University with the Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education. He was cited, inter alia, for fostering dialogue between Jewish and Muslim students; for “his inspired teaching and com- mitment to undergraduate education; for the example he sets as a scholar and public intellectual, sharing his passion for democratization, peaceful transitions, and the idea that each of us can contribute to making the world a better place; and for helping make Stanford an ideal place for undergraduates.”

During the first three months of 2004, Diamond served as a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provi- sional Authority in Baghdad. Since then, he has lectured and written extensively on U.S. policy in Iraq and the wider challenges of post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction, and was one of the advisors to the Iraq Study Group. His 2005 book,Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, was one of the first books to critically analyze America’s postwar engagement in Iraq. He has also participated in several working groups on the Middle East. During 2004-5, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Independent Task Force on Policy toward Arab Reform. With Abbas Milani, he coordinates the Hoover Institution Project on Democracy in Iran.

Diamond’s latest book is The Spirit of Democracy (2008). Diamond has edited or co-edited some 36 books on de- mocracy, including the recent titles How People View Democracy, How East Asians View Democracy, Latin Ameri- ca’s Struggle for Democracy, Political Change in China: Comparisons with Taiwan, and Assessing the Quality of De- mocracy. Among his other published works are, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (1999), Promoting Democracy in the 1990s (1995), and Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria (1989). He also edited the 1989-90 series Democracy in Developing Countries, with Juan Linz and Seymour Martin Lipset. Stephen Krasner Graham H.Stuart Professor of International Relations, Stanford University

Stephen Krasner is the Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations, the Senior Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, School of Humanities & Sciences, and the deputy director of FSI. A former director of CDDRL, Krasner is also an FSI senior fellow, and a fellow of the Hoover Institution.

From February 2005 to April 2007 he served as the Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department. While at the State Department, Krasner was a driving force behind foreign assistance reform designed to more effectively target American foreign aid. He was also involved in activities related to the promotion of good gov- ernance and democratic institutions around the world.

At CDDRL, Krasner was the coordinator of the Program on Sovereignty. His work has dealt primarily with sovereignty, American foreign policy, and the political determinants of international economic relations. Be- fore coming to Stanford in 1981 he taught at Harvard University and UCLA. At Stanford, he was chair of the political science department from 1984 to 1991, and he served as the editor of International Organization from 1986 to 1992.

He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (1987-88) and at the Wis- senschaftskolleg zu Berlin (2000-2001). In 2002 he served as director for governance and development at the National Security Council. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

His major publications include Defending the National Interest: Raw Materials Investment and American For- eign Policy(1978), Structural Conflict: The Third World Against Global Liberalism (1985), and Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy(1999). Publications he has edited include International Regimes (1983), Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics (co-editor, 1999), Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Political Possibilities (2001), and Power, the State, and Sovereignty: Essays on International Relations (2009). He received a BA in history from Cornell University, an MA in international affairs from Columbia University and a PhD in political science from Harvard.

Giorgi Margvelashvili is the President of Georgia since autumn 2013. Before being elected, he served as a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. Mr. Margvelashvili’s background is in public policy, politics and academia. Before joining the government after its victory in the October 2012 parliamentary elections, he was a well-known political commentator and served for more than a decade in senior positions at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), a leading Georgian institution of higher education in government, law, international affairs and journalism. Mr. Margvelashvili graduated from in 1992 with a degree in philosophy. He continued his studies at the Central European University in Prague, Czech Republic from 1993 to 1994 and the Institute of Philosophy of the Georgian Acad- emy of Sciences from 1993 to 1996. In 1998, he received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Tbilisi State University.

David Usupashvili Parliament Chair

The Speaker of the since October 2012. Prior to this positon, he was the chariman of the Republican Party of Georgia (2005-2013), worked in USAID Rule of Law Program (1999-2005). David was the Executive Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Working Group of the President, and headed the Georgian Young Lawyers Association. David served as the legal Advisor of the President and the representative of the president to the parliament (1992-1994). David Usupash- vili Graduated from Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Legal Faculty (1985-1992) and Duke University, Public Policy Faculty (1997-1999). He was the member and the legal consultant of the Central Election Commission and conducted pedagogical activity in Tbilisi State University (1992-1996) and in GYLA (1999-2011). Ted Whiteside Acting Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy

Mr. Ted Whiteside is currently Acting Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. Before taking up his current duties he was Secretary of the North Atlantic Council, and Director of the NATO Ministerial and Summit Task Force in Brussels, and before that he held the position of Director of the NATO Weapons of Mass Destruction Centre. In his current capacity, he is responsible for guiding the Alliance’s public diplomacy strategies, and overseeing their implementation in member nations and partner countries. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada for the negotiations conducted with the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a Graduate of the NATO Defense College, did postgraduate studies in International Politics in Brussels, and holds an M.A. from the University of Montréal and a B.A. from York University. He is married, with two children.

David J.Kramer

Senior Director for Human Rights and Human Freedoms at the McCain Institute

David J.Kramer is a Senior Director for Human Rights and Human Freedom at McCain Institute. Before that, he served for four years as President of Freedom House. Prior to that, he was a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Kramer served eight years in the U.S. Department of State, including as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (responsible for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and affairs as well as regional non-proliferation issues); and Professional Staff Member in the Secretary’s Office of Policy Planning; and Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary for Global Affairs. Kramer has been an Adjunct Professor at the El- liott School for International Affairs at The George Washington University. Kramer is a member of the board of directors of the Halifax International Security Forum. He also was Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Washington.

Before joining the U.S. Government, Kramer was a Senior Fellow at the Project for the New American Century, Associate Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Assistant Director of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, all in Washington.

Prior to moving to Washington, he was a Lecturer in Russian Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. and a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. He also served as an analyst for the Christian Science Monitor Network during the collapse of the . A native of Massachusetts, Kramer received his M.A. in Soviet studies from Harvard University and his B.A. in Soviet Studies and Political Science from Tufts University.

Irakli Alasania

Leader of Opposition Free-Democrats

Irakli Alasania is a Georgian politician, chairman and founder of liberal political party . Mr Alasania served as Minister of Defense of Georgia in 2012-2014. Prior to joining Cabinet, his political party ‘Free Democrats’, together with other political institutions established Georgian Dream Coalition and swept 2012 Parliamentary elections in Georgia. Irakli Alasania forged a liberal political movement in late 2008, after he resigned as Georgia’s Ambassador to the United Nations. His protest was triggered by the circumstances surrounding Russian aggression against Georgia over South Ossetia in August 2008.

Prior his assignment at UN, he was Georgian President’s Special Envoy for the Georgian-Abkhaz Peace Talks, which he successfully re-initiated in 2005. Irakli Alasania effectively served in various governmental positions; in 2004, he was appointed as the first Deputy Minister of Defence and Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council, and later named to be the head of the Abkhazian Government-in-Exile. Prior, Irakli Alasania joined the Ministry of State Security, rising in the rank of the First Deputy Minister, there he focused first on planning, coordinating and implementing anti-terror operations from 2002-2003 and led the successful effort to clear the Pankisi Gorge of foreign militants.

He holds B.A. in International Law from Tbilisi State University (1990-1995) and is Graduate of Georgian Academy of Security (1994-1996). Irakli Alasania was born on December 21, 1973 in , Georgia. Keti Khutsishvili Executive Director (OSGF)

Keti Khutsishvili has been an Executive Director of Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) since 2008. Holding an MA in Asian Studies, in the early 90’s she worked at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Georgia. From the mid- 90’s, she started to work for international aid organizations. The longest assignment (1994-2001) was with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, first as a local consultant and later as -in ternational program officer. Prior to joining the Soros network, she worked in 2002-2007 as Country director of the Eurasia Foundation Georgia office.

Giorgi Baramidze

Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, UNM

Giorgi Baramidze is a Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and member of United National Movement. From 2004 to 2012 he served as State Minister of Euro-Atlantic Integration. At different times he served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Defense of Georgia. Giorgi Bakradze became the member of Parliament of Georgia in 1992 where he served till 2003. He is a graduate of Technical University of Georgia, where he ma- jored in chemical technologies. In 1995 he studied in George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies and was an associated researcher at Georgetown University Diplomacy Research Institute. Janos Herman Ambassador of the

Janos Herman is a European Union Special Envoy to Central Asia. In 2010-2013 he served as the head of the Dele- gation of the European Union in Norway, prior to this position he was the head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Norway and Iceland resident in Oslo, Norway. In 2007-2009 Janos Herman was a Deputy Political Director, DG RELEX, European Commission in Brussels. Herman served as a permanent state secretary of the Min- istry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, as well as an ambassador of Hungary to Greece and Cyprus, as well as an Ambas- sador, Spokesman of the Hungarian Government for Foreign Affairs, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Hungary. Janos Herman followed primary and secondary studies in Budapest and obtained a Master’s Degree in 1975 from State Institute for International Relations. In 1990 and 1991 he attended post-graduate courses in the field of political communication in and Germany. Kęstutis Jankauskas

Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia

Ambassador Kęstutis Jankauskas was appointed as Head of EUMM Georgia on 19 December, 2014. Ambas- sador Jankauskas is from Lithuania and has more than 20 years of experience in the Lithuanian diplomatic service. In 2009 – 2014 he was a Chancellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. Prior he served as State Secretary of the MFA. 2005 – 2009 - Ambassador to the Political and Security Committee of the EU, Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the European Union. 2003 - 2005 - Director of the Security Policy Department, MFA. 1999 - 2003 - Minister-Counsellor, DCM at the Lithuanian Embassy to the United States of America. 1997 - 1999 - Head of the Security Policy Division, MFA. 1996 - 1997 - Deputy Head of the Multilat- eral Relations Division, MFA; 1996 - First secretary at the Nordic Division, MFA; 1992 - 1996 - First secretary at the Lithuanian Embassy in Sweden; 1991 – 1992 - Attaché, later Third secretary at the Nordic Division, MFA; 1989 - 1991 - Assistant at the Archaeology Department of the Institute of History of Lithuania. He is a graduate of Faculty of History from Vilnius University. Secretary General of Free Democrats

Alex Petriashvili is a leader and one of the founders of political party Free Democrats. He was elected as a Secretary General of the Party after he left the Government in November 2014. Prior, he served as a State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration from October 2012 to November 2014. H.E. Petriashvili was elected as a member of the Georgian Parliament in October 2012, which he left shortly and joined Cabinet as a Minister.

Before entering into politics, he served as an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Turkmen- istan and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2004-2009. During his diplomatic career, he worked in various capaci- ties; From 2002 to 2004, Petriashvili was a Senior Counselor at the Embassy of Georgia to the United State of Ameri- ca, Mexico and Canada; He was a Senior Counselor, Embassy of Georgia to Austria, Permanent Mission of Georgia to the OSCE and the International Organizations in Vienna, UN Organizations-UNIDO, UNODC etc. From 1998 to 2001, Petriashvili worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia as the Deputy Director of the Politico-Military Department and prior led Bilateral Relations’ Division of Politico-Military Department. Before joining the Ministry, in 1998, he was State Advisor at Foreign Policy Analysis Service of the State Chancellery, Staff of the President of Georgia. Petriashvili started his professional career in 1994 as the Senior Specialist at Foreign Relations Division, State Logistic Service of Staff of the Head of State, where he served till May 1995. Alex Petriashvili is a graduate of NATO Defense College, Rome and hold B.A. in Economic and Social Geography from Tbilisi State University. Tedo Japaridze Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Parliament of Georgia

Ambassador Tedo Japaridze has been since 2012 the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament. He is one of the most prominent foreign policy authorities in Georgia, having served as a Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia (1991-1992, 2003-2004), National Security Advisor to the President and the National Security and Defense Council (2002-2003, 1992-1994) and the First Deputy Chairman of UNESCO (1989-1990).

His has been deeply engaged in various think-tank, organizations and policy development settings in the Black Sea region, having served as the President of the Energy Security Centre of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (2011), as Alternate Director General of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies in Athens (ICBSS, 2008-2011), and as Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC, 2006-2008) in Istanbul.

He is considered a regional authority in Euro-Atlantic relations, having served eight years as Ambassador Extraordi- nary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to USA, Canada and Mexico (1994-2002) and, later on, as the President of the US-Caucasus Institute in Tbilisi (2005-2006) and as a Woodrow Wilson Public Policy Scholar (2006-2007).

Academically, he was initially trained as a linguist in Tbilisi (1971-1974) and later on in Moscow where he received his PhD in 1989 as an expert in North American Area Studies. Giorgi (Giga) Bokeria Foreign Relations Secretary at UNM

Giga Bokeria is a Foreign Relations Secretary at United National Movement. He served as a National Security Council of Georgia from November 2010 to November 2013. During 1989–1995 Bokeria was one of the leaders of student movement, in particular active member of Press Club of Tbilisi State University. Since 1992 he has been working as a journalist, in the newspaper 7 Dge (7 Days), as a political editor of newspaper Mimomkhilveli (Observer) - 1992–1993, journalist of Pikis Saati (Rush Hour) program of Channel 1 of State Radio -1993, journalist of Radio Liberty - 1994, political editor of news- paper Argumenti (Argument) - 1995–1996, Akcentebi (Accents) talk show host of Rustavi 2 broadcasting company - 1996.

After the , he has been a Member of Parliament since 2004. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Legal Issues and is a Member of Committee on Defense and Security. Since 2005 he is Vice-Pres- ident of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and vice-chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the assembly. In April 2008, he was moved to the post of deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia,and in November 2010 to Secretary of the National Security Council.

Giga Bokeria is a graduate of Tbilisi State University, where he majored in history, and Lister University in U.K. - major in Law. Štefan Füle Former European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy

Štefan Füle is a Czech diplomat who has served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbor- hood Policy from February 2010 until October 2014. In 2001-2001 he served as Czech First Deputy Defense Minister. At various times Füle was Czech Permanent Representative to NATO and Czech Ambassador to the UK. In 1998-2001 he served as Czech Ambassador to Lithuania.

Professional Associations Membership - Member of the Board of Trustees of Friends of Europe. Honours : 2008: Golden Lime Tree of Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic; 2002: Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, 3rd Class; 2002: Cross of Merit of Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, Grade I.

Štefan Füle graduated from Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University Prague, and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Grigol Mgaloblishvili Distinguished Faculty Chair; College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University (NDU), DC. U.S.A.

Amb Grigol Mgaloblishvili is a career diplomat who has served in the Georgian Foreign Service for 18 years. Before joining the College of International Security Affairs at NDU as Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member he served as the Permanent Representative of Georgia to NATO. During his tenure as a Georgian Ambassador to NATO he was actively involved in a decision making process of Georgia’s defense and security policy; partic- ularly, on issues of Georgia’s integration into NATO and its active involvement in ISAF operations. Throughout his career he served as the Prime Minister, Georgian Ambassador to Turkey and as a non-resident Georgian Ambassador to Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina. He also held different positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, such as the Director of European Department and Deputy Director of the US Department.

Amb Grigol Mgaloblishvili holds his first degree from the Oriental Studies Department of the Tbilisi State Uni- versity and Masters of Strategic Security Studies (Distinguished Graduate) from National Defense University, Washington DC. He also did his post graduate studies at the Foreign Service Program of Oxford University. He attended different executive courses at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the NATO Defense College. He speaks Georgian, English, Russian, Turkish and French. Batu Kutelia Atlantic Council of Georgia

Batu Kutelia Represents Atlantic Council Georgia. His Excellency Dr. Batu Kutelia is a Distinguished Fellow of New Westminster College and holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia. He earned a Master of Engineering from the Engineering Faculty of Georgian Technical University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Georgian Technical University in 2000. His other professional education includes: 2007: Black Sea Security Program, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 2003: SG-102 Senior Officials Course, NATO Defense College, 2002: Defense Transformation Course, Naval Postgraduate School, 2000-2001: Fellow, NATO De- fense College, 2000: Legal Aspects of Peacekeeping Operations Course, U.S. Naval Justice School, 1999: Course 99-1 for Senior Executive Officials, George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies; 1995-1996: Masters in Pub- lic Affairs Administration, Georgian-American Institute of Public Affairs.

His professional experience includes: 2011-2013: Deputy Secretary, National Security Council of Georgia, 2008-2011: Am- bassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, 2007-2008: First Deputy Minister of Defense of Georgia, 2006-2007: Deputy Minister of Defense of Georgia, 2006-2006: Deputy Min- ister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 2005-2006: Head of Foreign Intelligence Special Service of Georgia, 2004-2004: Deputy Minister of State Security of Georgia, 2004-2004: Head of the Foreign Intelligence Department, Ministry of State Security of Georgia, 2004-2004: Director, Political Security Department, National Security Council, 2003-2004: Envoy Extraordi- nary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Deputy Head of the Mission. Embassy of Georgia), 2000-2003: Deputy Director, Military-Political Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 1998-2000: Head of Military Cooperation Division, Military-Political Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 1997-1998: Deputy Head of Military Cooperation Division, Military-Political Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 1997-1997: First Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Executive Director of Foundation

David Zalkaliani is a career diplomat. After graduating from Tbilisi State University in 1992, the Faculty of law and International Relations, he has joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. He has worked on the var- ious positions in the Ministry, as well as in the Embassies of Georgia to Austria and the United States, Canada and Mexico. He served as Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission of Georgia to the OSCE and as Senior Counselor of the Georgian Embassy in the United States. He was a member of the Georgian Delegation at the OSCE Sum- mits in Budapest, Lisbon and Istanbul, where the decision of withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia was made. In 2004 David Zalkaliani was appointed to the post of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republics of and Tajikstan.

From 2007 to 2009 he served as Georgian Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus. In August of 2009 he re- signed from his positions and joined the political party - Free Democrats. After October 2012 parliamentary elections he was nominated to the post of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. David Zalka- liani was the Chief negotiator of Georgia with the EU on the Association Agreement and Geneva international Discussions. He has initialed the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in 2013. David Zalkaliani was the Head of the Georgian delegation at the US-Georgia Strategic Charter negotiations. After Free Democrats have left the ruling coalition Georgian Dream in 2014, David Zalkaliani has resigned from his position. From February 27 2015, he is Executive director of ,,Levan Mikeladze Foundation”. Mustafa Aydin Rector of Kadir Has University, Istanbul

Prof Dr Mustafa Aydın is the Rector of Kadir Has University (Istanbul) since February 2010, and the President of the International Relations Council of Turkey since 2004. He is also Governing Board Member of the OECD Inter- national Management of Higher Education Program and Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Professor Aydin previously worked at Ankara University (1994-2005) and Economy and Technology University (2005-2009); and was guest researcher/lecturer at Michigan (1998), Harvard (2002, Fulbright fellow), and Athens (2003, Onassis Fellow) universities, as well as Richardson Institute for Peace Studies (1999, Unesco Fellow) and the EU Institute for Security Studies (2003). He is a member of Global Relations Forum (GIF), International Studies As- sociation (ISA), Turkish Atlantic Council, Turkish Political Sciences Association, International Network on Regional Security, and the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS). He was member of Economy and Foreign Policy Study Group of the President of Turkey (2003-2009), Co-Coordinator of the International Commission on Black Sea (2010); and Director of International Policy Research Institute (2005-2011).

Prof. Aydın’s areas of interest are international politics, foreign policy analysis, Eurasian security and geopolitics, pol- itics of the Black Sea and the Middle East, as well as Turkish foreign and security polices. Helen Khoshtaria GRASS – Co-Founder

Helen Khoshtaria was born in 18/11/1979 in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2004 she came back to Georgia and started working at the Ministry of Interior of Georgia on the reform of Patrol Police. Later she moved to the Ministry of Defense as a deputy head of international relations department. From 2005 to 2012 she worked at the Office of the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Inte- gration on NATO related issues, first as a head of Department and as a Deputy Minister from 2007. In 2012 Helen left the government and moved to civil society. She has established a non-partisan, non-governmental policy watchdog and think tank “Georgia’s Reforms Associates”(GRASS). Simultaneously she started academic work at the Free and Agrarian University, teaching international relations, political ideologies and conflicts. Helen’s research interests are Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, regional security, conflicts as well as minority issues. Helen speaks three languages, Georgian as a native, English, Russian and German.

Richard Giragosian Regional Studies Center of Armenia

Richard Giragosian is the Founding Director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an independent “think tank” located in Yerevan, Armenia and serves as both a Visiting Professor and Senior Expert at Yerevan State University’s Centre for European Studies (CES). He has served as a consultant for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU), the OSCE, and the U.S. Departments of Defense and State, among others. Giragosian was also a guest lecturer for the U.S. Army Special Forces and served as a Professional Staff Member of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the U.S. Congress for nine years. Vasil (David) Sikharulidze Atlantic Council of Georgia

Vasil Sikharulidze is a Georgian diplomat and politician. He has been a foreign affairs advisor to the President of Georgia since August 27, 2009. He had previously served as Ambassador to the United States(2006-2008) and Geor- gia’s Minister of Defence (2008-2009). Sikharulidze graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University in 1993 and practiced psychiatry from 1993 to 1995. After a brief tenure as an Executive Director of the Atlantic Council of Georgia, an umbrella organization that brings together Georgian NGOs working on Euro-Atlantic integration issues, Sikharulidze worked for the Parliament of Georgia as a leading specialist on defense and security issues from 1996 to 2000. He headed the NATO division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from 2000 to 2002 and served as a deputy head of the Georgian Mission of NATO in Brussels. He worked for the National Security Council of Georgia in 2004 and served as a Deputy Minister of Defense in the years 2005-2006. Sikharulidze served as an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Giorgi Kadagidze President of National Bank of Georgia

Giorgi Kadagidze is a Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Georgia and Governor of the National Bank of Georgia since 2009. In 2001 he graduated from European School of Management – ESM, majored in Business Administration. At the same time he got Bachelor’s Degree of Preston University. In 2005 he graduated Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and got Master’s degree in Public Administration.

In different years Giorgi worked for Audit and Consulting Firm - “UBC International”, as an Auditor, Senior Auditor, Audit Manager. In People’s bank as a Head of Credit Department, in Tbilisi Municipality, as a Head of Financial Division, Head of Financial Service, Head of Municipal Financial Service, in General Prosecutor’s Of- fice of Georgia, as a Head of Economic Department. In recent years he was a Head of the Financial Monitoring Service of Georgia and Head of the Georgian Financial Supervisory Agency. Alex Aleksishvili Chairman of the Board, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG).

Alex Aleksishvili has over 14 years of working experience in public finance and economic development sector as a high level official and government consultant responsible for budget and financial policy, tax and customs policy reform, simplification of doing business environment and improving investment climate. He served as the Minister of Finance of Georgia in 2005-2007. Mr. Aleksishvili was elected as a Chairman of UN Com- mission for Sustainable development in 2005-2006. From December 2007 Mr. Aleksishvili is a Chairman of the Board, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) - From February 2008- December 2008 Mr. Aleksishvili was the board member of Kala Capital LLC, an investment holding, supervised the establishment of one of the biggest subsidiary company – Progress Bank JSC. In September 2007-March 2008, he supervised monetary and financial policy implementation as the board member of National Bank of Georgia.

Aleksishvili graduated from the faculty of Economics, Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in 1996. In 2004 he graduated from Duke University, Durham NC, USA, Master of Arts, program in International Development Policy, major in Public Finances and Management. In June 2004, he was awarded with the Certificate for the Successful Completion of the E.S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program, The US Department of State, Wash- ington, DC, USA. Sarah Williamson President, American Chamber of Commerce

Sarah Williamson is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia since 2012, and the co-owner and Vice President of United Global Technologies (UGT), the largest IT company in Georgia. Before coming to Georgia, and changing careers, Ms. Williamson earned her degree from the University of Texas while simultaneously working for Felcor, a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) company. Ms. Williamson served in various positions over a four year period with Felcor’s management company, her last position being Director of Revenue Management & Sales and acting General Manager. She has 15 years of management experience in all phases of executive management with a preference towards business and staff development.

Archil Gachechiladze

Chairman, Galt & Taggart Deputy Chief Executive Officer Investment Management, Bank of Georgia

Mr. Gachechiladze previously served as Deputy CEO of Corporate Banking at Bank of Georgia. Prior to returning to Georgia in 2008, Archil worked as an Associate at Lehman Brothers Private Equity (currently Trilantic Capital Partners) in London. From 1998 through 2004, Archil worked as Senior Associate at Salford Equity Partners, Senior Analyst at the EBRD in Tbilisi and London, Senior Financial Analyst at KPMG Barents in Tbilisi, and Team Leader for the World Bank’s CERMA Project in Tbilisi. Archil is CFA Charterholder and member of the CFA Society of the UK. He received an MBA with Distinctions from Cornell University and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Law from Tbilisi State University.