Morten Bøås (PhD) is a Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. He works on violent conflict, insurgencies, and fragile states in Africa and the Middle East. From 2020 to 2023 Bøås was the Principal Investigator of the EU Horizon 2020 funded Project PREVEX – Preventing violent extremism in the Balkans and the MENA: Strengthening resilience in enabling environments. His latest book is “Resisting Radicalization: Exploring the Non-Occurrence of Violent Extremism.” Out of 9-11 attacks, one major conclusion is it was a Black Swan Operation which means it could happen, but intelligence services missed the signals. Grievances or underlying causes may push someone into a violent life due to lack of education, food insecurity, or poverty. Soft Power programs, such as Peace Corps, UN assistance and USAID may provide a better life for people who are susceptible. USAID is rated as an extremely efficient and effective self-help program.

Ansgar Baums, Senior Advisor to Sinolytics, consults corporations on geopolitical risk management. Baums held other positions within the corporate world, most recently as Head of the Global Strategy Program at HP and as Head of Government Relations Europe/Middle East/Africa at HP. His most recent publication is: “War.’ Both the US and Chinese policymakers are keenly aware of the key role technology plays in great-power competition. Both countries have rapidly expanded policies that aim at leveraging tech value chains for geopolitical purposes - what we call geotech statecraft. Conversely, both countries are also trying to minimize their exposure vis-a-vis their geopolitical opponent. To prevent this dynamic, a new international agreement to create “technology safe harbors” is needed. The Helsinki Accords during the Cold War could provide a template to achieve such an understanding. The UN forum would be a logical partner, but countries have to reduce their squabbling at the UN.

Felix Dodds has been a leading thinker in the area of global governance and sustainable development for thirty years. He is now an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina. Felix chaired the UN conference in 2011 that put forward the first set of indicative Sustainable Development Goals. He set up the Water and Climate Coalition at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). He attended the COP29 held in Baku Azerbaijan in November of 2024. The COP-29 presidency announced the “Baku Financial Goal,” a new commitment to allocate $1.3 trillion annually from climate financing for developing countries. Additional achievements include: Establish a Global Carbon Market Mechanism; Full Operation Guarantee for the Loss and Damage Fund; Launch of the Water for Climate Action Program; and, Emphasis on Public-Private Partnerships: A major criticism is that the fossil-fuel interests have played too large of a role in the COPs.