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.

Dr. William Marcy, a lecturer at Buffalo State University, has authored two books: “The Politics of Cocaine,” and his most recent “Narcostates.” He highlights the scope of the Narcostates and the significance of the Central American crisis in expanding the cocaine trade in North America. Mexico’s permanent campaign against narcotics trafficking on Mexican cartels was directly affected after the Mexican economic crisis, the Zapatista Rebellion, and the Salinas administration’s corruption, all which worsened the situation in Mexico. Also discussed are details of various programs such as the War on Drugs, the Merida Initiative, Kingpin Strategy and CARSI. Cryptocurrency is a popular way to launder money through false invoicing, money transfers and others. America has apparently lost interest in Latin America and is mostly known for decades of benign neglect and gunboat diplomacy. Recommendations to Trump and Scheinbaum Administrations is cooperate, root out corruption, develop infrastructure and education, and curtail recidivism.