Parag Khanna (US)

Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, and author. He has served as an adviser to the US National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030 programme, and served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a senior geopolitical adviser to United States Special Operations Forces. He was also a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the National University of Singapore.

Touching on technology, society, geopolitics and economics, Parag brings together a wide range of influences to create a coherent picture of the world and what it has in store. He is the author of several books including examinations of the effects of global relationships. MOVE: The Forces Uprooting us deep dives into the trends shaping the most likely scenarios for the future, Connectography: Mapping the Global Network Revolution looks at how global networks are redefining every aspect of life and Technocracy in America: Rise of the Info-State considers where technology has led democracy and trust in modern societies. Whilst in The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order Parag takes an expansive look the geopolitical, economic and social elements shaping the world, from China to the former Soviet states to South America.

On China, Parag warns against seeing the country as a single entity, whilst also considering its influence on its neighbours, on global trade, and in Africa. He also looks at redefined EU and US roles in the world, and the responsibilities of global cities. He examines the rise of Asia more widely, as home to over 5 billion people, over 30 Fortune 100 companies, five nuclear powers and a testing ground for all types of new technologies.

Parag’s work had been lauded by groups from WIRED magazine to the World Economic Forum and the OECD. He is a regular contributor to titles including New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review and to coverage from CNN, BBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera and others. As well as more conventional strategic and political research Parag has undertaken expeditions from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea, across the rugged terrain of Tibet and Xinjiang provinces in western China, and from London to Ulaanbaatar, giving him a first-hand insight into many of the areas bearing witness to the global changes he speaks about.