ANNUAL REPORT

2015
ANNUAL
REPORT

B
ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
As the world has changed,
so too has the Atlantic Council.
Yet all along we have been
driven by the conviction that
if the United States shapes
the future constructively with
its friends and allies, the
world will thrive. If we fail to
do so, less benevolent forces
will fill the void.
2015 ANNUAL REPORT
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2 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SECTION TABLE TITLE/DESCRIPTION
OF CONTENTS 3
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
06 32 58
THEMATIC
PROGRAMS
REGIONAL
CENTERS
GLOBAL
CONVENINGS
Leadership Message
04
Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security
08
Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
34
Distinguished Leadership Awards
60
Board of Directors
International Advisory
Board
Honor Roll of Contributors
70
71
72
Millennium Leadership Program
14
Global Energy Center
18
Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center
40
Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center
44
Global Citizen Awards
62
Istanbul Energy & Economic Summit
64
Financial Summary
By the Numbers
74
76
Global Business & Economics Program
22
South Asia Center
50
Wrocław Global Forum
66
Future Europe Initiative
28
Africa Center
54
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LEADERSHIP MESSAGE 5
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO
This year marks the Atlantic Council’s fifty-fifth
anniversary.
As the world has changed, so too has the Atlantic
Council. Yet all along we have been driven by the
conviction that if the United States shapes the
future constructively with its friends and allies, the
world will thrive. If we fail to do so, less benevolent
forces will fill the void.
Those founding principles were already clear in
the first year of the Kennedy administration in
1961, when the Atlantic Council was born. The
story goes that Secretary of State Dean Rusk
convened some of America’s most-prominent
foreign policy leaders—among them former
Secretaries of State Dean Acheson and Christian
Herter, former UN General Assembly delegate
Mary Pillsbury Lord, Marshall Plan architect
William Clayton, and legendary diplomats
Theodore Achilles and Henry Cabot Lodge.
Rusk raised concerns of a historic nature. The
Soviet Union had expanded its nuclear arsenal,
and its leader Nikita Khrushchev was threatening
Berlin’s freedom and thus the post-World War II
order. Moscow was acting to advance Communist
ideology and interests across the world.
Rusk challenged these leaders to combine efforts
in confronting the gathering threat. The result
was the Atlantic Council of the United States.
This new organization helped achieve historic
outcomes: galvanizing constructive US
leadership alongside European allies to contain,
then roll back the Soviet threat, thus laying the
groundwork for a Europe whole and free and to
expand the rules-based international order to
embrace emerging actors such as India and China.
Fast forward to 2016 when threats to those
historic accomplishments are rising.
The Atlantic Council’s mission of “working
together to secure the future” has never been
more crucial. We act each day on the conviction
that if the United States and its global allies and
friends work more effectively together, we can
forge one of the most enlightened, secure, and
prosperous periods of world history, fueled by
the human advances that are empowered by
technological and scientific progress.
If we fail, darker forces may fill the void. Witness
Ukraine. Witness Syria. Witness terror in Paris
and Brussels.
Just as the Atlantic Council’s mission has never
been more important, our capabilities have
never been as robust. The past nine years have
seen tremendous growth in our size and impact,
with a ten-fold increase of revenue and staff. This
advance has been driven by our unique culture
of intellectual entrepreneurialism alongside key
partners and our focus on measurable results.
As described in the pages that follow, our
thematic programs combine efforts with the
high-impact regional centers that the Atlantic
Council has created over the past decade. The
ten programs and centers work together in a
way that mirrors how real policy is created—
not in a vacuum, but in a collaborative effort
“We are driven by the conviction
that if we don’t help shape the
future with our friends and allies,
then less benevolent forces
will do so.”
that draws from a range of expertise to address
multiple issues and steered by an over-arching
strategy and worldview.
What powers all this work is a unique ability to
convene at the highest and most-relevant levels
demonstrated from our first annual gathering
with President John F. Kennedy at the Mayflower
Hotel. The pages that follow only scratch the
surface of our work.
We are indebted to those in our community
who provide us with their wisdom and support,
some of whom you will find in our Honor Role
of Contributors on page 72. We thank our
Board of Directors, our International Advisory
Board, Atlantic Council individual and corporate
members, our partners, and our impressive staff.
Onward and upward,
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.
Chairman
Frederick Kempe
President and CEO
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
THEMATIC PROGRAMS
7
THEMATIC
PROGRAMS
Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security
08
Millennium Leadership Program
14
Global Energy Center
18
Global Business & Economics Program
22
Future Europe Initiative
28
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BRENT SCOWCROFT CENTER ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY 9
TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY STRATEGY
Emerging challenges and
opportunities call for new,
imaginative approaches
BRENT SCOWCROFT CENTER
ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Named in honor of two-time National
Security Advisor and former Atlantic
Council Board Chairman, Lt. General
Brent Scowcroft, the Brent Scowcroft
Center on International Security pursues
a foreign policy vision grounded in his
legacy of American statecraft, built upon a
foundation of bipartisanship and cooperation with America’s friends and allies (see
Brent Scowcroft Interview page 11).
The Scowcroft Center, the Atlantic Council’s flagship program under the direction of
Council Vice President and Arnold Kanter Chair Barry Pavel, executes the Council’s
historic mandate of uniting America’s like-minded friends and allies in creating a
more secure and peaceful world. At a time of unprecedented change and instability,
the Center integrates first-in-class work on NATO and transatlantic security with a
future-focused global platform for understanding emerging trends, tackling rapidly
evolving threats, and leveraging fresh opportunities.
A high-level Atlantic Council delegation—led by board directors Paula Dobriansky and
Sherri Goodman, and including Rear Admiral David Titley and US defense expert Nora
Bensahel—explores Norway’s Arctic Svalbard Islands on a fact-finding mission.
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BRENT SCOWCROFT CENTER SECTION INTERNATIONAL TITLE/DESCRIPTION
SECURITY 11
AN INTERVIEW WITH
BRENT SCOWCROFT
Two-time National Security Advisor Lt. General
Brent Scowcroft has been an Atlantic Council board
director since the 1980s, and was the board chairman
from 1998 to 1999 and 2013 to 2014. He is also the
founding chairman of the International Advisory
Board. Among the Council’s leading intellectual
figures, Gen. Scowcroft was instrumental in the
Council’s reinvention following the end of the Cold
War. Pictured here, Gen. Scowcroft signs a three-ton
piece of the Berlin Wall, alongside the signatures of
others who helped bring it down.
Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK DISTINGUISHES THE
BRENT SCOWCROFT CENTER?
A: The Scowcroft Center’s focus on strategy and foresight
is unique. I often remind people that during the Cold War,
the strategy was very clear: containment of the Soviet
Union. Today, we debate tactics, but there is much less
clarity about the strategic purpose behind America’s role
in the world. The Scowcroft Center is making a significant
contribution by fostering a debate about the grand strategy.
Q: HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED A PARTICULAR
MOMENT OF PRIDE IN THE COUNCIL’S WORK?
[ABOVE]
The Scowcroft Center every year
hosts four military fellows from
different branches of the US armed
forces. Pictured here, General
James L. Jones—chairman of the
Brent Scowcroft Center, and former
Atlantic Council chairman, US Marine
Corps commandant, and Supreme
Allied Commander Europe—joined by
the Atlantic Council’s marine military
fellow, leads a celebration of
the Marine Corps birthday.
The Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security is a leading forum for
crafting smart, actionable strategies and solutions to the world’s most-daunting
challenges—often through the application of innovative and unconventional
tools and approaches, including 3-D printing, big-data analytics, robotics,
nanotechnology, and biotechnology.
In 2015, the Scowcroft Center continued to invest in its core transatlantic and
NATO programming through the Transatlantic Security Initiative’s work on
Europe’s rapidly evolving security environment. Two reports—The Naval Alliance:
Preparing NATO for a Maritime Century and NATO’s New Strategy: Stability
Generation—sparked crucial debate in Washington, Brussels, and allied capitals
ahead of the 2016 Warsaw Summit and beyond.
The dramatic global events of the last year proved that a reassessment of
America’s overall strategic approach to world affairs is more crucial than ever. In
response, the Center’s Strategy Initiative launched the Atlantic Council Strategy
Papers, a series of essays designed to lay out potential strategies for America
at a time when the United States is facing profound questions about its role in
the world.
The first paper, Dynamic Stability, set out a new approach for US foreign
policy aimed at capturing America’s natural strengths within unfolding global
Q: WHAT DOES THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL
REPRESENT TO YOU?
A: The Atlantic Council represents a unique transatlantic
approach to contemporary challenges and American
leadership that incorporates common interests and
strengths of allies and partners. The Council is proudly
nonpartisan; that is fundamental to its identity.
Q: HOW DOES TODAY’S VOLATILE GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE THE COUNCIL’S
WORK?
A: To remain dynamic in this environment, the Council
produces ‘on-time’ analysis with the news cycle that’s
relevant to policymakers and business leaders, who in a 24/7
news environment are too busy to synthesize developments.
I am also very pleased the Council has put considerable
effort into strategy development and strategic foresight.
This is another way to remain relevant over the long term.
Q: YOU HAVE RESISTED MANY INSTITUTIONAL
REQUESTS TO USE YOUR NAME. WHY DID YOU
LEND YOUR NAME TO THE BRENT SCOWCROFT
CENTER ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY?
A: Fred Kempe is very persuasive! When he first approached
me about the idea of establishing a Scowcroft Center, I was
reluctant. I was aware of the huge contributions others
had made throughout the Council’s rich history…Acheson,
Goodpaster, Kissinger. Fred ultimately won me over by
convincing me that a Scowcroft Center would enable the
Council to add significant resources and capabilities. And
he was right.
A: The awards dinners are always special, but 2010 was
particularly poignant since my dear friend, former President
George H.W. Bush, received the Distinguished International
Leadership Award. It was a validation of the president’s
remarkable career. That moment also showed me how
significant the Atlantic Council had become—to have a
former US president accept the award. And the next year,
former President Bill Clinton accepted the award as well.
Q: WHAT DOES YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
COUNCIL MEAN TO YOU?
A: My attachment to the Council reflects a shared
philosophy and worldview: American leadership through
our global network of alliances and partnerships is the best
formula for strength and security, particularly when backed
by bipartisan support at home. I am very pleased to see the
Council so active and relevant today.
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BRENT SCOWCROFT CENTER ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY 13
megatrends. The President’s 2015 National
Security Strategy picked up the Dynamic
Stability concept—underscoring how rapid
change “enables and incentivizes new forms
of cooperation to establish dynamic security
networks”—as one example of how the Council’s
ideas help US policymakers frame America’s
national interests.
At the forefront of identifying and understanding
long-term global trends, the Center’s Strategic
Foresight Initiative outlined near-term policy
recommendations to capture the benefits of
disruptive innovation and mediate potential
shocks. The Initiative serves as the direct analytic
support for the National Intelligence Council’s
work on the US government’s quadrennial
twenty-year projection of global trends, and
applies that same methodology to forecast
futures with other Atlantic Council programs
and in partnership with foreign governments,
global think tanks, and corporate stakeholders.
The Cyber Statecraft Initiative expanded its
lead on identifying interconnected cyber risks—
including the possibility of a “Lehman moment,”
in which a few major failures in cyberspace
could have cascading effects across the global
economy—as well as the first-ever quantitative
modeling on the extent to which cyber risks
might be constraining the growth of global GDP.
The Middle East Peace and Security Initiative’s
new series of war games brought a topical
twist to think tank-style analysis by employing
the skills of former senior officials and regional
experts in role-playing scenarios based on real
global challenges, specifically the spread of
ISIS. Following the effort’s success in revealing
potential strengths in ISIS’s counter tactics, the
Scowcroft Center added simulations and war
games to its deepening analytic toolbox.
A venue for policy and industry leaders to interact
on developing defense priorities, the Emerging
Defense Challenges initiative launched the Art
of Future Warfare project (see Interview with
George Lund below). The project unites the
nation’s creative talent—such as bestselling
World War Z novelist Max Brooks—with leading
security experts—including Martin Dempsey,
who as then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
wrote the foreword for the project’s anthology
of fictional stories—and helps develop inventive
responses to long-standing security dilemmas.
In the Asia Security Initiative, policy-focused
programming tackled growing security and
defense challenges associated with changing
dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region. The Council’s
“Global stability is essential for all
of us to survive….Without America’s
leadership, I don’t think it happens.”
– CHUCK HAGEL, FORMER US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
agenda-setting report on reshaping the Asia-
Pacific financial architecture, part of a broader
project on Asian futures, provided a set of
specific policy recommendations for integrating
China effectively into existing institutions in
a measured but meaningful fashion.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
GEORGE LUND
George Lund, chairman of Torch Hill Investment
Partners, is the force behind the MA and George
Lund Fellowship in the Scowcroft Center. The
Fellowship gives voice to fresh ideas about how
defense ministries and industries interact and
promotes dialogue among policy leaders, industry
executives, and other constituencies.
Q: HOW HAS THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL EVOLVED
DURING YOUR TENURE?
A: The Council’s resources have grown dramatically and
so has the sophistication and professionalism of its work.
The Council earned a first-rate pedigree during the Cold
War, and that tradition of relevance and institutional
strength now has reemerged to address today’s pivotal
issues. For example, Russia, which has instigated armed
conflicts and reignited European tensions, is one focus
of the Council’s contemporary agenda. More generally,
the Council is now using its resources to respond to
the evolving global context, not only in Europe but also
throughout the globe.
Q: HOW HAS THE LUND FELLOWSHIP HELPED THE
COUNCIL MAKE AN IMPACT?
A: Besides the extensive programming it organizes, I am
most proud of the community it has built around Emerging
Defense Challenges, and the defense industry’s contribution
to addressing them. It brings together top players in
government and business to help shape understanding of
these issues, both among themselves and with Congress
and the public at large. The initiative’s Captains of Industry
Series and Defense-Industrial Policy Series have established
the best venue for senior executives with something
important to say.
Q: WHAT MAKES THE COUNCIL’S FOCUS
ON EMERGING DEFENSE CHALLENGES SO
DISTINCTIVE?
A: It’s the depth of expertise we bring to finding practical
problems of national and international security. We
provide a neutral forum where, for example, lawmakers
have the chance to hear real feedback and practical
suggestions from the officials who have to live with
congressional action. That sort of interaction is huge. The
result is better informed laws and policies, which are in
the public’s best interest.
Q: WHAT HAS YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
COUNCIL MEANT TO YOU?
A: It is immensely rewarding to be associated with a group
of people who care passionately about creating a better
world. On a personal level, it feels like I’m doing something
worthwhile and good. On a professional level, I find the
programming topical, provocative, and balanced—meaning
nonpartisan and fact-based. The Council isn’t a cloister
of like-minded people; it’s a forum for well-considered
discussion and debate.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE?
A: I see the Lund Fellowship building on the momentum
we’ve established in the marketplace of defense ideas. I
see the Brent Scowcroft Center on a quest to claim the
top spot among conveners of decision-makers in national
and international security. And I see the Atlantic Council
commanding a similar convening power, but across the full
range of the twenty-first century’s global challenges.
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
MILLENNIUM LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
15
RISING LEADERS FOR
EMERGING CHALLENGES
Empowering the next
generation’s leaders
to shape the future
MILLENNIUM
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
A Navy test pilot expanding the horizons of
unmanned air-to-air combat. An urban developer
overseeing the largest urban renewal project in
Central Europe. A South African social entrepreneur
educating the continent’s next generation of
female engineers. A military veteran and storyteller
bridging the civilian-military divide. These are just
some of the transformational leaders of the Millennium Leadership Program, which brings
together young, talented innovators from around the world.
As the pace of change accelerates in the twenty-first century, tomorrow’s leaders must
navigate a shifting landscape. Against this backdrop, the rising generation—one that has
come of age in the midst of economic crisis, a technological revolution, and an increasingly
interconnected world—will rewrite the playbook for tackling shared challenges. The
Millennium Leadership Program helps them define their vision for the future and equips
them to achieve it.
Robert Abernethy (forward left), Atlantic Council board director and president and CEO of
American Standard Development, joins some fifty young leaders for the Atlantic Council’s Future
Leaders Summit.
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16 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
MILLENNIUM LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 17
“The fact is that world events are influenced by people
acting out of faith, passion, and a sense of who they are
and where they fit.”
– MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER US SECRETARY OF STATE
[ABOVE]
US Vice President Joseph Biden
meets with the Millennium
Leadership Future NATO fellows.
The Atlantic Council launched the Millennium Leadership Program (MLP) in
2015, recognizing that the rapidly changing world requires a new generation of
globally connected, agile, and principled leaders able to build coalitions, adapt
institutions, and inspire action.
The program introduced two major new initiatives in its first year, the Millennium
Fellowship and the Take Point Initiative, both of which identify and empower
young leaders with proven potential to be transformational. United by an
entrepreneurial spirit and global perspective, these leaders have already made
their mark by fueling the energy and climate revolution through the application
of new technologies and smarter policies, developing inclusive models of
governance to reconnect citizens and institutions, pioneering new defense
capabilities, and creating economic opportunity through innovation.
The inaugural class of Millennium Fellows, convened thanks to crucial support
from Atlantic Council board director Robert Abernethy, brought together twentyone
exceptional professionals from fourteen countries across five continents.
Throughout the year, fellows met with world leaders and senior policymakers,
took the stage as speakers at the Council’s Istanbul Summit (see page 64) and
Global Strategy Forum, travelled to Kyiv for a behind-the-scenes look at the
historic challenges in Ukraine, and honed skills in master-class sessions with
award-winning filmmakers, top policy experts, and best-selling authors.
In MLP’s other major undertakings, the Council launched the Take Point
Initiative in partnership with the Bob Woodruff Foundation to support veterans
transitioning to careers as thought leaders in national security and foreign policy.
With characters of resilience and comradery forged on battlefields, they bring
unique perspectives and capabilities to civilian life.
The initiative has already awarded more than $100,000 in grants to support
projects developed by these extraordinary men and women, including works of
fiction, documentary films, and veteran-focused nonprofits. One awardee was
Navy veteran Justin Brown who launched his nonprofit, HillVets, in 2012 after
experiencing first-hand the challenges veterans
face pursuing careers on Capitol Hill. With
support from Take Point and others, Justin is
expanding HillVets to welcome twenty veterans
to DC this summer for mentoring, internships,
and transition assistance.
Even while these new projects were unfolding,
MLP maintained and developed long-standing
programs such as the Future NATO Initiative
and the Emerging Leaders in Environmental
and Energy Policy (ELEEP) network.
Supporting the transatlantic alliance is a core
Council objective, and since 2002, the Council
has partnered with NATO to engage the next
generation of Atlantic leaders in shaping
the future, convening rising leaders from
across the Alliance in conjunction with official
NATO Summits.
Joining forces with NATO’s Allied Command
Transformation, MLP led a full-day “design
thinking” exercise and put to the test whether
these next generation leaders could come
up with more creative solutions for NATO’s
challenges than the old pros. They did.
Working with the Brent Scowcroft Center on
International Security, MLP also launched its
Wales2Warsaw project with the US Mission
to NATO, a multi-media virtual campaign to
engage Alliance citizens in informing NATO’s
future. These initiatives have helped to frame
the debate in the run up to the 2016 Warsaw
Summit, where the Council and NATO will host
a new cohort of next generation leaders.
Recognizing the growing urgency for
international collaboration to address climate
change and energy security, the Council’s
ELEEP has convened more than one hundred
scientists, executives, policymakers, and
entrepreneurs, inspiring publications in outlets
including The Atlantic, Bloomberg, and Popular
Science, and dozens of member-organized
events and study tours.
[ABOVE]
Former US Secretary of Defense, US Senator from Nebraska,
and Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel greets the
2015 veterans from the Take Point Initiative.
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
GLOBAL ENERGY CENTER 19
ENERGY UNBOUND
Volatility and opportunity
call for creative responses
to ensure reliable,
sustainable resources
GLOBAL ENERGY
CENTER
Just a decade ago, few envisioned the sweeping
changes that today are shaking the foundation
of the global energy order. The unconventional
hydrocarbon revolution enables the United States
to shift from a future of energy scarcity and importdependence
to become the world’s top producer
of oil and natural gas. Simultaneously, renewable
energy innovation, gains in energy efficiency, and greater use of natural gas fundamentally
are changing the power sector and allowing further reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.
Large emerging economies, such as India and China, are now driving energy demand, which
has far-reaching implications for global markets, climate change, and energy security. New
technologies—from renewables to smart power grids and off-grid producers—are creating
opportunities for decentralized and more cost-effective energy production. Yet despite
all these changes, 1.2 billion people worldwide continue to live in energy poverty, and the
economic and geopolitical ramifications remain uncertain.
Bilfinger, an international engineering and services group based in Mannheim, Germany, is
benefitting from the shale gas boom in the United States. In Scio, Ohio, the company is building a
plant for the production of liquid gases. (Photo by Bilfinger SE.)
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SECTION GLOBAL TITLE/DESCRIPTION
ENERGY CENTER
21
[ABOVE]
Hamid and Majid Jafar (center and left), respectively the chairman and CEO of Iraq-based Crescent Petroleum,
with former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, at the opening ceremony of the Council’s Energy & Economic
Summit in Istanbul (for more on the Summit see page 64).
[ABOVE]
Senator Lisa Murkowski (left) and Senator Mark Warner
present their findings for the Atlantic Council’s Energy
Boom and National Security Task Force.
[LEFT]
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz speaks at the annual
Atlantic Council Board Dinner.
Building on its long-standing work on energy
security, the Atlantic Council launched the
Global Energy Center in 2015 in response to
a world unsettled by tectonic shifts in energy
production and consumption patterns. In its
first year, the Center tackled a wide range of
challenges, from energy geopolitics and climate
change, to emerging technologies and energyrelated
conflict.
Driven by the desire to turn these modern
energy challenges into opportunities, the
Global Energy Center—under Founding
Director Richard Morningstar—generated
“Gambling with the future of Earth itself
when we know full well what the outcome
would be is beyond reckless. It’s just
plain immoral…We need to face reality:
There is no planet B.”
– JOHN KERRY, US SECRETARY OF STATE
leading research and analysis with the purpose
of catalyzing sustainable solutions.
With US leaders grappling over how best to
leverage new energy abundance, the Center
launched a bipartisan US Energy Boom and
National Security Task Force, co-chaired by
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)—chairman
of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource
Committee—and Senator Mark Warner (D-
VA). The group comprised a cross-section of
foreign policy, defense, and energy experts
that included former US Ambassador to the
European Union Stuart Eizenstat, former Under
Secretary of State Marc Grossman, and twotime
US Ambassador Carlos Pascual.
The task force’s July 2015 report, Empowering
America: How Energy Abundance Can
Strengthen US Global Leadership, laid out a
pragmatic, forward-looking approach that
bridged the partisan divide during the year’s
contentious Congressional debates. Among
its recommendations, the report argued for
sustained research and investment in clean
energy technology, along with greater support
for energy diplomacy and technical assistance
abroad. The task force also called on policymakers
to repeal the crude oil export ban, which Congress
subsequently did in October 2015.
The Center regularly convened the most
significant policy, business, and energy-expert
voices. Miguel Arias Cañete, the European
commissioner for energy and climate, kicked off
a series of discussions on Europe’s most pressing
energy security challenges. The Center’s popular
CEO conversation series also brought to DC
globally focused leaders to discuss the industry’s
latest trends, from Crescent Petroleum CEO
Majid Jafar on the need for Middle East industry
reforms to Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki on
the impact of US energy on global markets.
When the historic nuclear agreement between
Iran and the UN Security Council’s Permanent
Members plus Germany (P5+1) sparked seismic
shifts in the geopolitical energy landscape, the
Energy Center was on point. The same week
that the US Congress began debating the
agreement, Atlantic Council senior fellows took
stage to shed light on the potential impact of
Iran’s natural gas reserves on Tehran’s Gulf
neighbors, Europe, and Central Asia. The event
was followed up with two reports, one analyzing
A Post-Sanctions Iran and the Eurasia Energy
Architecture and another taking a deep dive into
Iran’s Energy Policy. Proposing a bold idea for
how the Iran deal could result in a new strategic
cooperation between rivals, the Global Energy
Center also published a compelling hypothetical
scenario in Crude Oil for Natural Gas: Prospects
for Iran-Saudi Reconciliation.
In the run-up to the Paris climate talks in
December 2015, the Global Energy Center was
at the forefront of linking geopolitical energy
considerations to growing environmental threats.
Underscoring the new Center’s rapid emergence
as a leading voice on climate change, Secretary
of State John Kerry chose to make a major pre-
Paris climate speech at the Atlantic Council,
launching the Global Energy Center’s Road
to Paris series. Other leaders followed: Achim
Steiner, the executive director of the United
Nation’s Environmental Program; Adnan Amin,
director general of the International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA), and a host of
European ambassadors.
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GLOBAL BUSINESS && ECONOMICS PROGRAM
23
PROSPERITY
AND SECURITY
Innovation and opportunity
anchor global stability,
but stagnation threatens
the future
GLOBAL BUSINESS &
ECONOMICS PROGRAM
trading system, or risk facing a new, insecure normal.
Economic isolation is history, interdependence
the increasing reality. To manage the global
economy’s complexity, the United States and
Europe—by far the world’s two wealthiest
societies—must lead together, engaging
today’s emerging economic powers to revitalize
and adapt the foundations of the international
Business and trade have been pillars of the modern transatlantic relationship since at least
the Marshall Plan. Yet creating a genuinely barrier-free transatlantic marketplace with free
exchange, regulatory convergence, and seamless investment remains a far-off ambition.
The reward is more than material. Europe must open itself to greater competition
and innovation to overcome a decade of mediocre growth and ensure its place as a
global leader and critical partner in future challenges, whether in its internal security,
international defense, or global economic governance.
US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the Atlantic Council to make the case
for American leadership of free trade agreements as critical elements for setting the rules for
the twenty-first century global economy and achieving America’s foreign policy objectives.
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GLOBAL BUSINESS & ECONOMICS PROGRAM 25
When US Secretary of State John Kerry needed
to make a major policy speech in support of free
trade, he chose the Atlantic Council as his venue,
recognizing the Global Business Program’s
unique ability to blend economics and security.
“The Atlantic Council has become
an essential forum for twenty-first
century issues.”
– MARILLYN HEWSON, CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT, AND CEO,
LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION
Pushing for the passage of Trade Promotion
Authority, the secretary delivered a powerful
message on the importance of free trade as a
strategic tool to support international stability.
He argued passionately for trade’s value in
cementing alliances.
The Global Business and Economics Program was
founded to provide just this sort of forum. Led
by former Executive Director of the International
Monetary Fund Andrea Montanino, the Program
convenes business leaders, government officials,
and top experts to explore trends and frame
policies that advance global economic growth
and stability, with a particular focus on the
transatlantic community.
Secretary Kerry’s speech was the centerpiece
of Atlantic Council programming on new
free trade agreements—particularly the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
(TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The Global Business Program’s newsletter
TTIP&TRADEinAction has provided a worldwide
audience with a weekly review of news
and analysis of these groundbreaking trade
negotiations.
[ABOVE]
Atlantic Council board directors Nelson Cunningham and Adrienne Arsht (left) with US Secretary of State John Kerry and
Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe. Secretary Kerry was at the Atlantic Council speaking on the central
importance of TTIP and TTP to America’s security in the twenty-first century.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
C. BOYDEN GRAY
C. Boyden Gray, former US ambassador to the European
Union and White House counsel under President George H.
W. Bush, founded the C. Boyden Gray Fellowship on Global
Finance and Growth.
Q: WHAT IS BEHIND THE COUNCIL’S PAST NINE YEARS
OF TREMENDOUS GROWTH?
A: The world has gotten a lot more difficult in the last many years.
And the Atlantic Council is now remembering—what I grew up
hearing—the clarion call of any southern lawyer: God bless the man
who sues my client. The more trouble spots there are, sadly, the
more necessary is the Atlantic Council in answering market needs
for outside, objective expertise on these critical issues. The Council
is a great organization responding to a difficult time in history.
Q: WHAT ROLE DOES THE COUNCIL’S COMMUNITY OF
INFLUENCE PLAY IN THE COUNCIL’S WORK?
A: There is a deep bench of talent involved with the Council—both
its staff and board. There is really a lot of firepower; and their
practitioner’s approach sets the Council apart.
Ideology, philosophy, vision and all that is very important,
and we have a lot. But actually executing is paramount.
My father was in government much of his life and he used
to say, “any fool can think up a good idea, but it takes a
genius to work it through the bureaucracy.” The Council’s
community comprises people who have done the work,
and that makes all the difference.
Q: WHY LEND YOUR NAME TO THE BOYDEN GRAY
FELLOW?
A: The cornerstone of what the Atlantic Council can do is on
the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Europe is our largest
trading partner and combines to form the biggest segment
of global GDP. We share a common culture and common
values. We should be acting as a united front against all
the assaults on the key Western values of honest dealing,
protection of private property and market economies, and
individual liberty.
We have to get the relationship straight with our European
siblings—the people who naturally share our values—in
order to reaffirm the prominence of those values. That’s
why I’m glad the Council is refocusing its work on Europe
with the Future Europe Initiative [Editor’s Note: See
page 28].
It’s important work to be done, and it starts—in a way—
with finance and trade. If nothing else, the Great Recession
showed that if we aren’t straight on the financial front, the
end result will be ugly. Chris Brummer (the first Gray Fellow)
has awakened everyone to the need for that coordination.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE GRAY FELLOW,
AND FOR THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL, GOING
FORWARD?
A: I hope that the Gray Fellow can contribute to a
reestablishment of the historic ties with Europe, especially in
connection with banking and finance. We have let those ties
drift, but they are critical to the strength of the economies
of both continents and to our ability to project our common
values to the rest of the world.
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26 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
GLOBAL BUSINESS & ECONOMICS PROGRAM 27
“The way forward is private sector
diplomacy, in which business shares the
stage with government and NGOs to find
solutions. The Atlantic Council recognizes
this need for collaboration and has been
instrumental in bringing groups together.”
– RICHARD EDELMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO EDELMAN
The Global Business and Economics Program
also collaborates with the Atlantic Council’s
other programs and centers to highlight regional
perspectives on global trade issues. In June
2015, the Program convened a panel discussion,
Unlocking the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
Views from Both Sides of the Pacific, which
brought together Latin American and Asian
representatives from key TPP partners. Meeting
on the same day that Trade Promotion Authority
cleared the US Senate, the panelists were
optimistic about the final agreement, despite
the emergence of political opposition in some
countries (a TPP agreement was announced on
October 5).
The Program’s Transatlantic Finance Initiative
(TFI), launched in 2013, highlights the extent
of transatlantic and global interdependence in
financial markets. Led by the C. Boyden Gray
Fellow on Global Finance and Growth, Chris
Brummer, the TFI presents conversations on
the impact of regulation on financial institutions
and services around the world. The Initiative’s
flagship 2015 report, Renminbi Ascending,
offered a groundbreaking study on the impact
of the internationalization of the Chinese
currency, and served as the centerpiece
for launch events in Singapore, Hong Kong,
Brussels, London, and Washington.
The EuroGrowth Initiative is the Program’s
newest effort to focus concern over slow
growth into economic solutions for the
European project. European leaders, experts,
and policymakers have participated in the
Program’s EuroGrowth Conversation Series,
including European Commission Vice President
Valdis Dombrovskis, International Monetary
Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and
European Commissioner for Internal Market,
[ABOVE]
US Trade Representative Michael Froman (center)
speaks at the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory
Board Annual Meeting, co-chaired by Lockheed Martin
Chairman, President, and CEO Marillyn Hewson (left) and
Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
[LEFT]
Nobel-Laureate Joseph Stiglitz discusses the
complications of sovereign debt restructuring during
an event co-hosted by the Council’s Adrienne Arsht
Latin America Center and the Global Business and
Economics Program.
[RIGHT]
Edelman CEO Richard Edelman presents the findings of
the Edelman Trust Barometer, which found a gap in trust
that tracked closely with the global wealth divide.
Industry, Entrepreneurship, and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
In a short time, this initiative has created an important
forum to assess the prospects for European economic
recovery and to generate ideas for catalyzing growth and
innovation. As a part of the initiative’s public outreach, the
weekly digital feature EconoGraphics explains economic
trends and data in a quickly understandable format.
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28
ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
FUTURE EUROPE INITIATIVE 29
EUROPE’S TEST
Terror attacks, migrant
waves, integration
woes—a continent’s
choice: lead or fall behind
FUTURE EUROPE
INITIATIVE
As new challenges rattle the international system,
Europe has had to reconcile its role as a global
leader with the urgency of profound crises at,
and within, its own borders—the most dramatic
of which were the terrorist attacks in Paris and
Brussels and the arrival of more than a million
refugees.
Russian aggression from the East and instability across the Middle East and North Africa
have introduced a new era of uncertainty. The continent simultaneously faces growing
internal challenges, from an ongoing Eurozone crisis and persistently lagging economy, to
an influx of asylum-seeking refugees, to citizens increasingly alienated from established
political leaders.
These demands diminish Europe’s ability to lead, and the US-European partnership—a
cornerstone of global democracy and stability—risks slipping adrift. America and its
closest ally must use this moment to find a way to lead together.
A man attends a memorial gathering near the old stock exchange in Brussels following
the terrorist attacks of March 22, 2016 on the Brussels airport and Maalbeek metro station.
(Photo by REUTERS/Christian Hartmann.)
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30 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
FUTURE EUROPE INITIATIVE 31
[BELOW]
“The growth of the Euro-Atlantic community has turned out to be one of the greatest forces in
human history for advancing peace, prosperity, security, and democracy.” US Vice President Joseph
Biden offers closing remarks at the conclusion of the Europe Whole and Free Conference.
[ABOVE]
“Reform fatigue is much worse
than enlargement fatigue.” Štefan
Füle (right), former European
commissioner for enlargement and
European neighborhood policy,
speaks on a panel moderated by
Frances Burwell, Atlantic Council
vice president, European Union and
special initiatives.
The Atlantic Council’s core mission is rooted in Europe’s continued strategic
importance for global prosperity and security. In response to the continent’s many
challenges, the Atlantic Council launched the Future Europe Initiative, embracing
and expanding upon the previous work of the Transatlantic Relations Program.
Under the leadership of Vice President of European Union and Special Initiatives
Frances Burwell, the Initiative draws from a robust network of expertise and
resources to sustain a wide-reaching conversation on how to ensure that Europe
remains an effective leader and partner to its friends around the globe.
The Initiative fulfills that mission by bringing together leaders from both sides of
the Atlantic for strategic conversations on Europe’s future. At a seminal conference
in April 2014, US Vice President Joseph Biden, US Secretary of State John Kerry,
and a host of European foreign and defense ministers set out a vision for a strong
transatlantic strategy for a Europe “whole, free, prosperous, and at peace.” That
event sparked a conversation that continued all the way through June 2015, when
more than four hundred business and political leaders attended the Council’s sixth
annual Wrocław Global Forum, the Program’s flagship annual event in Poland and
home of the Atlantic Council’s Freedom Awards (see more on the Wrocław Global
Forum and the Freedom Awards page 66).
Throughout 2015, the Initiative pushed this crucial discussion forward by
designing a series of high-level events to analyze policy and provide new
recommendations for transatlantic decision-makers. European leaders
ranging from then-European Commission President José Manuel Barroso,
European Parliament President Martin Schulz, and UK Foreign Secretary
Philip Hammond joined the Atlantic Council to share their own visions for the
US-European partnership.
Alongside the Initiative’s larger strategic push
to reinvigorate support for strong European
leadership is its commitment to deepen
the European Union’s Eastern Partnership,
particularly in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
In 2015, it launched the EUSource e-newsletter
primarily aimed at a US audience to outline
the European Union’s complex regulatory,
economic, and political measures.
Uniquely positioned at the center of the
Council’s core mission, the Future Europe
Initiative worked hand-in-hand with the Atlantic
Council’s other programs and centers to infuse
smart perspectives on Europe across their work.
Following its own early efforts supporting
trade negotiations, the Future Europe Initiative
partnered with the Global Business and
Economics Program to provide analysis on
opportunities presented by the Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership and also
conducted a comparative study of US-French
economic competitiveness.
“Advancing the lot of
humanity is going to continue
to depend upon, in my view,
the solidarity of the Atlantic
community. It’s going to fall
to future generations and
to organizations like the
Atlantic Council to sustain
this partnership.”
– JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES
With the Brent Scowcroft Center on International
Security, the Initiative brought together nextgeneration
Germans and Americans to discuss
the tensions in that bilateral partnership.
Working with the Rafik Hariri Center for the
Middle East, Future Europe convened key US and
European policymakers and experts to identify
ways for the transatlantic partners to encourage
political and economic reforms in Tunisia and
across the region.
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32
ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
REGIONAL CENTERS
33
REGIONAL
CENTERS
Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
34
Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center
40
Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center
44
South Asia Center
50
Africa Center
54
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34 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
RAFIK HARIRI CENTER SECTION FOR TITLE/DESCRIPTION
THE MIDDLE EAST 35
CRISIS FROM
THE MIDDLE EAST
Failed states and civil wars
cast global repercussions—
and obscure opportunity
RAFIK HARIRI CENTER FOR
THE MIDDLE EAST
The late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri was a visionary leader who saw the
potential for a prosperous and secure
Middle East in which citizens share equally
in dignity, freedom, and justice. As that hope
took hold among those who participated in
the historic Arab Spring, Rafik Hariri’s son,
Bahaa, founded the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East to help
expand on his father’s legacy.
As Middle Eastern leaders grapple with reform amid violence, the Hariri Center
works with policymakers from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East
to advance a global consensus on the region’s immediate needs and long-term
challenges. Understanding the nuances of implementing solutions in a rapidly
changing region, the Center focuses on the imperative for a strategic framework
for US and European engagement.
Yet, the violence all too frequently hides other revolutions. Across the Middle East
and North Africa, sophisticated, technology-empowered youth are engaging in the
political process. New investments in education, high-tech entrepreneurship, and
novel grass-roots initiatives promise to remake Middle East societies.
Smoke rises at a site allegedly hit by barrel bombs dropped by government forces in
Aleppo’s Dahret Awwad neighborhood. (Photo by REUTERS/Mohamed Mounzer Masri.)
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT RAFIK HARIRI CENTER FOR THE MIDDLE EAST 37
[OPPOSITE TOP LEFT]
Bahaa Hariri (left) confers with former US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright at the launch of the Atlantic Council’s Middle
East Strategy Task Force.
[OPPOSITE TOP RIGHT]
Less than a month after being named a co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize
honoring the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, Hussein Abassi, head of the
Tunisian General Labor Union, speaks about the importance of labor unions
as balancing elements in society, capable of bringing positive, lasting
change to a country’s politics.
What has grown apparent is that the crisis in the
Middle East has become a crisis from the Middle
East, with global implications that range from
waves of migrants in Europe to rising extremism
elsewhere. To tackle this historic challenge,
the Hariri Center, led by Ambassador Francis
Ricciardone, convened the Atlantic Council’s
Middle East Strategy Task Force to foster a
better understanding of the underlying causes
of the crises and to enable a coherent strategy
for US, European, and Middle Eastern partners
to address them together. Co-chaired by former
US Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
and former National Security Advisor Stephen
J. Hadley, the bipartisan task force launched its
public work in June 2015.
After months of behind-the-scenes effort with
more than eighty experts and opinion leaders
from around the world, the co-chairs presented
their preliminary findings in December 2015
to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
attended by Chairman Bob Corker, Ranking
Member Benjamin Cardin, and fourteen other
committee members.
Advancing its work through a listening tour of
the Middle East and North Africa, the task force
met with regional leaders to gather insights
and support in spring 2016. The co-chairs will
release their final report following the 2016 US
presidential elections.
To complement the Hariri Center’s work on
regional strategy, Center experts also produced
in-depth country and issue-specific analysis and
policy recommendations on some of the more
immediate challenges to the Middle East.
Notably, while the Obama administration has
long argued that no good options exist in Syria,
the Hariri Center presented several action plans
as dynamics in the country shifted, including
ramping up the train-and-equip program to
build a robust Syrian National Stabilization Force
and leading a coalition of the willing to rapidly
drive ISIS from eastern Syria (see page 38).
On North Africa, the Hariri Center focused on
political developments and the intersections
of economic and political trends across Libya,
Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Karim Mezran,
leading expert on North Africa, routinely
convened the Libya Working Group with experts,
practitioners, as well as current and former
government officials to evaluate the precarious
political and security situation in Libya as the
country struggles to form a unity government
and battle extremist threats.
Hariri Center experts also focused on Tunisia, a
country where the emerging democratic political
system has been tested by a series of terrorist
attacks and a deteriorating economy. They
reported their findings in well-received reports:
Tunisia: From Elected Government to Effective
Governance and Tunisia: The Last Arab Spring.
The Center also hosted a public conversation
with Hussein Abassi, head of the Tunisian General
Labor Union, and a member of Tunisia’s National
Dialogue Quartet, which was awarded the 2015
Nobel Peace Prize.
On Egypt, the Center tackled US-Egypt
diplomatic relations, the country’s economic
policies, security challenges, and internal
political developments, among other issues. In
addition to providing analysis from Washington,
nonresident fellows in Egypt provide on-theground,
real-time reactions through both
media appearances and publications. Notably,
this analysis included To Vote or Not to Vote:
Examining the Disenfranchised in Egypt’s Political
[LEFT]
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber
(center), minister of state
in the United Arab Emirates
and chairman of sustainable
energy company Masdar,
speaks at a breakfast hosted
by Atlantic Council board
director Rafic Bizri (left) and
Hariri Center Director Francis
Ricciardone (right).
Landscape, assessing the electoral environment
ahead of the fall 2015 elections.
“There are green shoots, we call them,
messages of hope coming out of the
Middle East that need to be nurtured….
They offer the hope of a more
prosperous and secure Middle East.”
– STEPHEN J. HADLEY, CO-CHAIR OF THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL’S
MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY TASK FORCE
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38 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
RAFIK HARIRI CENTER FOR THE MIDDLE EAST 39
ROAD TO STABILIZING SYRIA AND DEFEATING ISIS
Senior Fellows Frederic C. Hof and Faysal Itani take a critical look at US policy toward
Syria, the consequences of inaction, and opportunities for political resolution
The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
addressed Syria’s protracted conflict and its
consequences in the region with unparalleled
programming and insight. Frederic C. Hof’s
highly sought-after analysis on Syria, along with
Faysal Itani’s distinct assessment of local actors
combined to impact the debate in Washington on
this highly contentious issue.
Hof, a current Atlantic Council senior fellow and
former special adviser for transition in Syria, has
been among the most vocal advocates for increased
US action in Syria. He pointed to US “non-policy” as
a factor in the emergence of ISIS and its continued
sway over significant territory in Syria:
“This brings you full-circle to the whole question
of: What is your strategy? If your objective is to
degrade and ultimately destroy [ISIS], then you
need to have a strategy that doesn’t produce the
opposite effect,” Hof told Business Insider. “It is
the lack of civilian protection that is just fattening
the political wallet of ISIS.”
The April 2015 release of Itani’s report, Defeating
the Jihadists in Syria: Competition before
Confrontation, and a panel discussion on
insurgent forces in Syria galvanized thinking
on how to empower nationalist rebel forces to
compete effectively with ISIS. His September 2015
release of “Seizing Local Opportunities in Syria,”
co-authored with Syrian regime defector Bassam Barabandi,
drew administration attention to possibilities in facilitating
a political transition and weakening jihadists in the country.
Hof also routinely convened the Syria Policy Analysis
Network for private, off-the-record discussions with leading
US policymakers, Syria watchers, and journalists to engage
with prominent Syrian figures and opposition leaders in
discussions of the latest developments on the ground.
[RIGHT]
Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae joined the Atlantic
Council to discuss Japan’s energy priorities and Middle
East policies. Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Frederic
Hof chaired the conference.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
BAHAA HARIRI
Bahaa Hariri is an international business leader and the eldest son of the
former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated
in 2005. Bahaa Hariri founded the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle
East at the Atlantic Council to continue his father’s legacy of building
a more secure and prosperous Arab world.
Q: HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE
YOUR FATHER’S LEGACY?
A: My father, Rafik Hariri, saw the
Arab people as full of talent, initiative,
and capability, and understood there
was no limit to what they could
achieve once they moved beyond
conflict, injustice, and repression. To
his last day on this earth, he believed
that Lebanon could lead the way
toward an era in which the great
promise and potential of the Arab
world would finally be realized—a
world of shared dignity, creativity,
and prosperity.
Q: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE
ATLANTIC COUNCIL TO TAKE
UP THE MANTEL OF YOUR
FATHER’S LEGACY?
A: There are forces driving change in
the world today. With American and
European help, those forces will guide
the Middle East to converge with
the international community—with a
robust civil society, democracy, and
free markets. Without that support,
the Middle East risks diverging onto
a dark and unsustainable path. The
Atlantic Council was the right place
because it is best positioned to
encourage European and American
leadership as essential for the Arab
world’s transition to the right path.
Q: HOW HAS THE HARIRI
CENTER’S WORK SHAPED THE
DEBATE ON US-MIDDLE EAST
STRATEGY?
A: The Center provides a unique
platform for debate and dialogue,
producing cutting-edge analysis to
support the Middle East’s stability and
democratic evolution. Additionally,
the Center has expanded in the
region to ensure that those who are
actively building a new future are
heard in the United States, Europe,
and beyond, so that international
strategy is based on facts from those
living in the region.
Q: HOW DOES THE COUNCIL
CULTIVATE A GLOBAL
UNDERSTANDING AMONG ITS
COMMUNITY?
A: The Atlantic Council positions itself
as an indispensable resource for
senior US and foreign government officials,
economists, journalists, among
others who are closely following the
Middle East and North Africa. With a
community built on engagement and
debate, the best ideas and most profound
insights quickly diffuse across
the network of experts.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR
THE HARIRI CENTER, AND FOR
THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL, GOING
FORWARD?
A: The Arab world needs global
citizens—like Rafik Hariri—and
institutions—like the Atlantic Council
and the Hariri Center—who will
struggle and succeed against the
odds. Arab citizens are seeking a
new path. It will be long and difficult
change, with many twists and turns.
At times it might not be clear whether
things are getting better or worse,
but today is not a time for the timid
or the cynical. If the people of the
Arab countries can find the strength
and wisdom, we can fulfill my father’s
vision for a vibrant and just future.
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40 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
DINU PATRICIU EURASIA CENTER 41
TECTONIC SHIFTS
A revisionist Russia
threatens a Europe
whole and free
DINU PATRICIU EURASIA
CENTER
Russia is at war in Ukraine.
The Dinu Patriciu Eurasia
Center’s report proved as
much with cutting-edge
digital forensic research
methods novel to the
think tank world—a form
of intelligence gathering from open sources ranging from Facebook
posts of Russian soldiers to Google Earth maps of Russian bases.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin’s War in Ukraine, the innovative product of
that work demonstrated, against Kremlin denials, that Russia’s military
presence in Ukraine was responsible for the conflict in the Donbas
region. Evidence of the report’s wide impact: the Russian-language
version had to be temporarily removed from the Atlantic Council’s
website, because the download traffic risked crashing the servers.
The Patriciu Center, led by former Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst,
works to inform thinking in Washington and in European capitals on
the dangers posed by a revanchist Kremlin. The Center’s analysis and
convening power helps build consensus among policymakers across
the Atlantic on how to best to keep alive the dream of a Europe
whole and free and counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts
to undermine neighboring countries’ sovereignty.
Protests in the Maidan in Kyiv, Ukraine in December 2013.
(Photo by Sasha Maksymmenko.)
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42 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
DINU SECTION PATRICIU TITLE/DESCRIPTION
EURASIA CENTER 43
The Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center has been at the
forefront of US and European efforts to better
understand Russia’s increasingly activist foreign
policies and ensure that post-Cold War gains in
advancing and expanding European democracy
are preserved.
In 2015, the Patriciu Eurasia Center’s Ukraine in
Europe Initiative did much to inform a growing
transatlantic understanding of the historic risks
that grow out of Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s ambitions. As Ukraine’s internal turmoil
evolved into Moscow’s annexation of Crimea
and interventions in eastern Ukraine, the
initiative convened regular meetings with
senior officials in Washington, Ukraine, and
Europe—helping to animate Western policy—
while at the same time informing the public
debate and legislative understanding.
Advocating a strategy for resolving the conflict
in Ukraine’s eastern regions and offering the
country a more secure future, the Atlantic
Council advanced four key elements across its
international network: thwarting the Kremlin’s
aggression in Ukraine’s East with a combination
[LEFT]
“My take is that Russia is not eager… to have
peace and stability, neither in Ukraine nor in
Europe,” said Ukraine’s then-Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk (right), citing as evidence a
renewed offensive by Russian-backed forces, at
a June 9, 2015 meeting at the Atlantic Council
hosted by Atlantic Council Executive Vice
President Damon Wilson.
of sanctions on Russia and military support for
Ukraine; promoting a host of reforms in Ukraine
and economic aid from the West; maintaining
policy support for Ukraine’s sovereignty in
Crimea; and unmasking the impact of Moscow’s
massive disinformation operation.
The impact of this approach was tangible.
The Ukraine initiative’s flagship publication,
UkraineAlert, reached thousands of global
influencers with original analysis and research. A
steady stream of reports shaped public opinion;
two of those reports in particular helped set the
tone for the West’s response to the crisis.
The first, Preserving Ukraine’s Independence,
Resisting Russian Aggression: What the United
States and NATO Must Do—calling for the West
to more actively support Ukraine, including the
provision of defensive weapons—dominated
the agenda at the Munich Defense and Security
Conference in February 2015. Although the
Obama Administration initially rejected the
suggestion to provide outright lethal defensive
weapons to Ukraine, it subsequently sent much of
the hardware recommended in the report, greatly
increasing the assistance supplied to Ukraine. By
galvanizing experts from several institutions, the
report had greater impact and was ranked by
the University of Pennsylvania’s annual Global
Go To Think Tank Index as the number one best
collaborative research paper and the number
three policy report paper in the world.
The second paper, Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin’s
War in Ukraine, was one of the most widely read
and quoted projects in the Atlantic Council’s halfcentury
history, deploying a new brand of digital
research techniques to trace the internet postings
of Russian soldiers on VKontakte, the Russian
equivalent of Facebook. It proved that Moscow
was present in and responsible for the conflict
in the Donbas and for fueling the hostilities in
Ukraine’s East. A VICE News documentary, Selfie
Soldiers, based on Hiding in Plain Sight won
Columbia University’s Alfred DuPont Journalism
Award (the Pulitzer Prize for television).
The Eurasia Center’s top community of experts
devoted to stability in Europe’s East, combined
with its leading research and analysis, made the
Atlantic Council the go-to venue for Ukrainian
officials, as well as leading specialists and
journalists working on Ukrainian and Russian
issues. In 2015, both Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko and then-Prime Minister Arseniy
Yatsenyuk—along with dozens of Ukrainian
officials—chose the Council as their platform for
addressing the Washington policy community.
This programming has broadened understanding
of the importance of Ukraine’s struggle and the
ongoing danger to European security. In July, the
nominee for the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, testified in
Congress that Moscow was the greatest security
danger to the United States. More importantly,
NATO decided to greatly increase its presence
of troops and hardware in the Baltic States
and Poland, and to conduct more exercises in
the Black Sea, steps that the Center had been
advocating for months.
At the same time, the Eurasia Center has
deepened its focus on Russia, endeavoring to
understand the dynamics shaping the country
and exploring ways to lessen tensions with
Moscow and bring it closer to the West. The
Atlantic Council has convened private and public
conversations with former senior Russian officials
and business leaders; the Brent Scowcroft Center
on International Security published the most
ambitions think tank effort of 2015 with the
Russian Academy of Science’s IMEMO.
The “grey zone” between Russia and NATO is
another key piece of the Patriciu Eurasia Center’s
work. Twice in 2015, the Atlantic Council led a
delegation to Moldova and Georgia to meet with
high-level officials to explore ways to strengthen
their internal institutions and deepen their
relationship with NATO, the European Union, and
the United States as a means of better ensuring
their long-term security.
IN MEMORIAM
DINU PATRICIU (1950-2014)
Dinu Patriciu founded the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu
Eurasia Center in 2009 to pursue his dream that the Black
Sea region, torn apart by World War II and the Cold War,
could be reunited by common values, mutual interests,
and economic cooperation.
He spoke passionately about the Black Sea as a “lake” that
should unite instead of divide the countries on its shores—
Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. As a
philanthropist and as a businessman, he put his ideas into
action.
Dinu’s businesses ranged from energy, media, and real
estate, to automotive technologies and banking. He was
a pioneer of his country’s democratic evolution in the
early 1990s, as founder of the National Liberal Party in
Romania, and one of the most effective advocates of its
NATO membership.
Dinu was also one of Central Europe’s earliest
philanthropists. His Dinu Patriciu Foundation has
empowered thousands of young Romanians to pursue
degrees and careers that have contributed positively to
Romania’s democratic development. He was also a gifted
architect and, in his later years, an artist.
Driven by Dinu’s entrepreneurial nature, the Patriciu
Eurasia Center expanded its reach to embrace issues
beyond the Black Sea and launched what has become the
Atlantic Council’s flagship global gathering, the Energy &
Economic Summit in Istanbul.
Alongside the 2014 Global Citizen Awards in New York,
the Atlantic Council presented a special tribute to Dinu—
received by his daughters, Ana and Maria, and his longtime
partner Melanie Chen. Said Atlantic Council President
and CEO Frederick Kempe, “The Atlantic Council will
be forever grateful for Dinu’s wisdom, ingenuity, and
generosity… We will miss his unique insights and his
determination to make a difference.”
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
ADRIENNE ARSHT LATIN AMERICA CENTER
45
THE NEW LATIN AMERICA
Stereotypes obscure
a democratic and stable
continent transformed by
globalized economies
ADRIENNE ARSHT LATIN
AMERICA CENTER
When the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD)
granted President Juan Manuel Santos’s
request to begin accession negotiations,
Colombia set course to become Latin
America’s third member country—after
Mexico and Chile—in the elite thirtyeight-nation
club of industrialized economies. The moment marked a milestone of
transformation for a country with double-digit manufacturing growth and a booming
energy sector.
Across Latin America, democracies are thriving, supported by a rising middle class.
Individual countries assume larger roles on the global stage, as innovators and as
trading partners. Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico are members of the Group of Twenty
(G20), playing prominent roles in shaping the world economy. In Latin America, more
women have achieved levels of power—presidencies and legislative assemblies—
than nearly any other region. However, much of the world continues to view Latin
America through outdated lenses shaped by old stereotypes, and fails to grasp the
extent and meaning of the region’s dramatic transformation.
Cubans gather for the opening of the US Interests Section in Havana on July 20, 2015
as the two countries begin a new era of post-Cold War relations.
(Photo by REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst.)
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46 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
ADRIENNE ARSHT SECTION LATIN TITLE/DESCRIPTION
AMERICA CENTER 47
Launched in October 2013, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center was founded
to heighten awareness of the new Latin America as a core partner in the wider
transatlantic community. Latin America’s rise comes at a time when US and
European foreign policies are overextended by the onslaught of global crises,
which diminish their capacity to engage adequately with dynamic Latin American
societies on the full spectrum of potential opportunities—both political and
economic. As a result, it has been difficult to move the policy and media discussion
beyond the narrow scope of old issues—drugs, violence, and immigration. The
Center aims to highlight Latin America’s transformations for a global audience
and demonstrate its role as a strategic partner for friends and allies.
The Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, under the leadership of Founder
Adrienne Arsht and Director Peter Schechter, takes an impact-focused approach
to its work. Through extensive consultations with key regional leaders, it collects
first-hand research, asks probing questions, and builds relationships with private
and public sector leaders to form the foundations of its projects.
The Center’s results orientation has earned it a reputation as a powerful convener
and publisher capable of helping policymakers understand the extent, meaning,
and potential impact of the dramatic transformations in this region.
AN INTERVIEW WITH
ADRIENNE ARSHT
Adrienne Arsht is a business leader and
philanthropist. After serving as chairman of the
board of TotalBank in Miami, Florida from 1997
to 2007, Arsht founded the Adrienne Arsht Latin
America Center to expand awareness of the new
Latin America across diverse communities of
influence, both within and outside Washington,
DC. Pictured here, Arsht welcomes Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos to the Atlantic
Council.
[BELOW]
Adrienne Arsht (left)—the founder
of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America
Center—and the center’s director,
Peter Schechter (right), host a
breakfast conversation with Rio de
Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes.
No country better symbolizes Latin America’s evolution than Colombia. Indeed,
when President Barack Obama hosted Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
at the White House in December 2013, the Center—barely two months old—seized
the historic moment and offered President Santos the Council’s nonpartisan
platform to challenge conventional Washington wisdom with the story of how his
country had progressed from Medellin Cartel to Medellin Miracle.
Impressed with President Santos’s success in overseeing one of the fastestgrowing
economies in Latin America, and most importantly, his tireless efforts
to end his country’s conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), the Council continued its engagement on Colombian issues by awarding
President Santos its 2015 Global Citizen Award in New York, with US Vice President
Q: WHAT DREW YOU TO THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL
AS THE ORGANIZATION TO CULTIVATE A BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF LATIN AMERICA?
A: When I moved to Washington, DC, I spoke to everyone
about the need for a center focused on Latin America.
The Atlantic Council listened. They came to me, saying
they wanted to build upon my vision and passion to
integrate Latin America with Europe and the United
States, replace outdated perceptions of the region, and
create new opportunities for cooperation. We started
small, with a one-off study, to confirm the viability of a
larger initiative. The need was confirmed, and I founded
the center. The Atlantic Council has been the perfect
partner.
Q: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE IMPACT
OF YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ATLANTIC
COUNCIL?
A: The impact of the work of the center has been very far
reaching. Within the first year alone, we had fifty events
in eight cities; we developed eight regional and thematic
practice areas; we produced fifteen publications. We
have had more than two thousand mentions and opinion
pieces in US and international media. The work on Cuba
and energy reform in Mexico has, among other things,
resulted in many of the Latin American heads of state and
government officials relying on our experts. It’s thrilling to
see how much impact we’ve been able to have, together, in
such a short time!
Q: IS THERE A PARTICULAR MOMENT OF PRIDE
OR SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU SHARE
WITH PEOPLE WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE ARSHT
CENTER?
A: Yes, the Cuba poll, which was the first national poll
on the subject of normalization. The impact of the
poll was manifested by the administration’s decision to
restore relations.
Q: WHAT HAS THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEANT TO
YOU PERSONALLY?
A: I have met so many people whose expertise covers
the most important global topics of our time. I have had
a chance to gain knowledge of issues, people, and places
that I would never have been exposed to otherwise.
Q: WHY IS THE WORK OF THE ARSHT CENTER
IMPORTANT?
A: Because it brings to the attention of everyone north of
Miami that there is a continent and a people that are too
often overlooked.
Q: HOW DO YOU SEE THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL
EVOLVING IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?
A: I think that in three years, the Council’s public profile
will be even greater throughout the policy world and even
more respected and in demand as a source of information,
policy, and action.
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48 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
ADRIENNE ARSHT LATIN AMERICA CENTER 49
[RIGHT]
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos jokes
with US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker
ahead of the private, off-the-record dinner in
the president’s honor following his meeting
with US President Barack Obama.
CUBA POLICY: IMPACT OVER TIME
The Arsht Latin America Center’s bipartisan national poll of American views on
US-Cuba policy laid the groundwork for the United States’ historic policy shift
Joseph Biden joining to salute President Santos
and Colombia’s trajectory toward peace
(see page 62).
Just a few weeks earlier, and coinciding with
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to
Washington, a new Arsht Center report, China’s
Evolving Role in Latin America: Can it Be a Win-
Win? outlined five recommendations to help
both China and Latin America usher in a mutually
beneficial post-commodity-boom relationship. It
called for a ratcheting up of strategic planning
and multilateral support so that the relationship—
and the 2,000 percent increase in trade over the
past fifteen years—would be a win-win for all
parties, including the United States. That report
led to the start of the Center’s two-year China-
Latin America initiative.
Recognizing the importance of under-analyzed
energy security issues in Latin America, the
Center stepped in to shape policy on a critical
issue for US and regional prosperity. Uncertain
Energy: The Caribbean’s Gamble with Venezuela
urged an examination of energy alternatives
for Central America and the Caribbean and
triggered high-level discussions. The report’s
recommendations landed the Center on the
leading edge of Caribbean energy policy and
in response, Vice President Biden invited the
Center to partner in hosting the Caribbean
Energy Security Summit in Washington, DC, in
January 2015.
Locked in an over fifty-year-old failed policy
of isolation, US-Cuban relations had posed an
intransigent challenge. However, ten months
before President Obama’s historic executive
order on US-Cuban relations, the Arsht Center
ran the first-ever comprehensive bipartisan
national poll on American public opinion of
US-Cuba policy, demonstrating a new national
disposition toward the Caribbean nation and
marking an opportunity for change. Days before
the opening of the US Embassy in Havana in
August 2015, the Center provided a ten-point
roadmap for Cuba’s reintegration into the global
economy. With presidential races heating up, a
second poll in the US heartland found majority
support in both parties for opening relations
with Cuba and repealing travel restrictions (see
opposite page).
Despite its current economic and political
challenges, the Center remains bullish on Brazil’s
long-term prospects. But it’s a relationship
historically placed on the backburner. That’s
why the Arsht Center immediately jumped into
action when the Brazilian president’s official
visit to the United States was announced.
Building on two years of work on Brazil, the
Center led an effort prior to the June 2015
visit to uncover specific ways to strengthen
the bilateral relationship. US-Brazil Relations: A
New Beginning? How to Strengthen the Bilateral
Agenda presented concrete proposals that the
United States and Brazil can take to advance
cooperation in innovation, goods and services
trade, investment, and education.
Why did a new, nonpartisan Latin America
Center reach out to grab what was then the third
rail of foreign policy in the United States?
Because after five decades, the policy of
embargo and isolation had failed and maintaining
the policy constricted the scope of US relations
with the broader continent.
Meanwhile, sentiment toward Cuba among US
citizens appeared to be changing. Seeing a
gap in understanding of this change, the Arsht
Latin America Center commissioned a national
survey conducted by pollsters—Glen Bolger, a
Republican; and Paul Maslin, a Democrat.
“The Atlantic Council has been at the
forefront of our reality… Your work has
helped reset the conversation in the
hemisphere and across the Atlantic.”
– JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA
Their survey of more than two thousand people
nationwide found that 56 percent favored more
direct US engagement with Cuba or even a
normalization of relations. It also found strong
bipartisan support for a number of executive
actions that President Obama could take that
would begin to normalize relations. Over three
thousand print and broadcast outlets carried
the results. Less than a year later, with the poll
showing that political cover existed, President
Obama undertook many of the actions indicated
in the poll.
As US relations with Cuba began to open up, the
Center turned to the island nation’s anticipated
role in the global economic community;
Cuba’s Economic Reintegration: Begin with the
International Financial Institutions became the
first major policy publication, since the change
in relations, that pushed for reengagement
between Cuba and institutions, such as the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund,
and the Inter-American Development Bank.
But more polling was still needed. This time in
four of America’s heartland states—Tennessee,
Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa. With important
congressional delegations or key political arenas,
these states were critical for advancing the US-
Cuban rapprochement. The result: bipartisan
support for an even wider Cuba opening. The
support in these states—important because of
senior congressional delegations or weight in
presidential politics—constitutes a major victory
for the president’s executive actions over the
past year.
[ABOVE]
“Air Force One will depart Andrews Air Force
Base en route to Havana, Cuba. No National
Security Advisor has ever said that before. No
US president has traveled to Cuba since Calvin
Coolidge came on a battleship 88 years ago,”
said National Security Advisor Susan Rice at
the Atlantic Council just days before President
Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba.
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50 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SOUTH ASIA CENTER 51
ADVERSARIES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
From Iran to India, South
Asia’s stability is a crucial
piece of global security
and prosperity
South Asia contains one fifth of the global
population and nearly half of the world’s poor; 40
percent of South Asians live on less than $1.25 a day.
SOUTH ASIA CENTER Policymakers struggle to create the infrastructure
and jobs needed to meet the rising expectations
of a growing population of young people and to
prevent the rise of extremist ideology spurred by widespread unemployment and poverty.
Leaders are faced with the challenge of cultivating the region’s vast economic potential
while also addressing severe food and water insecurity, global nuclear tensions, and the
impact of a rising China.
The South Asia Center, led by Bharath Gopalaswamy, navigates these currents with a
vision to bridge divides and tap the region’s full potential. Committed to working with US,
European, and regional leaders, the Center builds networks for actionable policy rooted in
facts on the ground.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi performs yoga with others to mark the International Day of
Yoga, in New Delhi, India. Modi led tens of thousands of people in the yoga session in the center of
the capital to showcase the country’s signature cultural export. (Photo by REUTERS/Adnan Abid.)
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52 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SOUTH ASIA CENTER 53
[LEFT]
At an event co-hosted by the Atlantic Council
and the United States Institute of Peace
in March 2015, President Ghani offers an
optimistic outlook of Afghanistan’s future,
the prospects of peace with the Taliban, and
improved regional connectivity.
The Task Force organized conversations
with some of the key actors surrounding the
negotiations, including US Secretary of Energy
Ernest Moniz, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad
Zarif, former National Security Advisor Brent
Scowcroft, Permanent Representative of Iran
to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo,
and Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin.
Now that the agreement is in effect, the Task
Force is building on its momentum as the
Future of Iran Initiative. The Initiative explores
Iran’s complex political dynamics, including its
economic potential, record on human rights,
and opportunities for bilateral people-topeople
engagement.
Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman and
President and CEO Frederick Kempe also took
the opportunity to meet privately with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, along with other senior
Indian business executives and officials, to
consider ways to strengthen collaboration across
the Indo-Pacific.
In November 2015, the Center returned to India
to host the Megacities Security Conference
in Mumbai. Opening just a week after the
Paris terrorist attacks, representatives from
seven countries—including the United States,
Bangladesh, Singapore, Kenya, and Mexico—
tackled how large cities can most effectively
prepare and respond to natural and manmade
disasters.
The Afghanistan Rising Initiative’s October
2015 issue brief, “Afghan and US Security,”
emphasized the need for US forces to remain in
Afghanistan, both for the nation’s security and
to preserve the next American administration’s
operational flexibility. Senators John McCain and
Jack Reed and more than twenty former senior
officials, including former cabinet secretaries
Madeleine Albright and Chuck Hagel, co-signed
the report, which was released days before
President Obama agreed to one of its key
recommendations—the retention of 10,000 US
troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2016.
Few events of the past year were more
dramatic than the Iran nuclear negotiations
and subsequent agreement. Well before the
agreement was announced, the South Asia
Center’s Iran Task Force, chaired by Ambassador
Stuart Eizenstat and directed by Atlantic Council
Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin, began developing
a comprehensive understanding of a postsanctions
world.
“ What we are determined to do is not
become victims of history, not to repeat
history but to overcome it, and in the
process make new history.”
– ASHRAF GHANI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN
In 2015 the South Asia Center also seized the
opportunity for fresh thinking on the US-India
bilateral partnership following President Obama’s
landmark visit to New Delhi for India’s Republic
Day celebrations.
Working with the US Embassy in India,
Vivekananda International Foundation, and the
Confederation of Indian Industry, the Center
convened the Council’s first major conference in
Asia in March 2015—“India-US 2015: Partnering
for Peace and Prosperity.” The event activated a
renewed conversation among leading American
and Indian policymakers on paths for greater
engagement between the two countries.
India’s Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar, in
his first public remarks as foreign secretary,
commented that the United States should
encourage India to transform from a balancing
power to a regional leader as a way of promoting
the region’s wider stability and economic
dynamism.
In Afghanistan, the South Asia Center
recognized the inauguration of Afghanistan’s
unity government under President Ashraf
Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah
as a historic opportunity to break with decades
of war and establish a new positive trajectory.
At the same time, NATO’s pending drawdown
of forces threatened to diminish the focus of
Kabul’s international partners and undermine
efforts to secure the country’s future.
Supported by former US Ambassador to
Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, the Atlantic
Council launched the Afghanistan Rising
Initiative to sustain international support for
the country’s long-term stability, security, and
prosperity. Led by James Cunningham, former
US ambassador to Afghanistan, as the Khalilzad
Chair, the Initiative has organized meetings
with President Ghani; Chief Executive Abdullah
Abdullah; and Commander, Resolute Support
Mission and United States Forces-Afghanistan,
General John Campbell; among others.
[ABOVE]
Atlantic Council Chairman Jon Huntsman leads a discussion with
US Ambassador to India Richard Verma and Indian Minister of State
for Energy Piyush Goyal at an Atlantic Council conference in Delhi,
in collaboration with the US Embassy in India, the Vivekananda
Foundation, and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
AFRICA CENTER
55
THE NEXT AFRICA
Dynamic partnerships
for strengthening security
and building economic
and social momentum
US interests in the African continent once
were mired in Cold War competition
or relegated to disaster relief and
AFRICA CENTER
humanitarian concerns over poverty, war,
and natural disasters, rather than strategic
imperative. In recent years, however,
even long-duration violent conflicts and
persistent climate concerns no longer overshadow the vitality of some African states
and the deep strategic claims on security and economic investment.
Indeed, although daunting security, humanitarian, and developmental challenges
remain, the real story out of Africa today is one of economic dynamism—driven not
only by demand for the continent’s abundant natural resources, but also positive
demographic trends, innovative technologies, political reforms, and improvements
in governance.
A giraffe walks through the Nairobi National Park, the world’s only game reserve found
within a major city, at less than four miles south of central Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city.
(Photo by GETTYIMAGES/WLDavies.)
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56 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
AFRICA CENTER 57
[OPPOSITE TOP]
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba greets MNG Group of Companies
Founder and Chairman Mehmet Nazif Günal during the president’s visit to the
Atlantic Council’s offices.
[OPPOSITE BOTTOM]
“Nigeria has embarked on an irreversible path—there might be one step forward
and half a step back, but the trend is clear—because Nigerian citizens and civil
society are no longer prepared to settle for less,” said Nigeria’s Coordinating
Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during her
public remarks at the Atlantic Council.
President Obama recognized Africa’s growing
economic clout when he welcomed leaders from
across the continent to Washington in August
2014 for the historic US-Africa Leaders Summit—
the largest event any US president has hosted
for African heads of state and government.
It was the Atlantic Council that became the venue
of choice for African leaders: The presidents of
Ghana, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, and Niger, as well
as the president of the Commission of Economic
Community of West African States chose the
Council as their platform for addressing the
Washington policy community.
Anticipating policy shifts to be in position when
presidents and prime ministers need a forum
is a deliberate Atlantic Council strength, and
creating such a framework of engagement was
“ [Our] vision has not dimmed or
diminished… In fact, geopolitical
partnerships are stronger than ever,
and business and prosperity are
exhibiting a growth that would have
astonished our predecessors.”
– ALI BONGO ONDIMBA, PRESIDENT OF GABON
the intention of Atlantic Council board director
Michael Ansari when he partnered with the
Atlantic Council to launch the Africa Center in
September 2009. At the time, Washington’s
limited strategic engagement with privateand
public-sector leaders on issues central to
Africa’s future, belied the continent’s undeniable
importance and risked leaving American
interests behind.
The Center has since become a principle
conduit for the continent, addressing Africa’s
complex security challenges—especially the
growing specter of Islamist extremism as
well as the ongoing problem of fragile states.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, it
collaborates with the public and private sectors
to forge opportunities associated with Africa’s
economic growth.
The Africa Center’s analysis continues to
capture the lingering crises of the “old Africa”
while maintaining a constant eye on developing
trends that are likely to shape The Next Africa—
the title of Africa Center Senior Fellow Aubrey
Hruby’s provocative new book on Africa’s
economic rise.
In December 2015, the Africa Center captured
the transformative power of African trade when
it launched Diversifying African Trade: The Road
to Progress, also by Hruby. This forward-looking
approach steered the Africa Center’s work and
was a crucial resource for the media, as well
as political and business communities, as they
navigated the economic culture of this highly
complex region.
Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham was one of
the first experts in Washington to fully recognize
the danger of the Boko Haram threat. Together
with Senior Fellow Ricardo René Larémont,
Pham testified at the first-ever US congressional
hearing on the group in 2011, nearly three years
before the infamous abduction of more than
two hundred schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria.
In his appearances before Congressional
committees in 2015, Pham urged lawmakers
not to underestimate the threat of terrorism in
Africa, nor to curtail engagement with African
partners. Instead, he advised them on the rising
demand for intelligence about and security
against threats originating in the continent.
The Africa Center was also among the first in
Washington to forecast Morocco’s economic
potential, highlighting the country’s willingness
to implement reforms in pursuit of investment
and noting that Morocco has become a gateway
for foreign investment into sub-Saharan African
states. Center experts have sought to draw the
attention of policymakers to broader security
and development trends that will require
greater US and European attention across the
continent.
The analytical series Nigeria in Focus became
a barometer of events in Africa’s most
populous country and largest economy. As
Nigeria struggled to conduct hotly contested
elections against a destabilizing backdrop
of Boko Haram attacks and plummeting oil
prices, the Africa Center brought key Nigerian
perspectives to Washington.
The Center hosted Nigeria’s military and
intelligence chiefs, its coordinating minister
for the economy and minister of finance, its
agriculture minister (who went on to win the
presidency of the African Development Bank),
and the country’s newly-elected President
Muhammadu Buhari, during his first visit to the
United States following his historic election.
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ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
GLOBAL CONVENINGS
59
GLOBAL
CONVENINGS
Distinguished Leadership Awards
60
Global Citizen Awards
62
Istanbul Energy & Economic Summit
64
Wrocław Global Forum
66
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60 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
DISTINGUISHED SECTION LEADERSHIP TITLE/DESCRIPTION AWARDS
61
[CENTER]
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani prepares to receive
his 2015 Distinguished International Leadership Award
from his introducer, former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright. President Ghani set the tone for the 2015 Global
Citizen Awards, saying “Leadership is about sacrifice.
Leadership is not about privilege.”
DISTINGUISHED
LEADERSHIP AWARDS
The Distinguished Leadership Awards, among Washington’s premier celebrations of global affairs
leadership, convenes some eight hundred government and business decision-makers from fifty
countries to honor individuals who personify the sort of strong purpose, personal commitment, and
character that today’s historic times require. Awardees are chosen to represent the pillars of the
transatlantic relationship—political, military, business, and artistic leadership.
In April 2015, we honored:
Ashraf Ghani, Distinguished International Leadership Award
Philip M. Breedlove, Distinguished Military Leadership Award
Marillyn A. Hewson, Distinguished Business Leadership Award
Toby Keith, Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award
[ABOVE]
Some thirty co-chairs of the 2015 Distinguished Leadership Awards dinner gather on stage to lead the audience in a
surprise celebration of Gen. Brent Scowcroft’s ninetieth birthday. Pictured from left are Alexander Mirtchev, Melanie
Chen, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, Marillyn Hewson, Francis Bouchard, James L. Jones, Robert Abernethy, and Adrienne Arsht.
[FROM TOP]
Marillyn Hewson and Gov. Jon Huntsman applaud the opening of the Distinguished Leadership Awards;
counterclockwise, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer and Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair Adrienne Arsht chat during the
dinner break; General Philip Breedlove accepts his award (and red solo cup) from his Georgia Tech fraternity brother,
Admiral James Winnefeld; pictured at bottom, UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba (left) talks with
Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair Stephen J. Hadley; pictured right, Toby Keith caps the evening with a performance
of “American Soldier” in honor of US service men and women.
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62 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SECTION GLOBAL TITLE/DESCRIPTION
CITIZEN AWARDS
63
[RIGHT]
Henry Kissinger accepts the Distinguished Service
Award for his lifetime of accomplishment as a
strategist, diplomat, and author. In speaking of
today’s global challenges, he remarked, “What
sacrifices are we willing to make? Because great
things cannot be achieved without some sacrifice
of the present for the needs of the future.”
GLOBAL CITIZEN AWARDS
The Global Citizen Awards celebrate the rare individuals who contribute significantly to improving
the state of the world.
The 2015 awardees were:
Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia; introduced by Joseph Biden, US Vice President
Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank; introduced by Christine Lagarde, Managing
Director of the IMF
Yu Long, Artistic Director of the China Philharmonic; introduced by Victor Chu, Chairman of First
Eastern Investment Group
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state and the Atlanitic Council’s longest-serving board
member, also recieved the Council’s Distinguished Service Award; introduced by Gen. Brent Scowcroft.
[ABOVE]
Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden presents a Global Citizen Award to Colombian President Juan Manual
Santos. Vice President Biden honored President Santos as “a man of service and a man of peace… He’s a man of great
vision for his country and the future of Colombia’s relationship with the United States.”
[FROM TOP LEFT]
Frederick Kempe (right) shows President Santos that he is wearing the cufflinks the president gave to him during
his first visit to the Atlantic Council; counterclockwise, Victor Chu (left) laughs with Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO
Muhtar Kent (center) and Chubb Limited CEO Evan Greenberg; to the right, Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft pose
backstage; bottom, Adrienne Arhst (left) and Christine Lagarde laugh with Mario Draghi; bottom right, child pianist
Johnson Li performs in honor of Yu Long at the conclusion of awards ceremony; middle right, Yu Long (left) meets Mario
Draghi (right), with Victor Chu (center left) and Mehmet Günal in the background.
atlanticcouncil.org

64 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
ISTANBUL ENERGY SECTION & TITLE/DESCRIPTION
ECONOMIC SUMMIT 65
[RIGHT]
Millennium Leadership Fellow Naadiya Moosajee asks a
question at a Summit session. A 2014 Forbes “Top Twenty
Young Power Women in Africa,” Moosajee is co-founder
of WomEng (Women in Engineering), which cultivates
female engineers in Africa.
ISTANBUL ENERGY
& ECONOMIC SUMMIT
The seventh annual Atlantic Council Energy
& Economic Summit convened an influential
community of more than five hundred corporate,
government, and civil society leaders from forty
countries in Istanbul from November 18-20,
2015. This year’s special guests included Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Croatian
President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, and Albanian
Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The summit’s traditional focus on energy and
economics was expanded to include security,
specifically the global response to terrorism, to
take stock of the challenges underscored by the
terrorist attacks in Paris and Ankara.
In addition to more than twenty formal sessions,
luncheons, and exclusive dinners, almost one
hundred bilateral meetings were conducted on
the sidelines of the Summit. Around 120 journalists
attended the Summit, which was featured in more
than 2,100 news reports.
[ABOVE]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivers the keynote address at the seventh annual Atlantic
Council Energy & Economic Summit on November 19, 2015. Describing Syrian President Bashar al-
Assad’s regime as the root cause of terrorism and the migrant crisis facing Europe, Erdoğan said:
“Those who are standing behind [Assad] are at least as guilty as he is.”
[FROM TOP LEFT]
Fatih Birol (left), Miguel Arias Cañete, Frederick Kempe, Jon Huntsman, and Carlos
Pascual lead the Summit’s annual ministerial discussion; counterclockwise, Zalmay
Khalilzad, (left), Michael Hayden, James L. Jones, Jon Huntsman, Ana Palacio, and
Daud Saba discuss new strategies for responding to terrorism; bottom left, Atlantic
Council board director Esther Brimmer poses a question during a plenary session;
bottom right, a consortium of energy companies—including Türkiye Petrolleri, Bayat
Energy, and Çalik Enerji—conclude an agreement with the Afghanistan Ministry
of Mines and Petroleum, represented by Minister Daud Saba, to develop some of
Afghanistan’s natural gas reserves; middle right, Jon Huntsman leads Antony Blinken,
US deputy secretary of state, to deliver the Summit’s closing keynote address.
atlanticcouncil.org

66 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
WROCŁAW GLOBAL SECTION FORUM & TITLE/DESCRIPTION
FREEDOM AWARDS
67
WROCŁAW GLOBAL FORUM
& FREEDOM AWARDS
The sixth Annual Wrocław Global Forum opened on June 12, 2015, to headlines dominated by global
and regional challenges: Russia’s support of Ukrainian separatists, ISIS’s extremism in the Middle East,
and the erosion of faith in the Europe and transatlantic projects.
Some four hundred government, corporate, and civil society leaders each year come to the Forum
for discussions on core transatlantic values and priorities framed within Central Europe’s growing
importance as a global partner.
The Forum is also home to the Atlantic Council’s Freedom Awards, a celebration of extraordinary
individuals and organizations committed to the advancement of democracy.
This year’s Freedom Awards honored:
Carl Bildt, former prime minister and foreign minister of Sweden, presented by Radosław Sikorski,
then Marshal of the Polish Sejm
Donetsk National University, represented by Roman Grynyuk—rector of the university—and law
student Iryna Nahorniak, presented by US Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Agnieszka Holland, Polish film maker, presented by Sławomir Sierakowski, leader of Krytyka
Polityczna
Boris Nemtsov, posthumous award presented by Garry Kasparov and accepted by Nemtsov’s
daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova
Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian military pilot and prisoner of war—represented by her sister Vera
Savchenko—also introduced by US Senator Jeanne Shaheen
[ABOVE]
Wrocław Mayor Rafał Dutkiewicz welcomes the participants to the 2015 Wrocław Global Forum. The Atlantic Council is
represented by President and CEO Frederick Kempe, Brent Scowcroft Center Chairman James L. Jones, and Board of
Directors Executive Vice Chair Stephen J. Hadley.
[FROM TOP LEFT]
Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt accepts his Freedom Award; counterclockwise, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen
and former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley discuss America’s role in Europe; bottom left, Sławomir
Sierakowski, leader of Krytyka Polityczna, presents a Freedom Award to film-maker Agnieszka Holland; bottom right,
Roman Grynyuk (center) and law student Iryna Nahorniak stand with Ver Savchenko after, respectively, receiving
Freedom Awards on behalf of Donetsk National University and Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian military pilot imprisoned
in Russia; right center, Garry Kasparov presents Boris Nemtsov’s posthumous Freedom Award to Nemtsov’s daughter,
Zhanna Nemtsova; top right, Kulczyk Holding board member Jarosław Sroka and Atlantic Council board director Maciej
Witucki walk to the Wrocław Global Forum welcome reception.
atlanticcouncil.org

68
ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
COMMUNITY OF INFLUENCE
69
COMMUNITY
OF INFLUENCE
Board of Directors
70
International Advisory Board
71
Honor Roll of Contributors
72
Financial Summary
74
By the Numbers & Word on the Street
76
atlanticcouncil.org

70 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SECTION COMMUNITY TITLE/DESCRIPTION
OF INFLUENCE 71
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
List as of April 15, 2016
*Executive Committee Members
INTERNATIONAL
ADVISORY BOARD
List as of April 19, 2016
CHAIRMAN
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.*
CHAIRMAN, EMERITUS,
INTERNATIONAL
ADVISORY BOARD
Brent Scowcroft
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Frederick Kempe*
EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRS
Adrienne Arsht*
Stephen J. Hadley*
VICE CHAIRS
Robert J. Abernethy*
Richard Edelman*
C. Boyden Gray*
George Lund*
Virginia A. Mulberger*
W. DeVier Pierson*
John Studzinski*
TREASURER
Brian C. McK. Henderson*
SECRETARY
Walter B. Slocombe*
DIRECTORS
Stéphane Abrial
Odeh Aburdene
Peter Ackerman
Timothy D. Adams
Bertrand-Marc Allen
John Allen
Michael Andersson
Michael Ansari
Richard L. Armitage
David D. Aufhauser
Elizabeth F. Bagley
Peter Bass
Rafic Bizri*
Dennis Blair
Thomas L. Blair*
Myron Brilliant
Esther Brimmer
R. Nicholas Burns*
William J. Burns
Richard R. Burt*
Michael Calvey
James E. Cartwright
John E. Chapoton
Ahmed Charai
Sandra Charles
Melanie Chen
George Chopivsky
Wesley K. Clark
David W. Craig
Ralph D. Crosby, Jr.*
Nelson Cunningham
Ivo H. Daalder
Paula J. Dobriansky*
Christopher J. Dodd
Conrado Dornier
Thomas J. Egan, Jr.
Stuart E. Eizenstat*
Thomas R. Eldridge
Julie Finley
Lawrence P. Fisher, II
Alan H. Fleischmann
Ronald M. Freeman*
Laurie Fulton
Courtney Geduldig
Robert S. Gelbard*
Thomas Glocer
Sherri W. Goodman*
Mikael Hagström
Ian Hague
Amir Handjani
John D. Harris, II
Frank Haun
Michael V. Hayden
Annette Heuser
Karl Hopkins*
Robert Hormats
Miroslav Hornak
Mary L. Howell*
Wolfgang Ischinger
Reuben Jeffery, III
James L. Jones, Jr.*
George A. Joulwan
Lawrence S. Kanarek
Stephen R. Kappes
Maria Pica Karp
Sean Kevelighan
Zalmay M. Khalilzad
Robert M. Kimmitt
Henry A. Kissinger
Franklin D. Kramer
Philip Lader
Richard L. Lawson*
Jan M. Lodal*
Jane Holl Lute
William J. Lynn
Izzat Majeed
Wendy W. Makins
Mian M. Mansha
Gerardo Mato
William E. Mayer
Allan McArtor
Eric D.K. Melby
Franklin C. Miller
James N. Miller
Judith A. Miller*
Alexander V. Mirtchev*
Karl Moor
Michael Morell
Georgette Mosbacher
Steve C. Nicandros
Thomas R. Nides
Franco Nuschese
Joseph S. Nye
Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg
Sean O’Keefe
Ahmet Oren
Ana Palacio*
Carlos Pascual
Alan Pellegrini
David Petraeus
Thomas R. Pickering
Daniel B. Poneman
Daniel M. Price
Arnold L. Punaro
Robert Rangel
Thomas J. Ridge
Charles O. Rossotti
Robert Rowland
Harry Sachinis
John P. Schmitz
Brent Scowcroft
Rajiv Shah
Alan J. Spence
James Stavridis
Richard J.A. Steele
Paula Stern*
Robert J. Stevens
John S. Tanner
Ellen O. Tauscher*
Karen Tramontano
Clyde C. Tuggle
Paul Twomey
Melanne Verveer
Enzo Viscusi
Charles F. Wald
Jay Walker
Michael F. Walsh
Mark R. Warner
Maciej Witucki
Neal S. Wolin
Mary C. Yates
Dov S. Zakheim
HONORARY DIRECTORS
David C. Acheson
Madeleine K. Albright
James A. Baker, III
Harold Brown
Frank C. Carlucci, III
Robert M. Gates
Michael G. Mullen
Leon E. Panetta
William J. Perry
Colin L. Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Edward L. Rowny
George P. Shultz
John W. Warner
William H. Webster
LEADERSHIP
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.)
Chairman
International Advisory Board
Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.
Chairman
Atlantic Council
Mr. Frederick Kempe
President and CEO
Atlantic Council
Mr. Philippe Amon
Chairman and CEO
SICPA Holding SA
Mr. Tewodros Ashenafi
Founder, Chairman and CEO
Southwest Energy
H.E. Shaukat Aziz
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
President José María Aznar
Former Prime Minister of Spain
H.E. Carl Bildt
Former Prime Minister and Minister
for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski
Former National Security Advisor
to US President Jimmy Carter
Mr. Håkan Buskhe
President and CEO
SAAB AB
Mr. Victor L.L. Chu
Chairman and CEO
First Eastern Investment Group
Mr. Claudio Descalzi
CEO
Eni
Mr. Markus Dohle
CEO
Penguin Random House
Mr. Richard Edelman
President and CEO
Edelman
Dr. Thomas Enders
CEO
Airbus Group
Mr. Thomas A. Fanning
Chairman, President, and CEO
Southern Company
Ms. Orit Gadiesh
Chairman of the Board
Bain & Company Inc.
Dr. Jim Goodnight
CEO
SAS
Mr. Mehmet N. Günal
Founder, Chairman of the Board,
and President
MNG Holding A.S.
The Hon. Charles T. Hagel
Former US Secretary of Defense
Mr. Bahaa R. Hariri
Ms. Marillyn A. Hewson
Chairman, President and CEO
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Mr. Muhtar Kent
Chairman and CEO
The Coca-Cola Company
Dr. Jan Kulczyk
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Kulczyk Holding SA
President Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Former President of Poland
H.E. Jean-David Levitte
Senior Diplomatic Adviser and Sherpa to
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Mr. Alexey A. Mordashov
Chairman and CEO
Severstal
Mr. Robert E. Moritz
Chairman and Senior Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Mr. Rupert Murdoch
Executive Chairman
21st Century Fox
Mr. Paul Polman
CEO
Unilever
The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port
Ellen
Former Secretary General
of NATO
Mr. Stephen A. Schwarzman
Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder
The Blackstone Group
Mr. Martin Senn
CEO
Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.
Mr. James C. Smith
President and CEO
Thomson Reuters
Sir Martin Sorrell
Group Chief Executive
WPP Group PLC
Mr. Rob Speyer
President and Co-CEO
Tishman Speyer
Dr. Lawrence Summers
Former Director
National Economic Council
Mr. Jacob Wallenberg
Chairman
Investor AB
Mr. John S. Watson
Chairman and CEO
Chevron Corporation
Mr. John D. Wren
President and CEO
Omnicom Group
Mr. Robert B. Zoellick
Chairman, International Advisors
Goldman Sachs
atlanticcouncil.org

72 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
SECTION COMMUNITY TITLE/DESCRIPTION
OF INFLUENCE 73
2015
HONOR ROLL OF CONTRIBUTORS
ǂ denotes a sponsor of the 2015 Wrocław Global Forum
◊ denotes a sponsor of the 2015 Energy & Economic Summit
† deceased
$1,000,000+
DONATIONS
Adrienne Arsht
Bahaa Hariri
Brent Scowcroft
$250,000 - $999,999
DONATIONS
Airbusǂ
Carnegie Corporation
of New York
Center for the Study of
Democratic Insitutions
Cheniere Energy, Inc.◊
Melanie Chen
Chevron◊
Dentons LLP◊
Frontera Resourcesǂ
Government of Sweden
Kingdom of Bahrain
Lockheed Martin
Corporationǂ
MacArthur Foundation
MAPA Group◊
OCP Foundation
Qualcomm Inc.
Raytheonǂ
Smith Richardson
Foundation
System Capital
Management Ltd.◊
Thomson Reuters
Turkish Ministry of Energy
& National Resources◊
Ukrainian World Congress
United States
Department of State
Zurich Insurance Group
$100,000 - $249,999
DONATIONS
Actagon AB
Asfari Foundation
Bayat Group◊
Bob Woodruff Foundation
Borsa Istanbul◊
Chopivsky Family
Foundation
ExxonMobil◊
Government of Norway
C. Boyden Gray
Zalmay M. Khalilzad
Alexander V. Mirtchev
MNG Group of Companies
Morganti Group, Inc
NATO ACT
Nevsun Resources
Ploughshares Fund
Rockefeller Brothers
Fund, Inc.
SAAB
Skoll Global Imperatives
Southern Companyǂ
Talent of Nations
TECRO
Tenaris
TOBB◊
Tupras◊
Türkiye Halk Bankası A.S.◊
United for Africa’s
Democratic Future
Victor Pinchuk Foundation
$50,000 - $99,999
DONATIONS
21st Century Fox
ACE Group Holding
Peter Ackermanǂ
ANA Holdings, Inc.
Tewedros Ashenafi
Attias Associates
David Aufhauser
Avista Capital Partners
Azteca International
Corporation
Bruce Bedford
BlackRock, Inc.
Thomas L. Blair
BP Petrolleri A.Ş.◊
Calik Enerji Sanayi Ve
Ticaret A.S.◊
Patricia Cloherty
DRS Technologies, Inc.
Embassy of Latvia
Engie
Eni S.p.A.
EU Commission
European Union
GE Ticaret◊
Robert S. Gelbard
Genel Energy◊
Government of Lithuania
Miroslav Hornak
Inter-American
Development Bank
Krauss Maffei Wegmann
McGraw Hill Financial
Ministry of Finance of Japan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Cyprus
Novartis International AG
Open Society Foundations
Ahmet Oren
Pfizer
PSJ, a.s.
SAIC
SGO Corporation Limited
SICPA S.A.◊
Tekfen İnşaat ve Tesisat A.Ş.◊
Textron Inc.
Thales USA
The Blackstone Group
The Coca-Cola Company
ThyssenKrupp Marine
Systems GmBHǂ
Tishman Speyer
Properties, LP
Transatlantic Policy Network
Türkerler İnşaat◊
United States Navy
US NATO
Valero Energy Corporation
$25,000 - $49,999
DONATIONS
Allianz Foundation for
North America
Allianz Sigorta A.S.◊
Baker & McKenzie LLP
Bank of America Corporation
BP America
Michael Calvey
Caterpillar Inc.
Centre for International
Governance Innovation
Deloitte Innovation
Devon Energy Corporation
Dornier Seawings AG
Ekkou VPǂ◊
Elbit Systems of America LLC
Energy Capital Partners
European Union Institute for
Security Studies
Facebookǂ
First Eastern
Investment Group
Fluor Corporation
Ronald Freeman
Government of Finland
Brian C. McK.Henderson
Huntington Ingalls Industries
Hunton & Williams
Intel Security
Endowment Fund
L-3 Communications
Leidos, Inc.
LexisNexis Legal
& Professional
John Macomber
Maroc Telematique
Marsilli & Co. S.p.A.
MBDA Incorporated
McLarty Associates
MetLife
Ministry of Defense
of Lithuania
Moroccan-American
Cultural Center
Georgette Mosbacher
Northrop Grumman
Aerospace Systems
Occidental Petroleum Corp.
Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg
Penguin Random House
Pioneer Natural Resources
Promo Financial Group
Public Gas Corporation◊
Renaissance Strategic
Advisors
Rigoni Di Asiago S.r.l.
Rolls-Royce of North America
Charles O. Rossotti
RTI International Metals, Inc.
Safran USA
Sam’s Club
SAS Institute, Inc.
Sempra Energy
Shell
Skoll Foundation
SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.Ş.◊
Software & Information
Industry Association
Statoil
John Studzinski
Swedish Ministry of Defense
T.C. BASB◊
Temasek
The Boeing Company
Thyssen Petroleum◊
Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG◊
United States Air Force
United States Army
United States Marines
US Chamber of Commerce
Enzo Viscusi
Timothy Walsh
Ziraat Bank◊
$10,000 - $24,999
DONATIONS
Baker, Donelson, Bearman,
Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
Ioana Belu
Bloomberg, L.P.
Ghalib Bradosti
Business Intelligence Unit
Center for Communications,
Health and the Environmentǂ
John Chapoton
Dow Chemical
Joseph Duffey
Edelman
Richard Edelman
EP Energy Corporation
Alan H. Fleischmann
Mary L Howell
HSBC
Reuben Jeffery
Jones Walker LLP
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Franklin D. Kramer
Kreabǂ
Jan M. Lodal
LVK Okul Egitim
Ogretim Danism
Lynx Investment Advisory
Judith A. Miller
Virginia A. Mulberger
National Intelligence Council
NATO
W. DeVier Pierson
Arnold Punaro
Rockefeller & Co.
Scowcroft Group
Sequoia Foundation
for Achievement in
Arts and Education
Starr Foundation
Stephen Shapiro
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Ellen O. Tauscher
Telefonica
William & Flora
Hewlett Foundation
Jean-Louis Wolzfeld
$5,000 - $9,999
DONATIONS
Odeh Aburdene
Asan Institute For
Policy Studies
Avascent
Peter Behr
Rafic A. Bizri
Byron Callan
Sandra Charles
CNA Corporation
Columbia University School
of International and
Public Affairs
Andrew Davis
Deloitte Services
Lacey Neuhaus Dorn
Glenn Dunmire
Embassy of Germany
FedEx Corporation
Francis Finelli
Julie Finley
Laurie Fulton
Richard Gelfond
Sherri Goodman
Chris Griner
Patrick Gross
Stephen J. Hadley
Michael V. Hayden
Loren W. Hershey
Hilton Worldwide
Holdings, Inc.
Robert D. Hormats
Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.
Fred Kempe
Robert M Kimmit
Steven Klinsky
Kongsberg Defense
Systems Inc.
Richard L. Lawson
Debra Facktor Lepore
Wendy W. Makins
William E. Mayer
Judith Miller
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Romania
Joachim Mohn
Thomas Nides
Open Source Policy Center
Michael Pillsbury
David Rekhviashvili
Scribe Strategies
& Advisors
Jeff Shell
Jefferey Siegal
Wayne T Smith
Stroock & Stroock
& Lavan LLP
Symantec Corporation
ThermoFisher Scientific
Paul Twomey
Harlan Ullman
Charles F. Wald
John C. Whitehead†
Dov S. Zakheim
$1,000 - $4,999
DONATIONS
Timothy D. Adams
Spindrift Al Swaidi
John Allen
Victor Ashe
Lisa B. Barry
Margaret Bennett
Harold Brown
R. Nicholas Burns
James Cartwright
Central Europe
Energy Partners
Roger Cliff
Peter Cunniffe
Ivo H. Daalder
Daimler◊
Christopher J. Dodd
Stuart E. Eizenstat
Lawrence P. Fisher II
Andrew D. Frank
Paul R.S. Gebhard
Richard Grove
Hinkley Institute
James Hudson
Brian Hunter
Robert E. Hunter
William Hybl
George A Joulwan
Stephen R. Kappes
Geraldine Kunstadter
Matthew Lauer
Jane Lute
Eric D.K. Melby
Mark Meyer
Franklin C. Miller
James Miller
Fay Moghtader
George E. Moose
Michael J. Morell
Eugene L. Nardelli
Joseph Nye
Philip A. Odeen
Sean O’Keefe
Maureen Orth
Raul Perea-Henze
Thomas R. Pickering
Philip Pilevsky
Daniel Price
Komei Sakai
Sandia National
Laboratories
Steven E. Schmidt
Walter B. Slocombe
Paula Stern
John S. Tanner
Alex Tiersky
University of California
at Los Angeles
Sezen Uysal
Philip Verveer
Charles Wald
Don Wallace Jr.
Maureen White
James Wildman
Damon M. Wilson
Mary C. Yates
UP TO $999
DONATIONS
AIPAC
Peter Ajak
America To Africa, LLC
Stuart Archer
Katharine Baker
Randolph Bell
Jordan Blashek
Adam Brenner
Mark Brunner
David Buffaloe
Keith Ross Butler
Center for Euro-
Atlantic Studies
Center For A New
American Security
Frances D. Cook
Lauren Culver
Milan Dalal
James De Francia
Rob de Wijk
Aaron Dowd
Ashlee Godwin
Bharath Gopalaswamy
Faruk Baturalp Gunay
Gokhan Gundogdu
John Haederle
Scott Harris
Marten Van Heuven
Brittany Heyd
Adam Hitchcock
Jeffrey Hoffman
International Center on
Nonviolent Conflict
Jefferson Waterman
International
Walter Juraszek
Zuhair Khan
Henry A. Kissinger
Kurt J. Klingenberger
David Koranyi
Dana Linnet
Malcolm Lovell
Gerhard Mally
Margarita Mathiopoulos
Jeff McLean
Mercury LLC
Jelena Milic
Jordane Millot
Blazej Lech Moder
Bill Monahan
Andrea Montanino
Powell Moore
Richard Morningstar
Douglas Morrison
James Morrison
Terence Murphy
Amir Nayeri
Aarya Nijat
Eileen O’Connor
Rita O’Connor
David Oliver Jr.
Christian Paasch
Walter Parchomenko
David Pendall
Yannis Perlepes
Charles Alan Peyser
J. Peter Pham
Francis Ricciardone
Christina Rocca
Barbara Opall-Rome
Daniel Russell
Mark Schwendler
Kimberly Shaw
Shahrooz Shekaraubi
Mark Simakovsky
Saju Skaria
Kiron Skinner
Richard James Sladden
Pamela Smith
Pamela H. Smith
Daniel Speckhard
Matthew Spence
Walter E. Stadtler
Patick Stephenson
Francesco Stipo
Frank Tapparo
Julie Varghese
Leigh Warner
Stephen Whisnant
Ralph Winnie
John Woodworth
Samuel Zega
Jonathan Zittrain
atlanticcouncil.org

74 ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
FINANCIAL SUMMARY 75
2015
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
REVENUE
Unrestricted
Temporarily
Restricted 2015 Total 2014 Total Growth
Individual Contributions $ 1,312,247 $ 7,827,198 $ 9,139,445 $ 8,974,134
Corporate Support 2,145,365 8,542,154 10,687,519 8,535,036
Foundations - 2,650,493 2,650,493 1,605,324
Grants and Contracts - 2,776,931 2,776,931 3,877,609
In-kind Contributed Services and Materials 578,563 - 578,563 145,498
Events and Other Revenue 49,720 - 49,720 68,286
Investment Return Designated for Operations 364,020 471,827 835,847 571,559
Net Assets Released from Restrictions 20,306,391 (20,306,391) - -
TOTAL REVENUE $ 24,756,306 $ 1,962,212 $ 26,718,518 $ 23,777,446 +12.4%
OPERATING EXPENSES
Program/Center Services:
Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center $ 1,573,458 $ - $ 1,573,458 $ 1,565,667
Africa Center 870,015 - 870,015 879,109
Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security 6,076,893 - 6,076,893 5,547,366
Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center 3,525,129 - 3,525,129 2,914,640
Future Europe Initiative 1,509,306 - 1,509,306 1,013,367
Global Business & Economics Program 814,004 - 814,004 569,251
Global Energy Center 1,047,458 - 1,047,458 761,061
Millennium Leadership Program 683,777 - 683,777 787,595
Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East 3,463,025 - 3,463,025 3,090,509
South Asia Center 1,391,578 - 1,391,578 1,028,486
Total Program/Center Service Expenses $ 20,954,643 - $ 20,954,643 $ 18,157,051
Supporting Services:
Combined Statement of Activities
and Statement of Financial Position
Years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014
2015 totals are preliminary and unaudited
Management and General $ 2,889,409 $ - $ 2,889,409 $ 3,249,093
Fundraising 720,467 - 720,467 452,052
Total Supporting Service Expenses 3,609,876 - 3,609,876 3,701,145
ASSETS 2015 2014
Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 3,384,531 $ 4,382,443
Contributions and Grants Receivable 6,394,608 4,952,344
Prepaid Expenses and Other 151,345 351,142
Fixed Assets 5,679,827 6,164,932
Investments 17,964,151 16,876,109
TOTAL ASSETS $ 33,574,462 $ 32,726,970
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Liabilities:
Accounts Payable $ 785,041 $ 615,651
Accrued Vacation 421,709 300,199
Deferred Revenue 335,000 926,327
Capital Lease Obligation 74,923 102,280
Deferred Rent 5,507,520 5,583,027
Other Long Term Liabilities 82,823 53,189
Total Liabilities $ 7,207,016 $ 7,580,673
Net Assets:
Unrestricted 5,678,113 5,877,693
Temporarily Restricted 20,689,333 19,268,604
Total Net Assets $ 26,367,446 $ 25,146,297
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $ 33,574,462 $ 32,726,970
DIVERSITY OF SUPPORT, REVENUE BY SOURCE
40%
10%
11%
2%
3%
34%
Grants and Contracts
In-kind Contributed
Services and Materials
Investment Return
Designated for Operations
Individual Contribution
Corporate Support
Foundations
SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE FUTURE, ASSETS BY TYPE
54%
10%
17%
19%
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Contributions and Grants
Receivable
Fixed Assets
Investments
Total Operating Expenses $ 24,564,519 $ - $ 24,564,519 $ 21,858,196 +12.4%
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS BEFORE
NON-OPERATING ACTIVITIES
NON-OPERATING ACTIVITIES
$ 191,787 $ 1,962,212 $ 2,153,999 $ 1,919,250 +12.2%
Investment Income $ (27,347) $ (69,656) $ (97,003) $ 716,780
Investment Return Utilized for Operations (364,020) (471,827) (835,847) (571,559)
A DECADE OF REVENUE AND ASSET GROWTH (IN MILLIONS)
40
35
30
25
20
Revenue
Revenue Trend
Assets
Change in Net Assets (199,580) 1,420,729 1,221,149 2,064,471
15
Net Assets at Beginning of Year $ 5,877,693 $ 19,268,604 $ 25,146,297 $ 23,081,826
10
5
NET ASSETS AT END OF YEAR $ 5,678,113 $ 20,689,333 $ 26,367,446 $ 25,146,297 +4.9%
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
atlanticcouncil.org

76
ATLANTIC COUNCIL 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
CREDITS & ATTRIBUTIONS
BY THE NUMBERS &
WORD ON THE STREET
FEATURED IN 13 CATEGORIES
of the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tank Index
#
1 OTHER
4 STAR CHARITY NAVIGATOR RATING
GLOBALLY FOR BEST
COLLABORATION WITH
THINK TANKS
#
5
TO
#
3
IN
THINK TANK
WATCH
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is ideally positioned to
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I think its role is critical
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– CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR
OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
616 EVENTS (UP 20%)
MOST-ATTENDED EVENTS:
POLICY REPORT
THE WORLD
#
15 THE
IMPLEMENTING THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
THE UKRAINE CRISIS: WITHSTAND AND DETER RUSSIAN AGGRESSION
THE ROAD AHEAD FOR TPP: MICHAEL FROMAN
#
11
BEST
CONFERENCE
BEST MANAGED
THINK TANK IN
WORLD
90% INCREASE IN UNIQUE
WEBSITE VISITORS
OVER 4 YEARS
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OVER 4 YEARS
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IS OUTSIDE THE
UNITED STATES
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Atlantic Council
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PUBLICATIONS:
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT:
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