Brussels Forum Session: Night Owl: The Future of Russia- Potential Scenarios and Their Implications for International Security

Baiba Braže was appointed assistant secretary general of NATO for ublic diplomacy in May 2020. The Public Diplomacy Division works to raise the Alliance’s profile with audiences worldwide and to build support for Alliance operations and policies. Braže advises the Secretary General on issues within her remit, oversees the coordination of all strategic communications activities across all NATO civilian and military bodies and commands, and also directs all public diplomacy activities (except press and media, which are directed by the NATO Spokesperson on behalf of the Secretary General). 

Braže served most recently as Latvia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom (20162020), prior to which she was director general of security policy and international organizations (20112016) and director general of the Communications Directorate (February 2016-July 2016) at the Latvian Foreign Ministry in Riga. 

Ambassador Braže previously served as Latvia’s ambassador to the Netherlands and permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (20032008), prior to which she was director of the Europe Department and served as foreign policy and national security advisor to the prime minister in Riga.  She has held numerous other posts since joining the Foreign Ministry in August 1993, both at home (Legal Department, International Organizations Department) and abroad (United Nations, New York). 

Braže holds two master’s degrees from the University of Latvia: one in law (1990) and another in communication science (2002). In addition to Latvian, Ambassador Braže is fluent in English and Russian, and speaks Dutch proficiently.

Shawn Turner is the general manager and director of broadcasting at WKAR Public Media and a professor of strategic communication at Michigan State University. His prior positions include deputy White House press secretary for national security, director of communications for national intelligence at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and deputy press secretary for foreign affairs for the National Security Council (NSC).

Brussels Forum Session: The Odesa Debate Part II: The World’s Largest Construction Project: Laying the Foundation at the London Conference

Goran Buldioski is director of programs for Open Society–Europe and Central Asia.

Buldioski’s areas of expertise include democratic transition, civil society, citizen participation, and effective government in Europe, notably Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. Before joining the Open Society Foundations, he worked for the Council of Europe, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, and the National Youth Council of Macedonia. Buldioski’s publications on democracy, think tanks, and policy-relevant issues have appeared in Politico Europe, Foreign Policy, ZEIT Online, openDemocracy, Mediapart, and the Independent, among others. He is a member of the European Council of Foreign Relations.

Buldioski holds MA degrees in public policy from Central European University and in organizational behavior from George Washington University.

Brussels Forum Session: The Economic Counteroffensive: Rebuilding Ukraine

Dorothy Swann McAuliffe was appointed by President Joe Biden to lead the Office of Global Partnerships as special representative in the United States Department of State. Her office directly supports the Biden Administration’s commitment to US global leadership by assembling public-private partnerships to advance key national security and foreign policy priorities.

Among the specific aims of such collaboration are to spearhead new technology and innovation; support entrepreneurship and economic development; combat climate change and strengthen energy security; promote gender equity and human rights; and counter malign influence across the globe. Special Representative McAuliffe has forged these partnerships by engaging a diverse set of stakeholders including civil society, business, non-profit, diaspora, academic, philanthropic, faith-based, and other private sector leaders.

Prior to her appointment by President Biden, she served as the national policy advisor for Share Our Strength and the No Kid Hungry Campaign, where she worked with the private sector to build partnerships to end child hunger and advance equity in public education. As first lady of Virginia, McAuliffe founded and chaired Virginia’s Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide, a groundbreaking initiative that forged cross-sector, public-private collaboration to improve childhood nutrition and build food access initiatives. 

Gabrielius Landsbergis is minister of foreign affairs in the 18th Government of the Republic of Lithuania. He is a member of the Seimas (parliament) for the Centras–Žaliakalnis constituency and a former member of the European Parliament as a representative of the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats). Landsbergis was elected chairman of the Homeland Union in 2015. He was affirmed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė on 11 December 2020.