Summit Speakers and Panelists
Rose Gottemoeller
Rose Gottemoeller is the Steven C. Házy Lecturer at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and its Center for International Security and Cooperation. Before joining Stanford, Gottemoeller was the deputy secretary general of NATO from 2016 to 2019, where she helped to drive forward NATO’s adaptation to new security challenges in Europe and in the fight against terrorism. Prior to NATO, she served for nearly five years as the under-secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State, advising the Secretary of State on arms control, nonproliferation and political-military affairs. While assistant secretary of state for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance in 2009 and 2010, she was the chief U.S. negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation.
Prior to her government service, she was a senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with joint appointments to the Nonproliferation and Russia programs. She served as the Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center from 2006 to 2008, and is currently a nonresident fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program.
At Stanford, Gottemoeller teaches and mentors students in the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy program and the CISAC Honors program; contributes to policy research and outreach activities; and convenes workshops, seminars and other events relating to her areas of expertise, including nuclear security, Russian relations, the NATO alliance, EU cooperation and non-proliferation.
Dr. Joseph Nye
Dr. Joseph Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus and former Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and Deputy Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology and as a Board Member of the EastWest Institute (EWI).
He has written many influential books, out of which the best known are books on “soft power,” and “complex interdependence.” More recently, his concept of “smart power” was adopted by the Clinton and Obama Administrations. His most recent books include The Power to Lead; The Future of Power; Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era; Is the American Century Over; Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump; and Soft Power and Great-Power Competition: Shifting Sands in the Balance of Power Between the United States and China (2023)
He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. In a recent survey of international relations scholars, he was ranked as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy, and in 2011, Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 Global Thinkers.
He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and earned a PhD in political science from Harvard.
Toni Verstandig
Toni Verstandig is a philanthropist and foreign policy expert with extensive government expertise on Middle East issues. Previously, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern Affairs at the US Department of State and as a member of the US negotiation team tasked to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. She also served as Executive Vice President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, and Chair of the Middle East Program at The Aspen Institute, including Senior Advisor to the Public Programs Department, which includes the Abu Dhabi Ideas Lab and the Partners for a New Beginning Initiative.
She is the Founder of Prospect Global, a strategic consulting practice that advises clients across the public and private sectors. She is particularly interested in driving innovation and entrepreneurship to create job growth and pathways for women and youth. She serves as Executive Director of the Verstandig Family Foundation which focuses on National Security issues, Healthcare, Education/Entrepreneurship. She is an active supporter and participant in The Aspen Ministers Forum founded and chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Ms. Verstandig is a graduate of Boston University and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Seton Hill University. She is married to the Hon. Lee L. Verstandig and they have a son, Grant who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rally Health.
Jeffrey Helsing
Jeffrey Helsing is Executive Director of the Better Evidence Project and Research Associate Professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution. Prior to joining the Carter School, he spent over 20 years at the United States Institute of Peace, including as Associate Vice President where he led USIP’s education and training programs as well as curriculum development that included conflict resolution training for civil society organizations, peacebuilding practitioners, youth and religious leaders, humanitarian aid workers, and diplomats. Helsing has taught a broad range of subjects, including conflict resolution, analysis of war and peace, negotiations, human rights and conflict, comparative foreign policies, American foreign policy and international relations theory, and helped develop a master’s degree concentration in international relations at the American University in Cairo. His published articles have focused on conflicts in the Middle East and he co-edited Human Rights and Conflict on the links between human rights, humanitarian law and peacebuilding. He has also written articles and delivered numerous conference papers on the impact of education policies and projects in conflict zones.
Helsing holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.
Ambassador James Story
Ambassador James B. Story most recently served as U.S. Ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit, located at the United States Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. Previously, Ambassador Story served as Chargé d’Affaires at the Venezuela Affairs Unit and, prior to mid-2019, the United States Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. Ambassador Story has also served as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro. Other positions include Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Office for the Western Hemisphere; Director of the INL Office in Bogotá, Colombia; and Senior Civilian Representative in Southeastern Afghanistan.
A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Story has served in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Washington, D.C., Maputo, Guadalajara, and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He is the recipient of numerous State Department and interagency awards including the Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs, and the Distinguished Honor Award for the Western Hemisphere Bureau.
Ambassador Story grew up in the small town of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, and graduated with a B.A./B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from South Carolina College at the University of South Carolina. He received an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He speaks Portuguese and Spanish.