Since 1969, the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston has proudly hosted distinguished leaders, scholars, and global experts, offering Houstonians unique opportunities to engage with the world’s most pressing issues.
As part of our mission to promote global understanding across cultures, politics, and economies, these speakers provide valuable insights and diverse perspectives. Through their expertise, we create informed dialogue that enriches our community’s understanding of international events and their local impact. Here are a few of those thought-provoking voices that have contributed to shaping a more informed and globally connected Houston.
- Albert Kan-Dapaah, 19th Minister for Defense of Ghana
- Anniken Krutnes, Ambassador of Norway to the U.S.
- Amr Hamzawy, Former Member of Parliament of Egypt
- Andris Razāns, Ambassador of Latvia to the U.S.
- Baiba Braze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
- Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
- Björn Lyrvall, Ambassador of Sweden to the U.S.
- Burkhard Jung, 21st Lord Mayor of Leipzig, Germany
- Chase Untermeyer, U.S. Ambassador to Qatar and Director of the Voice of America
- Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the U.S.
- David M. Satterfield, Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues and Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey & Lebanon
- David Miliband, Foreign Secretary of England
- Domingos Fezas Vital, Ambassador of Portugal to the U.S.
- Ebrahim Rasool, Ambassador of South Africa to the U.S.
- Elena Poptodorova, Ambassador of Bulgaria to the U.S
- Elin Suleymanov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the U.S.
- Emily Haber, Ambassador of Germany to the U.S.
- Felipe Calderon, 63rd President of Mexico
- Ho-Young Ahn, Ambassador of South Korea to the U.S.
- Ivo Josipović, 3rd President of Croatia
- Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Former United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
- Jonas Gahr Støre, 36th Prime Minister of Norway
- Juan Guiado, Former Acting President of Venezuela
- Kgalema Motlanthe, 3rd President of South Africa
- Kofi Annan, 7th Secretary General of the United Nations
- Marwan Muasher, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan
- Michael McKinley, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Afghanistan, Colombia and Peru
- Mikheil Saakashvili, 3rd President of Georgia
- Mohammed Al Kuwari, Ambassador of Qatar to the U.S.
- Namik Tan, Ambassador of Turkey to United States and Israel
- Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian Member of Parliament
- Olusegun Obasanjo, 5th and 12th President of Nigeria
- Robert Jordan, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
- Robert Kupiecki, Ambassador of Poland to the United States
- Sherif Sousa, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt
- Tobias Billström, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden
- Vicente Fox, 62nd President of Mexico
- Victor Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania
- William Taylor, 6th United States Ambassador to Ukraine
- Adam Schiff, U.S. House of Representative for California
- Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting
- Carrie Hessler- Radelet, 19th Director of the Peace Corps
- Colin Powell, 65th United States Secretary of State
- Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th United States Secretary of State
- Dr. Madeleine Albright, 64th United States Secretary of State
- Dan Crenshaw, Former United States Navy SEAL and U.S. House of Representative for Texas
- Elliot Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran
- George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
- Jake Sullivan, 28th National Security Advisor
- James A. Baker III, 61st United States Secretary of State
- Jen Psaki, 34th White House Press Secretary
- John Boehner, 53rd Speaker of the US House
- John J. Sullivan, 19th U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and 10th U.S. Ambassador to Russia
- Kevin McCarthy, 55th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Kurt Volker, 21st U.S. Ambassador to NATO
- Mary B. McCord, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security
- Michael Chertoff, 2nd United States Secretary of Homeland Security
- Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States
- Mike Pompeo, 70th United States Secretary of State
- Morgan Luttrell, Former United States Navy SEAL and U.S. House of Representative for Texas
- Nancy Pelosi, 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Nikki Haley, 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- Sean Spicer, 30th White House Press Secretary
- Stephen Hadley, 29th U.S. National Security Advisor
- Susan Rice, 23rd U.S. National Security Advisor and 27th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- Will Hurd, Former CIA Clandestine Officer and U.S. House of Representative for Texas
- Bill Browder, CEO and Co-Founder of Hermitage Capital Management and ‘Putin’s Most Wanted Men’
- Bill Keller, Founder of the Marshall Project
- Dr. Dina Alsowayel, Associate Director of Women’s Studies at the University of Houston in Texas
- Dr. Jianli Yang, Chinese Dissident and Human Rights Activist
- Dr. Teng Biao, Chinese Human Rights Lawyer and Political Activist
- Evgenia Kara-Murza, Human Rights Advocate and Wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza
- Garry Kasparov, Russian Chess Grandmaster, Political Activist and Writer
- Justice Malala, South African Political Commentator
- Margarita Cadenas, Venezuelan Filmmaker and Activist
- Mahnaz Afkhami, Former Minister of Women’s Affairs in Iran and Women’s Rights Activist
- Manal al-Sharif, Saudi Women’s Rights Activist and Political Prisoner
- Maziar Bahari, Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist.
- Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian-American Journalist and Author
- Murad Ismael, Yazidi Activist and Co-Founder Yazda
- Rushan Abbas, Uyghur American Activist and Founder – Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs.
- Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian Opposition Politician and Activist
- Ali Soufan, FBI Special Agent and Author
- Angela Stent, Foreign Policy Expert, former National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council.
- Betsy Woundenberg, Former CIA Agent and Founder – CEO of IntelligenceArts
- Charles Goslin, CIA Operations Officer
- Christopher Combs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Antonio Division and FBI On-Scene Commander at the Pentagon on 9/11
- David Petraeus, 4th Director of Central Intelligence Agency
- Francis Fukuyama, American Political Scientist, Political Economist, International Relations Scholar and Writer
- James Clapper, 4th Director of National Intelligence
- Jim Olson, Chief of Counterintelligence CIA
- John Lenczowski, Founder and President of the Institute of World Politics
- John Nixon, CIA Senior Analyst who identified & interrogated Sadaam Hussein
- John O. Brennan, 5th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Michael Hayden, 2nd Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Michael O’Hanlon, American Policy Analyst and Director of Research at the Brookings Institution
- Michael Vickers, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
- Phillip Mudd, Former Counterterrorism Official in the CIA and FBI
- Richard Fontaine, American Foreign Policy Analyst and CEO of the Center for a New American Security
- Richard Haass, American Diplomat and President of the Council on Foreign Relations
- Shuja Nawaz, Pakistani Political and Strategic Analyst
- Admiral James Stavridis, retired United States Navy admiral and vice chair, global affairs, and a managing director-partner of The Carlyle Group
- Admiral Philip S. Davidson, 25th Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command
- Chris Fussell, Navy SEAL, Partner at the McChrystal Group Leadership Institute
- Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, Marine Corps Combat Veteran
- Elliot Ackerman, American Author and former Marine Corps Special Operations Team Leader
- General Jim Mattis, 26th United States Secretary of Defense
- General John Allen, former Commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan.
- General Stanley McCrystal, Joint Special Operations Command, Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan
- General Tod D. Wolters, Commander U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
- Lt. General Douglas Lute, 23rd U.S. Ambassador to NATO, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan
- Lt. General H.R. McMaster, 25th National Security Advisor of the United States
- Lt. General In-Bum Chun, Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command
- Lt. General Khoshal Sadat, former Deputy Minister of Interior and leader of the Afghan Law Enforcement
- Lt. General Mark Hertling, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe
- Lt. General Sami Sadat – Last Commander of the Afghan Armed Forces
- Marc Esper, 27th United States Secretary of Defense
- Robert Gates, 22nd United States Secretary of Defense
- Thomas Kazsa, Green Beret, Combat Veteran, Executive Director of the 1208 Foundation
- Anna Fisher, American Chemist, Emergency Physician and a former NASA Astronaut.
- Antoine van Agtmael, Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer of Emerging Markets Management, L.L.C.
- Bethany McLean, American Journalist and Author of ‘ The Smartest Guys in the Room’
- Daniel Lacalle, Spanish Economist
- Daniel Yergen, Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist and Vice Chairman of S&P Global
- Dr. Ellen Ochoa, 11th Director of the Johnson Space Center and former Astronaut
- Dr. Jonathan Clark, Space Shuttle Crew Surgeon, Naval Flight Surgeon, U.S. Navy Diver, U.S. Army Parachutist
- Ernest Scheyder, Senior Correspondent for Reuters & Author
- Evelyn Miralles, Venezuelan-American NASA Chief Principal Engineer
- Grier Wilt, CAPCOM & Extravehicular Activity Flight Controller and Instructor at NASA
- Jennifer Harris, Director of the Economy and Society Initiative at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- John Coates, Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School
- Jonathan Berman, Senior Fellow of the Vale Center at Columbia University, and a Senior Advisor at Dalberg
- Kelly Graham, ISS BME Flight Controller & Orion Crew Health Integrator, NASA.
- Loren Grush, Space Reporter for Bloomberg, Author of the ‘The Six The Untold Story of America’s First Women in Space’
- Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi Economist and Entrepreneur, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
- Paul Dabbar, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Bohr Quantum Technology
- Pearly Padyan, Director, International Government Business at Axiom
- Ricardo Hausman, Founder and Director of Harvard’s Growth Lab
- Robert Kaplan, 12th President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
- Robert Reich, Economist and Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
- Tim Kopra, Flight Engineer for Expedition 20, NASA Astronaut and Colonel in the U.S. Army
- Vanessa Wyche, 13th Director of NASA Johnson Space Center
- Anna Freeman, Nurse and quality improvement Specialist at Doctors without Borders
- Bob Gomel, Award-Winning Photojournalist
- Chelsea Clinton, American Writer
- David Brooks, Canadian-American Political and Cultural commentator for the New York Times
- David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group
- Diego Vicentini, Venezuelan Award-Winning Filmmaker and Activist
- Doug Yeager, Producer and Writer of the film ‘Free to Rock’
- Dr. Deborah Birx, Former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator
- Dr. Peter Hotez, MD, American Scientist, Pediatrician, and Advocate of Global Health
- Jim Crane, CEO of Crane Capital Operations and Owner of the Houston Astros
- Jim Lindsey, Former Professional Football Player for the Minnesota Vikings.
- Kat Khosrowyar, Former Head Coach of Iranian Women National Team
- Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times Best Selling Author
- Maz Jobrani, Comedian & Actor
- Orhan Pamuk, Turkish Novelist, Screenwriter, and 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature.
- Rick Steves, Travel Writer, Activist, & Television Personality
- Sergey Loiko, Writer, War Photographer, and Journalist.
- Ted Turner, American Entrepreneur, Producer, and Founder of CNN
- Vitaly Mansk, Ukrainian Filmmaker
- Yulia Serdyukova, Ukrainian Filmmaker, Photographer and Activist
- Ali Velshi, Canadian Journalist and Senior Economic and Business Correspondent for NBC News
- Amna Nawaz, American broadcast journalist and a co-anchor of the PBS NewsHou
- Bret Stephens, American Journalist and Columnist for the New York Times and NBC News
- Evan Osnos, American Journalist, Author and Staff Writer at The New Yorker
- Fatima Bhutto, Pakistani Writer and Columnist
- Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American Journalist, Author, Political Commentator and Host in CNN
- Ioan Grillo, Narco expert Journalist and Author
- Jeremi Suri, American Author and Historian
- Jim Sciutto, American News Anchor and Chief National Security Correspondent for CNN
- Joby Warrick, two times Pulitzer Prizer winner American Journalist
- John Meacham, Pulitzer Prize winner American Writer, Historian and Presidential Biographer
- Marie Arana, Peruvian Author and the Inaugural Literary Director of the Library of Congress.
- Max Boot, Author and Historian
- Michael Beschloss, American Writer and Historian
- Mustafa Akyol, Turkish Writer and Journalist
- Nicholas Kristof, two time Pulitzer Prize winner American Journalist and Political Commentator.
- Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times
- Rami Khouri, Jordanian-American Journalist
- Robert Worth, American Writer-Journalist and former Chief of The New York Times Beirut Bureau
- Rūta Vanagaitė, Lithuanian Writer and Journalist
- Sama’a Al-Hamdani, Journalist, Expert and Political Commentator on Yemen
- Steve Coll, two time Pulitzer Prize winner Journalist
- Steven Sotloff, Prominent American-Israeli Journalist
- Suki Kim, Korean-American Journalist and Writer.
- Susan Glasser, American Author, Journalist,and News Editor for The New Yorker
- Talmage Boston, American Author, Presidential and Baseball Historian
- Theo Padnos, American Journalist held prisioner in Syria for almost two years.
- Walter Issacson, American Historian and Journalist
- Yaroslav Trofimov, Ukrainian Author, Journalist and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal
- Yonah Bob, Israeli-based journalist for The Jerusalem Post
