Paula DiPerna, Author, “Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets”

Kris Kimel is the Founder of Humanity in Deep Space, an initiative exploring the challenges and hard problems facing humans as we transition to deep spacefaring species. He is the Co-founder of the commercial space company Space Tango.  His major focus is how humans can do deep space exploration physically, safely, and ethically. Legal, ethical and physiological concerns are some of the most challenging.   Today, the United Nations’ 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which was the foundation of the discussions, was a far-reaching concept by UN member states to provide the framework as how we can explore and develop outer space, but to do so peacefully, safely and sustainably. Key questions: Who can own parts of outer space? How can outer space be utilized without militarizing it with nuclear weapons? How can we keep our humanity?  The United Nations and UNESCO have some of the best research information on outer space.

Ward Wilson, founder and executive director of RealistRevolt, is widely acknowledged as one of the leading sources of innovative pragmatic arguments against nuclear weapons.  The title of his recent book is “It Is Possible: A Future Without Nuclear Weapons.”  Nuclear weapons, of which there are about 13,000, are some of the most devastating threats on Earth.  The nine nuclear countries are: the USA, Russia, China, UK, France, North Korea, Israel, India and Pakistan.  The main thrust of his book is that while damage and destruction of nukes is real, their utility and importance have been exaggerated. The United Nations has been in the forefront in promoting treaties, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to limit or eliminate nuclear weapons. Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary General of UN Disarmament Affairs, leads the effort to forestall a new nuclear arms race. In 2017, the UN began a process on a treaty for the prohibition of nukes.

Rolf Schwarz has served as a political adviser for the Middle East and Africa at NATO Headquarters and as a professor at the NATO Defense College. He is a senior adviser at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Mr. Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, University of Geneva He is the author of several articles and books, notably a book on state-building and post-conflict peacebuilding, as well as articles on sustainable development and United Nations Sustainable Development (SDG) financing. In his most recent book - NATO and the Middle East: In Search of a Strategy – he traces the history of NATO over seven decades and looks at whether NATO has managed to promote regional stability and peace in the Middle East.   NATO, has worked closely with the UN and other partners that would project and increase stability in the region.

Yasmine Sherif is Director of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Program, which is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. Yasmine Sherif is a lawyer specialized in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, plus she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs. ECW’s mission is to generate greater shared political, operational, and financial commitment to meet the educational needs of millions of children and young people affected by crises, with a focus on a more agile, connected, and faster response that spans the humanitarian – development continuum to lay the ground for sustainable education systems.  A few years ago, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) released a shocking new Global Estimates Study, which revealed that there are now 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents in need of urgent, educational support; a significant increase from the estimated 75 million children in 2016.

Ken Heydon is a former Australian government trade official and senior member of the OECD Secretariat and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. His latest book is “The Trade Weapon: How Weaponizing Trade Threatens Growth, Public Health and the Climate Transition”.  His earlier works include “The Rise of Bilateralism” and “The Ashgate Research Companion to International Trade Policy.”  Trade weaponization usually involves governments in exports and exports and are measures that are applied in a unilateral approach. Generally speaking, sanctions do not work.  However, to be more successful, keep the sanctions (stick), but have a carrot accompany the stick.  Singapore and Malaysia are cooperating in an exciting project that will see a hydropower project in Borneo, run by Sarawak Energy that exports power to Singapore by submarine cable. The US has had various sanctions against North Korea, Iran and Cuba, for example, that have not achieved their goals.

Harlan Russell Green, a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkey, is the 2023 Winner of the Peace Corps Writers’ Publisher’s Award for his latest book on “Building Community: Answering Kennedy’s Call.”  Mr. Green is a Rotarian, retired Mortgage Banker, and Editor/Publisher of Popular Economics Weekly, a financial wire service he began in 2000. The US Peace Corps put him on an international trajectory that provided unique opportunities to work with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Caesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers of America, and several community development projects to create sustainable, livable areas. One of his award-winning films was the “The Great Clean Air Debate.” With the UFWA, he produced “Fighting for Our Lives” and “Why We Boycott.” He also worked on projects with Rotary International and Partnering for Peace, an organization of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who are now Rotarians that strive to connect Rotary Clubs with Peace Corps Projects.

Felix Dodds is Director, Multilateral Affairs at Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service at Arizona State University. He is Adjunct Professor at the Water Institute University of North Carolina and Associate Fellow, Tellus Institute. His Latest book is “Heroes in Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage.”  Mr. Dodds recently attended the United Nations COP28 conference in Dubai.  The following UN agencies had key roles in focusing the spotlight on climate change and sustainability: in 1979, the First World Climate Conference was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO); in 1988 the WMO and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); and then the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Two successes of COP 28: formalized the Loss and Damage Fund with over $700 million committed and committed to move away from fossil fuels.

Michael Cairo, Professor of Political Science and Program Director of International Affairs at Transylvania University’s, most recent book is  “American Presidents and Israeli Settlements since 1967.” Events such as Bush illegally invading Iraq in 2003, Trump giving Israel carte blanche and withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and Biden ignoring the problem until October 7 contributed to the volatile situation.  The UN created Israel and Palestine in 1947-48 and has been involved in working to promote peace though the UN Security Council, UN Relief and Works Agency, World Food Program and other agencies. Several myths were destroyed: Israel was invulnerable and could contain Hamas, and the Abraham Accords would cause Arabs to abandon Palestinians.  The world needs to make sure the war is limited, develop trust on both sides, cease horrific carnage and dismantle some settlements with the goal of a two-state solution.  As UN Secretary General Guterres said, “Nothing happens in a vacuum.”  

Xiao Yin Zhao is Executive Director of the World Affairs Council (WAC) of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.  The Council is a 501 c 3 organization that is part of a network of 90 WACs, all of which are located in the US. In addition to international exchange programs, Xiao Yin has overseen dozens of programs and events that brought top diplomats, experts and authors to the Kentucky-Indiana region, providing the community an opportunity for in-depth discussions on current global issues. Its goal is to provide a wide range of programs that inspire curiosity and impart information. Some of the programs include the International Visitors Program, Sister Cities International (Louisville has 9 Sister Cities) and periodic guest speakers on international issues, such as territorial-regional conflicts, international trade, reverse economic investment, diseases, and climate change. Kentucky is a major player in the international marketplace with the export of vehicles, aerospace equipment, and agricultural products.

Dr. John Casey is a professor in the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY).  Dr. Casey has been an active practitioner, educator and researcher in the public nonprofit sector in Australia, Spain and the USA for over 20 years.   His new book,  “The Nonprofit World: Civil Society and the Rise of the Nonprofit Sector,”  describes the difference between a nonprofit and an NGO, how most people on Earth are involved in a nonprofit combatting climate change, human trafficking, human rights, international culture and sports and others, and the  tremendous growth of  nonprofits over the past several decades.  Two of his previous books were titled: “Police Leadership and Management” and “Policing the World.”  Another important security/public safety entity is the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation which has a need for different military/police skills with each phase of a peacekeeping mission.