These top experts bring unique insights for seeing around corners and assessing risks and opportunities in a volatile, unpredictable world.
Meg Virag | April 3, 2025
As geopolitics becomes more of a hot-button issue than ever, it’s vital to ensure your organization gets analysis from the world’s top experts on geopolitics and the associated economic implications.
As our client Rawi Abdelal says, “in this moment, it’s very difficult to just stay out of politics…today the stakes are higher.”
Whether you’re preparing for potential tariffs or need to understand how foreign leaders – including Russia and China – are making decisions, the authorities we represent can equip your executives with tailored insights you won’t find on the nightly news.
Below are exceptional thought leaders – speakers, advisors and moderators – to consider adding to your executive learning agendas this season. Through keynotes, interactive workshops and as 1-1 advisors, they can help you see around the corner of international relations to make better decisions today. You can see them in action here. Below is a sampling of ideas for your upcoming agendas. If there is an area of economics, geopolitics or international business that you’re looking for but don’t see, let’s connect so we can better understand your learning goals.
Oren Cass is the founder and chief economist of American Compass, a leading conservative think tank known for promoting the New Right. A quickly rising and influential policy advisor, he helps leaders understand the challenges in modern American life and the disconnect between the values and priorities of the American people and the policies their leaders have pursued. Called the Republican Party’s new “center of gravity” by David Brooks of the New York Times, Oren challenges prevailing norms about capitalism and puts a focus on creating productive markets and making free trade work for workers. Refreshingly straightforward, as seen in this standout conversation with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show where he gives an insider’s view of the Trump tariffs through the lens of the “new conservatives,” he helps politicians and business leaders understand the impacts of taxes, immigration and financialization on business and wages and guides them to strategies for aligning profit with the broader social good.
When it comes to global energy, Daniel Yergin provides the best intelligence available. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and vice chairman of S&P Global goes beyond analyzing trends to forecast the geopolitical shifts that will define tomorrow’s economy – shaped by climate, the shale revolution, innovation, the United States’ relations with Russia and the growing rivalry with China. His book, “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations,” which The Washington Post called “a tour de force of geopolitical understanding,” is an essential guide for navigating the future. Daniel’s ability to break down complex subjects into actionable insights ensures teams aren’t just informed but ready to lead with confidence in an unpredictable market. Executives who have engaged him describe his sessions as critical turning points that have helped them stay a step ahead of the curve.
Rawi Abdelal, award-winning professor of international management at Harvard Business School, is helping leaders imagine the next global economy. Addressing global supply chain issues, rising political and social activism, and broken systems from health care to infrastructure, he explains the fundamental differences between the current global economy and the one that looms on the horizon. When examining the themes of Russian energy and doing business in Europe, his expertise shows multinational firms how they can influence geopolitics.
What drives Putin? Among the world’s most qualified experts to help make sense of geopolitical decisions is Angela Stent, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies. The award-winning author of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest” (2019, updated in 2023), she is able to provide unequaled insight into the motivations, tactics and goals of Putin’s Russia and its influence on our constantly shifting global landscape. With her guidance and experience, leaders can reduce the stress that comes with the uncertainty of war by preparing for likely future geopolitical scenarios.
As our times unequivocally make clear, companies today face an ever-expanding and highly volatile risk landscape that demands more attention from its leaders. From AI to armed conflicts, from disinformation to climate disasters, executives will have to balance ongoing global conflict and risk with growth and innovation. Juliette Kayyem, the faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and senior advisor to global consulting firm Teneo, is an international leader in crisis management who presents a clear and actionable playbook that equips leaders with the tools to face uncertainty with confidence and readiness. Juliette’s engaging talks reveal that leadership isn’t only about responding to a problem but anticipating and preparing for the pressures and disruptions that will surely arise.
For leaders of global businesses, staying ahead means understanding the direction and strategies of the world’s two largest economies: the United States and China. Shedding light on the US-China trade war, tech innovation races including China’s artificial intelligence strategies, and regulatory actions – policies on everything from semiconductors to TikTok – is Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center fellow Dan Wang, who many consider the top China technology analyst. With deep roots in both the academic and practical worlds of technology analysis, his pivotal insights can help you better strategize for the future when dealing in complex international markets. I am particularly excited about Dan’s highly anticipated book, “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” (August 2025, Norton and Penguin), which is already hailed as a connecting thread between many of Washington, DC’s policy debates.
Understanding China is no longer just a luxury — it’s imperative for any organization aspiring to lead in the international sphere. Whether your company is investing in China, engaging with Chinese partners or simply operating in sectors influenced by the Chinese market, award-winning Harvard Business School Professor Meg Rithmire provides critical context and understanding to navigating global trade. Meg’s latest book, “Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia” (2023), underscores the intricacies of power and policy, making it a must-read for those aiming for success in or with Asian economies.
It is now commonplace for technology to be at the center of geopolitics, what Olaf Groth, Ph.D., calls GeoTech. “Many companies that never considered geopolitics a core concern will find it inescapable now,” he says. With an apolitical perspective, Groth gives leaders the right questions to ask about the intersection between tech and geopolitics and the implications for national security, solving big global problems like climate change migration, health, collaborating with China and more. His well-defined tools, like the FLP-IT framework, help leaders understand business forces in a specific domain, and then identify how it will change how they react today.
Harvard legal scholar and former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs administrator Cass Sunstein’s guidance and expertise in behavioral economics is relied upon by organizations and governments around the world. From Cass, leaders seek reliable methods for influencing populations in positive ways, even during uncertain times. Known for decoding the enigma of persuasion in an AI-integrated world, Cass provides practical and transformative frameworks for fostering positive change and innovation. One of the most prolific writers of our time, he is world-renowned for his key insights into decision-making processes.
When geopolitics, trade and international business practices become increasingly uncertain, it’s crucial for organizations to get expert insights so they can adequately prepare for anything the future holds. Stern Strategy Group connects you with renowned thought leaders whose insights, strategies and management frameworks help organizations fuel growth and disruptive innovation to better compete in a constantly changing world. Let us arrange for these esteemed experts to advise your organization via virtual and in-person consulting sessions, workshops and keynotes.
