The Georgetown Leadership Seminar (GLS) is an annual gathering of selected rising leaders from around the world for a week of intensive discussion on major international issues. The program was established in 1982 by Georgetown University in order to promote dialogue among individuals who would shape the futures of their countries. GLS attracts individuals from government, corporations, law firms, financial institutions, the military, international organizations, NGOs, the media, universities, think tanks, and elsewhere who occupy positions of influence and have the potential to move up to greater leadership roles. The selected participants are then exposed to the major global issues and the Washington foreign policy-making process through direct contact with top level policy makers and experts. The program is derived from Harvard’s “international seminar” conducted by Henry Kissinger in the 1950s and 1960s. The GLS is now administered by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. Original committee members included Zbigniew Brzezinski, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, and Peter F. Krogh.
The core belief underlying the GLS is that successful leaders in a globalized world must continually work to improve their understanding of international affairs and connect to an international network. This is accomplished through three distinct goals:
- To promote an exchange of views among emerging public and private sector leaders on key global issues of the future.
- To establish the personal contacts and sense of camaraderie essential to effective international cooperation.
- To improve understanding by foreign leaders of the perspectives and foreign policy-making process through direct contact with key policy-makers, academics, and other experts in Washington.
Since 1982, the GLS has attracted a variety of speakers who have served in important policy-making and business roles:
Madeleine Albright - U.S. Secretary of State in the Clinton AdministrationSenator Chuck Hagel - Former Senator of Nebraska and U.S. Secretary of DefenseAndrew Natsios - Former Administrator of USAIDAlice Rivlin - Former Vice Chairman of the Federal ReservePaul Begala - American political commentatorChester Crocker – Assistant Secretary of State for African AffairsPeter Krogh - Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown UniversityRobert Gallucci - Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationCarol Lancaster - Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown UniversityShashi Tharoor – United Nations Under-Secretary General and Member of Parliament of IndiaJohn DeGioia - President of Georgetown UniversityPaul Erdman - Financial Writer and ScholarFrancois Bourguignon - Chief Economist of the World BankMitchell Reiss – Special Envoy to Northern IrelandCharles Cook - American political analystVictor Cha - Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council and Georgetown University professorGeorge Tenet - Director of the CIAThomas Pickering – US Ambassador to the United NationsGLS has over 800 alumni from more than 100 countries, including presidents, prime ministers, cabinet secretaries, generals, ambassadors, and CEOs:
Vincent Siew - (GLS 1982) former Prime Minister and former Vice President of TaiwanThomas D. Boyatt- (GLS 1983) former diplomat and United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso (1978–80) and Colombia (1980–83)Alain Juppe - (GLS 1983) former Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister of FranceJaswant Singh - (GLS 1983) Indian Member of Parliament, former Minister of Finance, Minister of Defense, and Minister of External Affairs of IndiaRoberto Dañino - (GLS 1983) former Prime Minister of PeruMichael Howard - (GLS 1983) British Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the OppositionRitt Bjerregaard - (GLS 1984) former Danish politician and was the first female Lord Mayor of CopenhagenCesar Gaviria Trujillo - (GLS 1984) former Secretary General of the Organization of American States, former President of ColombiaPatricia M. Byrne - (GLS 1984) served as United States Ambassador to Burma and United States Ambassador to MaliMichael Huffington- (GlS 1984) former U.S. Congressman from the 22nd district of CaliforniaJuwono Sudarsono - (GLS 1985) former Defense Minister of IndonesiaHelle Degn - (GLS 1985) Danish politicianJames Goodby - (GLS 1985) author and former American diplomat as United States Ambassador to FinlandYossi Beilin - (GLS 1986) Israeli statesman and scholar that has served as Minister of Economics and Planning, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Religious AffairsAnura Bandaranaike - (GLS 1987) Former Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Higher Education, Tourism and National Heritage and former Speaker of the Parliament of Sri LankaMary Collins - (GLS 1987) former Canadian Minister of National Health and WelfareIn Jaw Lai - (GLS 1987) former President of the Judicial Yuan and Chief Justice of the Court of TaiwanJens Stoltenberg - (GLS 1988) Current Prime Minister and former Finance Minister of NorwayJean-Marie Guehenno - (GLS 1989) former Undersecretary General of the United NationsSondhi Limthongkul - (GLS 1991) Inaugural Leader of the New Politics Party of ThailandGeneral Peter Pace - (GLS 1992) former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffFrances Fitzgerald - Irish Fine Gael politician and the Minister for Children and Youth AffairsJose Barroso - (GLS 1998) President of EU Commission and former Prime Minister of PortugalMichael Hayden - (GLS 1999) former Director of the CIA and former Director of the NSAFelipe de Borbon - (GLS 1999) Prince of Asturias; Heir Apparent to the Spanish ThroneMartin Redrado - (GLS 1999) Former President of the Central Bank of ArgentinaIsaac Lee Possin - (GLS 1999) President of News for UnivisionGiorgi Baramidze - Georgian politician who served as Vice-Prime Minister of Georgia and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic IntegrationKayode Fayemi - (GLS 2000) Governor of Ekiti State, NigeriaMoushira Khattab (GLS 2001)- former Minister of Family & Population of Egypt, Ambassador of Egypt to the Republic of South Africa, the Czech Republic and SlovakiaHenrique Capriles Radonski - (GLS 2002) Opposition candidate in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential electionMahmoud Mohieldin - (GLS 2003) Managing Director of the World Bank, former Egyptian Minister of InvestmentNasser Judeh - (GLS 2004) Jordanian Minister of Foreign AffairsMaung Zarni - (GLS 2004) Burmese democracy activist; founder of the Free Burma CoalitionDavid M. Rodriguez - (GLS 2004) United States Army General who currently serves as the Commander, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)Muhamad Chatib Basri - (GLS 2005) is the Indonesian Minister of FinanceNuhu Ribadu - (GLS 2006) Chairman of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force and former Nigerian government anti-corruption official; Nigerian presidential candidateAnne Lammila - (GLS 2007) Finland’s Ambassador to MexicoYousef Al-Otaiba - (GLS 2007) UAE Ambassador to the United StatesRagnheiður Elín Árnadóttir - (GLS 2007) Icelandic politician and the Minister of Industry and CommerceLaila Iskander - (GLS 2007) Egyptian social entrepreneur and politician and Egypt's Minister of State for Environment AffairsDonald Duke - (GLS 2008) Governor of the Cross River State of NigeriaFatemeh Haghighatjoo - (GLS 2009) Reformist and member of the Iranian ParliamentTomasz Misiak – (GLS 2010) Polish SenatorIgnacio Bustamante - (GLS 2011) CEO of Hochschild Mining (Peru)