Ryan Gawn

Ryan Gawn is a British diplomat, foreign affairs expert and former advisor to UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. As the youngest elected Council Member of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), he writes extensively on conflict, campaigning, soft power and foreign affairs.

Currently Head of International Communications for ActionAid International, he is also co-founder of Stratagem International, an international political affairs consultancy working in fragile and conflict affected environments.

He has worked in South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and was part of the UN Secretary-General's policy team in 2005. He has worked with the FCO, DFID, and was also a Director of Penn Schoen Berland.

He has published extensively, including in The Guardian, Foreign Policy magazine, Global Dashboard, and the Foreign Policy Association. He was a panelist at the 2010 NATO Summit in Lisbon, and also tweets regularly.

He has acted as an advisor in peace negotiations, and has been published on Northern Ireland's transition from war to peace and political reconciliation.

Educated in Scotland, the US and Argentina, he was recognised in 2007 in The Observer / New Statesman 's “Top 50 in Public Life”, as one of the Diplomatic Courier's "Top 99 Most Influential International Professionals Under 33 in Foreign Affairs" (2011), and is listed in Who’s Who (2013 edition).