Keynote Speakers

Haider Al-Abadi

Prime Minister of Iraq

Haider al-Abadi become Prime Minister in 2014, succeeding Nouri al-Maliki. Born in Baghdad in 1952, Abadi was educated at the University of Baghdad and later received a doctorate from the University of Manchester in Britain. He lived in Britain for many years after his family was targeted by Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. He was trained as an electrical engineer, but he entered politics after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He became minister of communications in the Iraqi Governing Council in September 2003, then was a key adviser to Maliki in Iraq's first post-invasion elected government. Before becoming Prime Minister, he was elected deputy speaker of parliament.

Fatih Birol

Chief Economist and Executive Director Designate of the International Energy Agency

Fatih Birol is the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Chief Economist and has been unanimously elected by the IEA’s member countries as the agency’s next Executive Director, to take up new duties in September 2015. He is responsible for the IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook publication, which is recognized as the most authoritative source of strategic analysis of global energy markets. He is also the founder and chair of the IEA Energy Business Council, which provides a forum to enhance cooperation between the energy industry and energy policymakers. Dr. Birol has been named by Forbes Magazine among the most powerful people in terms of influence on the world’s energy scene. He is the Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board and has served on the UN Secretary-General’s “High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.” Dr. Birol is the recipient of numerous awards from government, industry and academia.

Miguel Arias Cañete

European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy

Miguel Arias Canete is the European Union’s Commissioner of Climate Action and Energy, serving a term from 2014 to 2019. He is responsible for the European Union’s energy security strategy, establishing the European Energy Union, and implementing the 2030 climate and energy framework among other energy projects.

He has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014, and worked as the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and Environment from 2011-2014. From 2008 to 2001, he served as President of the Joint Committee of the European Union, Spanish Congress. Before his career at the European Union, Mr. Canete was the Executive Secretary for Economic and Employment Affairs of the People’s Party in Spain. He has served in various roles throughout the Spanish government, and was both an attorney and a professor. In 1971, he graduated from the University Complutense, Madrid, with a law degree.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović

President of Croatia

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović currently serves as the President of the Republic of Croatia. She served as Assistant Secretary-General of NATO Public Diplomacy from 2011 to 2014. From 2008 to 2011, she was the Croatian Ambassador to the United States. She served as Minister of European Integration, and then Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Croatian Government from 2003 to 2008.

In 1992, she worked as a legal adviser at the Department for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and Technology, and later became a consultant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1995 she became head of Center for North America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from 1997 to 2000 she served as diplomatic adviser. Afterwards, she worked as Minister Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Croatia in Canada.

In November 2003 she was elected into the Croatian Parliament. That same year, she became Minister of European Integration. She was sworn in as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in February 2005.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. Awarded a Fulbright, she studied international relations and international security policy at George Washington University.

Gen. James L. Jones, Jr.

Former US National Security Advisor

General James Jones (USMC ret.) served as the national security adviser to President Barack Obama from January 2009 to October 2010. Prior to that, General Jones was president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber Institute for 21st Century Energy. From July 1999 to January 2003, General Jones was the 32nd commandant of the Marine Corps. He assumed the positions of supreme allied commander, Europe (SACEUR) and commander of the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), positions he held until December 2006. General Jones retired from active duty in the US Marine Corps in 2007. In 2007, he was appointed as the Department of State’s special envoy for Middle East security.

General Jones attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, from which he earned a B.S. degree in 1966. He also graduated from the National War College in Washington, D.C., in June 1985. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in January 1967.

Over the last four decades, General Jones served in a variety of command and staff positions at domestic and international posts.

In addition to numerous national and international military awards, General Jones received an honorary doctorate of letters from Georgetown University.

Amos Hochstein

US Special Envoy and Coordinator on International Energy Affairs

Amos J Hochstein currently serves as the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs leading the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) at the US Department of State. He oversees US foreign policy engagement in the critical intersection of energy and national security.

Special Envoy Hochstein also advises the Secretary on U.S. strategy to advance global integration of renewable and clean energy sources. Prior to this role, Mr. Hochstein served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy and in that capacity oversaw the Office of Middle East & Asia and the Office of Europe, the Western Hemisphere and Africa. Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Hochstein spent more than 15 years advising leaders on domestic and global energy policy initiatives.

Throughout his career, he has been a counselor for both domestic and international oil and gas companies, as well as companies focusing on renewable energy.

2015 Agenda

Wednesday, November 18th – Security and Energy Dialogues

13:45 – 15:00 Europe's Energy Security

13:45 – 15:00 Afghanistan's Energy Potential

15:15 – 16:30 Russia and its Neighbors – Paradigms for Stability

15:15 – 16:30 African Energy Futures

16:45 – 18:15 Global and Regional Security Outlook 2016

Thursday, November 19th – Summit Day 1

08:00 – 09:00 Registration and Coffee

09:00 – 10:00 Opening of the Seventh Atlantic Council Energy & Economic Summit

10:15 – 11:45 Special Session 1: TBD

11:00 – 12:00 Plenary Session: Climate Change – The Road to Paris

12:15 – 13:45 Luncheon: Iran and the International Energy Markets

14:00 – 14:45 Summit Briefing 1: Global Energy Outlook

14:45 – 16:00 Summit Briefing 2: Global Energy Outlook

16:00 – 17:00 Special Session 2 : Energy Systems Transformations in the Twenty-First Century

17:15 – 18:30 Plenaries on Geopolitics and Energy Session 1: Financing Investment into Clean Energy Infrastructure

17:15 – 18:30 Plenaries on Geopolitics and Energy Session 2: The Gulf and Global Energy Supplies

18:45 – 19:45 Special Session 3: Transatlantic Energy Futures

19:45 – 21:00 Atlantic Council Global Energy Center Networking Reception

21:30 – 22:45 Night Owl Session: Turkey in a Turbulent Region

Friday, November 20th – Summit Day 2

08:00 – 09:00 Registration and Coffee

08:30 – 09:30 Special Breakfast I: The Southern Gas Corridor

08:30 – 09:30 Special Breakfast II: The Future of Zero-Carbon Energy

09:45 – 10:45 Plenaries of Geoeconomics and Finance Session 1: Bridge-building Investment Strategies for Growth

09:45 – 10:45 Plenaries of Geoeconomics and Finance Session 2: Towards a European Energy Union

11:00 – 12:00 Plenaries on Energy Geopolitics & New Technologies Session 1: Global LNG Markets

11:00 – 12:00 Plenaries on Energy Geopolitics & New Technologies Session 2: Energy Technology Frontiers

12:15 – 13:45 Luncheon: The Future of Iraq

14:00 – 15:30 Atlantic Council Millennium Fellowship Program – Session on Entrepreneurship in the Energy Sector in the Twenty-First Century

14:00 – 14:30 Report Rollout: Atlantic Council Black Sea Security Report

14:30 – 15:45 The Future of the Middle East

16:00 – 17:00 Plenaries on Energy Geopolitics Session 1: Energy Geopolitics in Asia

16:00 – 17:00 Session 2: Boosting Investment into the Energy Sector – Legal, Financial and Regulatory Challenges

17:00 – 18:00 Global Leadership and the Turkish G20 Presidency – Outcomes of the Antalya G20 Summit

19:00 – 22:00 Reception and Gala Dinner