Rodger Baker is the executive director of the Stratfor Center for Applied Geopolitics at RANE, a global center of excellence for geopolitical intelligence and analysis.

Baker’s core emphasis is the multidisciplinary approach to geopolitics and the evolution of international relations to develop mid- and long-term forecasts to assist companies, governments and other globally engaged organizations make informed decisions.

Baker holds a master's degree in military history from Norwich University, the oldest private military university in the United States. He has studied and worked in South Korea and graduated with honors from Southampton College, Long Island University. Baker regularly holds exchanges with academic institutes and research groups around the world and frequently travels to brief executives and corporate boards as well as deliver keynote addresses to a wide range of industry groups.

 

Athanasios  Platias is a Professor of Strategy at the University of Piraeus. He is also the President of the Council for International Relations-Greece, an Athens based think tank.

He received a Law degree  from the University of Athens. He also received an M.A and a Ph.D in International Relations from the Department of Government at Cornell University.

He has been a Ford Foundation Fellow at the Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, a Research Fellow at the Peace Studies Program, Cornell University; a MacArthur Fellow in International Peace and Security at the Program for Science, Technology and International Security, MIT and the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.

Professor Platias held several senior advisory positions in the public and private sector in the last 35 years. He also held several senior academic positions such as Dean of the School of Economics, Business and International Studies, Chairman of the Department of International and European Studies, Director of the Graduate Program in International and European studies and a member of the Governing Council of the University of Piraeus.

Professor Platias is the author of numerous books and articles. His research and teaching focus on four principal areas: Grand Strategy, Geopolitics and Geoeconomics, Regional Security  (with emphasis on South Eastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean)  and  Leadership.  He is the co-author  of Thucydides on Strategy: Grand Strategies in the Peloponnessian War and Their Relevance Today (Oxford University Press, 2017). His forthcoming book on the Art of Strategy: 50 Maxims for War, Politics and Business will be released in July 2025.

Dr. Scott A. Smitson is a Strategist, Global Futures Forecaster, Political Scientist, and Educator. Dr. Smitson is the Director of the Grand Strategy Program at Denison University and from 2022-2024 was a Chamberlain Fellow and Visiting Professor of Political Science at Amherst College.
 
He is also the founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Geopolitics, Incorporated, which advises investors and private sector decision-makers in understanding the impact of geopolitics on the risks and opportunities in foreign markets, particularly at the interface of energy, finance, and international security. He is a retired US Army Officer, serving over twenty-one years on active duty in both combat arms and as an Army Strategist. His final assignment on active duty was as the Strategy Chief at US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which is the lead headquarters for all DoD activities, exercises, and engagements in Latin America and the Caribbean.