The 2021 Conference of NATO Communicators: The Road to Madrid
List of Panellists
Strategic Environment and Outlook
David Cattler, Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence & Security
Twitter: @davidcattler
David Cattler is NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security. He took up his post on 2 December 2019. He ensures the NATO intelligence organizations operate as an enterprise to meet the challenging demands of the Alliance. He also is the senior advisor to the Secretary General for intelligence and security matters.
Admiral Robert Bauer, Chair of the Military Committee
Twitter: @CMC_NATO.
Admiral Rob Bauer was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1984. After a series of tactical and operational postings, he became the Netherlands Chief of Defence in 2017. In June 2021, Admiral Bauer assumed the role of 33rd Chair of the NATO Military Committee. As such he became the Military Adviser to the Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council as well as NATO’s most senior military officer. In this time of political power shifts and increasingly complex security threats, Admiral Bauer firmly believes that the strength of the North Atlantic Alliance lies in its cohesion.
Benedetta Berti-Alberti, Head of Policy Planning, Office of the Secretary General
Twitter: @benedettabertiw
Dr Benedetta Berti is Head of Policy Planning in the Office of the Secretary General at NATO. She is Associate Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. An Eisenhower Global Fellow and a TED Senior Fellow, in the past Benedetta has held positions at West Point, The Institute for National Security Studies and Tel Aviv University, among others. She holds a PhD in International Relations from The Fletcher School (Tufts University).
Defence & Deterrence
Jorg See, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defense Planning & Policy
Jörg See is the Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning at NATO HQ. He first gained international experience as Chief, Operations and Missions Section in the German Military Representation to NATO/EU, and operational experience in Kosovo where he served as Military Assistant to the Commander KFOR and as CJ 35 SO Plans for the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Kabul. In 2010, he served as Deputy Senior Military Assistant to the Federal Minister of Defence (FmoD) in Berlin, before being appointed Chief of Branch, Military Personnel Development in FmoD Bonn. He holds a Masters degree in political sciences from Hamburg University, has completed a General Staff Officer Course in Hamburg as well as an advanced Command and Staff Course in Shrivenham, UK.
Gen. Tod Wolters, Supreme Allied Commander Europe
General Tod D. Wolters assumed duties as NATO’s 19th Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) on May 3, 2019. As SACEUR, he is one of NATO’s two strategic commanders and commands Allied Command Operations (ACO), which is responsible for the planning and execution of all Alliance operations. He is responsible to NATO’s Military Committee for the conduct of all NATO military operations.
General Wolters previously served as Commander Allied Air Command; Commander,U.S. Air Forces in Europe; Commander, U.S. Air Forces Africa, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base,Germany, and Director, Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Kalkar, Germany.
John Kirby, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
Twitter: @PentagonPresSec
John F. Kirby was sworn in as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs on January 20, 2021. In this role, he advises Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks on public communications and community engagement. He also serves as the Department’s chief spokesperson. Most recently, Kirby was an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a military and diplomatic analyst at CNN. Kirby previously served at the Department of State, as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Public Affairs from December 2015 to January 2017 and as the State Department’s spokesperson from May 2015 to January 2017.
Oana Lungescu, NATO Spokesperson
Twitter @NATOpress
Instagram @oanalungescu
Oana Lungescu is the principal Spokesperson for the North Atlantic Alliance, providing strategic advice to the NATO Secretary General, the North Atlantic Council, commands and NATO offices on press, media and social media. She coordinates NATO’s 24/7 media operations, as well as planning and directing the media aspects of all major NATO events, including Summits and Ministerial meetings. She is also in charge of all speeches and publications by the NATO Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General. Ms Lungescu is the first woman – and the first journalist – to hold this post. In 2016, Politico named Ms. Lungescu one of the most influential women in Brussels.
Changing Security Threats (hybrid/cyber/space/climate)
John Swords, NATO Legal Advisor
Twitter: @johnswordsnato
John Swords is the Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of Legal Affairs at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. In this role, Mr. Swords is Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s chief legal adviser. He leads the multinational legal team in the Office of Legal Affairs, which provides timely legal advice on policy issues, develops consensus solutions for compliance with multinational legal requirements, and promotes and defends the Organization’s legal interests in numerous internal and external venues. He also represents NATO in external legal bodies such as the Council of Europe’s Committee of Legal Advisers and conducts regular engagements with NATO Allies, Partners, and other international organizations as well as the public. Mr. Swords was called to the bar in 2002 and is a member of Gray’s Inn.
David van Weel, Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges
Twitter: @davidvanweel
David van Weel is NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. He is the Secretary General’s primary advisor on emerging security challenges and their implications for the security of the Alliance and a member of the Secretary General’s senior management team. The Emerging Security Challenges Division, which he directs and manages, aims to provide a coordinated approach by the Alliance to all new and emerging challenges. These include cyber and hybrid threats, terrorism, as well as emerging and disruptive technologies (such as AI and quantum computing), energy security challenges, including those posed by environmental changes, and data policy.
Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann, Director General of the International Military Staff
Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann joined the Bundeswehr in 1976 where he trained as an Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Officer in the German Army. He has subsequently held a variety of posts at tactical and operational level, including Military Assistant to the German Chief of Defence, Second Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Politico-Military Affairs and Arms Control, Commander of the Bundeswehr’s Territorial Missions, and German Military Representative to NATO and the European Union. In July 2019, he became the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS). As such, he is responsible for the coordination between the decision-making bodies of the Alliance, the two Strategic Commands, national military representatives from NATO and Partner countries, enabling the IMS to provide the best possible policy advice to the NATO Military Committee.
NATO’s Communication Priorities towards the 2022 Madrid Summit
Carmen Romero, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy
Twitter: @NATORomeroC
Carmen Romero was appointed NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy in October 2016. She joined NATO in May 2004 as Deputy Spokesperson and Head of Press and Media, a position she held for 12 years. She has also been Acting NATO Spokesperson, including during the Russia-Georgia conflict in August 2008.
Prior to this, Carmen had a long career as the Foreign Affairs Correspondent for EFE News Agency based at the United Nations in Geneva, Moscow and Paris, covering events such as the revolution in Romania, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the war in Chechnya, the crisis in Kosovo, and the NATO campaign in the former Yugoslavia.
Baiba Braže, Assistant Secretary General Public Diplomacy
Twitter: @NATOBrazeB
Ambassador Baiba Braže was appointed Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy in May 2020. She advises the Secretary General on issues within her remit, oversees the coordination of all Strategic Communications activities across all NATO civilian and military bodies and commands, and also directs all public diplomacy activities (except press and media, which are directed by the NATO Spokesperson on behalf of the Secretary General). ASG PDD directs the Public Diplomacy Division (PDD), which plays a key role in conveying the Alliance’s strategic and political messages to opinion formers and to the public in general. PDD works to raise the Alliance’s profile with audiences world-wide and to build support for Alliance operations and policies.
Gen. Jay Janzen, Communications Director at SHAPE
Twitter: @Jay_Janzen
Jay H. Janzen is a strategic communications professional with decades of multinational and military experience. Prior to joining SHAPE as the Director of the Communications Division, Mr. Janzen was a Brigadier-General in the Canadian Armed Forces, where he led efforts to enhance strategic communication and military public affairs capabilities. He graduated from the NATO Defence College in 2011, and in 2012 became the Chief of Media Operations at SHAPE. He was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal for his involvement in communicating NATO’s multifaceted response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He was also the communications advisor to the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR).
Investing in Data-Enabled Communications & Capabilities
Camille Grand, Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment
Twitter: @camille_grand
Camille Grand is Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment since 4 October 2016.
He was previously Director and CEO of the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), the leading French think tank on defence and security (2008-16). In that capacity, he served on several expert groups on the future of NATO (Advisor to the Group of Experts on the Strategic Concept chaired by Madeleine Albright in 2009-10, Member of the Group of Policy Experts for the Wales Summit in 2014). His research and publications focused on defence policy, NATO, nuclear policy, and missile defence.
Virginie Viscardy, Senior Agency Representative in North America, NATO Communications and Information Agency
LinkedIn: Virginie Viscardy
Ms. Viscardy works for the NATO Communications & Information Agency in Norfolk Virginia, USA, where she is responsible for strengthening relations and building partnerships with known and new stakeholders in the North American regions. Her focus is on making the NATO Communications & Information Agency a partner of choice across the Atlantic and gain support for the implementation of NATO's Digital Endeavour as well as a wide range of innovation efforts. She is also acting as Head of Executive Management's Strategic Communications and Partnership Office (SCPO). She leads a team responsible for developing key stakeholder engagement strategies and strategic communication activities in the line with the NCI Agency’s Strategic Plan.
Jānis Sārts, Director, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Twitter:@stratcomcoe
Janis Sarts - Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. Over his 20 year career within defence sector, he has served as Policy Director, Defence Advisor of the Permanent Representation of Latvia to NATO, as well as State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence. He was leading defence sector reforms during the economic crisis period, and Government’s efforts in increasing its security and defence in cyberspace. He also chaired the National Cyber Security Board being responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of Latvia’s cyber security policy, and overseeing the work of the National Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution.
Beginning of Day 2
Damien Arnaud, Engagements Section, Public Diplomacy Division
Damien Arnaud is currently in the Engagements section of the Public Diplomacy Division assuming the role of engagement officer. Previous to his current role, he was the Head of Media Operations & Special Events for over 12 years where he oversight of all media operations during eight of the last nine NATO Summits. Mr. Arnaud also contributed to the development of information environment assessments as the responsible manager for the Headquarters’ media monitoring & analysis team. Prior to joining the Press Office, Mr. Arnaud served in the Operations Division at NATO HQ and in the Oil & Gas industry. He is educated in political science and business with specialty in international relations & Islam and earned degrees from the University of Toronto in Canada, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington and the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome
Eleonora Russels, PASCAD, International Military Staff
Twitter: @NATO_PASCAD
Eleonora Russell took up the post of Public Affairs (PA) and Strategic Communications (StratCom) Advisor in June 2021 at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
As such, Ms Russell is the main PA Advisor and principal contact for StratCom for the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, the Deputy Chair, the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff, and the NATO Military Committee.
Prior to this, Russell worked as a speechwriter to the Netherlands Minister of Defence, the State Secretary for Defence, the Chief of Defence and President of the Senate.
Audiences’ attitudes to NATO and security challenges
Chris Riley, Head, Strategic Communications Unit, NATO Public Diplomacy Division
Chris Riley is a former British Army Officer in the Parachute Regiment. He spent 10 years in the service, including operational tours of duty in Northern Ireland and Bosnia where he was Media Spokesman for the NATO-led Stabilisation Force. In 1998, he joined the Office of the High Representative, the lead civilian body responsible for implementing the civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement in Bosnia. In this function, he was head of Press and Media in OHR's southern region in Mostar before becoming the Head of Media Development for OHR in Sarajevo. In this position, Chris was responsible for implementing the international communities’ media development strategy to reform the broadcast media and provide a politically impartial media regulator.
Amy Lecomber, Strategic Communications Unit, NATO Public Diplomacy Division
Amy Lecomber leads NATO’s audience research function; designing and delivering an annual research programme to inform communications policy and strategy. A certified MRS member, Amy has a mixed methodology background and extensive experience developing and scaling organizational research capability. Amy has lead research to evidence strategic recommendations for decision makers in national government, the public sector and agency-side over the last decade. This spans roles in UK Cabinet Office, the British Standards Institution and research agency Ipsos.
Nicola de Santis, Head, Engagements Section, Public Diplomacy Division
Twitter: @NdSNATO
Nicola de Santis is the Head of the Engagements Section of the Public Diplomacy Division, since 1 September 2019. He joined the NATO International Staff in Brussels on 1 November 1991 following international competition. During his three-decade career at the Brussels NATO Headquarters, Mr. de Santis served in different senior executive policy and communications positions. Head Middle East and North Africa Section, NATO Political Affairs and Security Policy Division (2010-2019). Head Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Countries Section, NATO Public Diplomacy Division (2006-2010). Information and Press Officer for Mediterranean Dialogue and Partner Countries, Outreach and Partner Relations Section, NATO Office of Information and Press, Office of the Secretary General (2001-2006).
Arlin Bagdat, Director General External Communications of the Belgian Prime Minister’s Office
Arlin Bagdat is Director-General for External Communication at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Belgium since June 2014.In this capacity, she was mandated by the Belgian federal government to chair the Belgian task force in charge of organizing the NATO Leader's meeting in 2017 and the Nato summit in 2018. For the organization of the 2021 summit, she chaired the “Communication and Media” working group of the Belgian task force. Arlin Bagdat teaches public and political communication at the Université catholique de Louvain as guest lecturer. Earlier, she worked as communication adviser for the Federal Public Service Personnel & Organisation en also as responsible for communication at the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons.
Elizabeth M. Allen, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
Elizabeth M. Allen was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Global Public Affairs on September 13, 2021. Liz was previously a Partner at global strategic communications and public affairs firm Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH), specializing in message strategy, project and crisis management, and executive leadership communications. Prior to FGH, Liz served at the White House as Deputy Communications Director and Deputy Assistant to President Barack Obama, culminating eight years of service in the Obama Administration, where she held a number of roles, including White House Director of Message Planning and Deputy Director of Communications to then-Vice President Joe Biden. In 2020, Liz took a leave of absence from FGH to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’s communications director on the Biden-Harris Presidential campaign.
Deterrence & operational communication
Piers Cazalet, Head, Press & Media Section, Public Diplomacy Division
Twitter: @NATODepSpox
In March 2017, Piers joined the International Staff of NATO as Head of Press and Media, and Deputy Spokesperson. Prior to that he worked for the UK Diplomatic Service. From July 2012 until February 2017, he worked as Defence Counsellor in the UK Delegation to NATO. Before that, he had a postings in Beirut, Jakarta, Jerusalem, and Nicosia. He also worked in London on a variety of policy issues including southern Africa, the EU and UN, and India and Pakistan.
Brigadier General Eystein Kvarving, Chief Public Affairs for the Chief of Defense, Ministry of Defence (Norway)
Brigadier Eystein Kvarving is chief public affairs and strategic communications for the Norwegian Armed Forces. He has previously been chief public affairs at the Norwegian Joint Headquarters and Commanding Officer of the Norwegian Armed Forces Media Centre. In 2018 he led the Norwegian strategic communications team for Exercise Trident Juncture in close coordination with NATO. Brigadier Kvarving’s deployments to operations abroad includes IFOR, SFOR, ISAF and Unified Protector.
Lieutenant Colonel John Benson, Commanding Officer, Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Latvia (Canada)
Facebook: @eFPBGLatvia
Lieutenant-Colonel John Benson was born in Toronto, Ontario. After completing his studies at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, he was posted to the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment in 2004, where he was employed as a platoon commander during the work-up training of TF 2-06 as well as a Reconnaissance Platoon Commander for a few months. He was also deployed to KANDAHAR in 2006-2007 as a mentor to a company commander of the Afghan National Army (ANA) as part of the Roto 0 of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT).
Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Minutella, Chief Public Affairs and COMKFOR Spokesperson (Italy)
Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Minutella is currently in the KFOR Public Affairs Office (Deputy and Chief). He attended the Military Academy in Modena from 1986 to 1990. He then became the Tank Company Commander and SO at tank regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Minutella has held positions at te Log. Brigade HQ in Treviso and at the Army General Staff in Rome. In 2006 he assumed the role of Chief Public Information at Regional Army HQ in L’ Aquila. He has held positions as RS - Public Information Officer, KFOR - J3 CONOPS, and RS - Key Leader Branch Chief. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in strategic sciences and he earned a master's degree in logistics and transportation. He is married to Ms. Letizia and they have two daughters and two sons.
Countering hybrid threats and building resilience
Clare Roberts, Deputy Head of Hybrid Challenges & Energy Security Section, Emerging Security Challenges Division
Clare is Deputy Head (Hybrid) in the Hybrid Challenges and Energy Security Section of the Emerging Security Challenges Division at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. She is a senior policy coordinator for NATO’s response to countering hybrid threats. She helped set up the NATO Counter Hybrid Support Team and coordinates the NATO HQ Hybrid Threats network. Clare also helped develop NATO’s baseline requirements for national resilience - a first line of defence to hybrid threats. Clare began her career at the Western European Union (WEU) where she worked on in the Balkans and Albania. She studied at Cambridge University and holds Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
James Pamment, Senior Researcher, University of Lund (United Kingdom)
Twitter: @jpamment
James Pamment, PhD, is associate professor of Strategic Communication at Lund University. He has worked on counter-disinformation guidance for a variety of organisations including the UK Cabinet Office (RESIST Counter-Disinformation Toolkit), Swedish MSB (Counter Influence Strategies for Communicators), EEAS and European Commission (The EU’s Role in Fighting Disinformation non-papers), European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (The 4S Model for Hybrid Deterrence), and NATO Stratcom Centre of Excellence (Fact-Checking and Debunking: A Best Practice Guide). His Lund University team has provided training to thousands of civil servants in dozens of countries on countering disinformation and hybrid threats.
Jean-Baptiste Jeangène-Vilmer, Institut de Recherche Stratégique, Ecole Militaire, Ministère des Armées (France)
Twitter: @jeangene_vilmer
Dr. Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer is director of the Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) at the French Ministry for the Armed Forces, and a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and an Honorary Ancien of NATO Defense College.
Christopher Krebs, Krebs Stamos Group (United States)
Krebs's professional work has focused on cybersecurity and risk management issues. He served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection, and later worked in the private sector as Director for Cybersecurity Policy for Microsoft. In March 2017, he became Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. In August 2017, he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, and performed the duties of the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for National Protection and Programs until he was confirmed to that position on a permanent basis on June 15, 2018. In November 2018, the National Protection and Programs Directorate was replaced by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Krebs remained as director of the agency.
Digitalisation of communications & the use of data to inform communications
Rebecca Obstler, Head, Digital Outreach Section, Public Diplomacy Division
Rebecca Obstler, Head, PDD Communications Services Section, oversees the team who coordinate digital outreach across enterprise channels and platforms to: engage users in the story of NATO; enable Allied communicators in their own communications; and promote coherence among Alliance communications. A Generation X digital native, Rebecca has worked in communications spanning analogue and digital. She is most recently an alumna of the United Nations system (and related), having spent more than a dozen years at such organizations as FAO, IMF and IMO. Prior to her appointment to NATO, she led the UNICEF global web team. Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s degree in English literature and a Master’s in international negotiation and conflict resolution.
Peter Heneghan, Deputy Director of Digital Communications Prime Minister’s Office (United Kingdom)
LinkedIn: Peter Heneghan
Twitter: @PeterHeneghan
Peter leads the digital communications and campaigns team at 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office. His team work at the heart of government, setting best practice across communications, marketing, content creation, product development and data science.
A Cannes Lions award-winning director-level communicator, with expertise in building communications strategies across corporate, B2B, B2C, digital, social media, Internal and media relations. Previously held senior communications roles at leading international media organisations - most notably BBC, Channel 4, BuzzFeed and LADbible Group.
Lisa Hollenbach, Head of Strategic Media and Communications Planning, Bundespressamt (Germany)
Linkedin: Lisa Hollenbach
Lisa Hollenbach is Head of Division for the Strategic Media and Communication planning unit inside the Press and Information Office of the German government. She thinks about how to create new formats and how to reach new audiences. Her unit also deals with the question how to encounter disinformation. Prior to that position she lived in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil working for a local NGO. She also has a background in strategic planning (JvM & thjnk/ German advertisement companies) and political communication (German Ministry of Health, Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union).
Lieutenant Colonel Ettore Sarli, Strategic Communications Advisor to the Italian Minister of Defense (Italy)
Lieutenant Colonel Ettore Sarli is the head of the Digital Communication Section; Defence Ministry Webmaster; STRATCOM Advisor, Social Media - Public Information and Communication Office in the Defence Minister Cabinet Office in Rome. Previously, he worked in the Defence Minister Cabinet Office - Public Information and Communication Office. Lieutenant Colonel Ettore Sarli has held positions as head of Press Office and Spokesperson in Afghanistan and as the head of the Press Office and Spokesperson in Iraq Antica Babilonia. He has a Degree in Political Science and Diplomatic Science, and hold a Master in Strategic Science.
Social media and online influence
Steven Hardy, Head of Social Media, Digital Outreach Section, Public Diplomacy
Steven Hardy, Digital Outreach Officer in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division. Responsible for managing NATO’s social media team and providing consultancy and advice across the NATO wide family on harnessing digital for communications. Previously, spent seven years as Senior Social Media Manager for the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, following a strategic communications role in the Middle East and North Africa Directorate
Renata Nikolay, Head of Cabinet, Commissioner Věra Jourová, European Commission
Renate Nikolay is now Head of Cabinet of Vĕra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency working on matters such as rule of law or disinformation. In October 2019 she became Director in charge of Asia and Latin America in DG Trade. From 2014 to 2019, she was Head of Cabinet of Vĕra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality where she played a key role in the adoption of the data protection reform and the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor and the Code of Conduct with platforms on online hate speech. Between 2011 and 2014 she led the Unit of interinstitutional and international relations in DG Justice dealing with legislative files and international negotiations such as the ones on data protection with the US.
Ben Nimmo, Facebook Global Threat Intelligence Lead for Influence Operations
Facebook: @benimmo.
Ben Nimmo is Facebook's Global Threat Intelligence Lead for Influence Operations. A former NATO press officer (2011-14), he was one of co-founders of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), and later served as Graphika’s first Head of Investigations. He has helped to expose foreign election interference in the US, UK and France, documented troll operations in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, and been declared dead by an army of Twitter bots. A graduate of Cambridge University, he speaks French, German, Russian and Latvian, among other languages
Gӧkhan Yücel, Head, Strategic Communications & Crisis Management Department, Presidency Directorate of Communications (Turkey)
Twitter: @goyucel
Gökhan Yücel is the Department of Strategic Communication and Crisis Management head at the Directorate of Communications, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. He recevied his BA in Journalism from Marmara University, MA in European Politics from Essex University. He pursued doctoral studies in Politics and International Relations at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He completed the Public Leadership Executive Program at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
His professional interests include strategic communication, political campaigns and digital diplomacy. He teaches Strategic Communication, Digital Diplomacy, AI and the Military courses at National Defense University. He serves the AI Committee at the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO.
Brigadier General Constantin Spinu, Head, Public Affairs Directorate, Ministry of National Defense
Brigadier-General Constantin Spinu is the head of the Information and Public Affairs Directorate of the Romanian Ministry of Defense and co-manager of the WeAreNATO campaign in Romania.Brig.Gen. Spinu graduated the Air Force Academy in 1993 as an air defence specialist and has an extensive experience of more than 20 years in military journalism and public affairs. His most significant education experiences include a bachelor’s degree in political science obtained in 2003, an honor graduate diploma of the US Defense Information School obtained in 2005, and a NATO Defense College graduate since 2016. Starting with 2019, he is a PhD candidate in Strategic Communications with the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest.
Closing remarks – The Road to Madrid
Ambassador Miguel Fernándes-Palacios, Spanish Permanent Representative to NATO
Born in 1965, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. PhD in Constitutional Law - Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Joined the Spanish Diplomatic service in 1994. Ambassador Permanent Representative of Spain in the North Atlantic Council since September 2018. He also served in the Spanish Embassies in Algiers (1995-1997), The Hague (1997-2000), Tegucigalpa (2000-2003) and the Spanish Permanent Representation to the European Union (2015-2018). Between 2006 and 2008 he served as Ambassador of the Kingdom Spain to the Democratic Republic of Congo and between 2011 and 2015 as Ambassador of Spain to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative Observer to the African Union.