<p>Combining his exceptional breadth of global knowledge, a deep cultural perspective, and engaging anecdotes, Afshin Molavi examines the most critical issues impacting our world—and our businesses—today.</p><p>One of the world’s most trusted authorities on global economic trends and geopolitics, Afshin Molavi helps organizations better understand the changing world and prepare for an uncertain future. Covering topics ranging from US-China relations and the ongoing volatility in the Middle East and Ukraine to shifts in energy policy and how the 2024 U.S. elections might impact the global landscape, Molavi identifies the risks—and opportunities—businesses can expect to navigate in the coming years.</p><p>Peppering his talks with anecdotes from his travels, a deep reading of history, and broad industry knowledge of commodities and supply chains, Molavi argues that globalization remains a potent force shaping our world in everything from your morning coffee (“Globalization in a Mug”) to pop culture (“Gangnam Style Globalization”). In an engaging, approachable style, he explains how everything is inter-connected and how small events can have major impacts to the ways we produce, consume, work and live.</p><p>With wide experience on the ground in the Middle East and Asia, including journalist postings in Riyadh, Dubai, Tehran, and Cairo, and wide travel across Asia from India to Japan to South Korea to China, Afshin is now a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, co-founder of the emerge85 Lab, and founder of the Emerging World newsletter. His articles and op-eds frequently appear in publications like <em>The New York Times</em>, <em>The Economist</em>, <em>Businessweek</em>, and <em>Institutional Investor.</em> His journalism credits include Reuters, <em>The Washington Post</em>, and the <em>Financial Times</em>. He was a senior global advisor at Oxford Analytica, and was selected by the World Economic Forum in Davos as a Young Global Leader.</p><p>From Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi, from San Diego to Singapore, Molavi has delivered impactful keynotes for a wide range of audiences, from global asset management firms and leading investment banks to travel and tourism boards, trade associations, and leading educational institutions.</p>
Geopolitics and Global Economics Expert; Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University SAIS
<ul><li><strong>The New Geopolitical Map of the World: Global Trends Transforming Our World—and Your Business</strong></li><li>In this tour d'horizon of the major global trends, world economic outlook, and geopolitical hotspots, Molavi will explore in a tailored way how each of these will affect your business and our collective future. Weaving in anecdotes from the field of more than two decades of travel, a broad historical understanding of key global trends, and a unique ability to geo-locate today's headlines into a broader global outlook, Molavi's insights help us navigate the choppy waters and storms that surround us, pointing at the opportunities beyond the clouds and the fog.</li><li><strong>The Five Disruption-Proof Trends Shaping Our World and Their Impact on Politics, Business, Society, and Technology</strong></li><li>From rapid urbanization and growing middle classes to unprecedented connectivity and technology acceleration, Molavi navigates audiences through five key demographic and universal growth trends that are reshaping our world. He describes these shifts as “disruption-proof” in that they transcend our day-to-day political, economic and trade developments. Understanding their importance will help any organization navigate the competitive global landscape for the next twenty-five years. </li><li><strong>Vladimir Putin’s Bomb, the Global Shrapnel, and Our Collective Future</strong></li><li>When Vladimir Putin chose to invade Ukraine in February 2022, he unleashed a geopolitical and geo-economic bomb. The shrapnel from that bomb will be felt in every corner of the world from Chile to China. Diving into supply chain disruptions, commodities forecasts, and the re-ordering of geopolitical alliances, Molavi explores the fall-out from Russia’s invasion, arguing that the action “will shape our world profoundly, fueling greater instability worldwide, exacerbating inequalities, re-ordering alliances, and posing challenges to established leaders everywhere.”</li><li><strong>Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai or Goodbye: The New, New Emerging Markets Transformation and What It Means for Our World</strong></li><li> Author and geopolitical strategist Afshin Molavi takes a tour around the new geo-economic horizon reshaping our world, and what it means for markets, cultures, societies, and politics. As a former Dubai-based journalist and Asia risk strategist, Molavi brings personal anecdotes, deep economic insights, and broad trends analysis into an illuminating, entertaining tour of our evolving world. Molavi goes beyond the BRICs and beyond the usual markets analysis to dive deep into newly forming alliances, key consumer trends, and major macro shifts shaping what he calls the “85 world” - where 85% of the world’s population lives, from Asia to Africa to Latin America to the Middle East.</li><li><strong>Gangnam Style Globalization and Our New World Order</strong></li><li>From South Korean K-Pop boy bands to the rise of Turkish soap operas and Indian Netflix serials, a new globalization of pop culture is emerging around the world. This “Gangnam Style Globalization” reflects a new, rapidly evolving global geopolitical and geoeconomic climate that is shaping and re-shaping our future, creating new centers of political and economic power, and forcing investors and policy-makers to rethink their mental maps of the future. Author and geopolitical strategist Afshin Molavi takes audiences on an illuminating and entertaining tour of this evolving world - though he promises to not do the Gangnam Style dance in process.</li></ul>