Valbona Zeneli Keynote Speaker

Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and leading expert on transatlantic security and geopolitics
Former Professor of National Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Trusted adviser to governments and international organisations on strategic competition, NATO and geopolitical risk

Valbona Zeneli's Biography

Dr. Valbona Zeneli is a leading authority on transatlantic security, strategic competition, and the geopolitics of the Euro-Atlantic space. A political economist and national security expert with over two decades of experience spanning government, academia, and the private sector, she has advised ministers, military commanders, ambassadors, and parliamentarians across Europe and Eurasia, and has testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Congress.

Dr. Zeneli is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, affiliated with both the Europe Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. She is also a senior fellow at Friends of Europe, a senior fellow at the Florence School of Transnational Governance (European University Institute), and an associate fellow for transatlantic relations at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

For twelve years (2011–2023), Dr. Zeneli served as Professor of National Security Studies and Chair of Strategic Engagement at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany — a flagship U.S.-German security institution. There she designed and led Senior Executive Seminars for senior government officials and parliamentarians on behalf of both the U.S. Department of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense, shaping the strategic thinking of senior officials from across the Euro-Atlantic region. She also served on the Loisach Group, a senior German-American policy forum, and led the Ukraine program. She received the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Director’s Award for exceptional service. She has held visiting fellowships at Harvard University’s Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, and has served on European and transatlantic task forces producing policy recommendations on NATO, defense, and transatlantic cooperation.

A sought-after voice on the international circuit, Dr. Zeneli is a regular lecturer at the NATO School in Oberammergau and at defense and diplomatic academies across Europe and the United States. She has served as Master of Ceremonies at high-level European Commission conferences and contributes commentary and analysis to international media, with regular op-eds in The National Interest, The Diplomat, Il Messaggero, and Decode39. She advises governments on national security strategy and consults with private sector clients on geopolitical risk. Her core areas of expertise span transatlantic relations, strategic competition and geo-economics, European integration, and the Western Balkans. Zeneli is the 2023 recipient of the Inspiration Award for Women.

Economic Security, Geoeconomics and the New Global Order

How trade, technology, sanctions, and supply chain fragmentation have become instruments of statecraft — and what that means for business, investment, and policy.

The Future of Transatlantic Relations, NATO, and Euro-Atlantic Security

The transatlantic alliance under pressure: burden-sharing, defense spending, and the forces that could redefine the U.S.-Europe relationship in the decade ahead.

China, Europe and the Future of Strategic Competition

China’s expanding footprint in Europe and Eurasia: investment, influence, and the strategic choices facing governments and businesses caught between Washington and Beijing.

From Strategy to Execution: National Security, Defense Reform and Strategic Leadership

Drawing on her work advising governments and senior officials across Europe and Eurasia, Dr. Zeneli examines how states translate strategic intent into institutional capacity — and what leaders can learn from that process.

The Western Balkans, EU Enlargement and Europe’s Strategic Future

The unfinished business of European integration: why the Balkans remain a strategic battleground — and what is at stake for the EU, NATO, and the broader European security order.

- Security meets economics. Dr. Zeneli works at the intersection of geoeconomics, strategic competition, and national security — helping leaders understand how geopolitical forces translate into real risks and opportunities for their organizations.

- The transatlantic bridge. With senior fellowships at the Atlantic Council, DGAP, Friends of Europe, and the European University Institute, she commands both sides of the Atlantic at a moment when that relationship is under greater pressure than at any point in a generation.

- The insider practitioner. She has briefed and advised senior policymakers, military commanders, and ambassadors across Europe and Eurasia; supported governments in building national security strategies; served on high-level transatlantic task forces; and testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Congress. Her insights come from the room where decisions are made.

- Regional depth, global frame. She brings granular expertise on the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe — a region that sits at the intersection of EU enlargement, Russian pressure, and Chinese economic statecraft — set within a commanding analysis of NATO architecture and great-power competition.

Clarity under complexity. A sought-after speaker at NATO institutions, diplomatic academies, and senior executive programs across Europe and the United States, Dr. Zeneli translates complex geopolitical dynamics into clear, actionable insights — helping leaders anticipate the shifts that will reshape their sector before they arrive.