James Rubin Keynote Speaker

James P. Rubin has worked for four decades, in and out of government, in the field of international affairs and U.S. national security as a diplomat, commentator, professor and broadcaster.

From 2022 to January 2025, Mr. Rubin served as a top adviser and strategist for Secretary of State Antony Blinken, focusing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the China challenge, and the war against Hamas after October 7, 2023. He also served as Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center, leading government efforts to combat Russian and Chinese information warfare. From May 2021 to May 2022, Mr. Rubin served as Diplomatic Counsellor to the Secretary General of the OECD in Paris, advising Secretary General Mathias Cormann on geopolitics and geoeconomics.

During the Clinton administration, Mr. Rubin served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief Spokesman for Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. As Albright’s top adviser, in 1999 he was sent to Kosovo to negotiate the demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

As an academic, he was a Visiting Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics (2002-2004), a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University’s Rothermere American Institute (2012 to 2013), and adjunct Professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. (2008-2010)

Mr. Rubin was an anchor and commentator for Sky News from 2005 to 2007, wrote a regular column for The Sunday Times in 2015/2016, co-anchored the PBS series Wide Angle from 2001 to 2004, and served as co-Executive Editor for the launch of Bloomberg View in 2010.

From January 2018 to April 2021, Mr. Rubin was Chair, International Policy and Strategy at Ballard Partners, representing clients from Europe, Africa and Latin America. He was also a partner in the financial advisory firm Brunswick from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Rubin was a top foreign policy adviser in three Presidential campaigns, for Hillary Clinton in 2016, John Kerry and Gen. Wesley Clark (ret.) in 2004, and Bill Clinton in 1996.

Earlier in his career, he was Senior Adviser and Spokesman for the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Madeleine K. Albright (1993-1996) and a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (1988-1993).

He received an M.A. and a B.A. from Columbia University in 1984 and 1982, respectively.

Mr. Rubin received the State Department’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service award, in 2000. In 1998, he was honored with Columbia University’s John Jay award for Distinguished Professional Achievement.

He has written extensively for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Politico, The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy and Newsweek, and has been a frequent analyst and commentator for CNN, BBC, MSNBC and other TV and Radio outlets.