Advisory Council

Stella Ghervas is the Eugen Weber Endowed Chair in Modern European History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the author of the prize-winning studies Conquering Peace: From the Enlightenment to the European Union (2021) and Réinventer la tradition: Alexandre Stourdza et l’Europe de la Sainte-Alliance (2008). An acclaimed scholar in the intellectual and political history of modern Europe, she previously served as Chair of Russian History at Newcastle University and is an Associate at the History Department at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has her roots in Eastern Europe and is currently working on Calming the Waters, a book about the history of the Black Sea.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno is Professor of Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He is also a member of the UN High-level Advisory Board on Mediation and the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. Guéhenno was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (2000–2008) and led the biggest expansion of peacekeeping in the history of the United Nations. He has held various other national and international roles over the course of his career, including Director of Policy Planning at the French Foreign Ministry (1989–1993) and President of the International Crisis Group (2014-2017). Guéhenno’s books include The End of the Nation State (1993), translated into ten languages, The Fog of Peace (2015) and Le premier XXIe siècle: de la globalisation à l’émiettement du monde (2021).

Rem Koolhaas, cofounder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, is an internationally acclaimed architect. His work includes the China Central Television headquarters in Beijing, the Taipei Performing Arts Center, the Seattle Central Library, the Axel Springer Campus in Berlin, Fondation Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Fondazione Prada in Milan. He is active in both OMA and its research branch AMO. Koolhaas directed the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale and is a professor at Harvard University. Among his books are Delirious New York (1978), S,M,L,XL (1995), Project Japan: Metabolism Talks (2011, with H.-U. Obrist) and Countryside: A Report (2020).

Bruno Maçães, a political philosopher by training, has taught at universities in Seoul and Berlin. During the eurozone crisis, he was Portugal’s Secretary of State for European Affairs. After leaving office he travelled alone by land across Asia and the borderlands separating Asia and Europe, a journey detailed in his first book, The Dawn of Eurasia (2018). He has published three further books, most recently Geopolitics for the End Time (2021). As consultant, Maçães has advised some of the world’s largest companies on geopolitics and technology. He is a foreign correspondent for the New Statesman and has reported from Ukraine during the war.

As Director General for Justice and Home Affairs for the Council of the European Union and the European Council, Christine Roger currently focuses on the protection of the rule of law and of fundamental rights, on migration and asylum, borders and internal security in the Schengen area, and on data protection. Between 2005 and 2009, she represented France as Ambassador to the EU’s Political and Security Committee dealing with foreign affairs, security and defence. In the European Commission, she was chief of staff to Commissioner Michel Barnier (1999–2004) as well as advisor to President Jacques Santer (1996–1999).

Lenka Anna Rovná is a professor at Charles University’s Institute of International Studies and served as its Vice-Rector from 2014 to 2022. She is the author of several publications, mainly on the European Union and its institutions and British politics. In 1997, she set up the first academic programme for European Studies in Central and Eastern Europe at large, which was granted Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence status. Professor Rovná also served as alternate representative of the Czech government in the European Convention of 2002–2003.

Cornelia Woll is President of the Hertie School and Professor of International Political Economy. She was previously at Sciences Po Paris, where she served in many roles including as its President of the Academic Board, Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Max Planck Sciences Po Center. She has been a visiting professor at Goethe University Frankfurt and Harvard University. Professor Woll has authored several books and articles, including Corporate Crime and Punishment: The Geopolitics of Negotiated Justice (2023).