Leading Geopolitical Expert, Founder of AlphaGeo, and Bestselling Author
Parag Khanna: Biography at a Glance
- Dr. Parag Khanna is the Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, the leading AI-powered geospatial location analytics platform that forecasts asset values to future-proof global trends and real estate.
- He is also the Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm that works with the world’s leading governments and most innovative companies.
- Khanna is the bestselling author of Move: Where People Are Going for a Better Future, as well as The Future is Asian, Connectography, and other renowned books translated into more than 20 languages.
- In his books and on the stage, he explores factors such as climate change, economic collapse, government destabilization, and technology disruption that have led to mass migrations and discusses the global competition for young talent currently impacting corporations.
- He previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Senior Geopolitical Adviser to the United States Special Operations Forces.
- A geographical futurist and world traveler to more than 150 countries, Khanna has provided expertise and tailored briefings on global trends and scenarios, systemic risks and technological disruptions, and market entry strategies and economic master planning to many governments around the globe.
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Biography
Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, world traveler, and bestselling author. He is the Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, the leading AI-powered geospatial location analytics platform. AlphaGeo's mission is to future-proof global investing in an age of rising volatility.
Dr. Khanna is the internationally bestselling author of seven books including MOVE: Where People Are Going for a Better Future (2021), preceded by The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century (2019), as well as a trilogy of books on the future of world order beginning with The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order (2008), followed by How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance (2011) and concluding with Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization (2016). He is also the author of Technocracy in America: Rise of the Info-State (2017) and co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization (2012). His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Parag was named one of Esquire’s “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century,” and featured in WIRED magazine’s “Smart List.”
During 2022-23, Parag was named an inaugural YPO Leadership Fellow, providing strategic guidance to numerous chapters and communities of the 30,000-member YPO global network. During the early 2010s, he served as an adviser to the US National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends program. From 2013-2018 he was a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. From 2006-2015, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation. During 2007, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a senior geopolitical adviser to the United States Special Operations Forces. From 2002-5, he was the Global Governance Fellow at the Brookings Institution; from 2000-2002, he worked at the World Economic Forum in Geneva; and from 1999-2000, he was a Research Associate at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
A widely cited global intellectual, Dr. Khanna provides regular commentaries for international media. His 2008 cover essay for the New York Times Magazine titled “Waving Goodbye to Hegemony,” is one of the most globally debated and influential essays since the end of the Cold War. Khanna’s essays, reportage, and columns have appeared in major international publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, National Geographic, TIME, Foreign Affairs, Scientific American, Popular Science, Axios, Forbes, The Atlantic, Quartz, Foreign Policy, Noema, Harper’s, BusinessWeek, The Guardian, The National Interest, McKinsey Quarterly, The American Interest, Global Policy, Stratfor, Esquire, Slate.com, and Die Zeit.
Dr. Khanna also appears frequently in media around the world such as CNN, BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, and other broadcasters. In 2010, he became the first video blogger for ForeignPolicy.com and from 2010-12, co-authored the Hybrid Reality blog on BigThink. From 2008-9, Parag was the host of “InnerView” on MTV. He was a consultant to the National Geographic series Origins. Khanna spoke at TED in 2016, TED Global 2009, was a guest host of TED Global 2012, and was a lead speaker at TEDxGateway in 2018. His TED talks have been viewed more than three million times. The maps customized for Dr. Khanna’s books have been displayed in numerous prestigious international art exhibitions.
Parag lectures frequently at international conferences and gives tailored briefings to government leaders and corporate executives on global trends and scenarios, systemic risks and technological disruptions, and market entry strategies and economic master planning. He has provided expertise to many governments including the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Italy, Estonia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Bhutan, Chile, Malta, and numerous others. In 2016, he served on the Singapore government's Committee on the Future Economy and currently sits on the UAE Ministry of Economy's International Advisory Council. He also currently serves as a senior advisor to Gulf Capital, sits on the board of directors of the Out of Eden Walk, and as a member of the advisory board of Henley & Partners and previously on the Innovation Advisory Board of DBS Bank and Globality.
Dr. Khanna holds a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics, and Bachelors and Masters degrees from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In 2017, he was awarded a Richard von Weizsaecker fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy. He has been a Senior Fellow of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, a Senior Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a Distinguished Visitor at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, a Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin, Next Generation Fellow of the American Assembly, Visiting Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Non-Resident Associate of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. He has received grants from the United Nations Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Ford Foundation.
Born in India, Parag grew up in the United Arab Emirates, New York, and Germany. He is an accomplished adventurer who has traveled to more than 150 countries on all continents. Some of his lengthy journeys include driving from the Baltic Sea through the Balkans and across Turkey and the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea, across the rugged terrain of Tibet and Xinjiang provinces in western China, and ten thousand kilometers from London to Ulaanbaatar in the Mongolia Charity Rally. He has climbed numerous 20,000-foot-plus peaks and trekked in the Alps, Himalayas, and Tien Shan mountain ranges. Parag is also a competitive tennis player.
Parag has been honored as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and has served on the WEF’s Global Future Council on Mobility, Global Agenda Council on Geoeconomics, and advisory board of its Future of Urban Development Initiative. He also serves on the board of trustees of the New Cities Foundation, the Council of the American Geographical Society, and the advisory board of Independent Diplomat. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2002, he was awarded the OECD Future Leaders Prize. He speaks German, Hindi, French, Spanish, and basic Arabic.
Topics
Investing Into Volatility: Winners and Losers in the New Global Macro
Today’s macro investment landscape features a volatile mix of geopolitical fragmentation, interest rate gyrations, and trade distortions, as well as significant new drivers such as demographic shifts, technological disruptions, and climate risk. Active portfolio diversification across geographies and asset classes is essential to generating alpha. Dr. Khanna has spent a quarter century traveling to more than 150 countries, advising the largest and most prestigious asset managers as well as the most respected and successful governments. His deep and data-rich analysis paints an interdisciplinary picture of key megatrends, confidently forecasting which geographies, markets, and sectors will outperform in the complex and turbulent years ahead.
Beyond the “New Cold War”: Navigating the Geopolitical Marketplace
America no longer runs the world, nor will a “new Cold War” between the US and China determine global order. Instead, we find ourselves in a hyper-competitive “geopolitical marketplace,” the term Dr. Khanna coined to capture how a half-dozen major powers are vying to be the trusted providers of vital services across the military, financial, energy, industrial, technological, infrastructure, and other domains. Meanwhile, rather than choose sides, smart countries practice a deft “multi-alignment,” doing business in all directions to get the best deal for themselves. Based on his pioneering research and extensive experience advising heads of state and global corporations, Dr. Khanna guides you in finding opportunities in this complex new global system.
The Future of Demographics and Mobility: A Global War for Young Talent
Our species is rapidly reaching “peak humanity.” The global population may cross nine billion people during the 2030s, after which it will rapidly decline. In fact, many aging societies from Europe to East Asia are already depopulating due to collapsing fertility and low immigration. But most of the world’s people are still young — and as they vote with their feet, they determine the winners and losers of the 21st century. Countries are now vigorously competing in a global war for young talent to attract the taxpayers and homeowners, laborers and caregivers, students and entrepreneurs of the future. Companies must do the same – even though in a remote working world, millennials and Gen-Z are moving targets as they abandon national loyalty in favor of the most affordable and liberal lifestyle. Which societies are winning the war for young talent? How can corporations attract young employees to their headquarters while also building a decentralized workplace culture? Drawing upon the innovative and global research from his latest book MOVE, Dr. Khanna presents the world from the standpoint of the mobile generation who will define it, guiding your talent strategies for the years ahead.
Climate Adaptation: How to Become Future-Proof
The climate will not adapt to us – we have to adapt to it. Climate disasters are intensifying, with hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and other catastrophes causing ever greater costs to societies everywhere. Climate refugees now outnumber political and economic migrants. The world will not only be hotter but also more violent, with conflicts over food and water and uncontrolled mass migrations across the continents. Net zero goals are clearly not enough. That is why climate adaptation must be every country and company’s foremost priority. This includes fortifying and redesigning our cities and buildings, accelerating renewable energy, boosting food production, and relocating our businesses, citizens, and workers to more resilient habitats. As Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, the leading geospatial data science company using AI to translate climate models into financial impact, Dr. Khanna leverages his access to this proprietary software to provide detailed analysis of the locations across the globe best suited to your business requirements, helping you create a customized strategy to invest in resilient assets that will outperform in the volatile era ahead.
The Future is Asian: Billions of People, Trillions of Dollars
Asia is the world’s undisputed economic core and strategic cockpit. More than half the world’s population and GDP, as well as most of the world’s fast-growing economies and rapidly expanding middle class, are contained within this increasingly dense zone of trade and investment agreements. Asia used to produce for the world, now the world produces for Asia. After Japan and China, the next chapter of Asia’s economic story is being written by the “fourth wave” regions of South and Southeast Asia, with countries such as India and Vietnam becoming key destinations for high-tech manufacturing as they capture value chains and lead the world in minting unicorns. Yet navigating Asia’s dizzying diversity of cultures and range of regulations requires both a macro and micro view, as well as a keen understanding of current geopolitical tensions and conflict scenarios. As the author of the landmark book The Future is Asian and a strategic advisor to numerous Asian governments and corporations, there is no better guide than Dr. Khanna to the region that is defining the 21st century.
Citizen of Everywhere: A Conversation with Parag Khanna
What does it mean to be a worldly person? How should you raise kids with skills necessary for tomorrow’s world? What are the best places to live and retire? Born in India, raised in the UAE, New York, and Germany, and having lived in Switzerland, London, and Singapore, Dr. Khanna has cultivated a lifestyle as a “citizen of everywhere”: Someone who behaves like a local wherever he is, for however long. This approach has been instrumental in yielding the profound insights contained in his many books spanning geopolitics, technology, governance, and identity – and elevated him to the status of a trusted advisor to many world leaders and corporate figures. Those in positions of responsibility and influence will savor this philosophical yet grounded conversation drawing on Parag’s uniquely insightful life experiences as an adventurous scholar who’s been to more than 150 countries, whose strategic insights have earned him comparisons to Henry Kissinger and Alvin Toffler, and whose worldview presents the essential middle ground between the forces of nationalism and globalism.
