The Sweeney Agency

Keynote speaker Ian Bremmer is the president of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm.

In 1998, Bremmer founded Eurasia Group with just $25,000. Today, the company has offices in New York, Washington, and London, as well as a network of experts and resources around the world. Eurasia Group provides financial, corporate, and government clients with information and insight on how political developments move markets.

Bremmer created Wall Street’s first global political risk index, and has authored several books, including the national bestseller, The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?, which details the new global phenomenon of state capitalism and its geopolitical implications. He also wrote The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall, which was selected by The Economist as one of the best books of 2006, and The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing. Bremmer is a contributor for the Wall Street Journal and writes The Call blog on ForeignPolicy.com; he has also published articles in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Newsweek, Harvard Business Review, and Foreign Affairs. He is a panelist for CNN International's Connect the World and appears regularly on CNBC, Fox News Channel, National Public Radio, and other networks.

Bremmer has a PhD in political science from Stanford University (1994), and was the youngest-ever national fellow at the Hoover Institution. He presently teaches at Columbia University, and has held faculty positions at the EastWest Institute and the World Policy Institute. In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. His analysis focuses on global macro political trends and emerging markets, which he defines as those countries where politics matter at least as much as economics for market outcomes.

Bremmer grew up in Boston, and now lives in New York and Washington, DC.

What Ian Bremmer Talks About:

The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?
A generation after communism’s collapse, the future of free market capitalism isn't what it used to be. Public wealth, public investment, and public ownership have made a stunning comeback. Certain that command economies are doomed to fail but afraid that truly free markets will spin beyond their control, the political leadership in China, Russia, the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf and other authoritarian states have invented a new system: state capitalism. Each in their own way, they’re using markets to create wealth that can be directed toward the achievement of political goals. Governments now dominate key domestic economic sectors. The oil companies they own control three-quarters of the world’s crude oil reserves. They use state-owned companies to manipulate entire economic sectors and industries. They own enormous investment funds that have become vitally important sources of capital for Western governments and banks weakened by financial crisis. An expert on the impact of politics on market performance, Ian Bremmer illustrates the rise of state capitalism and details its long-term threat to relations among nations and the future of the global economy.

The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing
The fallout from the still-unfolding global financial crisis provides several perfect examples of fat tail risk, those that flow from the low-probability, high-impact events that generate upheaval more often than we think. Bremmer shares with audiences how an understanding of the political dynamics generated by the financial crisis helps us forecast market risks, why politics matter more than ever for market performance, why the world's wealthiest countries have begun to behave like emerging market states, and what all this means for investors and companies.

Managing Risk in an Unstable World
To navigate globalization's choppy waters, every business leader analyzes economic risk when considering overseas investments or looking at market exposure. But do you look beyond reassuring data about per-capita income or economic growth--to assess the political risk of doing business in specific countries? If not, you may get blindsided when political forces shape markets in unexpected ways--from European accession in Turkey, social unrest in India, or protectionist legislation on China. Acclaimed political analyst and entrepreneur Ian Bremmer explains that by blending political and economic risk analysis, you make savvier investment decisions--seizing valuable opportunities around the globe while avoiding danger zones.

The Politics of Global Energy
Oil prices are increasingly susceptible to international politics--for both the world's supply and demand. Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the world's largest political risk consultancy, shares his views on what's in store for the politics of global energy--from spiralling Chinese and Indian growth in consumption to the dangers of future oil export from the Middle East, Russia and the Caspian, and West Africa.

China, India, and Beyond: The Opportunities and Pitfalls of Asian Growth
China bestrides the world as a colossus, and business leaders can't get enough from the promised riches of Asia. But does unprecedented growth mean that your company will benefit from it? Ian Bremmer, intellectual entrepreneur and President of Eurasia Group, explains the dangers of Asian growth for global investors seeking to build a presence in international markets; for companies seeking to sell their products there; and for the global markets more broadly.

America's Role in the 21st Century
America's global power was unchallenged in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, but today international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, the rise of China, and an increasingly globalized world all pose threats to America's continued leadership. Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer, founder of the world's largest political risk consultancy, discusses America's national interests, its foreign policy, and the potential for a shift to a multipolar world. The implications for world politics--and the global markets--are critical.