ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS is Partner and Vice Chair, Global Affairs of The Carlyle Group and Chair of the Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees, and the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired four-star officer in the U.S. Navy, from 2009 to 2013, he led the NATO Alliance as Supreme Allied Commander overseeing operations in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. Admiral Stavridis also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command from 2006-2009 for all military operations in Latin America. During his 37-year military career, he earned more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations. He has published fifteen books, including 2034: A Novel of the Next World War and To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision. His recent books are The Restless Wave: A Novel of the United States Navy (2024) and The Admiral’s Bookshelf (2025). Admiral Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and Senior Military Analyst for CNN.