Ambassador Ronald Neumann serves as the American Academy of Diplomacy Board President and was former deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He will serve as moderator for the debate. Neumann, served three times as Ambassador; to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Mr. Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad from February 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdad's liaison with the Multinational Command, where he was deeply involved in coordinating the political part of military actions. Prior to working in Iraq, he was Ambassador in Manama, Bahrain, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs with responsibility for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Ambassador to Algeria. He was Director of the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs (Iran and Iraq). Earlier in his career, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and in Sanaa in Yemen, Principal Officer in Tabriz, Iran and Economic/Commercial Officer in Dakar, Senegal. His previous Washington assignments include service as Jordan Desk officer, Staff Assistant in the Middle East (NEA) Bureau, and Political Officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs.

Ambassador Deborah McCarthy is an expert on U.S. foreign and national security policy with over 30 years of diplomatic experience. Currently, she is a Fellow at Harvard University in the Advanced Leadership Initiative. She is the host/producer of the National Security Podcast series "The General and the Ambassador: A Conversation". McCarthy was the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania (2013-2016), served as the Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Greece and the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua. In Washington, she was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Senior Advisor for Counter Terrorism and Special Coordinator for Venezuela. She has held numerous other diplomatic postings around the globe. She is active on social media on U.S. foreign policy (Twitter: @Amb_DMcCarthy) and is a regular public speaker. She is a member of the Atlantic Council and American College of National Security Leaders. She serves on the Board of the Academy of Diplomacy , the Command and General Staff College Foundation, as well as on the Advisory Council for the Master's program in Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Ambassador Molly Williamson is a retired Foreign Service Officer, having served six presidents, achieving the rank of Career Minister. She is a scholar with the Middle East Institute and the National Council on US-Arab Relations, a consultant, and frequent guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, the Defense Institute of Security Cooperation, and the National Joint Staff College. She is also a member of Georgetown University's MSFS oral boards, and a Director on both corporate and non-profit Boards. 
Williamson has had a unique combination of policy positions in four Cabinet departments in the U.S. government as well as numerous diplomatic assignments in and about the Middle East.  She was the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Energy with global responsibilities at the nexus of foreign policy and energy policy.  In her role as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Williamson was responsible for the Middle East, South Asia, Oceania and Africa, advancing trade relations with 86 countries with a trade portfolio valued at over $120 billion/year.  Her other responsibilities have included responsibility for the policy and programs affecting UN political and Security Council matters, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense responsibility for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. She was engaged in operational defense structure bottom-up reviews, the policy challenges of Iraqi provocations, crises in Rwanda and Somalia, and nuclear tests in South Asia. 
Williamson has been awarded 2 Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, the Secretary of Energy's Exceptional Service Award, Secretary of Commerce Performance Award, the Secretary of Defense' Service Award, and 14 awards from the Department of State. 

Ambassador Kenneth C. Brill was the President of The Fund for Peace from November 2010 till 2011 after completing a 35-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.  In his final Foreign Service assignment, he was the founding Director of the U.S. National Counter-proliferation Center (NCPC), which is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  Ambassador Brill's overseas assignments with the Department of State included serving as Ambassador to the IAEA and the UN Office in Vienna, Ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus, acting-Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, and Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. His domestic assignments in the Department of State included service as acting-Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Executive Secretary of the Department and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, and Director of the Office of Egyptian Affairs. Ambassador Brill has written and spoken on the subjects of the nuclear nonproliferation regime, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the challenges of WMD terrorism, the environment as a national security issue and U.S. intelligence reform.