Speaker:  James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, an adjunct senior research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, non-resident senior fellow at the Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies of Bar-Ilan University and co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture at the University of Würzburg in Germany.

James is the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer syndicated column and blog, numerous journal articles and working papers as well as several books, including one with the same title as the blog; Venturing into the Maelstrom: China and the Middle East; Comparative Political Transitions between Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, co-authored with Dr. Teresita Cruz-Del Rosario; and Shifting Sands, Essays on Sports and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

James served as an advisor to global public relations agency Hill & Knowlton as well as to the chairman of the World Economic Forum for the first four Middle East and North Africa summits in the 1990s. Over the years, James has advised major financial institutions and corporations on developments in the Middle East and North Africa.  He is a member of the advisory board of the European Water Partnership and has worked closely with the World Economic Forum, the World Water Forum, the World Water Council, the UN Secretary General’s office and the United Nations Foundation on conflict resolution, regional and water issues.