Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, world traveler, and bestselling author. He is Founder & CEO of AlphaGeo, the leading AI-powered geospatial analytics platform. AlphaGeo’s mission is to future-proof global investing in an age of rising volatility.
He is 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.”
Parag Khanna Speaking Topics
- Geopolitics in a Chaotic World
We are living through the most significant reorganization of world order since the end of the Cold War. The unipolar moment is over. What has replaced it is not a clean multipolar balance, but a volatile, fragmented world where alliances shift, supply chains are weaponized, and no single power sets the rules. To navigate this chaos, governments and businesses alike must stop thinking in terms of blocs and start thinking in terms of connectivity — who controls the infrastructure, the trade routes, and the data flows. In a chaotic world, geography is not destiny, but strategy is.
- Finding Safe Havens for Global Investment
Not all emerging markets are created equal. As geopolitical risk reshapes capital flows, investors must look beyond traditional metrics and ask: which countries have stable governance, demographic resilience, and strategic geography? The new safe havens are not necessarily the wealthiest nations — they are the most functional ones. Countries such as the Nordics, Singapore and parts of Southeast Asia, as well as the Gulf states are attracting capital precisely because they have mastered the art of strategic neutrality while building world-class infrastructure. Smart money follows stability, not just growth.
- Adapting to Climate Volatility
Climate change is no longer a future risk — it is a present reality that is already redrawing the map of where people can live, work, and invest. The countries and cities that will thrive are those that are treating climate adaptation as an infrastructure opportunity rather than a burden. From managed retreat strategies to climate-resilient urban design, the leaders of tomorrow are making hard choices today. For businesses and investors, the question is no longer whether to factor in climate risk — it is whether you have the foresight to turn that risk into a competitive advantage.
Dr. Parag Khanna offers the following formats for his engagements:
- TED-style keynotes with large-screen maps and data visualizations
- Formal corporate presentations with industry relevant data and insights
- Interactive panel dialogues as moderator or speaker
- Exclusive boardroom briefings delivering actionable strategies for executives
- Leadership retreats mixing foresight workshops with casual dialogue
- Fireside chats offering wide-ranging, contemporary, personal and witty dialogue
- Online webinars featuring presentations and interactive Q&A
Parag Khanna 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, Council of the American Geographical Society, and 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.
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).
Parag Khanna – The Future is Asian
Parag Khanna holds a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the School of Foreign Services at Georgetown University, where he studied geopolitics, diplomacy and philosophy.
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, Senior Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Distinguished Visitor at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, 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.
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 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.
From 2025-26, Parag Khanna has been named a Visiting Research Fellow of ADIA Labs in Abu Dhabi. During 2022-23, he was 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 Dr. Khanna 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 United States Special Operations Forces. From 2002-5, he was the Global Governance Fellow at the Brookings Institution; from 2000-2002, Parag Khanna 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.