FP Virtual Dialogue: Freeing the State

Thomas Carothers is a senior fellow and co-director of Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. Carothers is a leading authority on international support for democracy, human rights, governance, the rule of law, and civil society. He has worked on democracy assistance projects for many organizations and carried out extensive field research on aid efforts around the world. He is the author or editor of ten critically acclaimed books and many articles in prominent journals and newspapers, including most recently, Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization (Brookings Press, 2019, co-edited with Andrew O'Donohue). He has been a visiting faculty member at the Central European University in Budapest, Nuffield College, Oxford University, and Johns Hopkins SAIS. Prior to joining the Endowment, Carothers practiced international and financial law at Arnold & Porter and served as an attorney adviser in the office of the legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State.

Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and Director of the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy.  He is also a professor (by courtesy) of Political Science. From 2015 to 2021, he served as the Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). Dr. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics.  His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions.  His most recent book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, was published in Sept. 2018.  His latest book, Liberalism and Its Discontents, was published in May 2022. Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science.  He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation,  and of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State.  From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-2010 he was Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.  He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001-2004.

Nicola Schmidt is Executive Director of Democracy Reporting International (DRI), a Berlin-based independent non-profit organisation committed to defending, improving and strengthening democracy worldwide. She provides strategic direction and leadership to the organisation and ensures implementation and management of programmes and staff across DRI’s offices. With her experience and background in international affairs, democratisation, human rights, and elections, she has advised governments and international organisations on electoral and legislative reform, devised methodologies and conducted trainings. As Human Dimension Adviser for Germany’s OSCE Chairmanship from 2015 to 2017 she designed and implemented the Chairmanship’s programme on human rights.  From 2011 to 2014 she served as Deputy Head of the Election Department of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). She oversaw election-related activities across the OSCE region and was responsible for operational and programmatic management. She joined OSCE/ODIHR in 2006 and worked as Election Adviser and Senior Election Adviser. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she worked in post-conflict development and democratization, including in South Africa, Albania and South-Eastern Europe, for IFES Ltd in London and for World Vision. She holds a Diploma (Masters) in Political Science from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, UK. 

Maximo Zaldivar serves as regional director for the Americas at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He has over 20 years of experience in democracy, elections and political processes. Originally from El Salvador, he has led democracy and governance programs around the world. He has served in Colombia, Guatemala, Iraq, Mexico, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Venezuela, on programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development, Office for Transition Initiatives, U.S Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the National Endowment for Democracy. Zaldivar previously worked for the International Republican Institute, Social Impact, Union of Latin American Parties, Central American Parliament and Salvadoran Embassy in Guatemala. Zaldivar holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in human rights, both from the Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German.

Maggie Lake is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering business, technology, politics, and international affairs. She started her career at Reuters, where she worked in both the New York and London bureaus covering economics and global finance. In 2001, she joined CNN International, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the network’s flagship business shows. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed the world’s top CEOs, celebrities, and politicians and has been a consistent champion of economic inclusion and sustainable development. She has served as a weekly contributor for NPR and moderated events for the United Nations, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, and Global Citizen. She now runs the communications consultancy Maggie Lake Media and is a founding board member of the newly created Rutgers University Center for Women in Business.