Dr. Peter Ackerman is one of the world’s leading authorities on strategic nonviolent struggle. He is the Chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, and Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He was the Executive Producer of the Peabody-award winning documentary, Bringing Down a Dictator. He was the Special Content Advisor for the Emmy-nominated series, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict, co-author of the companion book of the same name, as well as co-author of an earlier book entitled, Strategic Nonviolent Conflict.

Jack DuVall is the President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and was Executive Producer of the Emmy-nominated PBS television series, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict, and co-author of its companion book of the same name.  He was previously Vice President for Program Resources, WETA-TV, Washington, DC, and Director of Corporate Relations of The University of Chicago, and Director of Industry Compliance, Cost of Living Council, Executive Office of the President.

Berel Rodal is Vice Chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. He served as a senior official in the Government of Canada for some twenty years, as a consultant and advisor to governments and select institutions, and in investment banking. A particular interest is the strategic linkages between the domestic and international domains, and the changing nature and dimensions of security in an era of strategic transformation, marked by a growing concept of an international order resting on democratic values and universal human rights.

Shaazka Beyerle is the Vice President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. She is also a writer, covers the Middle East and Southern Africa for “WorldView Magazine” (National Peace Corps Association), and reviews books. Ms. Beyerle lived in Jerusalem from 1997 – 2000. While overseas, she worked with Palestinians and Israelis, consulted with the Bethlehem 2000 Project. Previously, she was the founding Vice President of The European Institute in Washington, DC.

Dr. Daniel A. Pinkston is a senior research associate and Korea specialist at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. He has a doctorate in international affairs from the University of California, San Diego, and a master's degree in Korean studies from Yonsei University in Seoul. Dr. Pinkston recently directed the research and production of the North Korea Country Profile for the Nuclear Threat Initiative. This profile is the most comprehensive open-source overview and assessment of North Korea's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. He has written on Korean political economy and security issues, and is now writing a book on the political economy of Korean missile development. Dr. Pinkston also served as a Korean linguist in the U.S. Air Force, and he has extensive experience in Korean-to-English translation.

PRESIDENT LECH WALESA
FORMER PRESIDENT OF POLAND

Lech Walesa burst into the world spotlight in 1980 during the infamous Lenin Shipyard strike in Gdansk, Poland. Workers, incensed by an increase in prices set by the Communist government, were demanding the right to organize free and independent trade unions.

On August 14, Lech Walesa, an electrician who had long been active in the underground labor movement, arrived at the barricaded shipyard just as the dispirited workers were on the verge of abandoning their strike. Scaling the shipyard walls, he delivered a stirring speech from atop a bulldozer. Revitalized by his passion, the strike spread to factories across the nation. Christened “Solidarity,” the strike became a social revolution.  Walesa entered into negotiations with the government, convincing it to grant legal recognition to Solidarity and the right to form independent unions and to strike to workers. This became the Gdansk Agreement, which Walesa signed on August 31.

For his heroic efforts, Walesa was named Man of the Year by Time magazine, The Financial Times, The London Observer, Die Welt, Die Zeit, L’Express, and Le Soir.  Over the next eighteen months, however, relations between Solidarity and the government became progressively worse until, on December 13, 1981, the Polish government declared martial law. It suspended the activities of all unions and arrested thousands of Solidarity members, including Walesa. In the fall of 1982, the government officially outlawed Solidarity.

Walesa was released that same fall. Under his leadership, Solidarity continued to exist as an underground organization. Celebrated worldwide as a symbol of the hope for freedom, Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.  For the next five years, the country became marked more and more by chaos and labor unrest. Acknowledging that it could no longer control the country, the government re-legalized Solidarity and invited it to join the Communist Party in forming a coalition government. In the resulting election, Solidarity won almost every contest.

His leadership having ended Communist rule and planted the seeds of freedom and democracy in his beloved country, Walesa was ready to take on a new role to serve Poland. On December 9, 1990, he became its first democratically elected President, winning more than 74 percent of the votes cast.  His term in office set Poland firmly on the path to becoming a free market democracy. Through his unwavering commitment, Walesa made Poland a model of economic and political reform for the rest of Eastern Europe to follow and earned it the honor of receiving one of the first invitations to join an expanded NATO.  He now heads the Lech Walesa Institute whose aim is to advance the ideals of democracy and free market reform throughout Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.