What the Rise of Asia Means for Us
From her front-row view of this colossal shift, first at the State Department and now as an advisor to American CEOs, Anja Manuel escorts the audience on an intimate tour of the corridors of power of Asia’s predominant powers—China and India—to reveal what makes each country “tick” and what Americans doing business there should know. Through vibrant stories that have been described as “both heartbreaking and funny,” she reveals how each country is working to surmount enormous challenges—from the crushing poverty of Indian slum dwellers and Chinese factory workers, to outrageous corruption scandals, rotting rivers and unbreathable air, to managing their citizens’ discontent, and how some of these challenges create opportunities for joint work with American companies.
Based on her forthcoming book This Brave New World, Manuel shows us an optimistic path—American politicians, businesses and ordinary citizens can bring China and India along as partners rather than alienating one or both, and thus extend our own leadership in the world.
President Trump: The Future Of US Foreign Policy & America's Role In The World
Anja Manuel cuts through the rhetoric to offer an informed analysis of how President Trump’s policies might affect the United States’ relationships with foreign allies and enemies alike. Drawing on years of experience working at the State Department and as an international business consultant with the esteemed firm of RiceHadleyGates, LLC, Anja breaks down the sometimes inflammatory foreign policy and trade pronouncements into thoughtful and understandable realities. Her expertise spans the breadth of the regions what they mean for US foreign policy—from the likely direction of US trade policy, to relations China and India, to what the instability of the Middle East and Russia’s assertive policies might mean for the US businesses in the near term. Anja’s rational and measured approach to the issues has established her as an informed resource for audiences around the world.
Female Leadership
As an investment banker, lawyer, government official and now business owner in Silicon Valley, Anja Manuel has experienced firsthand both the challenges and inspiring change afoot globally for women. Drawing on global examples as well as her own decisions and sometimes funny mistakes, she shares her perspectives on women in the seat of power, and adds common-sense solutions to empower women around the world to reach their full potential.
Doing Business in Emerging Markets
Former diplomat, author, and advisor on emerging markets, Anja Manuel is Co-Founder and Principal along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in RiceHadleyGates LLC, a strategic consulting firm that helps US companies navigate international markets.
She is the author of the critically acclaimed This Brave New World: India, China and the United States, published by Simon and Schuster in 2016. From 2005-2007, she served as an official at the U.S. Department of State, responsible for South Asia Policy.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Manuel was an attorney at WilmerHale working on corporate governance, international and Supreme Court cases, and represented special committees of major corporate boards before the US Congress, Department of Justice and the SEC. She was also an investment banker at Salomon Brothers in London.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Stanford University, Manuel now also lectures at Stanford.
She currently serves on two corporate boards: Overseas Shipping Group, Inc., a NYSE listed energy transportation company, and Ripple Labs Inc., a leading blockchain payments company.
Manuel also serves on advisory boards of Flexport Inc., Synapse Inc., Center for a New American Security, and the boards of the American Ditchley Foundation, National Committee on US-China Relations, and Governor Brown’s California Export Council.
She is a frequent commentator on foreign policy, and technology policy, for TV and radio (MSNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business, BBC, NPR, etc.) and writes for publications ranging from the New York Times, to Fortune, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others.
She serves as a Senior Fellow for the Harvard Initiative on Technology and Public Purpose with Former Sec Def Ash Carter, and is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ms. Manuel lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.