Anja Manuel

  • Co-Founder and Principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC
  • Author of the Acclaimed This Brave New World: India, China and the United States
  • Foreign Policy Business Expert

Former diplomat, author, and advisor on emerging markets, Anja Manuel is Co-Founder and Partner along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel 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. From 2005-2007, she served as an official at the U.S. Department of State, responsible for South Asia Policy.

A graduate of Harvard Law School and Stanford University, Manuel now also lectures at Stanford University.

She currently serves on two corporate boards: Overseas Shipping Group, Inc., a NYSE listed energy transportation company (risk committee chair, and audit comm. member), and Ripple Labs Inc., a leading blockchain payments company (governance committee). 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, Natl. Comm. 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 (NBC/MSNBC, Fox Business, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR, etc.) and writes for publications ranging from the New York Times, to the Financial Times, Fortune, the Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others.

She is the Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum -- the premier bi-partisan forum on foreign policy in the U.S. -- and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

 

 

 

 

 


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Virtual Discussion - China’s Tech Rise: Critical Technology Regulation and its Industry Impact | NCUCR [1:15:22] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Anja Manuel
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The Global Economy and Long Term Consequences of the Covid Crisis

From her front row seat as advisor to U.S. CEOs, Anja Manuel untangles the implications of the coronavirus pandemic over the longer term for the world political system and economy, and the specific impact this may have on your business.  She breaks down the avalanche of recent news into understandab ...

From her front row seat as advisor to U.S. CEOs, Anja Manuel untangles the implications of the coronavirus pandemic over the longer term for the world political system and economy, and the specific impact this may have on your business.  She breaks down the avalanche of recent news into understandable realities. For example, 

  • the impact on U.S.-China relations and the consequences for US businesses who invest there or whose supply chains run through Asia; 
  • the cracks in the European Union, where reaction to the coronavirus crisis has been along nation-state lines in ways that may splinter regulatory regimes;
  • the pandemic’s impact on emerging markets, which are only beginning to be felt; to
  • the future effectiveness international institutions;

Manuel draws on her first-hand expertise in every region of the world to provide answers at this uncertain time.

 

Navigating China's Technological Rise: It's Impact on Your Industry

In this charged political environment, Anja Manuel is able to cut through the rhetoric to offer an informed analysis of how the complex relationship between the U.S. and China may play out, and how the enmity between these giants could impact your industry specifically.   As China becomes a technolo ...

In this charged political environment, Anja Manuel is able to cut through the rhetoric to offer an informed analysis of how the complex relationship between the U.S. and China may play out, and how the enmity between these giants could impact your industry specifically.  

As China becomes a technology superpower, Ms. Manuel unpacks what policies are contributing to China’s technological rise, whether and how worried western companies should be, how Western governments are reacting, and how recent developments from the Phase I trade agreement to the Covid-crisis are likely to affect future collaboration between the West and China.  

She explains, in simple and lucid terms, illustrated with up to date vignettes, how this great technological race is likely to affect your business.

What the Rise of Asia Means for Us

In the next decade and a half, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size and military spending. 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 ...

In the next decade and a half, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size and military spending.

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 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 t ...

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 Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel 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 ...

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

Every day, American businesses must decide where in the world to sell, invest or source parts of their supply chain. How do you determine which emerging markets to enter first? And how do you do it both effectively and ethically? Based on her extensive experience in government and now leading busine ...

Every day, American businesses must decide where in the world to sell, invest or source parts of their supply chain. How do you determine which emerging markets to enter first? And how do you do it both effectively and ethically? Based on her extensive experience in government and now leading businesses through these difficult decisions, Anja Manuel shares her insight and illuminating stories about how to engage local governments and business partners from Bogota to Bangalore.

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Biography

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 Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel 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 and is a Research Affiliate at Stanford University. 

She currently serves on two corporate boards: Overseas Shipping Group, Inc., a NYSE listed energy transportation company (risk committee chair, and audit comm. member), and Ripple Labs Inc., a leading blockchain payments company (governance committee). Manuel also serves on advisory boards of Flexport Inc., Synapse Inc., Center for a New American Security, and the boards of CARE, the American Ditchley Foundation, Natl. Comm. on US-China Relations, and Fomer Governor Brown’s California Export Council.

She is a frequent commentator on foreign policy and technology policy, for tv and radio (NBC/MSNBC, Fox Business, BBC, Bloomberg, Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.) and writes for publications ranging from the New York Times, to the Financial Times, Fortune, the Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others.

She is the Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum -- the premier bi-partisan forum on foreign policy in the U.S. -- and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Ms. Manuel lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.