Supply Chain Optimization | Construction & Project Management | Red Sea Politics and International Affairs | Tech & AI Infrastructure | Shipping & Logistics | Maritime Security | Finance & Insurance | International Trade | Agricultural Sciences | Engineering | Tourism | Climate Science | Violent Extremism & Maritime Piracy | Red Sea Culture & History | Oil & Gas | Renewable Energy | Desalination / Water Treatment
Founder & CEO
Ethan Chorin is a former US diplomat, Sr. Advisor to regional government bodies, and entrepreneur with more than 25 years working on Red Sea on issues. He designed the Red Sea’s first multi-state Ministerial climate summit in 2015, and managed content for Dubai's first Counter-Piracy Conference in 2011. He has taught on the Red Sea at Yale, and been a fellow/sr. fellow at SOAS, Dubai School of Government, Yale SOM, and École Polytechnique. He is the author of four books on the region including Benghazi: A New History (Hachette), Exit the Colonel, and The Red Sea: A History (forthcoming), Chorin’s has been a contributor to The New York Times, The FT, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy and Forbes.
Chorin holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley, with a thesis on port competition in the Red Sea, an MIPS from Stanford University, and a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Yale University. He speaks French, Arabic, and Farsi.
CTO/AI Director
Pranik Chainani is an AI engineer and statistician focused on deep learning, symbolic systems, and real-world deployment of intelligent tools in legal, financial, and urban contexts. He has been a researcher at The Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Mathematics, developing fast numerical solvers for PDEs and spectral methods, and contributed to cutting-edge research at the intersection of genomics and neural networks, co-authoring peer-reviewed studies published in RNA Biology and Nucleic Acids Research.
His current research centers on designing scalable agentic AI systems, neurosymbolic reasoning frameworks, and computational pipelines for economic risk modeling. His expertise spans advanced mathematical modeling, AI implementation, and cross-disciplinary technology applications. He has worked on smart city engineering, international legal strategy, and distributed control systems projects. Chainani received a dual BS/MA in Statistics and Data Science from Yale University.
Former Indian Ambassador | India-Red Sea Relations
Srivastava is a former senior Indian diplomat and Middle East expert with extensive experience across the region, having served in Cairo, Jeddah, Riyadh, and Tripoli. He served as India’s Ambassador to Iran from 2011 to 2015, where he negotiated the MOU for Indian participation in Chabahar port. He also held ambassadorial positions in Libya and the Czech Republic, and served as India’s High Commissioner to Malta. Additionally, he represented India in Washington and Brussels, with eight years of experience working with the United Nations. Beyond diplomacy, he has deep expertise in the oil and gas sectors. He served on the Board of Directors of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), India’s largest gas and LNG company, from 2017 to 2020. He also worked as a Senior Advisor to ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and served on the Board of Directors of India Ports Global Ltd. (IPGL) from 2017 to 2021. Srivastava is the author of Forgotten Kashmir: The Other Side of the Line of Control (Bloomsbury) and Pakistan: ideologies, Strategies, and Interests (Bloomsbury). He speaks Hindi, Arabic, French, and Farsi.
Maritime Operations Specialist | Red Sea Shipping
Roy Facey has been a lead advisor on port master plans, feasibility studies, concession tender documents, accident investigations, and dredging assessments up and down the Red Sea and the Gulf over 40 years. Trained as a Master Mariner, Facey's expertise covers large and small commercial port operations, shipping route planning and supply chain risk, port improvements, capacity assessments, and tariff optimization. Facey holds an MSc in Offshore Technology and Marine Structures and a BS in Engineering Maritime Studies. He speaks English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
Former US Ambassador to Djibouti | Horn of Africa Specialist
Lange Schermerhorn has been a career diplomat with more than 30 years' experience in economic and political matters, cross-cultural negotiations and trade promotion across the Middle East, the Red Sea, and Europe. She served as U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti (1997-2000) during the Arta Accords, and was Deputy Chief of Mission Brussels (1993-1997) following postings to Saigon, Colombo, Tehran, London, and Brussels. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the prestigious National War College, with specialized economic training from the Foreign Service Institute. She has written on security in the Horn of Africa and Red Sea.
Former US Ambassador | Gulf Relations Specialist
During a 36-year Foreign Service career Patrick Theros served across the Middle East in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, and the UAE. His postings included Deputy Chief of Mission in Jordan; Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism; Political Advisor to the Commander of CENTCOM (1991-1993), and Ambassador to Qatar (1995-1998). Theros received the President's Meritorious Service Award and the Secretary of Defense Medal. From 2000-2017 he led the US-Qatar Business Council and is currently a strategic advisor to the Gulf International Forum. Theros is a graduate of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. He is fluent in Spanish, Arabic, and Greek.
Scenario Planning Expert | Futures Strategy Group Partner
Kennedy is a founding principal of The Futures Strategy Group, with 25 years managing scenario-planning across automotive, transportation, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, and consumer products for organizations like the U.S. Coast Guard, NASA, FEMA, and the State Department. Prior to FSG, he was a senior manager in the Deloitte Consulting Strategy practice and Director of Emerging Markets at Futures Group. He has contributed to business strategy journals and is a guest lecturer at Fordham and Copenhagen Business School. Kennedy holds an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in History from Le Moyne College. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
Security and Development Specialist | Middle East Risk Analysis
Nasser is a prominent Middle East security expert and entrepreneur. He founded Ambit Advisory in 2022 to address cross-sectoral risks at the intersection of security and development. Currently, he serves as Senior Advisor to UNIDIR, leading research on ballistic missiles, drones, and weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, and sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Complex Risk. From 2010-2022, Nasser directed the Middle East Scientific Institute for Security (MESIS) in Jordan, focusing on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. He simultaneously headed the Middle East Regional Secretariat under the EU’s Centres of Excellence initiative, collaborating with regional governments on CBRN risk mitigation. Earlier in his career, Nasser worked in King Abdullah II’s office as Senior Analyst in the Foreign Affairs Directorate, managing bilateral relations and analytical studies. He holds a master’s degree in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University and an undergraduate degree from Clark University.
Recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2015, Nasser chairs Princeton’s alumni committee in Jordan and serves on various boards. He has been a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute and contributes as a columnist for Jordan News Daily.
Contact
