Deborah Lehr

Deborah Lehr is currently serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Meridian and is the Chief Executive Officer of Basilinna. She has worked across Asia, the United States, the Middle East, and Europe, with a focus on business advisory, sustainability, finance, and culture. After her firm was acquired, Deborah launched a new public affairs firm for the global PR firm, Edelman, where she doubled both the revenues and staff in three years. Basilinna relaunched in 2023. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Paulson Institute, created by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. In addition, Deborah is the founder and Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition, which fights against the illicit trade in antiquities. Earlier in her career, Deborah worked on Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange and Merrill Lynch, as well serving in the U.S. Government as a Director at the National Security Council and a Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative. Her dedicated efforts in fighting the illicit trade in antiquities have earned her global recognition. Deborah is on the Board of Meridian, the National Geographic, the World Monuments Fund, the Middle East Institute, and the International Advisory Boards of Sesame Workshop and Aliph. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The New Power Centers of Sports Diplomacy: Cities, Capital, and Code

If power in sport now lives in city halls, boardrooms, and algorithms—not stadiums—how will the U.S. wield cities, capital, and code as it hosts the world’s biggest events over the next decade?

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The New Power Centers of Sports Diplomacy: Cities, Capital, and Code

If power in sport now lives in city halls, boardrooms, and algorithms—not stadiums—how will the U.S. wield cities, capital, and code as it hosts the world’s biggest events over the next decade?

Four Years On, Ukraine’s War Still Refuses to End

Four years on, Ukraine’s war drags across 1,200 km, cities in ruins and millions displaced. Russia entrenched, Kyiv defiant, the West divided—how long can a war of attrition outlast political will before exhaustion decides the peace?

How Timor-Leste Uses Tourism to Cement Its ASEAN Role

After joining ASEAN in 2025, Timor-Leste is leveraging sustainable, high-value tourism to boost soft power, diversify beyond oil, and cement its regional role—positioning itself as Southeast Asia’s next authentic frontier, not its next mass market.

How Far is Cuba From a Total Collapse?

How close is Cuba to collapse? Energy strangulation, fading allies, and Trump’s oil squeeze after Venezuela’s shift have left Havana isolated and rationing. For the first time in decades, the regime’s survival feels uncertain.

The Maghreb’s New Architecture: Beyond the Myth of the Algerian Pillar

Madrid 2026 wasn’t diplomacy—it was redesign. Washington moves past Algeria’s veto politics, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan, and seeds a Tunis-Rabat axis built on energy sovereignty, phosphates, and geo-economic integration. The Maghreb’s balance is shifting.