Sir Robin Niblett KCMG DPhil

Sir Robin Niblett KCMG DPhil is a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Sir Robin is also a Distinguished Fellow at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London; Senior Adviser of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC. He is also Principal of Ledwell Advisory, a geopolitical risk advisory company. 

Robin is recognised as a leading expert on the relations between Europe, the US, and Asia and their implications for risk management by governments and private institutions. 

Robin served as the Director and Chief Executive of Chatham House for 15 years, 2007 - 2022.  Founded in 1920, Chatham House is one of the world’s most respected independent public policy institutions. Under his leadership, the institute tripled in size to a full-time staff of over 200 plus 150 Associate Fellows, working on all aspects of international affairs, from the rise of China to the energy transition and technology competition. 

From 2001 to 2006, Robin was the Executive Vice President at CSIS, the largest foreign policy think tank in Washington D.C. During his time there, he also served as Director of the CSIS Europe Programme and its Initiative for a Renewed Transatlantic Partnership.  

Robin is currently co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Geopolitics and has served as Chair and member of other WEF Councils since 2012. He is a member of the UK FCDO’s Expert Group and was a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (2015-17). He was Chairman of the Experts Group for the 2014 NATO Summit in Wales and Chair of the British Academy’s Steering Committee of Languages for Security Project (2013). From January 2010–May 2020, he was a Non-Executive Director of Fidelity European Values Investment Trust.  

Robin is the author of numerous Chatham House and CSIS reports on British, European and US foreign policy. His commentary and analysis have appeared in the world’s leading journals and newspapers, including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Times, and The Guardian, among others. He is a regular commentator on Bloomberg and CNN International and speaker at major international conferences. He has testified to committees of the House of Commons and US Senate and House of Representatives and regularly briefs the senior executives and boards of global companies, financial institutions, and private foundations.  

Robin was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022 Birthday Honours for services to international relations and British foreign policy, and CMG in the 2015 New Year's Honours. He received his BA in Modern Languages and MPhil and DPhil in International Relations from New College, Oxford.