Global Opinion Leaders Summit
The Global Opinion Leaders Summits (GOLS) hosted by WSD invite world-class opinion leaders, members of government and activists from around the world to promote world peace.
The first summit took place in Tokyo in September 2013, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Pacific Forum CSIS and The Japan Forum on International Relations. The second GOLS followed soon after in November the same year. Now in it’s sixth summit, past WSD GOLS brought prominent world leaders to speak including:
- BARACK OBAMA, Former US President
- BILL CLINTON, Former US President
- COLIN POWELL, Former US Secretary of State
- R.H. TONY BLAIR, Former UK Prime Minister
- H. JOHN HOWARD, Former Prime Minister of Australia
- FIDEL RAMOS, Former Philippine President
- KURT CAMPBELL, Former US Assist. Secretary of State
- MASAHIKO KOUMURA, Liberal Democratic Party Vice Chairman
The sixth and most recent Global Opinion Leaders Summit was held in 2022.
The two-day summit and panel discussion series in Tokyo included six former Prime Ministers, five of whom served as Leaders of IDU Member Parties, and focused on critical geo-strategic issues including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the changing geo-political dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, and Japan’s role in this evolving region.
The first day of the summit hosted in collaboration with the International Democrat Union (IDU) focused on the theme of ‘Geopolitical Challenges: Japan and the Asia-Pacific in a Changing World’. Keynote speeches were given by R.H. Stephen Harper, R.H. David Cameron and R.H. Scott Morrison. The second day shifted the focus on the current conflict in Ukraine through the theme of ‘How the war in Ukraine will change the world: the search for a new political and economic order’. Keynote speakers were Yulia Tymoshenko, R.H. John Key, Lt. Gen. Peter Leahy.
- R.H. DAVID CAMERON, Former UK Prime Minister
- R.H. STEPHEN HARPER, Former Prime Minister of Canada
- H. SCOTT MORRISON, Former Prime Minister of Australia
- YULIA TYMOSHENKO, Former Prime Minister of Ukraine
- R.H. JOHN KEY, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
- Lt. Gen. PETER LEAHY, Former Head of Australian Army
Past Global Opinion Leaders Summit
SEPT 2009
Keynote speakers
- R.H. TONY BLAIR, Former Prime Minister of UK
- MASAHIKO KOMURA, Vice President of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
- BRENDAN SCANNELL, Former Irish Ambassador to Denmark
NOV 2009
Keynote speakers
- BILL CLINTON, Former US President
- COLIN POWELL, Former US Secretary of State
- KURT CAMPBELL, Former US Assist. Secretary of State
- KENICHI ITO, President of Japan Forum on International Relations
2014
Keynote speakers
- R.H. TONY BLAIR, Former Prime Minister of UK
- H. JOHN HOWARD, Former Prime Minister of Australia
2018
Keynote speakers
- BARACK OBAMA, Former US President
- R.H. JOHN KEY, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
2019
Keynote speaker
- R.H. STEPHEN HARPER, Former Prime Minister of Canada
