Oleg Kozlovsky, a Russian democracy and human rights activist. Kozlovsky is cofounder of the Solidarnost United Democratic Movement. Christian Ostermann is the director of numerous programs at the Wilson Center including the History and Public Policy and European programs.

Dana Milbank is a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post and a former prize winning White House reporter. He has also provided commentary for CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR. He is the author of several books including the national bestseller, Homo Politicos. His newest book is titled, Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America.

Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University. An expert on eastern Europe and the second world war, he has published numerous books and written articles for periodicals such as the New York Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, New Republic, Prospect and the Nation. Blair Ruble is Director of the Wilson Centers oldest program, the Kennan Institute, and also directs the centers Comparative Urban Studies Program. His latest book is Washington's U Street: A Biography.

Pauline Maier is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History at M.I.T. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1968. She is the author of several books and textbooks on American history, including From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776, The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams, and American Scripture, which was on the New York Times Book Review "Editor's Choice" list of the best 11 books of 1997 and a finalist in General Nonfiction for the National Book Critics' Circle Award.