You are cordially invited to a book lecture for
Blood Profits: How American Consumers Unwittingly Fund Terrorists
with
Dr. Vanessa Neumann
Owner & founder of Asymmetrica
Former advisor to the OECD’s Task Force
on Countering Illicit Trade
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
4:30 – 6:00pm
The Institute of World Politics
1521 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Parking
About the Lecture: On the publication date of her book, Blood Profits: How American Consumers Unwittingly Fund Terrorists, Dr. Vanessa Neumann will talk about her travels around the Americas and how narcotics, corruption and other forms of illicit trade fund non-state armed groups and threaten good governance. The talk will cover Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Guatemala, drawing connections and distinctions between their challenges and their roles in international criminal networks.
About the Speaker: Vanessa Neumann provides expertise on political risk affecting investment in the Western Hemisphere. She is a consultant to funds totaling over $1T AUM. She is an entrepreneur with extensive relationships to identify reliable partners and bridge relationships across the Western Hemisphere’s industry and governments. She is the owner and founder of Asymmetrica, an anti-illicit trade and government affairs consultancy that is part of the research network for the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate. She is a former advisor to the OECD’s Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade, and a current P/CVE consultant to UN Women. In the 1990s, she conducted corporate planning and finance at Venezuelan petrochemicals conglomerate Corimon, through its NYSE IPO by Merrill Lynch. She lobbied US government for oil industry interests under Venezuela’s Minister Counselor for Petroleum Affairs and helped bring first case before World Trade Organization. Returning to industry, she negotiated raw material price and payment terms with ICI, 3M, and DuPont to improve margins in petrochemicals manufacturing in 5 LatAm countries. She received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in theories of justice. She does field work in the reintegration of Colombian paramilitaries and research on LatAm security for think tanks. Currently, she is an academic reviewer for the US military’s Special Operations Command, teaching text on counterinsurgency in Colombia. She is a fellow at FPRI and Yale, and associate at Columbia. She is author of the book, Blood Profits: How American Consumers Unwittingly Fund Terrorists, out December 5th, 2017.
IWP EVENTS POLICY: Attendance at all IWP events requires registration in advance. If you purchased a ticket for an IWP event, these tickets are non-refundable. IWP reserves the right to ask for a government-issued ID that matches your name on the confirmed attendee list. Please note that general seating for public events is on a first-come, first serve basis. The use of photographic and/or recording equipment is prohibited except by advanced permission from IWP, the event organizer, and the speaker(s). Please contact events@iwp.edu with any inquries. IWP reserves the right to prohibit photographic and/or recording equipment, either in advance of, immediately before, or during an event. The Institute’s dress code requires attire appropriate for a professional setting. This helps to ensure a positive learning environment and a climate conducive to respectful interaction. The Institute of World Politics is not responsible for lost or stolen property. IWP is a private organization; as such, all attendees are guests of the Institute. The purpose of IWP events is to promote academic discourse on a variety of issues related to the subjects taught at our school. Please note that the views expressed by our guest lecturers do not necessarily reflect the views of The Institute of World Politics.