The views expressed in these essays represent the views of the writers and not the British Council.

Michael Ignatieff: The Transatlantic Culture of Freedom
A writer, historian and teacher, he is currently a Member of the Canadian Parliament and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.

Adam Chmielewski: Coming of Age
Professor of philosophy at the University of Wrocław, Poland. A social activist and political columnist who has studied in Wrocław, Oxford, and New York and is well published.

Irshad Manji: For a Future Bigger than Our Past
Senior Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy and Director of the Moral Courage Project at New York University.

Heather Gonzales: Partners for a Broad Engagement in Change
Associate Director for the National Association of Evangelicals (USA). Previously employed by IRI, an international democracy promotion organisation.

Marietje Schaake: A State of BeWilderment: Dutch fear of fear itself
An independent advisor on diversity, integration and Islam in the West, her book on transatlantic relations and the debate and policy on Islam in the West will be published soon. Marietje is also a TN2020 participant.

Alex Evans and David Steven: Beyond a Zero-Sum Game
Alex Evans is a senior non-resident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation. David Steven is a policy analyst and strategic consultant, specialising in international relations and global risks. Alex and David are co-editors of the Global Dashboard website (www.globaldashboard.org) and lead a Demos project on new approaches to public diplomacy.

Rita J.King: The Emergence of a New Global Culture in the Imagination Age
CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Ink Productions, a company that fosters the evolution of a new global culture in the Imagination Age through virtual worlds and mixed media.

Ali Fisher: Are Governments Losing their Grip?
Director of Mappa Mundi Consultants and a leading international researcher in the fields of cultural relations, public diplomacy and information operations.

Gary Younge: The River Is Different and You Are Different
An award-winning Guardian columnist based in New York and the Alfred Knobler Fellow for The Nation magazine.

Federico Baradello: A Global Rio Grande? Unpacking a 21st Century Paradox
A PhD Candidate at the London School of Economics and a regular commentator on migration policy issues.

Cem Ozdemir: Muslim Integration in Europe – could we learn something from the United States?
The first politician of Turkish origin to enter mainstream German politics, Cem Özdemir was the Green Party's Parliamentary Spokesman on Domestic Affairs and chairman of the German-Turkish Parliamentary Group.

Rabah Ghezali: Muslim Communities in EU and the US: Heterogeneity or Homogeneity?
Having gained an MPhil. in International Relations in Cambridge, Rabah worked with the IMF, the French Mission to the United States and the government of Ohio while serving as an occasional lecturer in French at Ohio State University.

Allyson Stewart-Allen: United by a Common Trend
Founder and Director of the marketing and cross-cultural consultancy, International Marketing Partners Ltd. based in London, and co-author of best-seller, Working with Americans: How to Build Profitable Business Relationships.

Andrea Davoust: Travails with My Auntie
Born and raised in France, Davoust speant several years working in journalism, publishing and translating and has has travelled across Africa and Eastern Europe for an international communications agency.

Fionola Meredith: Growing into the Light
A writer and broadcaster living in Belfast, Fionola provides comment, review and features to the Irish Times and the BBC.

James Appathurai: Transatlantic Relations Today
Prior to his current work as a NATO spokesman, Appathurai worked in the Canadian Defence Department, including on UN Peacekeeping policy and operations.

Gustavo Alberto de las Casas and Kimana Zulueta-Fuelscher: Changing Transatlantic Relations: Spain’s Link to Latin America
De las Casas is a doctoral candidate in international relations at Columbia University. Zulueta-Fuelscher (PhD, political science) is a researcher at FRIDE, a European think-tank in Madrid, Spain.

Joshua Casteel
Served as a US Army interrogator and Arabic linguist at Abu Ghraib prison before being discharged from service as a conscientious objector. Since publishing his book, Letters From Abu Ghraib, he is working on a memoir.

Sunny Hundal: New citizens, Same as the Old
Organiser of the online magazine and blog, Liberal Conspiracy and regular contributer to the Guardian. Hundal has written for the Financial Times, Independent, Metro and Times and blogs at Pickled Politics and the Guardian's 'Comment Is Free'.