Jagdish Bhagwati, is a Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been Economic Policy Adviser to Arthur Dunkel, Director General of GATT (1991-93), Special Adviser to the UN on Globalization, and External Adviser to the WTO. He has served on the Expert Group appointed by the Director General of the WTO on the Future of the WTO and the Advisory Committee to Secretary General Kofi Annan on the NEPAD process in Africa.

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   Professor Bhagwati has delivered many prestigious lectures, among them the Frank Graham Lecture at Princeton, the Bertil Ohlin Lectures at the Stockholm School of Economics, the Harry Johnson Lecture in London, the Eyskens Lectures in Belgium, the Radhakrishnan Lectures in Oxford, and the Prebisch Lecture at UNCTAD IX in Johannesburg. He has debated the leading critics of globalization today, including Ralph Nader and Naomi Klein, and lectured in defense of globalization in numerous campuses and other public appearances worldwide. 

   Professor Bhagwati has published more than three hundred articles and has authored or edited over fifty volumes; he also writes frequently for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times, as well as reviews for The New Republic and The Times Literary Supplement. Professor Bhagwati is described as the most creative international trade theorist of his generation and is a leader in the fight for freer trade. His most recent book, In Defense of Globalization, has attracted worldwide acclaim. The recipient of six festschrifts in his honor, he has also received several prizes and honorary degrees, including awards from the governments of India (Padma Vibhushan) and Japan (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star). 

    His early book, India: Planning for Industrialization is acknowledged to have provided the intellectual case for the economic reforms now underway in India. Among his other books are: The Economics of Underdeveloped Countries and Protectionism, both international bestsellers. His latest books are Free Trade Today and In Defense of Globalization, both published to worldwide acclaim. His books have been translated into 16 languages.  

    Professor Bhagwati was recently chosen as one of 100 of the world's most influential policy intellectuals by Prospect, England's leading magazine, and Foreign Policy (US). He has been extensively profiled, including in The New York Times, The Chronicle for Higher Education, and Finance & Development. Bhagwati has appeared on television shows such as BBC, MacNeil Lehrer News Hour, The Charlie Rose Show, Bloomberg and C-Span.

    Professor Bhagwati is a Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was advisor to India's Finance Minister, now Prime Minister, on India's economic reforms.  He works with several NGOs in the US and India.