Deborah Lehr

Deborah Lehr is a member of the MEI Board of Governors. She also serves as the Vice Chairman and Executive Director of the Paulson Institute, founded by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. She advises on U.S.-China relations, green finance, and sustainability and heads the Paulson Institute’s Green Finance Center there.

As a founder and the CEO of Basilinna, a strategic business consulting firm focused on China, the United States, and the Middle East, Ms. Lehr advises companies on how to grow and expand their businesses in these regions. They are an exclusive partner of Edelman.

Previously, Ms. Lehr served as Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch and Senior Managing Director at the New York Stock Exchange, where she focused on emerging markets. In addition, she helped build two successful consulting businesses, one as President of Stonebridge China and another as a partner at the top-ten law firm of Mayer Brown.

While serving in the U.S. government, Ms. Lehr was a director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, a deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for China, and was involved in export control and trade policy issues at the Department of Commerce.

Ms. Lehr is also the founder and Chairman of the Antiquities Coalition, which leads the global fight against cultural racketeering, the illicit trade in antiquities that supports terrorism and organized crime.

Ms. Lehr has lived and studied worldwide, including China, England, France, and Germany. Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Foreign Affairs, the South China Morning Post, U.S. News and World Report, Caixin Magazine, and Xinhua.net, among others. She has also appeared on television, speaking about China and the illicit trade in antiquities.

Ms. Lehr is on the Boards of the World Monuments Fund and the Middle East Institute and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. UNESCO has nominated her as one of its inaugural list of accomplished global women.

The Latest from Deborah Lehr

Sort by

Newest First

Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt should go green by putting a price on carbon

It is time for Egypt to put a price on carbon. While Cairo has taken small steps toward developing a sustainability plan, it needs a bold idea to stop rising carbon emissions. Establishing a carbon exchange — or putting a price on carbon — would be good for the country and help make Egypt an environmental leader in the region.

Rethinking Egypt’s Economy

Egypt is not alone in having been knocked into a pit by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will have to dig itself out on its own. However, if Egypt is going to do so, it needs to rethink its approach to development, starting with looking for the silver lining to the pandemic. Is it possible to address existing issues that have been brought home by the exceptional circumstances? In this report, contributors dissect the weaknesses that make Egypt particularly vulnerable to external threats and examine ways in which to address these vulnerabilities and shore up the economy and the business and developmental environment.

Construction of ministerial buildings at the governmental district in the new administrative capital, some 50 km east of the capital Cairo, on March 7, 2019.

Green financing in Egypt

The green movement has been slow to catch on in Egypt, but the January announcement by the Egyptian government that it is finalizing plans to launch the country’s first green bonds could provide the financial incentives to further promote sustainable development. “Sustainability” is one of the fastest growing sectors globally, estimated to reach as much as $12 trillion annually by 2030.

Egyptian drivers hold the key to cleaner air

As the slow wheels of government inch toward policies that lead to cleaner air, Egyptian drivers could be provided with faster results by an unlikely partner—Chinese auto companies.

Greening the belt and road: opportunities for Egypt

Read the full article on the Huffington Post.

The Middle East is the Hub for China’s Modern Silk Road

For nearly 600 years, under the imperial tributary system of the Ming and Qing dynasties, foreign “barbarians” travelled to Beijing to kowtow to the emperor in order to trade with China. Reminiscent of those times, President Xi Jinping is recreating a modern version of the ancient imperial system, and it may result in a powerful challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa.

Culture Under Threat: Fighting Terrorist Financing in the Middle East

This article was first published on Huffington Post. The Antiquities Coalition and MEI are co-sponsoring a regional conference in Cairo on May 13-14 to reach an agreement on steps to combat antiquities looting.