Nathan Hodge has joined CNN Moscow bureau in the beginning of 2018. He has been covering national security and military affairs for over a decade, including coverage of the Soviet Union collapse, developments in the Middle East, heading WSJ bureau in Afghanistan and service in many other hot spots. The Tipping Point 2018 starts with a session on geopolitical tendencies and Nathan Hodge will open the session about the shift of major political powers. He will also moderate a discussion about the presidency of Donald Trump and distinctive features of his management style.

The TIPPING POINT 2018 starts with opening remarks by Julian Lindley French, a British historian and writer, currently working on his new book 21st Century Strategy for Declining Powers. Is global change accelerating and seemingly changing in ways uncomfortable for the free West? It is fashionable to suggest that the free West is in decline, the transatlantic relationship weakening. Historian thinks that the free West tends to exaggerate both the strengths of the illiberal 'Other' and what are perceived as our own weaknesses. What strategic directions business shall follow in the era of geopolitical disruption?

Mark Buchanan, a US based physicist, has a gift of applying modern physics for explaining social, economic and political developments in the world. His book Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen and the theory of sand piles has become the backbone theme of the TIPPING POINT 2018.

In a traditional hot seat session, the Tipping Point 2018 presents a person who has witnessed all possible ups and downs and despite anything has been leading his business to success, often relying on his curiosity driven scientific mind-set. Danas Tvarijonavičius, a holder of doctoral degrees both in biochemistry and medicine could be referred to as an alchemist of agriculture. He has succeeded in growing a grain of ordinary wheat into an innovative product and world-level company. What lessons Lithuanian business could learn from the merger of Lithuanian company Amilina with Roquette, the second largest starch producer in Europe?