Arne Elias Corneliussen

Arne Elias Corneliussen is a geopolitical advisor who does not speak about the world from a map. He speaks from the ground. As founder, chairman and CEO of NRCI, the Oslo-based geopolitical advisory firm he established in 2010, he advises businesses, governments and international institutions. As a speaker he turns power, trade and security into language leaders can use in decisions.

Arne is a political scientist. He studied at Wittenberg University in Ohio, the American University in Cairo and the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and conducted research at CSIS in Washington, D.C. He served as an officer in the Norwegian Armed Forces during NATO’s operation in Kosovo. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and has lectured at the University of Oxford and Peking University in Beijing. From 2010 to 2024 he led NRCI’s Norwegian Risk Forum, an annual geopolitical conference where he was keynote speaker, programme chair and moderator of the panel debates.

What sets him apart is fieldwork. Arne has travelled to 130 countries and conducted 24 independent overland expeditions by public bus and train across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, often in demanding conditions. He has made 13 expeditions to 42 African countries. In 2017 he travelled from Shanghai to Istanbul mapping the Belt and Road. In 2022 he crossed 19 European countries. In 2024–2025 he conducted expeditions across southern and eastern Africa and a 12,000 km bus journey across the Middle East from Amman to Istanbul: the longest such expedition ever undertaken in the region.

As a speaker Arne is clear, narrative and global. He delivers keynotes, presentations and workshops, and moderates panels, in person and virtually, in English. Clients describe a speaker who combines detailed regional knowledge with a genuine big-picture view: geopolitics tied to what a supply chain, energy market, shipping lane or investment decision actually means. Arne is a highly insightful and captivating keynote speaker who leaves audiences energized with a lasting impression.