Ambassador Michael Gfoeller is a distinguished American diplomat, scholar, and innovative thinker with a 26-year Foreign Service career (1984-2010). Serving in Warsaw during the Cold War's end, as well as in Moscow, Riyadh, Manama, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Saudi Arabia (2004-2008), he navigated complex political dynamics in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. As Senior Political Advisor to General David Petraeus at U.S. Central Command (2008-2010), he shaped Middle East and Central Asia strategies, including tribal negotiations in post-invasion Iraq. After retirement, Gfoeller advised ExxonMobil, consulted for Henry Kissinger, and lectured at Georgetown University. An accomplished scholar, he authored books on the traditional architecture and antiquities of Armenia, where he established an archeological foundation and museum. His recent book Consciousness is Curvature (2025) models human and artificial intelligence as dynamic geometric curvature in informational spaces, inspired by relativity and quantum theory.

His latest book, Faster Than Light, explores how recent advances in theoretical physics can enable feasible interstellar travel, inaugurating a new Age of Exploration that may never end.