Anwar Ibrahim was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998.
He also served as Minister of Finance for Malaysia from 1991-1998. Highly respected for his principled stance against corruption and his skillful management of the Malaysian economy during the turbulent period of its financial crisis, Anwar is also viewed as one of the forefathers of the Asian Renaissance and a leading proponent of greater cooperation among civilizations. He is ardent supporter of democracy and is an authoritative voice bridging the widening gap between East and West.
Anwar is the de facto leader of the Justice Party (KeADILan) of Malaysia and leads a coalition of opposition parties that registered historic victories in the March 2008 Malaysian elections. With the expiration of the ban on his political activity in Malaysia in April 2008, Anwar’s reemergence as a key political player in Malaysia is nearly complete and his vision for a multi-ethnic party leading the country is well within reach .
Since 2004 Anwar has held lecturing positions at Oxford University, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In March 2006 he was named Honorary President of the London based think-tank AccountAbility. He is on the Board of Advisors for the International Crisis Group and he is also the Chairman of the Foundation for the Future.
As Finance Minister, he chaired the Asean-Vietnam Study Group, which prepared the report Shared Destiny: Southeast Asia in the 21st Century recommending the entry of Vietnam into Asean. In that year Euromoney magazine mentioned him as be one of the top four finance ministers of the year and in 1996 Asiamoney named him as Finance Minister of the Year. He was elected Chairman of the Development Committee of the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in 1997.
His interests in the role of culture led him to organise in 1995-1998, a series of conferences on the Asian Renaissance, aimed at crossing geo-political barriers between societies and nations and creating political structures to promote dialogue across cultures and civilizations.
Anwar jointly chaired the Pacific Dialogue (1994-1997) with Senator William Cohen. The group, comprising leaders from various disciplines across many nations in the Pacific Rim, were engaged in considering the challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st Century and how it might attain lasting peace and prosperity. The group succeeded in formulating a “Pacific Charter” which sketched out a vision of a world in which there is not a clash of civilisations, but rather a "feast of civilisations," a world characterized by interdependence, democracy, cooperative solutions and a rising tide of economic growth that lifts all nations.