7Pillars
Global Insights

Mark S. Bergman

The seven pillars represent the cities I have lived in. My formative years as a third culture kid followed by years overseas in professional services have shaped my views of the world and the ways in which one can most effectively navigate across cultures and borders. Ultimately the key to that navigation has been insight: countless insights about a multi-dimensional world, framed by a lifetime of identifying and bridging differences in history, culture, language, perspective, circumstance - of being sensitive to the differences, while seeking out the similarities.  It has meant decades of asking questions, and listening.  

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Since the summer of 2021, I have capitalized on a series of networks I developed while based in London for two decades and more recently in Washington, D.C.  I convene and connect constituencies and position myself as a thought leader on a range of political and geopolitical developments and trends. I focus, in particular, on identifying solutions to safeguard civil society and strengthen the resilience of democracy and the rule of law; countering disinformation and other forms of information manipulation; promoting sub-national diplomacy and governance solutions; combating transnational repression and kleptocracy; and supporting initiatives at the intersection of technology, democracy and civil engagement.  I write, speak and brief on a range of political and geopolitical subjects (through 7Pillars Global Insights, LLC, of which I am the Principal), most recently on the implications of the current U.S. administration. 

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I am a former partner of an international law firm. I led the firm’s global securities and capital markets practice for 25  years and opened and ran the firm’s London office from 2001-2021.  I am associated with Bellingcat US (director), Chatham House (member, North Atlantic Advisory Council), the Institute for Strategic Dialogue US (director) and the International Crisis Group (member, Advisory Council), as well as Trust in Media Cooperative (director), the American Message Foundation (director), the Valley Forge Initiative and the Leadership Now Project (an organization of business professionals concerned about the future of American democracy).   I am an advisor to Lawfare Media (US) and the Foreign Policy Centre (UK) and a member of the Europe Circle of the Obama Foundation.  I also act as an informal advisor to other civil society organizations and a provider of philanthropic support.   

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The significance of seven pillars:  all told, I have spent more than half my life outside the United States. My father was a US foreign service officer and my mother a foreign correspondent. I grew up largely in Europe (Paris and Vienna) and Africa (Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Addis Ababa).  During my professional career at Paul, Weiss, I started in New York, served twice in the firm’s Paris office and, in 2001, opened the firm’s London office.  I served as managing partner of the London office until August 2020. Much of my work at Paul, Weiss was, in a word, “cross-border.” I represented clients across Europe, in Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa, travelling extensively, and worked across different legal and financial systems as well as different cultures. In the context of cross-border transactions, success meant addressing legal, regulatory, governance and market-driven challenges (including during the global financial crisis and the pandemic), while managing the myriad other differences inherent in cross-border work. 

Since the summer of 2021, I split my time between Washington, D.C. and London, with regular trips to continental Europe and Africa.   

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