Leadership

Oscar Wendel is the founder of Global Stratalogues, a platform of roundtables and dinners designed to unite industry leaders, governments, and academia.

After relocating from London, where he served as Senior Content Manager for Global Events at the Financial Times and reporter for the Banker, Oscar moved to Dubai in 2008 to launch the conference division of ITP, the region’s largest magazine publisher (Arabian Business and Construction Week). As a journalist he reported from Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan between 2009 – 2013, interviewing several political leaders including the Deputy Prime minister of Iraq and the Prime Minister of Finland.

He has played a vital role in advancing conversations and standards in the region.  Establishing  the GCC Leadership Summit on Worker Rights under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Labour, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Human Rights Watch, this landmark event inspired meaningful dialogue on human rights and labor practices.

He led the Safety Design in Buildings campaign, raising fire safety and protection standards across the Gulf through close collaboration with Civil Defense organizations, drawing from experience gained from his military service with the Swedish Rescue Services Agency. He has also worked with construction industry leaders such as Trimble, Drake & Scull, and Design Confidence, and has coordinated the production of strategic safety documentation for a Giga Project in Saudi Arabia.

As a Senior Manager at the Dubai World Trade Centre, he oversaw programming for GITEX and Gulfood, two of the world’s largest industry exhibitions, driving attendance growth to double with over 200,000 visitors annually between 2019 and 2023 for GITEX. He served as Global Director of Conferences and Content for the MCH Group, reporting directly to the Group CEO of the organization behind Art Basel. 

At COP28, Oscar presented ASTROCOOL, a groundbreaking research initiative he co-founded to explore space technologies to mitigate the impact of solar radiation on Earth. He also introduced the Intraplanetary National Anthem, a global music initiative that unifies diverse cultural voices through shared artistic expression. This project led to a collaboration with 4Space that placed the Jeff Koons sculpture  ‘Moon Phases’ on the lunar surface, part of NASA’s first return to the moon in over 50 years. 

He holds dual Master’s degrees: one in Business from Stockholm University and another in Literature from Uppsala University, reflecting his unique ability to blend artistic creativity with commercial acumen. Writing under the pseudonym Mitch Vandell, he authored Bargepole Management, a book praised by Forbes Middle East as “something of a rare gem.” Other books include ‘Poor-Sucker Syndrome‘, ‘Wanton Times‘, and ‘Just Give Up – Confessions of a Winner with Nothing to Prove’.  

In 2024, Oscar launched Global Stratalogues, expanding on his work creating platforms that bridge sectors and perspectives. In parallel with his role as Editor-at-Large for MEA-Finance, his mission is to enable actionable dialogue on the most pressing challenges of the modern era and unleash the full potential of design and technology to elevate human wellbeing in both the physical and digital realms.