A controversial former Central Intelligence Agency director will speak at a Bermuda reinsurance conference later this year.

The highly decorated four-star US Army general, who once commanded forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has more recently shuttled to and from Ukraine, and has determined a need for the United States to learn a new way of waging war.

But this military assessment was hardly the most controversial issue for the man who the media referred to as “the most influential general of recent times.”

Retired US Army General David Petraeus is a partner at private-equity form KKR, chairman of the KKR Global Institute, chairman of KKR Middle East, and the coauthor, with British historian Andrew Roberts, of the New York Times best selling book Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza.

He will be the morning keynote speaker at the Bermuda International Life and Annuity Conference at The Hamilton Princess Hotel and Beach Club in September sponsored by the Bermuda International Long Term Insurers and Reinsurers.

Two years ago he told an interviewer that it was a mistake for the US to exit Afghanistan.

There was controversy in 2010 when major media picked up a story from an obscure blogger claiming General Petraeus had warned that “Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardising US standing in the region”. The claim dogged the general, even though he denied making the statement.

The highly-accomplished general served over 37 years in the US military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of the 101st Airborne Division during the fight to Baghdad and the first year in Iraq, command of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq, command of coalition forces in Iraq during the surge, command of US Central Command and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan, which he later said the US should have never left.

It was following retirement from the military and after Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0 that he became the CIA director.

He lost the role when his extramarital affair blew up into a major scandal, forcing him to resign in 2012.

He also eventually pleaded guilty to a related misdemeanour for mishandling classified information. He receiving probation and a reported $100,000 fine.

The top general seemed heading for politics before his fall. Since the scandal he has gained a great deal of credibility as a quoted observer of US military positioning. His standing appears to again be on the rise.

Time magazine published a retrospective in 2013, reporting: “The star of the scandal quickly found a home in academia. In the past year he has taken up teaching positions at USC, The City University of New York, and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He’s also keeping busy with various professional advisory roles, including a position as chairman of the investment firm KKR’s Global Institute.”

Another retrospective, this time from Yahoo! News in March 2015 reported “Petraeus has hardly been destroyed by his improprieties.”

The article said he has made the rounds as a public speaker and guest lecturer at universities such as Harvard, and he has maintained the support of political leaders in both parties.

Over the past 20 years, General Petraeus was named one of America’s 25 Best Leaders by US News and World Report, a runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the Daily Telegraph Man of the Year, twice a Time 100 selectee, Princeton University’s Madison Medallist, and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 public intellectuals in three different years.