Meet our diverse roster of international experts, thought leaders, and practitioners. Discover the unique insights and experiences each guest brings to our discussions on global risk, security, and geopolitics.
Paul Hefel-James is a freelance journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon. He covers migration and refugee issues, the humanitarian sector and conflict in the Middle East region. His previous publications include explorations of labor migration in Lebanon, Syrian archives, Israel’s targeting of civilians, including journalists, and the displacement crisis during the Israel-Hezbollah war. He is the…
Norman Leach is a Canadian military historian, writer, public speaker, and defence-industry leader whose work spans Canadian military history, strategic commentary, and international business. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Western Canada Defence Industries Association and is a regular contributor to the Canadian Defence Review and other military and historical journals. A prolific…
Humphrey Hawksley is a former BBC foreign correspondent who works over the last 40 years or so has taken him to crises all over the world. He is also an award-winning author, commentator and guest lecturer at universities and think tanks such as the RAND Corporation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and MENSA…
Eliot Higgins is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Bellingcat, the investigative platform that has helped pioneer modern open-source intelligence and digital verification methods. He first gained international recognition through his early work analysing weapons use in the Syrian conflict under the pseudonym “Brown Moses“, before establishing Bellingcat in 2014 following the downing of…
Dr. Natalie Martin is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, where she has been based since 2019. Before entering academia, she worked extensively in journalism as a reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post, Leicester Mercury, Press Association, and Raymonds Press Agency, and later as a…
Professor Mark Galeotti is one of the leading experts on modern Russia, with particular expertise in its security politics, intelligence services, organised crime, and political warfare. He is Director of Mayak Intelligence, an Honorary Professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of International Relations Prague,…
Cedric de Coning is a Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), where his research focuses on strengthening the resilience and sustainability of social-ecological systems under pressure from climate change and other global stressors. His work examines the intersection of climate change, governance, and conflict, applying an adaptive peacebuilding perspective to international,…
Andrew E. Yaw Tchie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Manager of the Training for Peace Programme. His research focuses on African-led peace support operations and stabilisation missions, United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, partnerships between the United Nations, the African Union, and regional organisations, as well…
Milad Jafari is an Iranian political scientist, researcher, and policy analyst specializing in water diplomacy and governance with a water science and engineering background. He holds two master’s degrees: one from Tarbiat Modares University, where he focused on the phenomenology of water governance issues in Tehran and also transboundary water challenges of the Helmand River,…
Rachel Minyoung Lee is a Senior Fellow for the Stimson Center’s Korea Program and 38 North. She is also co-chair of the North Korea Economic Forum, which is part of the policy program at the George Washington University’s Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS). Lee was a North Korea collection expert and analyst with Open Source…
