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.
Professor Sir David Omand is a Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, a member of the editorial board of the academic journal Intelligence and National Security, and a member of the advisory board of Paladin Capital, which invests in cyber security start-ups. He has held senior posts across the…
Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith is the Deputy Director and a Senior Research Fellow in Climate Science and the Law at the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme, University of Oxford. His work sits at the intersection of climate science, legal accountability, and financial risk, examining how scientific advances are reshaping accountability in the climate transition. Trained in climate…
Ankit Panda is the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research interests include nuclear strategy, escalation, missiles and missile defense, space security, and U.S. alliances. He is the author of The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon (Polity, 2025), Panda has consulted for the United…
Hamid Khalafallah is a researcher, policy analyst and development practitioner. He is currently a PhD researcher at the Global Development Institute of the University of Manchester, researching grassroots movements and political transitions in Africa. Before that, Hamid worked for various international organizations in Sudan, focusing on governance and development issues. He holds a master’s degree…
Elizabeth Bullock is one of few Westerners to have spent three continuous years in frontline areas of Russia’s Modern War. Her time in Ukraine evolved into more than 1,000 days spent primarily in the eastern Donbas and the southern (Kherson) front. She founded and led an independent, quick-response unit, executing strategic operations to help civilians…
Tim Lang is Emeritus Professor of Food Policy at City St George’s, University of London, and founding Director of the Centre for Food Policy established in 1994 as a leading centre for research and education on food system dynamics. His research and scholarship focuses on the intersections of health, environment, politics, and society within modern…
Jacob Parakilas is research leader for Defence Strategy, Policy and Capabilities at RAND Europe. Previously, Parakilas worked on the U.S.–UK defence relationship as a member of the State Department’s Political-Military team at the U.S. Embassy in London. He has also lived in Lagos, Nigeria, where he worked as a consultant and wrote a column focused…
Djavad Salehi‐Isfahani received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University and has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech, where he is currently Professor of Economics. He is the Managing Editor of the Middle East Development Journal and a Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF) in Cairo. His research has focused…
Mihaela Papa is Director of Research and a Principal Research Scientist at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she leads the BRICS Lab. Previously, she led the Rising Power Alliances project and taught sustainable development and global governance at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She has published extensively on geopolitics,…
Ola Rifai is Deputy Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies (CSS) at the University of St Andrews, where her research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East. Her work examines identity politics, nationalism, sectarianism, and ethnic conflict, with particular attention to Syria and the broader contemporary region. Her scholarship engages with the…
