Omar Al-Ubaydli is a senior fellow at the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, an affiliated associate professor of economics at George Mason University, an affiliated senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, and a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Joint Advisory Board of Economists. He received his B.A. in economics from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College), UK, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, USA. Al-Ubaydli’s research focuses on political economy, the economics of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, and on the use of experimental methods in social sciences. He regularly publishes in international, peer-reviewed journals, and his research has been featured in many mainstream media outlets, including the Economist magazine and the Newsweek’s blog.
Sanju Gupta is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi. Her areas of research and specialization include contemporary global politics, South Asia, non-military security studies as well as energy security and sustainable development. She is the author of the book Indian Security Environment and West Asia: The Challenge of Energy Security (Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011) and co-editor of SAARC: Building Bridges
in the South Asian Region (New Delhi: FPSD, 2011), Contemporary Issues in Global Politics: An Asian Perspective (New Delhi: Regal Publications, 2012) and United Nations and Global Conflicts (New Delhi: Regal Publications, 2013). She has published many articles in reputed journals and books. Gupta has also participated and/or presented papers at various national and international conferences. Gupta recently served as Director, Symbiosis Institute of International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.
Metodi Hadji-Janev, Ph.D. is Vice-Dean for education and research at the Military Academy in the Republic of Macedonia, University Goce Delcev-Stip, and Adjunct Professor at the Law faculty, University St. Cyril and Metodius in Skopje. In 2003, Hadji-Janev was deployed as commander of the Macedonian Special Task Forces in Iraq. From 2004-2009, he was in charge of pre-deployment training of Macedonian Special Forces in Iraq and for the readiness of national counter-terrorist crisis response Special Forces units in Afghanistan. He is the author of the book Iraqi Freedom: The Road to Babylon and has contributed numerous articles regarding international security, international law, and international relations, to renowned international scientific journals and other publications. He has co-directed three projects in the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program and has delivered numerous lectures as an invited speaker.
Ashraf Kishk is a senior fellow at the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies. He has delivered several lectures on Gulf strategic issues at the NATO Defense College in Rome, in addition to contributing to the College’s training courses in crisis management. In 2009, he earned a scholarship to research the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative at the NATO Defense College.
Kishk earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from Cairo University. He has contributed to studies published by research centers, including the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (Egypt), the Center for Strategic Studies and Research and Documentation (Lebanon), the Saba Center for Strategic Studies (Yemen) and the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies (UK). He has participated in Gulf regional security conferences in many countries including France, Italy, and the UK.
Safa Mubgar was born in Aden, and grew up in Egypt, the UAE, and the UK. She holds degrees in MENA History and in Information Management. Bi-lingual in Arabic and English, she is an information management and new media communications specialist, and Director of MENARC Ltd, a strategic consulting company. She played a leading role in mobilizing the Yemeni diaspora to support the Yemeni Revolution, lobbying the UK government and debunking the Yemeni government’s information campaign. She was a co-founder of Independent Yemen Group and now continues her ME activism privately.
Yacoob Abba Omar is Director Operations of the Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA), a Johannesburg-based research institute. Before that he served in several capacities in the public sector: as South Africa’s Ambassador to Oman from 2003 to 2008, Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2008 to December 2012; and as the Deputy Director-General of Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) from 1998 to 2002. Before South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, he served in the African National Congress in several capacities.
Abba is currently reading for his Ph.D. on “Sovereignty and National Identity in South Africa” through Wits University. He graduated with an M.Phil in South African Political Economy from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He currently serves as an Advisory Board member of the Institute for International Management Practice, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Andrea Plebani is Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). He is lecturer of Regional Studies and History of Civilizations at the Catholic University of Brescia, Italy. His research focuses on socio-political and security issues related to the broader Middle East (in particular concerning Iraq and Egypt), ideology and evolution of Islamist movements, and Euro-Mediterranean relations. Among his publications: “Iraq 10 Years Later: a Political Assessment,” in The “New Iraq” Ten Years Later, ed. Andrea Plebani (ISPI study, October 2013);
L’Iraq contemporaneo [Contemporary Iraq] co-authored with Riccardo Redaelli (Carocci, 2013); Baghdad: memoria e spazi urbani tra presente e futuro [Baghdad:
Memory and Urban Spaces between Past and Future], (Storia Urbana, 2013);
Attractiveness of WMD for Radical Islamist Movements, in Security and Stability in the Middle East, ed. Barry Rubin (Routledge, 2011).
Before joining ISPI, Dr. Plebani worked at the Insubria Center on International Security (ICIS) and at the Landau Network-Centro Volta (LNCV). In 2012, he earned a Ph.D. in Politics and Institutions at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy.
Fatin Shabbar is currently a final year Ph.D. candidate and a tutor at the University of South Australia in the School of Psychology, Social work and Social Policy. She completed a Social Work degree (with first-class honors) in 2009 at the same university. Shabbar’s research interests include: Middle East politics, war and militarization, gender politics and Iraqi women, Islam and the West, and postcolonial feminism.
In addition to her academic work, Shabbar is also a senior counselor at TAFE SA (Technical and Further Education South Australia) and a secretary-general of Iraqi Women’s Voice of South Australia.
Degang Sun is an Associate Professor and the Assistant Director of the Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University, China. He received his Ph.D.
in 2006, and conducted a post-doctoral research program at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University (2010-2012). He was an academic visitor to the University of Hong Kong (2004-2005), Denver University (2007-2008) and the Middle East Centre, University of Oxford and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (2012-2013). He was selected as one of the “New Century Excellent Talents in Universities” (NCET) by China’s Ministry of Education in 2012. His research focus is great powers’ Middle East policy and Middle East history and security. He has published three books and more than a dozen articles in leading journals in China and abroad.
Abderraouf El Ouazzani Taibi holds several university degrees in subjects ranging from Applied Sciences to Political Science. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Ghent University (Belgium) in partnership with Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), and two M.A.s in environmental sciences, in Waste Management and Water Management, respectively, from Luxembourg University Foundation (Belgium). He also holds a post-university degree in International Relations and Conflict Analysis from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Negotiations in International Relations from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in partnership with Sherbrooke University (Canada). He is a co-founder and president of AFD International, a human rights NGO headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
He has extensive experience in research and development and project management in both academia and the private industrial sector.
Prevailing Security Threats from a United States Point of View
Dr. Peter J. Croll is Director, Bonn Int’l Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany Amb. James Larocco is Director, Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Stud-ies (NESA), National Defense University (NDU), United States
Professor Joseph Liow is Associate Dean, Rajaratnam School of International Studies Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr. Daniel Möckli is Head, Strategic Trends Analysis, Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Dr. Vladimir A. Orlov is President, PIR - The Russian Center for Policy Studies, Russia
Dr. Marina Ottaway is Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, United States
Dr. Leanne Piggott is Director, Business Programs Unit, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Vasantha Raghavan is President, Center for Security Analysis, India Amb. Yukio Satoh is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Japan Institute of International Affairs, Japan
Prof. Janice Gross Stein is Director, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada
Amb. Theodor Winkler is Director, Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), Switzerland