Editorial Board members:
Dr. Tracey German (King’s College London, United Kingdom)
Dr. Robin van der Hout (Europa-Institut, University of Saarland, Germany)
Dr. Andrew Liaropoulos (Institute for European and American Studies, Greece)
Dr. Martin Malek (National Defence Academy, Austria)
Dr. Jason Strakes (Army Research Reachback Center East, United States)
Dr. Cory Welt (George Washington University, United States)
Senior Editor:
Alexander Jackson
Associate Editor:
Jesse Tatum
Managing Director:
Farhad K. Rustamov
Editorial Assistants:
Bahar Baser
Jan Künzl
Elchin Mammadov
Editorial Board members:
Dr. Tracey German is a lecturer in Defence Studies at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, King’s College London. Her current research interests include security in the Caucasus region, the impact of the Chechen conflict and energy security in the former Soviet states. Recent publications include the co-authored Securing Europe: Western Interventions towards a New Security Community (forthcoming) and Russia’s Chechen War (Routledge, 2003), as well as articles in journals such as European Security, Central Asian Survey, Vestnik analitiki, Caucasian Review of International Affairs and Politique étrangère.
Dr. Robin van der Hout is a lawyer at Kapellmann and Partner in Brussels and a lecturer at the Europa-Institut Saarbrücken/Germany. As a lawyer he advises on all aspects of EU Law, in particular EU Competition Law and International Trade Law, including litigation matters. He has written several articles and books on the topic. Robin van der Hout received his law degree in 1999 from the University of Saarland, a special degree in European law in 2003 and a “Dr. iur.” in 2006. He is a member of the Brussels and the Saarbrücken Bar and he is also a member of the German Lawyers Association. Robin van der Hout speaks fluently German, English, French and Dutch.
Dr. Andrew Liaropoulos is a Senior Analyst at the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS) in Greece. He earned his Master Degree in Intelligence & Strategic Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK, in 2002 and his Doctorate Diploma at Swansea University, UK, in 2006. His research interests include international security, intelligence, strategy, foreign policy analysis and military reforms. He has published articles in Journal of Military History, Journal of International Security Affairs and Caucasian Review of International Affairs. He speaks fluently English and German.
Dr. Martin Malek is a (civilian) researcher at the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management of the National Defense Academy (Vienna) since 1997. Several internships in research institutes in Germany, Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. Areas of expertise: State failing theories, theories of ethnic conflicts, security and military policy in the Commonwealth of Independent States (especially Russia, Ukraine, South Caucasus). Author of two books and some 250 publications in thirteen countries. He speaks fluently English and Russian.
Dr. Jason E. Strakes is a Greater Middle East analyst at the U.S. Army Iraq/Afghanistan Research Reachback Center, United States. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in international studies and political science at the School of Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate University, USA. His research interests include foreign policy analysis, defense and security policy, Central Eurasia, and the international relations of developing and former Soviet states. He has published articles and coauthored chapters on these topics in various journals and edited volumes. Dr. Strakes currently serves also as executive secretary of the Eurasia Business and Economics Society (EBES).
Dr. Cory Welt is Associate Director and Professorial Lecturer at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’sElliott School of International Affairs. Previously, he was associate director and director of the Eurasian Strategy Project at Georgetown University, and deputy director and fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Dr. Welt is a specialist of Eurasian politics, conflict, and security and, in particular, Georgia and the Caucasus. Dr. Welt received his Ph.D. in political science from MIT and his MA and BA from Stanford University.He has published articles in journals including Europe-Asia Studies, Demokratizatsiya, and The Nonproliferation Review, and contributed book chapters to Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Postcommunist World (Bunce, McFaul, Stoner-Weiss, eds., Cambridge University Press) and America and the World in the Age of Terror (Benjamin, ed., CSIS Press).
Senior Editor:
Alexander Jackson is an experienced analyst of the politics, security and economics of the Caspian region. He holds a postgraduate degree in War Studies from King’s College London, with a focus on Eurasia. He has substantial experience of media and public speaking.
Associate Editor:
Jesse Tatum holds a M.Sc. in European Studies with Translation from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, and a B.A. in International Studies from Portland State University. Previously, he was a translator for the Groupe de sociologie politique européenne at Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, France, and taught English in France and in China. His research interests include the EU’s external relations and political trends in the Caucasus and Central Asia. He is currently a fellow at the Caucasus Research Resource Center in Tbilisi.
Managing Director:
Farhad K. Rustamov is a Research Associate at KornFerry International in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He is focusing on executive search and HR consulting for domestic and international financial services companies. Prior to that he worked as auditor at KPMG Germany and Azerbaijan. In addition to that he accomplished number of internships within investment banking and private equity industry in Germany and Japan. He received his Diploma Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany, and BS in International Business from Western University in Baku, Azerbaijan. He speaks fluently English, German, Russian and Turkish.
Editorial Assistants:
Bahar Baser is a researcher and a PhD student at the European University Institute, Florence since 2008. She has graduated in Political Science and International Relations (2005) from Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey) and has a MA in Peace and Conflict Research (2007) from Uppsala University (Uppsala, Sweden). Her overall interests lay in nationalism, peace building, peace-keeping, conflict resolution, third party mediation, migration, transnationalism and diaspora studies. Her other research interests also include civil wars, failed states and ethnic minorities; particularly the armed conflicts in Eurasia and South Asia. She has several articles published on the issues of “Diasporas as peacemakers”, “Political violence in Sri Lanka”, and “Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora”; and finally a book on the “Third party mediation in Nagorno Karabakh”. Bahar Baser is fluent in Turkish, English, Italian and French.
Jan Künzl holds a diploma (MA equiv.) in Political Science/International Relations. He studied at the University of Potsdam (Germany) and the Université de Montpellier (France). He worked as an intern for a consulting agency in Cairo, Egypt, and for the CRIA. His book “Islamisten- Terroristen oder Reformer? Die ägyptische Muslimbruderschaft und die palästinensische Hamas“ was published in 2008 in Berlin. Künzl’s current research interests include Islamism, security policy in the Middle East and the Caucasus region and state failure. He speaks fluently German, English and French and has a good command of Spanish and intermediate skills in Arabic.
Elchin Mammadov is a MA (in European Studies) student at the University of Flensburg in Germany and University of Southern Denmark. He has graduated in International Relations from Azerbaijan State Economic University. His research interests include self determination and territorial integrity conceptions in international law and ethnic conflicts in Europe. He is creator of a number of web sites. He is fluent in English and Turkish and has intermediate skills in German.