EDITORIAL BOARD

Nasimi Aghayev

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 (Georgetown University, United States)
 

Senior Editor:

Alexander Jackson
 

Managing Director:

Farhad K. Rustamov

Interview Editor:

Jesse Tatum

Editorial Assistants:

Bahar Baser
Jan Künzl
Elchin Mammadov
Dumitru Minzarari


 

Founder and Editor-in-Chief:

Nasimi Aghayev, LL.M.Eur. is currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science at the University of Siegen in Germany. Previously, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto in Canada, held diplomatic positions in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry in Baku, and in the embassies of Azerbaijan in Vienna and in Berlin. He earned his Master in European Law (LL.M.Eur.) from the Europa-Institute of the University of Saarland in Germany and Master of Arts in International Relations from the Baku State University in Azerbaijan. His book "Humanitäre Intervention und Völkerrecht" (Humanitarian Intervention and International Law) was published in 2007 in Berlin. Aghayev’s current research interests are South Caucasian regional security, integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, Azerbaijan’s foreign policy. He is fluent in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian and Turkish.

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 Training and Doctrine Command Human Terrain System-Research Reachback Center East, 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 of the Eurasian Strategy Project and an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES) at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, US. Previously, he was 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 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 The Nonproliferation Review and Global Dialogue. He is fluent in Georgian and Russian.

Senior Editor:

Alexander Jackson holds a Bachelors degree from Warwick University and an MA in War Studies from King's College London. He currently works for a London-based think tank working on security issues, and has written extensively on security, politics and economics in Eurasia. 

 

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.

Interview 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.

 

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.

Dumitru Minzarari is currently a PhD student at the University of Michigan (USA). Previously, he was an associate research fellow with the Chisinau-based Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul”, a leading Moldovan non-governmental think tank. He holds an MA degree in International Affairs, specializing in international security policy, from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York. His research interests include unconventional warfare, indirect aggression, democratic transition, and the Russian foreign and security policy in the post-Soviet area. He writes analytic and popular articles for Romanian, Russian, and English-language publications.