Home » Staff&About » Biographies | Note biografiche

Biographies | Note biografiche

Staff in alphabetical order

Maria Alvanou (Lecturer at National Security School – Atene)

Dr. Maria Alvanou is a Criminologist (PhD Trancrime-Trento University) and Lawyer. She has been lecturing at the Greek National Security, National Defense, Police, Fire Brigade School. She has also taught “asymmetric threats” at the Greek Military Academy. Her fieldwork doctoral research in Israel focused on Palestinian female bombers and her post doctoral on Greek legislation about incitement to terrorism.She has an LLM from Aristoteles University.Her research-scholar interests include female criminality, terrorism, social unrest violence due to the economic crisis, anarchist movements, extremist violence, right-wing violent movements, prison facilities for security prisoners.

mariaalvanou@yahoo.gr

Cristian Barna (“Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy– Bucharest – Romania)

Cristian Barna is Full Professor at the “Mihai Viteazul” National Intelligence Academy (Bucharest, Romania), the Head of the Political Science and International Relations Department and former practitioner in the field of intelligence. He is also visiting professor at Bucharest University, The Faculty of Sociology. He holds a PhD in Sociology and his area of expertise are applied sociology, intelligence and security studies, geopolitics, security organizations, organized crime and terrorism.

cristibarna@yahoo.com

Gabriele Barni (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Gabriele Barni MBA, ASERI International Relations Management Master. He works as Human Resource Consultant in the pharmaceutical industry and is expert lecturer in the following fields: Information Technology, Human Resource Cyber Security, HR Data Privacy, Open Source, Computer Forensic and Information Security .

gabriele@unicattolica.com

Claudio Bertolotti (senior strategic Analyst at CeMiSS – Military Centre for Strategic Studies – Roma)

Claudio Bertolotti (PhD in Sociology and Political Science) received a B.A. in Contemporary History and he is specialized in Sociology of Islam, his research has focused on Suicide attacks and motivations of Armed Opposition Groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is a former NATO-ISAF Counter-intelligence analyst and Section chief. Currently, he is a NATO Humint and Info-Ops Subiect Matter Expert and senior research fellow at Italian Military Centre for Strategic Studies (CeMiSS). He is professor at Post Conflict Operations Study Centre of the Italian Army in Turin.

claudio.bertolotti@unito.it

Alessia Ceresa (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Alessia Ceresa (PhD in Criminology, State University of Trent) has a legal and juridical background. She is a researcher at ITSTIME – Dept. of Sociology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan and she collaborates with D.E.M.S. – State University of Palermo, Sicily. She is an expert in Urban Security Policies, Terrorism and New Technology. Her research activities are mainly focused on the impact of new technology on terrorism and the use of technology for safety/security strategies in urban contexts (national and international level).

alessia.ceresa@unicatt.itceresalex@hotmail.com

Valerio de Divitiis (Expert on Security, Dedicated to Human Security – DEDIHS)

Valerio de Divitiis is a consultant in the field of human Security and counter terrorism. He joined ITSTIME in 2013. Since 2008 Valerio has been working at international/multilateral level through serving the Action against Terrorism Unit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Rule of Law Unit of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Iran and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. In 2013 he consulted on terrorism matters for the EU Parliament-Grand National Assembly of Turkey Exchange and Dialogue Project. Currently, Valerio assists the UNODC and the European Commission in the field of organized crime and terrorism prevention as independent expert. Moreover, he is acting advisor for the NATO Center of Excellence-Defence Against Terrorism.

dedivitiis@gmail.com

Chiara Fonio (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Chiara Fonio (PhD in Sociology and Methodology of the Social Research) senior research analyst at ITSTIME. Her research interests range from the history of surveillance to crisis management. She has been involved in several EU-funded projects focused on surveillance, security and crisis management both as a co-PI and as a researcher. Recent publications include: History of State Surveillance in Europe and Beyond (eds. Kees Boersma, Rosamunde Van Brakel, Chiara Fonio and Pieter Wagenaar) Routledge 2014; Security, Surveillance and Geographical Patterns at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg (co-authored with Giovanni Pisapia), Geographical Journal, May 2014, DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12089​.

chiara.fonio@unicatt.ithttps://unicatt.academia.edu/ChiaraFonio​; twitter: @survinItaly

Sajjan Gohel (London School of Economics – London)

Dr. Sajjan Gohel’s research interests include Islamist Ideology and doctrine; transnational political violence; the role of New Media for strategic communications and protest movements; comparative Middle East, South Asia and East Asia politics, Dr. Gohel is International Security Director for the Asia-Pacific Foundation (APF) thinktank which provides analysis on a variety of global security and geo-political issues and is frequently consulted by governmental and military bodies. In addition, Dr. Gohel has written Op-Ed pieces for print media as well as serving as a guest commentator for television and radio news networks including for the BBC, ITN, Sky News, CNN, ABC (United States), CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CTV, CBC, ABC (Australia), Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. Dr. Gohel is also a regular speaker at international conferences on terrorism and security issues. Dr. Gohel is currently on the editorial review board for the Naval Postgraduate School’s journal ‘Combating Terrorism Exchange’ (CTX). Dr. Gohel has written testimony and provided oral evidence for the United Kingdom’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on topics including ‘Global Security: Afghanistan’ (2009) and ‘The UK’s Foreign Policy Towards Afghanistan And Pakistan’ (2010). In 2005, Dr. Gohel was asked by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) to produce an assessment on the killing of prominent Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri and the political and security challenges that would arise from his death. In 2005, Dr. Gohel formed part of a high-level working group that analysed the terrorist-related challenges and threats in Europe and produced a working paper for the then European Union counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Gijs De Vries. Dr. Gohel serves as a visiting lecturer and teacher to the NATO School in Oberammergau (Germany), NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism in Ankara (Turkey) and the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. He is also part of the ‘Partnership for Peace Consortium: Combating Terrorism Working Group’ organised by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the OSCE and NATO. Dr. Gohel received his BA (Hons) in Politics from Queen Mary, University of London. Dr. Gohel also obtained an MSc in Comparative Politics from the LSE and a PhD at the LSE entitled, ‘Insurrection Of The Ideologues: The Evolution of Egyptian Radical Ideological Thought from Hasan al-Banna to Ayman al-Zawahiri.

S.M.Gohel@lse.ac.uk

Rovshan Ibrahimov (Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy University Baku – Azerbaijan)

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1975. Dr. Ibrahimov received bachelor degree on International Relations at Ankara University in 1998. Defended own master degree at the same University in 2001. In 2008 received PhD on political sciences from Ankara University. Dr. Ibrahimov has worked at Qafqaz University since 1999. He has taken positions of Director (founder of the Center) for Center of Energy Studies, Head and founder of International Relations Department (2003-2013), Head and founder of Region Studies Department, and Vice-Rector on External Affairs. Since November 2011 till 2014, Dr. Ibrahimov has taken position of Head of Foreign Policy Analysis at Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) under the President of Azerbaijan Republic. 2010-2012 Co-producer `Gundem` TV program on foreign policy. Currently has taught at Hahkuk University (South Korea). Research interest: Energy policy and security, Azerbaijan Foreign Policy, International Politics, Theories of International Relations, Conflict and Peace Studies. He has delivered lectures in Wroslaw University in Poland, Siegen University (Germany), SDU (Kazakhstan) and Oil Academy (MBA program), Odlar Yurdu (BBA and MBA programs) and Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy University (Azerbaijan). Visiting fellow at Oxford University (UK) and George Mason University (USA). Research interest: Energy policy and security, Azerbaijan Foreign Policy, International Politics, Theories of International Relations, Conflict Studies. Author on about two hundreds books, articles and comments.

rovshanibrahimov@gmail.com

Daniel Köhler – (Expert on radicalization – Berlin – Germany)

Daniel Köhler obtained a degree in Magister Artium at Princeton University/Free University Berlin and he graduated as best of class 2010/2011 in the Master of Peace and Security Studies (University of Hamburg). He was Director of Research ‘Institute for the Study of Radical Movements (ISRM)’, Research Lead Hayat Counselling Program and Analyst and Scientific Advisor EXIT-Germany. His fields of study are Religious Studies; Political Science; Economics, International Relations, Peace and Security Studies.

daniel_koehler@freenet.de

Marco Lombardi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Marco Lombardi, responsible for ITSTIME research center, is associated professor at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart, where he teaches Crisis management, Mass Communication theory and Sociology. He is member of the scientific board of the International Doctorate of Criminology. He co-operates with different institutional agencies involved on security and he is author on several publication on crisis management, security and terrorism. Scientific Director of the Journal “Sicurezza, Terrorismo e Società”.

marco.lombardi@unicatt.it

 Barbara Lucini (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Barbara Lucini (PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research) is a researcher at ITSTIME. Her research interests and activities are oriented to disaster resilience (especially from a sociological perspective), crisis and disaster management (national, international and European levels), disaster relief, disaster risk reduction, civil protection systems with particular attention on voluntary associations, civil defence systems, emergency volunteers’ management, risk perception and crisis communication.

barbara.lucini@unicatt.it

Miroslav Mareš (Masaryk University – Brno – Czech Republic)

Associate Professor at Department of Political Science and International Institute of Political Science of the FSS MU. PhD at Faculty of Social Studies Masaryk University (political science) and at Faculty of Social Studies Masaryk University (political science). He is chairman of the Section of the security and strategic studies of the Department of Political Science of the FSS MU and teaches Security policy of the Czech Republic, Strategic perspectives of the Czech Republic, Comparative analysis of security policy, Militant democracy, Terrorism, Partisans and guerilla, Strategies of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Radicalism in Europe. His researches are focused on extremism, terrorism and security policy in Central Europe and he participated several projects on radicalism and terrorism in Europe.

mmares@fss.muni.cz

Vittorio Emanuele Parsi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Vittorio Emanuele Parsi is professor of International Relations at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. From 2013 he is director of ASERI (Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations). From 2005 he is program director of the Master’s course in Economics and International Policies (result of a joint venture between ASERI and USI). Prof. Parsi held seminars and lectures in several universities. Among the others, University of Bologna, University of Milan, University of Macerata, Princeton University, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.), Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.), St. Anthony College (University of Oxford), Université de Saint-Joseph (Beirut, Lebanon) Royal University of Phnom-Penh (Cambodia), Novosibirsk State University (Russia), Kazakh Law Academy (Kazakhstan).
He is member of “Società per lo Studio della Diffusione della Democrazia” (SSDD). He is columnist for “Il Sole 24 ore”. Since 2008 to 2012 he has been columnist for the national newspaper “La Stampa”. From 1999 he is being columnist of International Politics for the national newspaper “Avvenire”. Parsi writes also for “Ideazione”, “Italiani Europei”, “Diritto e Libertà”, “Vita e Pensiero”, “Tempi”, “Limes”, and “Teoria Politica”.

vittorio.parsi@unicatt.it

Anita Perešin (University of Zagreb – Croatia)

PhD at the Faculty of political sciences in Zagreb on the theme of “transformation of terrorism and the reconstruction of the security sector”. She teaches “media and terrorism”, “media and national security” and “NATO and international security” at the Centre for Croatian studies, University of Zagreb . She is the author of several professional and scientific papers in the fields of international relations and national security.

aperesin@gmail.com

Giovanni Pisapia (Senior Security Manager, BEGOC – Baku – Azerbaijan)

Giovanni Pisapia (Ph.D. in Criminology) is an expert of security during major events. As Security Manager for TOROC (Olympic Organizing Committee XX Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006), he facilitated the coordination with Italian law enforcement agencies for the development of venue security plans. As Project Manager for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), he developed the City’s 2010 FIFA World Cup safety and security strategic and operational plans. In Johannesburg, he used the Geographical Information System (GIS) technology for crime mapping, crime analysis and crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) projects. In 2014, he was the Security Manager for Road Events, Traffic and Transport, Logistics and GIS for the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He is the Senior Security Manager, Transport & Road Events for the Baku 2015 European Games in Azerbaijan.

giovannipisapia@gmail.com

Iztok Prezelj (University of Ljubljana)

Iztok Prezelj, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. In his research work, he is focusing on the following topics: threat & risk assessment, terrorism & counter-terrorism, national security, crisis management and critical infrastructure. He teaches the following courses: Terrorism and System Countermeasures, Contemporary Intelligence Systems, Crisis Management and Security, Comparative Defense Studies. He was a member of two Governmental interagency groups in Slovenia, one in the field of counter-terrorism and one in the field of crisis management, a teacher of national and international security in Slovenian Staff & Command School and Adjunct Professor at the George C. Marshal European Center for Security Studies. He published widely in the mentioned fields. Personal website: http://www.fdv.uni-lj.si/en/news-and-information/contacts/teachers/info/iztok-prezelj

Iztok.Prezelj@fdv.uni-lj.si

Eman Ragab (Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS) – Cairo)

Ms. Eman Ragab, is currently a senior researcher at the security and strategic studies unit, al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies ACPSS -Egypt. She is the managing editor of al-Malaf al-Masry , a monthly brief issued by ACPSS on developments in Egypt, and the editor of Badael , a quartely periodical issued by ACPSS since 2011. She cooperates with the Regional Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo, in many research projects focusing on regional relations in the Middle East (2011-now). She works also as a principle researcher in many research projects covering security developments in the Middle East. Since 2011, she become a fellow in the Strategic Studies Network SSN organized by NESA –National Defense University in the United States. In June 2009, she accomplished a Conflict Analysis Course organized by the United States Institute of Peace. Eman served as a an analyst at al-Ahram Gate (news portal of alAhram newspaper ) responsible for providing weekly analysis of developments in Egypt and the Middle East (June 2012-March 2014).She also served as a political analyst –Political issues unit, the Information and Decision Support Center IDSC –Egyptian Cabinet during July 2009 –Dec 2010. She also acted as the editor of Theoretical Trends in International Relations (a periodical supplement to the Journal of International Politics al-Siyassa al-Dawliya) (2011-2012). Eman worked as an analyst of regional issues in the Middle East for al-Meethaq newspaper, Bahrain (July 2004- Feb. 2005); Research Assistant in Regional Security issues in the Gulf region, al-Meethaq newspaper, Bahrain, (Sep. 2004-Aug. 2005), and as a moderator of the Articles Section, Political Horizons website, (April 2004- 2008). Eman got her B.Sc. degree from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science – Cairo University (May 2004).She is a holder of M.A in political science, Faculty of Economics and Political Science – Cairo University (Jan.2009). She is also a Ph.D. Researcher, International Relations Course, Faculty of Economics and Political Science – Cairo University (Sep. 2009-Now). Ms. Ragab participated in many national, regional, and international conferences and workshops, that discuss Gulf affairs, Iranian foreign policy, Egypt’s foreign policy after the revolution, regional relations after the Arab Spring, conflict resolution, non state actors in the middle east, and security sector reform. Eman published both in Arabic and English essays, articles, and research papers in International relations, security studies, societal and identity security issues, conflict resolution in the Middle East(intrastate , interstate, and regional conflicts), non- state actors in the Middle East and Arabian Gulf studies. She published also 2 books on regional developments in the Middle East: the repercussions of Iraq war 2003 on the regional Arab System, non-traditional security threats in the Arab regions. She also acted as a contributing author to many books analyzing the regional developments in the Middle East.

eman82s@yahoo.com

 Riccardo Redaelli (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Riccardo Redaelli (PhD in Contemporary History) is  Associate Professor of geopolitics and history of institutions in Asia at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, and Director of the Research Center on the South and the Mediterranean Expanded System (CRiSSMA) He is Scientific Director of the International Studies Center of geopolitics (Cestingeo) of Valencia; Columnist of the newspaper Avvenire; professor in MIRM master (Master in International Relations Management) and MICAD (Master in Cooperation and Development) High School of Economics and International Relations (ASERI). He is director of several research programmes of Italian and International Institutions, focused on Middle East and North Africa.

riccardo.redaelli@unicatt.it

Davide Scotti (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano)

Davide Scotti is psychologist, specialized in psychology of emergencies at University of Padua and in crisis management at the Catholic University. Along with a specific theoretical background he has been involved as a fireman at the Regional Center of Fireman – Regione Lombardia. He has been teaching psychology of emergencies, victims’ and operator’s traumatic deseases, social networks coping with traumatic events at Catholic University, Italian Red Cross, Civil Protection and Police.

scottidavide@virgilio.it

Mark Sedgwick (University of Aarhus – Denmark)

Mark Sedgwick is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies and Coordinator of the Islamic Cultures and Societies Research Unit (ICSRU) at Aarhus University. His research is focused on junctions for the transfer of religions and traditions in the modern and late pre-modern periods. He has published on Islam and terrorism in various journals, and recently contributed the entry on the Muslim Brotherhood to the Oxford Companion to the History of Terrorism. His most recent book is a collected volume on Making European Muslims: Religious Socialization among Young Muslims in Scandinavia and Western Europe (2014) and he has also published books on the modernist Egyptian theologian Muhammad Abduh (2009), on Sufism (2005 and 2000), and on Guénonian Traditionalism, an anti-modernist movement which takes political as well as religious and philosophical forms, and has recently spread to the Islamic world and Russia. For further details, see http://au.dk/mjrs@cas. His email address is mjrs@cas.au.dk.

Darko Trifunovic (University of Belgrad)

Darko Trifunovic, MSL, PhD. is a Research Fellow and lecturer at the Faculty of Security Studies-University of Belgrade. Dr. Darko Trifunovic is a specialist in Counter-Terrorism, National and International Security Studies. He is former First Secretary of the Foreign Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the UN, Adviser to the State Secretary for War Crimes of Republic of Srpska for Terrorism and Violence and (in 2005) Adviser to the Minister of Police of the Republic of Srpska, BIH. He is also the representative of Serbia and Montenegro in the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), Defense & Foreign Affairs publications, and the the Global Information System (GIS). The Shanghai Center for International Studies appointed Dr. Darko Trifunovic (RIEAS Senior Advisor) as the first foreign expert for the Olympic Games (2008) security preparation in China. In 2010 Dr. Trifunovic was engaged in World Expo Security preparation. He is Senior Adviser of the Research Institute of European and American Studies, Athens, Greece, as well as member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Transnational Studies, Munich, Germany. Dr Darko Trifunovic is a regular speaker at International Institute for Counter-Terrorism Institute, Herzliya, Israel and member of International Analyst Network as well as one of founding members of ICTAC –International Counter Terrorism Academic Community. Dr Darko Trifunovic has been elected to the position of the visiting professor at the Fudan University in China, Center for American Studies.

galileja@yahoo.com

Arturo Varvelli (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale – ISPI -Milano)

Arturo Varvelli is ISPI Research Fellow. In 2006, he earned a PhD in International History at the University of Milan, where he works as lecturer in History of International Relations. In 2007, he was post-doctoral fellow at CRT Foundation in Turin. He has extensively published (articles and volumes) on Italian-Libyan relations, Libyan domestic and foreign politics, Italian foreign policy in the Middle East and Mediterranean region. He was editor of some Italian on-line newspapers and now he is editor in chief of the on-line newsletter ISPI Dossier providing scenarios on international politics. He is regularly interviewed on issues of foreign affairs (Mediterranean and Libyan) by national (Rai, Mediaset, Sky, La7, Sole24Ore, etc..) and international networks (New York Times, Time magazine, Xin Hua, CBS Australia, etc…). Author of three books (“L’Italia e l’ascesa di Gheddafi”, BCDe 2009; and “Libia. Fine o rinascita di una nazione?, con Karim Mezran, Donzelli 2012; “Dopo Gheddafi. Democrazia e petrolio nella nuova Libia”, con Gerardo Pelosi, Fazi 2012;), and many articles/chapters including in journals and think tank web sites such as Brookings Institution. He is member of the international network “GR:EEN – Global re-ordering”, large-scale integrated FP7 research project funded by the European Commission and the University of Warwick.

arturo.varvelli@ispionline.it

Ivo Veenkamp (Hedayah)

Mr. Ivo Veenkamp is the Deputy Executive Director at Hedayah, the International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism, based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Hedayah is an independent international organization initiated through the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). Prior to this, Mr. Veenkamp was the Director for Policy and Strategy of the National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism and Security of The Netherlands for more than five years. In this capacity he was responsible for counterterrorism and CVE policy, the first national CT strategy and international cooperation. He contributed to many international meetings as a chairman and speaker on CT and CVE issues and was actively involved in the GCTF from its inception. Before this, Mr. Veenkamp was the Director for Modernizing Civic Integration Policy at the Ministry of Security and Justice and the Head of Urban Policy at the Ministry of the Interior. He started his career as a Management Consultant at the Government and Non-Profit group KPMG Consulting. He was selected for the leadership development program of the Dutch senior civil service and joined the senior civil service shortly after. Mr. Veenkamp has master degrees in both Political Science and Psychology (cum laude) from the University of Amsterdam.

Ivo.Veenkamp@hedayah.ae

Matteo Vergani (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Milano e Alfred Deakin Istitute for Citizenship and Globalisation – Melbourne)

Matteo Vergani has a PhD in “Sociology and Methodology of Social Research” (2011, Catholic University of Milan), with a thesis on activism and participation in political movements  and collaborates with ITSTIME. After a second PhD in Political Science at Monash University, Melbourne (Global Terrorism Research Centre), Matteo is now reasearching at Deakin University – Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Australia. His current interests focus on violent extremism in the digital media, Terror Management Theory and hybrid criminal-political groups. Twitter: @teoverga. Recent publications: Vergani M. and Zuev D. (2015) ‘The visualizations of militant Islam: comparing visual representations of Uyghur and Chechen neojihadist militants in YouTube’, Asian Studies Review. (forthcoming); Vergani, M. (2014) ‘Neojihadist prosumers and Al Qaeda single narrative: the case study of Giuliano Delnevo’, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 37(7); Vergani, M. (2014) ‘Neojihadism and Muslim-Christian Relations in the Mindanao Resistance Movement: A Study of Facebook Digital Narratives’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 25(3).

matteo.vergani@deakin.edu.au

Kamil Yilmaz (Independent Researcher – Turkish National Police)

Kamil Yılmaz (PhD in applied (political) anthropology from Columbia University)works for the Turkish Ministry of Interior since 1998. He worked at  International Center for Terrorism and Transnational Crime (UTSAM) in Ankara.  He worked at various international institutions including the United Nations (New York/Beirut) and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) in Bucharest, Romania. His research interests include political violence, radicalization and deradicalization processes related to terrorism, identity politics, elite formation and circulation, as well as international security and relations. He is the author of several publications.

kamilyilma@gmail.comky2151@columbia.edu

Munir Zamir (Fida Management&C7 – London)

Munir Zamir created Fida Management in order to help with addressing the pressing issues facing the counter- terrorism world. With over a decades worth of personal and professional experience in working at grassroots level with local and central government, Munir is passionate about presenting a balanced and considered response to the need of the counter-terrorism community and the communities that are affected by terrorism/extremism. Coming from a minority background and being a disabled person, gives Munir a unique ability to express issues, grievances and factors from a diverse range of subject areas including faith, identity and research, Munir has combined the rigor of academia with the real word experiences of extremism, discrimination and Marginalization to create an organisation that produces cutting edge work. Mr Zamir has been working to this effect within communities to engage young people in positive and also trained over two thousand law enforcement and public sector staff from across the U.K and abroad on better understanding the processes of radicalisation and the narratives that underpin them. From International Governments to youth conferences, Munir is a presenter able to take the audience on a journey as well as inform them. He has recently completed his MSc in Terrorism Studies from the University of East London, receiving a distinction for his dissertation thesis entitled “Concepts of Radicalisation and de-radicalisation as applied to Al-Qaeda ideology in the UK Prevent Strategy Context”. Bringin personal, practitioner and academic understanding to counter-terrorism issues, Munir’s appraoch and insight is unique but also grounded in “real-wolrd”experience

munirzamir@gmail.com

Sabina Zgaga (University of Maribor – Slovenia)

Sabina Zgaga, Ph. D. graduated from Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2006 with thesis “The Relation between the Constitution and the Theoretical Model of the Criminal Procedure”. In her doctoral study of criminal law at the same faculty she focused on international criminal law, especially its general part. For this she has been granted two Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law fellowships. Her doctoral thesis from April 2011 (“Necessity and Duress in International Criminal Law”), for which she received the United Nations Association for Slovenia’s award, focused on regulation of necessity and duress in international, comparative and Slovenian criminal law. Currently she is working at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia, as an Assistant Professor. Her research work is focused on international criminal law, criminal substantive and procedural law.

Sabina.Zgaga@fvv.uni-mb.si