On the 31st of March 2020, together with the launch of the Operation, he has been appointed as Operation Commander of Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI. Rear Admiral (LH) Fabio AGOSTINI joined Naval Academy in October 1986 and received his commission as Ensign in November 1989. He took part on the most important naval operations during in his career, serving on several ships. Among these he was Commanding officer of the Patrol Ship Cassiopea (1998), of the Frigate Espero (2006) and of the Destroyer Duilio (2013). Besides to experiences at sea, Rear Admiral (LH) Agostini held several important positions within the Navy and Defense General Staff. He served as Head of the Parliamentary Affairs Section within the Cabinet of the Minister of Defence (2007) and as Deputy Head of the Alliances Policy Branch in the Defence General Staff (2010). He was then assigned to the 3rd Division, Plans, Operations and Strategy of the Navy Staff (2014), where he was the first Head of the newly established Dual Use Branch. From 29 August 2016 to 17 March 2019, Rear Admiral (LH) Agostini held the position of Head, Public Information and Communication Office, Navy Staff. From 18 March 2019 to 1th January 2020, he was Head, Public Information and Communication Department, Defence General Staff. And, from 21th of February to the 31st of March 2020, he served as the last Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR MED Operation SOPHIA. Rear Admiral (LH) Agostini graduated in Maritime and Naval Sciences at the University of Pisa, and holds a Master’s Degree in Defence Studies from the King’s College, London (UK). During his career he attended several courses like Common Security and Defence Policy Orientation Cour se organized by the EU, the NATO Orientation Course organized by NATO and the Legal Advisor Course at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies. He has also took advantage of training opportunities in the field of public information and communication, especially at the National School of Public Administration in Rome. Since 2019, he is a teacher at the same school, where he enrolled in the Master’s Program in Public and Institutional Communication, graduating in 2020. He also attended and graduated, in 2020, the Master’s Course in Leadership, Change Management and Digital Innovation at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies in collaboration with the University of Salerno.
Franco Anelli was born in Piacenza on 26 June 1963. After his M.A. in Law from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, he got a PhD in Business Law.
He was associate professor of Private Law and then, in 1996, he became full professor of Private Law Institutions in the Faculty of Law of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where he still teaches.
He was Vice Rector from the academic year 2004/2005 until his election to Rector on the 1 January 2013. He was re-elected in 2016 and again, for the third and last time, in 2020.
Franco Anelli is qualified to practice law in Italy, including before the Italian Supreme Court.
Author of various monographs and essays in his field of studies, he is Co-editor, with Carlo Granelli, of the Manuale di Diritto privato by A. Torrente and P. Schlesinger, now at its XXIV edition and Co-director of the Trattato di Diritto Civile e Commerciale Cicu-Messineo.
Alessia Ardesi was born in the North of Italy in Brescia – the native land of Pope Saint Paul the VI. After graduation at IULM University in Milan in Public Relations and Communication, she moved to Rome, to become a journalist at the Italian public television company, RAI, and at Sky. In 2010 she began her work for the Italian Government in the Communications Staff of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. After 8 months she became Mr. Berlusconi’s Personal Assistant – for 5 years. She handled issues ranging from multinational operations to political affairs. After this experience she started her own political career, concentrating, in particular, on the relationship between the Papacy and Catholic associations, to help the Holy See broaden and deepen its impact with organizations around the world. In the last 12 years she implemented her engagement with the Vatican, the Government of Italy, the EU and the United States. She does volunteer work for non-profit entities such as AFMAL, which provides medical care to people in developing countries; Operation Smile, that sends surgeons across the developing world to operate on children with cleft lips; and Chiaro Del Bosco, which deals with mental health issues. She collaborates with the Community of Sant’Egidio. For one year and a half she has been Responsible for Institutional and external Relations at The Italian Committee of the World Food Programme in Rome. She has conducted every week Duezero30, the official webinar of the Italian Committee, where she has interviewed experts, institutions, religious authorities, members of Government, ambassadors, entrepeneurs on the topics of the agenda 2030 of the UN.
She is a member of the International Affairs Institute (IAI, Milan) and the Center for American Studies (CSA, Rome). She is in the Team «100 Italian women experts» formed by Bracco Foundation and Osservatorio di Pavia in collaboration with the EU. She is currently managing the Italian Chapter of ICLN (International Catholic Legislators Network, www.icln.at), and she is a member the European Prayer Breakfast. She recently started a collaboration with daily newspaper Libero Quotidiano
for a series of interviews. In the past she wrote also for the Messaggero di Sant’Antonio , a major Catholic publication.
Entered in the Naval Academy in 1981, Vice-Admiral (2s) Pascal AUSSEUR has had an operational career in the surface forces, notably within the carrier strike group.
Having sailed for fifteen years, he has commanded at sea three times (Jaguar, Commandant L’Herminier and Jean Bart).
Throughout his career, he took part in numerous operational missions, notably in the Mediterranean.
During the last ten years, he assumed responsibilities at the politicalmilitary level within the French Ministry of Defense.
After having served twice in the cabinet of the Minister of Defense as head of the international unit “Western world and Asia”, and then head of the military cabinet, he was appointed maritime prefect, commander of the maritime zone of the English Channel and the North Sea.
Since October 2018 he is director general of the “Fondation Méditerranéenne d’Etudes Stratégiques » (FMES) institute in Toulon, France.
Olivier Bailly has been working in the European Institutions for 20 years, in different positions: Assistant to Commission’s Secretary General Catherine Day; Deputy Spokesperson under the Barroso II Commission; Commission’s Antici in Coreper, Council ad European Council; Head of cabinet to Commissioner Pierre Moscovici for Economy and Taxation.
He is currently Head of the European External Action Service Task Force for vaccine strategy.
Emma has been part of the Francesca Rava Foundation since 2009. She coordinated the Italian medical teams during the Haiti earthquake emergency response and the cholera epidemic. For over five years she was in charge of the Foundation’s medical teams on board the Italian Navy units in the Mediterranean (Mare Nostrum and Mare Sicuro operations), as well as responsible for the activities with Eunavformed. In the covid pandemic she has coordinated the Foundation’s support to the Italian Hospitals by providing key equipments to the intensive care units.
As a project manager Emma has followed medical related projects in the Dominican Republic and is the referent to the Foundations Academy for Good, and incubator of talents that offers a wide range of courses to young voluteers. She is also the referent of the employee voluteering program implemented by the Foundation with several Italian and international companies.
Pierluigi Barberini is the analist resposable for the Defense and Security Desk od Ce.S.I.
He graduated with honors in Political Science at Luiss Guido Carli University. During his bachelor degree he spent a semester abroad studying at IDC Herzliya in Israel.
He then graduated with honors and special mention in a master in International Relations – Major in Global Studies at Luiss Guido Carli University.
During his master degree he attended a Summer School organised by Luiss Guido Carli University and the Italian Military Army, for a two week period getting engaged in the NATO KFOR – Joint Enterprise mission in Kosovo.
He has also been an intern in the Geopolitics area at Ce.S.I.
At the moment he is enrolled in a Second degree master in “Homeland Security”.
James H. Bergeron assumed duties as Political Advisor to Commander, Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, United Kingdom on 1 September 2013 . Previously the POLAD to Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO from July 2005 as a member of the US Government Service, he is considered to be one of NATO’s most experienced foreign policy advisors in the fields of maritime and joint expeditionary operations. He has served as POLAD in eighteen US and NATO exercises; as POLAD to the NATO Response Force exercise Steadfast Jaguar in Cape Verde and NATO Riga Summit mission in 2006; in a national capacity as POLAD to EUCOM Commander Joint Task Force Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah Conflict; to Commander US Naval Forces Europe during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia Conflict and as POLAD to STRIKFORNATO for four Baltic Host and two BALTOPs exercises to reassure Allies of NATO solidarity. From March until July 2011 he served as the Political Advisor to NATO’s CJTF Operation Unified Protector in support of UNSCR 1973 operations in Libya. He is regularly consulted on NATO maritime strategy, transformational issues and NATO-EU relations, and was one of the drafters of the Alliance Maritime Strategy. Prior to his appointment in Naples, Mr. Bergeron served as EUINATO Policy Advisor on the Staff of Commander, US Naval Forces Europe, London.
Professor Bergeron entered the US government service following a career in academia. He holds a BA in History and English Literature from the University of the State of New York, MA in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, Juris Doctor magna cum laude from the College of Law at Syracuse University and Master of Laws in European Union Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, as a British Foreign and Commonwealth Scholar. Following completion of the LL.M. in 1991, Mr. Bergeron joined the Faculty of Law at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he specialized in European Union law, European affairs, comparative antitrust, international law and jurisprudence. From 1991-2000 he held visiting appointments at the Nicolas Copernicus University, Torun, Jageillonian University, Krakow, Riga Graduate School of Law; Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Spain and S1. John’s University College of Law, New York. In 1993 he developed the draft Estonian Code of Military Justice under the US European Command’s military-to-military contacts program. Under the auspices of the European Commission he assisted in the revision of the Latvian Constitution from 1998-9 and training of Hungarian public prosecutors in EU law from 1999-2000. He served briefly on the Forward Studies Unit of the President of the European Commission.
His connections to the naval life are oflong standing. Mr. Bergeron entered the United States Navy in 1976. After two years of nuclear propulsion training, he served as a reactor operator onboard USS ULYSSES S. GRANT (SSBN 631) and USS HOUSTON (SSN 713) in Newport News, Virginia. In July 1982 he reported to Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon commissioning as an officer and completion of submarine and Poseidon missile schools, he served on USS GEORGE C. MARSHALL (SSBN 654) as Assistant Weapons Officer. This was followed by twenty-one years in the US Navy Reserve, supporting US Naval Forces Europe, US Embassy Dublin and Allied Forces Southern Command in the areas of politico-military analysis and advice, partnership engagement and security cooperation. Commander Bergeron retired from the Navy Reserve in October 2007.
Jim Bergeron has published several articles and book chapters on legal, political and international security topics, and is the editor, with Peter Fitzpatrick, of Europe’s Other: European Law from Modernity to Post-Modernity (Ashgate 1998). He has spoken at numerous institutions, defense colleges, universities and think tanks including the Center for Naval Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, Chatham House, NATO Defense College, Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, RUSI, Institute for International Affairs (IA!) Rome, National Defense University, Wilton Park and the Maritime Warfare School Halifax. He has had a long involvement with the American Bar Association, and currently serves as the ABA liaison to NATO, the International Maritime Organisation and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Personal decorations include the Meritorious and Superior Civilian Service Medals, Navy Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, NATO Libya Medal and the Golden Badge of the Estonian Ministry of Defence. Interests include naval history, art, early music, political theory, and military strategy.
Keith Blount is the Commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command. He is NATO’s principal maritime adviser and has operational Command of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1984 as a helicopter pilot. He received his wings in 1986 and was a front line aviator at the age of 20. Through a varied flying career, he qualified as an instructor and flew in the Royal Navy Helicopter Display Team.
Blount has blended his aviation experience with a broad span of Command. He has commanded three warships, including the helicopter carrier HMS OCEAN and sailed in NATO Task Groups during Operation Sharpguard and Operation Active Endeavour. He was the Iraqi Maritime Task Group Commander during Operation TELIC and, more recently, was the United Kingdom’s Maritime Component Commander, based in Bahrain, spanning Operations in Syria and Iraq.
His staff appointments have included three periods in the Ministry of Defence and his last London assignment was as Military Assistant to the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Defence Studies and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2012, he was awarded an operational Legion of Merit by the President of the United States in 2016. Blount was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2018.
Between 2015 and 2019 he was the Head of the Fleet Air Arm and the officer accountable for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.
Having previously been Chief of Staff to the European Union Naval Force and Deputy Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces, he was appointed as the Commander of NATO’s Maritime Command in May 2019.
Chiara Cardoletti has been appointed Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in June 2020, succeeding Roland Schilling, who held the post ad interim since 2019.
Born in Italy in 1973, she holds a degree in Political Science, with a specialisation in international law from the European Master in Human Rights and Democratization at the University of Vienna.
After working as a consultant at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she joined UNHCR in 2000 serving in numerous operations including East Timor, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Iran and Afghanistan.
In 2015, she was appointed as UNHCR Deputy Representative for the United States and the Caribbean, a role she successfully fulfilled until her arrival in Rome, working closely with the current US administration and those of 24 other Caribbean countries.
Previously, she was responsible for leading and coordinating the protection response for refugees and internally displaced persons in the Republic of Sudan, as well as Special Adviser on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Executive Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, working on refugee protection issues worldwide.
Alberto Castelvecchi teaches Effective Communication and Leadership at LUISS University in Rome, Italy. He works as personal coach and strategic advisor to public figures and MPs all across Europe and the Mediterranean area. He is also an Adjunct Professor at LUISS Business School and LUMSA – a Catholic University – in Rome. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of veDrò (www.vedro.it), a bi-partisan think tank on political innovation and new leadership created by italian leaders Enrico Letta (prime minister, 2013) and Giulia Bongiorno (a Minister in 2018-2019 Government). He often holds training sessions with members of the Italian National Security, and the Military – the Navy (Marina Militare) and the ChoD Staff (Stato Maggiore della Difesa). He also published a book on the American Intelligence Agencies (“L’Intelligence Americana”, 2002). Alberto is a Public Speaking expert, a national TV commentator and an editor. He founded the publishing house that bears his family name (Castelvecchi Editore, established 1993). He is an expert in new social trends, security and emerging international scenarios.
Natalina Cea is the Head of Mission of the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya. As an Italian civil servant, she has worked at a senior level for more than 20 years, both in Italy – as Director of the International Cooperation and Technical Assistance Office of the Italian Customs Administration – and internationally, leading missions, programs and projects in the civilian security sector, particularly in the field of border management and related security and justice issues. She has led the EC Mission CAM -Albania and more recently, she was at the head of two EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions: EUBAM Rafah in Palestine and the Regional Coordination Cell (RCC) in the Sahel. These experiences further developed her leadership capabilities in international contexts, particularly those affected by security crises. She has a thorough understanding of CSDP and its procedures, including planning and evaluation systems and reporting to PSC and CivCom, further enhanced by her most recent secondment to CPCC in Brussels. While serving in Italy, she headed a significant number of projects funded by the EU, covering countries in the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, thereby increasing her knowledge of security and border issues in the wider Mediterranean context, including cross-border cooperation agreements and integrated border management strategies and plans. Ms. CEA holds a degree in Economics and has completed several post-graduate courses in negotiation and mediation, Security Sector Reform, Theory of Change and impact evaluation. She has also coordinated studies on EU and international best practice in customs and regional border management and the security and defence sectors, including their presentation at international fora.
Emanuela C. Del Re has always been engaged in foreign policy carrying out intense activities such as negotiations, researches, international observation, publishing, and in her political activity in her capacity of Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy. becoming a point of reference for communities and institutions in many parts of the world.
Elected Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies in March 2018 (Movimento 5 Stelle), sitting until June 2021 when she resigned because she has been appointed EU Special Representative for the Sahel.
Former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in both President Giuseppe Conte Government I (from August 2018 to September 2019) and President Giuseppe Conte Government II (from August 2020 to February 2021).
Former Secretary of State to Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in both President Conte Government I (from June to August 2018) and President Conte Government II (from September 2019 to August 2020).
She has been a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission at the Italian Parliament (until June 2021).
In April 2021 she has been appointed President of the Standing Committee on the implementation of Agenda 2030 and sustainable development (until June 2021).
Italian scholar, sociologist, she is an expert in foreign policy, international relations, geopolitics, Conflict Studies, migrations, refugee issues, minorities, religious phenomena, connection axes and energy networks.
She has carried out long researches on field in conflict areas and areas in transition since 1990 (with grants), following the social-political-economic transformation of countries and regions in Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East and other. In witnessing the crises, she has given a voice to the populations from political representatives to the victims, through her publications, documentaries and academic activity as well as with her active participation in international fora.
Tenured researcher, she has obtained the title of Associated Professor in Sociology by the Italian Min. of Education and Research in 2014. She has been Jean Monnet Professor and course co-coordinator on “European Culture(s), Citizenship(s) and Governance” in the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University La Sapienza of Rome, where she has taught for many years. Lecturer in various Italian and international masters and PhD courses organized by prestigious institutions.
She has been Researcher at the European University Institute (1997 -2000) and Research Fellow at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (2001-2003).
She has been International Electoral Observer for the UN, EU, OSCE in more than 15 missions (Algeria, Yemen, South Africa, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kenya, Kosovo, Ukraine and others).
Member of the secretariat of the Forum for Cities in Transition active in more than 40 cities in conflict areas (2010-2018) with a focus of negotiating activities in divided cities aiming at the construction of an effective governance as a form of development and stabilization. Creator of synergy networks between local institutions, governmental institutions, civil society and universities in many countries and conflict areas with intense personal interaction with numerous communities. Founder and president (until 2017) of EPOS Intl. Negotiating and Mediating Operational Agency, active in conflict areas with projects for the reconstruction of the civil society and governance (in particular for refugees and welcoming communities).
Member of the scientific committee and editing board, and regular contributor of various leading scientific magazines, including “Limes, Italian Geopolitical Review”. She is the director of the Book Series “Globolitical”, ARACNE, Rome. Vice-Director of the academic first-class Review “Religioni e Società” (Religions and Society). Editor-in-Chief of the academic review “Journal of International Cooperation and Development”.
Panelist and speaker in many international fora. Reference-consultant for international institutions, research institutes and others. Member of numerous think tanks, institutes and organizations ECFR, IAI and others).
Presenter of papers, Keynote speaker, Chair and Organizer of panels and sessions in several conferences and seminars. Director and author of video- documentaries. Author of several books and essays.
Author of numerous essays and volumes on the themes of her researches and experiences. Director of film-documentaries on conflicts, coexistence and ethno-religious persecutions.
Dr. Daniel Fiott is Security and Defence Editor at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), a position he has held since 2016. At the EUISS, Daniel analyses EU security and defence policy. He is the Institute’s representative to the Executive Academic Board of the European Security and Defence College and he is the EUISS point of contact for the rotating Presidencies of the Council of the EU. Fiott is also the author of the annual EUISS publication the Yearbook of European Security. Before joining the EUISS, Daniel held research positions with the Research Foundation – Flanders, the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels and the College of Europe. He teaches European security at the Free University of Brussels and the Brussels School of International Studies at the University of Kent. Fiott was educated at the University of Cambridge and he obtained a PhD from the Free University of Brussels.
Admiral James Foggo is a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is also an Olmsted Scholar and Moreau Scholar, earning a Master of Public Administration at Harvard University and a Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies in Defense and Strategic Studies from the University of Strasbourg, France. He commanded the attack submarine, USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) in 1998, which was awarded the Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 8 Battle Efficiency award and the Commander Fleet Forces Command Admiral Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for being the most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet. Foggo served as Commodore of SUBRON-6 in 2007.
Over the last decade in Naples, Italy, he served in multiple major commands as Commander, Naval Forces Europe/Africa; Commander Allied Joint Force Command, Naples; Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet; Commander, Submarine Group 8; and Commander, Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South. During this period, he also served as the Operations Officer (J-3) for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn (Libya). Additionally, Foggo was a NATO Task Force commander in Joint Task Force Unified Protector (Libya). In 2018, he commanded Exercise Trident Juncture (Arctic Circle), the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War with over 50,000 personnel.
Ashore, he has served in a variety of assignments, most notably as Executive Assistant to the Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion (NAVSEA 08); Executive Assistant to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Executive Officer to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and Commander, European Command (EUCOM); and Director, Navy Staff.
Foggo’s awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and NATO Meritorious Service Medal. In addition, he was awarded the 1995 Adm. Charles A. Lockwood Award for Submarine Professional Excellence and the State of Oklahoma Distinguished Service award by the adjutant general. In 2006, he was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Merité and in 2017 he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French Government. In 2020, he was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, Commander of the Order of Merit of Italy, and Commander of the Cross of Saint George from Portugal. Foggo is also a Director of the Naval Historical Foundation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Explorer’s Club of New York, and has served on Advisory Boards to the Naval Submarine League, Olmsted Foundation Board, U. S. Naval Institute Board and is currently an active member of the Marine Corps University Editorial Board in Quantico, VA.
Franco Frattini is an Italian Magistrate, appointed State Prosecutor on 1981. On 1986 he is appointed by public competition Administrative magistrate. Today he is Justice and Chamber President to the Italian Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’Etat) and the President of the Italian Society for International Organization – UNA ITALY. He served twice as Former Italian Foreign Minister (2002-2004 and 2008-2011), and as VicePresident of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security (2004-2008). Previously, he had served as Secretary-General of the Prime Minister’s Office (1994), President of the Parliamentary Committee for Intelligence and Security Services and State Secrets (1996), Minister for Civil Service and for the Coordination of Information and Security Services (20012002), and Member of the Prime Minister Commission for the Constitutional reforms (2013 – 2014). He is appointed “Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic”, and “Commander of the Legion of honour” by the President of France. In 2011 Frattini receives the Golden neck-chain of the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The award was a recognition of his personal commitment and of Italy’s efforts to have the IOC awarded Observer status at the United Nations. Franco Frattini is also decorated with the “order of Friendship”, a State decoration of the Russian Federation.
Flavia Giacobbe is editor in chief of Formiche and AirPress. As a journalist, she has a long lasting experience in the direction of editorial products that manage to communicate with authority and continuity with the main national and international stakeholders and influencers.The monthly magazine “Formiche” has become in the last years a leading paper in institutional communication. The magazine “AirPress”, a monthly publication covering aerospace and defence policies, has established itself among stakeholders as an authoritative reference point for the reflection and the analyses aimed at the sector’s main actors.
With IOM since 1999, Laurence Hart, an Italian and British national, is the Director of the IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean in Rome. Since September 2019 he is responsible for IOM activities in Italy and Malta, as well as Representative to the Holy See. From January 2016 until August 2019 he was IOM Special Envoy/Chief of Mission for Afghanistan and previously Head of the Migrant Assistance Division in IOM Headquarters in Geneva. Prior to his posting in Geneva he was Chief of Mission in Libya, Chief of Mission in Tunisia, and Technical Cooperation Officer in the Regional Office for Central America and Mexico, based in Costa Rica. Special assignments include the appointment as Acting Director of the Department of Migration Management in IOM Geneva HQs (2015), and UN Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya in 2011.
Prior to joining IOM, Mr. Hart also served in several functions for OSCE in BosniaHerzegovina, and Albania, as well as for the United Nations Transition Administration (UNTAES), where he supported preparation, training, monitoring and follow-up of Parliamentary and Local Elections. Mr. Hart holds a Master Degree in Political Science (University of Torino), as well as a European Master Degree in Human Rights and Democratization. Mr. Hart is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish and he has lectured extensively on human trafficking and migrant protection and assistance.
Capt (N) Hans Huygens works since 2019 at the EU Military Staff, OPS Directorate, as Head of Strategic Foresight and Planning. He heads a strategic planning team that identifies (possible) crises, evaluates them from a military point of view and develops possible actions by the EU to remedy them, in a wider, EU Integrated Approach.
He previously worked for the Belgian Assistant Chief of Staff, Strategy and International Relations as Head of his Defence Policy Division, covering EU, NATO, UN, OSCE, Coalition, Bilateral and cross-cutting security and defence related policy issues.
In 2017, he moved on to this post from head of EU section in the same division, working on security issues where the EU is involved and Belgium is participating, on the EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy and its Implementation Plan and previously worked on the EU Maritime Security Strategy and its implementation.
He is an alumnus of the EU High Level Course (session Anna Lindh ’17), the 29th session of SERA (Session Européenne des Responsables d’Armement, ’17) and the 123rd Senior Course at the NATO Defence College in Rome (2013-14).
Prior to this, he was for two years Commanding Officer of the Belgian Navy’s frigate F931 Louise-Marie (2011-13), with which he participated to the EU counter piracy operation ATALANTA off the Horn of Africa and Somalia and in the Indian Ocean.
He previously helped plan and monitor this operation while working for three years as a strategic operations planner at the EU Military Staff in Brussels (2008-11). In this job, he also planned for the EU Training Mission in Somalia/Uganda and for Regional Maritime Capacity Building in the Horn of Africa (the later EU NESTOR and EUCAP SOM missions), as well as for several other smaller missions.
Captain Huygens has a 35-plus year long career in the Belgian Navy as a ‘ship driver’ and navigation & operations specialist, during which he totaled over 10 years on board of warships and participated to several international and national naval operations, spanning the Gulf War, the Balkan conflict in the Adriatic Sea, counter drug operations as well as counter piracy operations in Atlantic, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and African waters and the Indian Ocean. He served as an exchange officer on board of US Navy ships. He was also an Equerry to the King of the Belgians for some ten years. He is part time teacher of oceanography at the Military Academy since eight years.
A former Navy Officer, a senior executive, researcher and experienced consultant with technical and policy-related knowledge of cybersecurity. Addressing information security risks for more than 18 years, in complex business environments.
Working for a leading authority on information security and conducting a PhD on cyber risk measurement keeps me at the forefront of the cybersecurity field.
An experienced public speaker with extensive media exposure.
Specialties: Information Security, Cybersecurity in Critical National Infrastructure (specialised in the Maritime industry), Public Speaking, IT and OT networks, Risk Mitigation and Contingency Planning, Lecturing, Training Design and Delivery, Human Resources and Project Management, Security and Intelligence Analysis and Management
He has 25 years of work experience with the EU and the World Bank in and on the Arab World and the Middle East, covering diplomacy, development cooperation, and humanitarian aid. From 2019, he is the Deputy Head and Head of Political Affairs of European Union Delegation to Libya. From 2014 to 2019 he has been Manager of EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syria Crisis, the ‚Madad Fund’ (DG NEAR), in EU Brussels. From 2006 to 2013 Nadim Karkutli was the Deputy Head of Division for communications, Middle East affairs, crisis management and conflict prevention work, humanitarian aid policy, strategic communications (DG RELEX, ECHO), in EU Brussels. In the biennium 2005-2006, he worked as Senior Operations Officer for the West Bank & Gaza Country Team, in World Bank Washington DC, and in 2004-2005 he was Head of Cooperation, Post-tsunami relief and reconstruction, Aceh Peace Process, at EU Delegation Indonesia. From 2000 to 2004 he was Chargé at EU Delegation to the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, and from 1996 to 2000 he was in support for civil society peace networks in the Middle East (DG RELEX), at EU Brussels, Middle East Department – Middle East Peace Process.
Captain (Hellenic Navy) Stathis KYRIAKIDIS, is the Head of Division Operations Coordination in the EUMS and the Deputy Director of the EU Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP), Maritime Area of Interest Coordination Cell (MAICC). Captain Kyriakidis graduated from the Hellenic Navy Academy in 1990. He served on board surface units of the Hellenic Fleet, and he commanded the gunboat HS KRATEOS, as her first Commanding Officer, and the frigate HS ELLI. He has graduated, with distinction, form both the Hellenic Joint Supreme War College and the Hellenic Defence College. Among other Staff assignments, he has served as Advisor to the Chief of National Defence, as Head of the Plans and Policy Directorate of the Hellenic Navy and as the POLAD to the Chief of the Hellenic Navy.
From 2011 to 2014, Captain Kyriakidis served in NATO SHAPE, as Action Officer responsible for NATO Major Joint exercises (J7) and as Subject Matter Expert for the NATO Response Force (NRF). He was part of the SHAPE team established to confront the Russian annexation of Crimea. He holds a M.Sc.in Applied Physics from Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA USA (1996-1998), specialized in wireless networks (Dept of Computer Science) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in European Security, from the University of Geneva (2008). He has published several studies and articles in Greek Defence related press. He speaks English, French and Spanish.
Tarek Megerisi is a policy fellow with the North Africa and Middle East programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is a political analyst and researcher who specialises in Libyan affairs and more generally politics, governance and development in the Arab world. Megerisi started his career in Tripoli, Libya with the Sadeq Institute and various INGOs providing diverse research and democratisation assistance to Libya’s postrevolutionary authorities between 2012-2014. Megerisi returned to London in 2014 and has since been working freelance as an analyst and researcher, advising on Libya policy to a range of international missions to Libya, commentating on Libyan developments for publications like Foreign Policy, and co-authoring policy briefs or assisting with the Libya programming of a variety of think-tanks. He has also authored commissioned papers for organisations such as WPF and the Legatum Institute and contributed to wider publications for journals like ISPI. In 2017 he was part of the UN OHCHR team to update the Pinheiro Principles on Home, Land & Property Rights for the Middle East.
Alessia Melcangi is Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Contemporary History of North Africa and the Middle East at the Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, NonResident Senior Fellow for the North Africa and Middle East Program at the Atlantic Council and Associate Research Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Centre at ISPI. She is faculty member of the Master in Migration and Development, La Sapienza University of Rome and coordinator of its Socio-Political module and faculty member of the Master in Middle Eastern Studies – MIMES, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan. She collaborates with the Centre of Research on the Southern System and the Wider Mediterranean (CRiSSMA – Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan) and she is member of the scientific committee of the The Military Center for Strategic Studies (Ce.Mi.SS) of the Centre for Defense Higher Studies (CASD), Rome. She has been member of several working groups in Track-2 programs sponsored by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs about the contemporary Libyan political, economic and security dynamics and the issue of religious freedom and human rights in the Middle East. Her research is mainly into conflict and governance in the Middle East and North Africa; geopolitics and international relations in the Euro-Mediterranean area; identity and polarization dynamics in the contemporary Middle East; political and social issues in contemporary Egypt and Libya. Among here publications I copti nell’Egitto di Nasser. Tra politica e religione (1952 – 1970) (Carocci, Roma 2017).
and the co-edited North African Societies After the Arab Spring: Between Democracy and Islamic Awakening (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2016).
After having served at the Italian Embassy in Washington D.C. and as Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of Italy in Prague, Ambassador Minuto-Rizzo worked as Head of the External Relations Office of the EEC from 1981 to 1986. In the next years, his career focused on Europe and Space Policy. In 1997 he was appointed Diplomatic Counsellor of the Minister of Defence Beniamino Andreatta, then of his successors Carlo Scognamiglio and Sergio Mattarella. In 2000, Minuto-Rizzo held the position of Italian Ambassador to the Western European Union and to the Political and Security Committee of the EU, of which he was among the founding members. He was Deputy Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance between 2001 and 2007. His mandate was mostly carried out in the strategic-political industrial area, in the relations with sensitive countries such as those in the Gulf and the Southern Mediterranean. From 2008 to 2012 he was Senior Strategic Advisor of ENEL, making evaluation and geopolitical analysis related to the countries of interest to the firm. From 2013 to 2014, member of the Management Board of Finmeccanica spa – appointed by the Minister of Economy. He is the author of the books: “The road to Kabul” (Il Mulino-Arel, 2009); “A political journey without maps. Diversity and future in the Greater Middle East” (Rubbettino, 2013), and “NATO and the Middle East: The Making of a Partnership” (New Academia Publishing, 2018).
Pierluigi Montalbano is Associate Professor of International Economic Policy at Sapienza University of Rome and Associate Faculty at the Department of Economics, University of Sussex (UK). He is Chair Holder of the Jean Monnet Chair on “Rethinking EU Trade Policy for Development” and Director of MSc on “Migration and Development”, Sapienza University of Rome (IT). He is author and co-author of several, national and international, articles and scientific publications and lecturer in post-graduate and PhD courses, both in Italy and abroad. His research interests lie at the crossover of international Economics, development economics and cultural economics, with particular attention to the impact evaluation of public policies.
As an Associate Professor in Strategic and Security Studies, I have more than twenty years of experience designing courses and teaching military officers, civil servants and university students on subjects pertaining to international and maritime security, strategy and transnational security threats with emphasis on terrorism.
I was a Visiting Professor in Terrorism at the NATO School in Oberammergau for five years and Senior Associate Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford University. In 2009, I set up the first ever blended learning International MA programme in Applied Strategy and International Security to command-level staff at the Hellenic National Defence College (HNDC) -equivalent to the Royal College of Defence Studies- in Athens. I have supervised more than two hundred MA dissertations and a number of Doctoral students on strategic and security issues. I have published three monographs as well as a number of academic papers in a number of refereed and policy practitioner journals such as Defence Studies, Defence and Security Analysis, European Security, Mediterranean Quarterly, Central Asian Survey, Contemporary Security Policy, Mediterranean Politics, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Conflict Security Research Series-Sandhurst, and Contemporary Review.
As a Director of the Dartmouth Centre for Sea Power and Strategy, I have established strong links with professional and educational networks in the field of maritime security and strategy, which has spawned a number of collaborations and partnerships with NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM), Airbus Defence and Space UK, American University in the Emirates, Center for Maritime Strategy & Security at University of Kiel, NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre (NMIOTC), United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network initiative, Hellenic National Defence College and Hellenic Ministry of Defence.
To this end, in the last five years, I have personally organised in collaboration with MARCOM, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and the Hellenic National Defence College, a number of national-level conferences such as on ‘Deterrence and Defence: Allied Operational Dilemmas and Integrated Responses’ ‘Hybrid Warfare’. ‘Resurgent Russia’, ‘Application of Sea Power for NATO in the 21st century’ and ‘Mediterranean Security Threats’, (for more details see http://blogs.plymouth.ac.uk/dcss/category/events/
As a Director of the DCSS, I have implemented the accreditation of a number of professional courses from the British Government, including the Cyber Security Awareness Course for Seafarers (first British University to receive recognition), from Maritime Coast Guard Agency; Port Facility Security Officer Course, Department for Transport; Terrorism and Cyber Security Awareness Course with certified training by National Cyber Security Centre.
I am a Reader in East Asian Warfare & Security at the Department of War Studies (DWS), King’s College London, where I specialise in Japanese naval history and strategy and contemporary maritime issues in East Asia. One of the great things about being at DWS is that I can combine my area expertise with an in-depth knowledge of technical matters concerning military operations and strategy. In this respect, DWS is unique.
At King’s College London, I lead the Asian Security & Warfare Research Group and I am also a Research Associate at the King’s China Institute. I received my BA from the University of Naples and a DEA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. In Japan, I have been a Visiting Scholar at Aoyama Gakuin University and at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), both in Tokyo, and I am currently an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University Japan.
I am fluent in Japanese, French, English and, of course, Italian – my beloved mother tongue!
Speaking of Italy, since 2006, I have been a Visiting Lecturer in Naval Strategy and East Asian Security at the Italian Naval War College (ISMM), Venice. A great opportunity in one of the most stunning places in the world.
Born in Florence in 1964. He was appointed Director Public Affairs of Eni on July 1, 2020.
Having graduated with honors in 1988 in International Law at the Political Science faculty “Cesare Alfieri” at the University of Florence, he started working at a research center, while serving for two mandates in the local administration of Florence.
He was member of the Italian Parliament from 1996 to 2015 (1996/2004 and 2008/2015), and also member of the European Parliament (2004/2008). As an Italian MP, he was member of the Committees on Constitutional Affairs, European Affairs and on International Affairs. As a MEP in Brussels, he worked at the Economic and Monetary Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committees. During this period, he has also been the President of the EU-South Africa Delegation and a member of the Italian Delegation to the OSCE, where he conducted several monitoring missions in transitional democracies.
He served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy from 2013 to 2015. He resigned from all his institutional and political roles in July 2015, when he entered Eni as Senior Vice President for Strategic Analysis for Business Development Support. He was appointed Executive Vice President of International Affairs since on April 14th, 2017.
He taught and lectured at the University of Florence, the Overseas Studies Program of Stanford University and many others international academic institutions. He regularly contributed to many European and American think tanks and research centers specialized in international relations. Among other things, he’s a member of the Council of Chatham house, member of the board of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), member of the WE – World of Energy editorial committee and of the EastWest scientific committee.
He’s Vice Chairman of OME (Observatoire Mediterranéen de l’Energie) and member of the IRENA’s (International Renewable Energy Agency) Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation.
As a journalist, he regularly publishes in various newspapers issues related to European and international affairs and on specialized magazines, such as Limes. He authored several publications: in his last book, Il nuovo sogno arabo – Dopo le rivoluzioni, Feltrinelli 2012, he analyses the origin and challenges of the ‘Arab Spring’ and its impact on the geo-political scenario in North Africa and the Middle East.
Riccardo Redaelli is the Director of the Center for Research on the South and the Wider Mediterranean System (CRiSSMA) and Director of the Master in Middle Eastern Studies (MIMES) of the Catholic University of the S. Heart (Milano of the Catholic University of the S. Heart, Milano (Italy), and Full Professor of “Geopolitics”. He teaches also “History of Asia” and “Post Conflict and Emergency Management”.
He has been a Member of the “Observatory on Religious Minorities in the World and the Respect for Religious Freedom” of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For many years he has coordinated Track Two programs, focused on national reconciliation and scientific cooperation sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by the European Commission on the Middle Eastern region (especially in Iraq and Libya). He also joined Track Two programs with the Islamic Republic of Iran, in particular on the Iranian nuclear program. He also coordinated or joined research groups of the Italian Ministry of Defence.
He is member of several Steering Committees of Academic Institutes and Centers of Research and appears regularly as Columnist (Foreign Policy issues) of the Italian Newspaper Avvenire and other newspapers.
Dr. Moritz Rudolf is an Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). He is a lawyer and China Expert.
In 2020 he achieved a Ph.D. in international law at Humboldt University of Berlin (The China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – Political, historical and international legal aspects).
Always in 2020, he took the Second State Examination in Law at Superior Court of Justice, in Berlin.
From 2017 to 2020 he was Founder of Eurasia Bridges, in Berlin
In 2016 he was Fellow at Intlaw Research Group (KFG). “The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?“, in Berlin.
From 2014 to 2016, he was Researcher at Mercator Institute for China Studies, in Berlin.
Amb. Stefano Sannino is the European External Action Service Dep. Secretary General Economic and Global issues.
He has been Italy’s permanent representative to the European Union since July 2013.
He is as much at home in European affairs as in Italian diplomacy and politics, having served most recently as director-general of the European Commission’s department for enlargement.
In 2006-08, Sannino was the diplomatic adviser to Prime Minister Romano Prodi; in 2002-04, when Prodi was Commission president, Sannino worked in his private office, together with Sandro Gozi, Italy’s new Europe minister.
In the small world of the Italian political elite, Sannino made valuable connections early on. In 1998-2001, he worked as chief of staff to Italy’s trade minister: firstly for Piero Fassino, who was succeeded by Enrico Letta, who would go on to become prime minister in the spring of 2013 and who appointed Sannino to the ambassador’s post.
In his diplomatic career, Sannino was the head of the mission in Belgrade of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (2001-02); head of office of the secretary of state for foreign affairs in the first Prodi government (1996-98); and deputy chief of mission at the Italian embassy in Belgrade (1994-96).
Paolo Sellari is Associate Professor of Political and Economic Geography at the Department of Political Science of La Sapienza University.
In addition to the institutional course for the three-year degree, he teaches Geoeconomics and Geopolitics of Infrastructure for the specialist courses.
He has been working for years on the geography of transport and infrastructure, and published “Geopolitics of Transport” for Laterza in 2013 and “Eurasian Scenarios” (ed. Nuova cultura) in 2020.
He is the director of the second level Master’s degree in “Geopolitics and Global Security” at Sapienza University.
He is a regional trustee of the Italian Geographical Society.
Mr. Fabio Tambone is currently Director, Head of External International Relations, at ARERA (www.arera.it), the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy Networks and Environment.
He is also Executive Advisor to the Board of WAREG (www.wareg.org), the European Association of Water Regulators, gathering 30 water authorities in the European continent.
Till February 2021, and for more than 10 years, he has been Secretary General of MEDREG (www.medreg-regulators.org), the organization gathering 25 national energy authorities in the Mediterranean region.
He previously worked at the World Bank in Washington DC (USA), the European Commission in Brussels (Belgium), and for other private and public organizations carrying out strategic research and managing international cooperation projects and programs on energy and other industrial sectors.
He was invited as speaker in many national and international panel and was author of several articles and publications.
He earned a Leadership Executive Program at SDA Bocconi, an MBA at MIP-School of Management (Politecnico di Milano) and graduated in economics at Università di Bologna.
In 2010 he has been appointed by the President of the Italian Republic “Cavaliere dell’ordine al merito della Repubblica”.
Roie Yellinek earned his Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel. He is a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, a non-resident scholar at the Middle-East Institute, and an adjunct researcher at the IDF-Dado Center. He is a specialist in the growing relationships between the Middle East and China, especially in regards to the soft power component of Chinese diplomacy. He has written extensively on the China-Middle east relationship and he is a frequently commentator in local and international media.
Dr Umberto Profazio is a Maghreb Analyst at the NATO Defense College Foundation. He regularly writes about political developments, security and terrorism in the North Africa region, focusing on the conflict in Libya, the politics and geopolitics of the Maghreb and the role of non-state actors.
Dr Profazio was previously a Libya analyst working on the Armed Conflict Database at The IISS. He holds a PhD in history of international relations from the University of Rome (Sapienza), with a thesis on Libya after independence. Dr Profazio has been interviewed by several media sources, including Agenzia Nova, Al Arabiya, Arab News, Bloomberg, Il Foglio, Radio Popolare, Radio Rai 3, Radio 24, RFI and TRT.
Hannah Roberts is a freelance reporter, feature-writer and fixer working in Italy and across the Mediterranean.
She moved to Rome in 2013 and has since then covered many of the major events that have recently buffeted the European continent, including terrorism and the rise of nationalism and populism. She has reported extensively on the mafia exposing the infiltration of mob clans in the agriculture and food industry in a FT magazine cover story and the appropriation of EU funds. She covered the refugee crisis from all angles, following a Syrian refugee from southern Italy to Calais, interviewing prosecutors in Sicily and Gaddafi clan members in Cairo, reporting from the beach in Turkey where Alan Kurdi drowned as well as the camps on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Kos revealing attacks by the Greek Coastguard on migrant boats. She speaks fluent Spanish and Italian and conversational French and has lived and worked as a journalist around the globe including in South Africa, India, London and New York. In 2019 she was part of the Financial Times team that won the Press Award for the Europopulists series and was awarded a special mention at the Biagio Agnes award in Italy
POLITICO, The Financial Times, The Times, Politico, The Daily Telegraph, the i, the Independent, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mail, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and other national and international titles
She has worked on the production teams of BBC documentaries securing an exclusive interview with the lead-victim against Harvey Weinstein for Panorama, and is a frequent commentator on Italy for BBC and Times radio.
Dr. Gallia Lindenstrauss is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies and specializes in Turkish foreign policy. Her additional research interests are ethnic conflicts, Azerbaijan’s foreign policy, the Cyprus issue, and the Kurds. She has written extensively on these topics and her commentaries and op-eds have appeared in all of the Israeli major media outlets, as well as in international outlets such as National Interest, Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey Analyst and Insight Turkey. Dr. Lindenstrauss completed her Ph.D. in the Department of International Relations at Hebrew University. She formerly lectured at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University, and a visiting fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Guy Platten was appointed Secretary General of ICS in August 2018.
He has extensive experience in the maritime industry both at sea and ashore and is a qualified Master Mariner. He has held a number of senior positions including Chief Executive of the UK Chamber of Shipping, Chief Executive of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (a ferry and port owning company providing lifeline ferry services to communities in Scotland) and Director of Marine Operations for the Northern Lighthouse Board which is responsible for lighthouses, buoys, beacons and Aids to Navigation throughout Scotland and the Isle of Man.
“I am privileged to work with an amazing secretariat team here at ICS. Their knowledge and experience is outstanding and together we stand ready to assist our members and the wider shipping community in overcoming the many challenges facing the industry both now and in the future”.
Guy Platten, Secretary General
Guy’s career at sea began in 1982 with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service. He joined the RNLI in 1993 as an Inspector of Lifeboats, latterly as Inspector for Scotland training and overseeing lifeboat crews around the coast and following this he served with the MOD as a Salvage Officer and led or contributed to a number of projects including the removal of oil from a sunken World War 2 battleship, recovery of ditched aircraft and the refloating of a grounded warship.
Amjad Ahmad is director and resident senior fellow of empowerME at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.
EmpowerME focuses on shaping innovative investments to empower entrepreneurs, women, and youth in the Middle East. EmpowerME also develops strategies and policies to drive sustainable prosperity through the creation of dynamic entrepreneurial economies, the economic participation of women, the integration of regional economies, and educational transformation.
Amjad is also managing partner of the venture capital firm Precinct Partners and serves on the boards of Eyewa, Tapal Tea, RSA Global, Mumzworld, Mr. Usta and The Luxury Closet. Based in the United Arab Emirates for fifteen years prior to moving to Washington, DC, Amjad has collaborated with business leaders and entrepreneurs to build leading companies in the Middle East. Through his work as a venture capital and growth investor, Amjad established two investment firms in the region that provided over $1 billion in funding to over fifty companies in sectors ranging from technology and education to healthcare and finance. During the past five years, Amjad has focused his investments on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.
Amjad holds a master’s degree in international affairs with a concentration in international finance and economics from Columbia University and is a graduate of the general management program at Harvard Business School.
Roberta Boniotti is Secretary General of MEDENER, the Mediterranean Association of National Agencies for Energy Management, since 2016, and Advisor on International and European Affairs at ENEA “Institutional Affairs, EU and International Relations Unit”, in Brussels, since 2010. Previously, she was a Member of Board of Directors and Chair/Member of Board of Auditors in several private research companies in the energy and environment field, member of the ENEA Spin-off Committee, responsible for Business Plans’ evaluation (1999-2006), and Head of Unit “Company Relations Management” at ENEA Headquarters in Rome (2006-2010). Roberta Boniotti is an economist, holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bologna, and has more than 20 years of experience in the sectors of energy, the environment, and sustainable economic development. She is ENEA representative in the EnR, the European Energy Network, and in the EEFIG, the Energy Efficiency Financial Institution Group, managed by the EU Commission, aiming at accelerating private finance to energy efficiency. She has been working as a member of the Advisory Board of Sustainable Energy Investments Forums Initiative (EU Commission and several financial and non-financial institutions) for some years, and she was a member of the Africa Europe High-Level Platform for sustainable energy investment in Africa, in the working group “Business models and sustainable energy investments”. She is member of the Executive Working group of TAFTIE, the European association of leading Innovation Agencies, and animator of the “High potential SME Community” managed by Euroquity (BPIFrance). She has been involved in different EU funded projects, drafting and budgeting several projects, including the recent meetMED (phase I and II) “Mitigation enabling Energy Transition in the Mediterranean region”.
Marwa Mohamed is the Head of Advocacy and Outreach of Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL), a Libyan and international independent NGO that works on and in Libya with a growing network of lawyers, activists, human rights defenders and grassroots communities across and outside the country. In her current role, Marwa monitors the human rights situation in Libya, identifies advocacy strategies and represents LFJL in government briefings, missions to the UN Headquarters, African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights and ICC Assembly of States Parties. Through advocacy and outreach, accountability, transitional justice initiatives and capacity building, LFJL seeks justice in Libya. LFJL is also engaged on work related to gender, terrorism and counter-terrorism including feminist approaches to counter-terrorism policy and a review of resolution 1325. Prior to LFJL, Marwa worked as the Libya Researcher with Amnesty International documenting ongoing human rights violations in Libya. With expertise in the field of refugee protection and migration, Marwa worked with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights across North Africa including the Western Sahara and the emergency response during the Syria crisis. Marwa holds a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the American University in Cairo.
Bochra Bel Has Hmida is an attorney at the Court of Cassation and a member of the Assembly of People’s Representatives since 2014. She is a feminist activist who has contributed to the creation of several associations and has participated in human rights campaigns. She was the President of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and then appointed General Secretary from 2003 to 2005. She is a member of the first network of Arab women. Additionally, she is also the co-founder and member of The Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region, working with women in conflict zones on UNSC Resolution 1325 related issues. She was appointed President of the Committee on Rights and Freedoms of the People’s Assembly, is President of the Committee on Individual Freedoms and Equality and member of the G7 Avisory Council for Gender Equality. She has given several conferences internationally. She was awarded honors by several Arab and Western organizations and women’s magazines additionally to being given the medal of the Type 2 Order of the Republic, the Anna Lindh Civil Society Award in 2015, the Hero award of the Global Campaign against Extremism and Intolerance from the International Coalition of Hope and Fatima El Fehri award from the Muslims for Progressive Values Association. She has always been involved in mediation, as a lawyer practicing family mediation, as an activist when attending international trials and investigation on human rights violations including sexual violence in conflict zones and as a member of parliament negotiating between parties including for the introduction of a law on violence again women.
Having joined the Naval Academy in Brest in 1983, Didier Piaton entered the realm of naval aviation at the beginning of his career. As a junior officer, he qualified as a helicopter pilot and specialized in anti-submarine warfare. He then was deployed in many operations notably in the Gulf, Horn of Africa and the Balkans. He concluded his first operational experience by commanding the newly created helicopter 36th squadron based in Toulon.
Graduated from Joint War College in 2000, he was then assigned to the Joint Military Headquarters in Paris where he carried out strategic level planning duties, dealing in particular with NATO and EU-led operations in the Balkans.
Between 2004 and 2010, he served mainly at sea assuming command of a surveillance frigate based in the French West Indies (FS Ventôse 2004-2006), and the recently commissioned LHD Mistral based in Toulon (2008-2010).
After this operational period, where he contributed mainly to counter-narcotics trafficking operations, crisis prevention in the Gulf of Guinea, and emergency interventions operations, he attended the 117th session of the NATO Defence College Senior Course in Rome (2010-2011).
He started this senior level part of his career with shore appointments including Human Resources management (2011-2014) as well as Public Affairs Officer and spokesman for the Chief of Staff of the French Navy (2014-2016).
Promoted Rear-Admiral (LH) in 2016, he assumed command of French Naval Forces deployed in the Indian Ocean and of the French forces based in Abu Dhabi, acting also as French National contingent Commander of Operation for Inherent Resolve (Iraq) until 2018. He served as deputy to the Chief of Staff/Operations at the Joint Staff in Paris (2018-2020), supervising the COVID-19 ministerial crisis cell from the Joint Staff.
Upon promotion to his present rank in June 2020, Vice-Admiral Piaton has been the Deputy Commander at the Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) in Northwood (UK).
He holds various decorations and awards, including Commander of the Legion of Honour, Commander of the National Merit, the Military Valour Cross, the Overseas Medal (Middle East and Somalia clasps), and the Aeronautical Medal.
Married to Dominique, they raised five beloved children.
Paul Taylor, a contributing editor at POLITICO, writes the “Europe At Large” column. He is also a senior fellow at the think-tank Friends of Europe.
For the past quarter century, Paul has covered the main events in European integration, and the main crises, and knows where the bodies are buried. His column looks at the intersection of EU politics and economics.
Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford in 1977 in Modern History and Modern Languages. He joined Reuters that year, serving as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Tehran, Bonn and Brussels (NATO) before his first assignment as bureau chief in Israel/Palestine in 1986-90. He was Berlin bureau chief in 1990-91, chief correspondent in France from 1991-97, diplomatic editor based in London in 1997-2001 and Brussels bureau chief 2001-08.
As European Affairs Editor, Paul led Reuters award-winning coverage of the eurozone crisis and wrote the bi-monthly “Inside Europe” column for the International New York Times from 2008 until he retired from Reuters in 2016. Since then he has published two reports for Friends of Europe on France, Germany and the future of European defense. He is now working on a third one on Britain’s role in European security after Brexit.
Married with two children, Paul lives in Paris and Saint-Remy-de-Provence with his wife Catherine. When not writing on European affairs, he plays jazz piano and enjoys cooking, languages and history.
Lieutenant General Pascal Delerce, French Air Force, has been the Deputy Commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, since August 2019.
He joined the French Air Force Academy in Salon-de-Provence in 1985 and graduated as a fighter pilot in 1988. Serving in operating units on Mirage F1C and M2000 as Air Defence pilot he has flown more than 2,500 flying hours among others during 115 combat missions in operations over Chad, Iraq and Kosovo.
After attending the French War College, he took command of the 2/2 Fighter Squadron «Côte d’Or» in 2002. During this operational period, he participated in several major exercises such as Tactical Leadership Programme, Red Flag and Maple Flag and shared his expertise inside NATO structures.
In 2003, he served as an expert in the execution of policy at the French Air Force inspectorate with a focus on air safety.
Four years later, he was assigned to the General Secretariat for National Defence, an inter-ministerial body under the authority of the French Prime Minister. Within the framework of the Air Security project his main tasks included Air Policing and military and civilian airport security.
In the summer 2009, he became Commander of Tours Air Base and, subsequently, the representative at French Air Force Air Staff and Secretary General of the Military Council for Staff in Paris, where he looked after the airmen conditions.
In 2013, he was appointed as Commander of the National Air Operations Centre at Lyon. Promoted Brigadier General on 1 August 2015, he assumed command of the Air Operations Brigade at the Air Defence and Air Operations Command; during this time he assumed command of the Joint Force Air Component for Central and West Africa located in Lyon, leading several air and joint operations in this theater, in coordination with the operational level in N’Djamena, Chad.
In 2017, he was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Air Force Command in Bordeaux-Merignac. Upon promotion to Major General on 1 March 2018, he was assigned as the Deputy Commander of the Air Force Command.
General Pascal Delerce and his wife Sophie have been married since 1990 and have three daughters. He is passionately fond of sports, especially rugby and enjoys educational and historical visits.
