Diplomatic Academy - The Conversation

This episode focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)and the energy prospects in the Eastern Mediterranean. It engages in a conversation on international law, international arbitration and negotiation, conflict mitigation, and some of the legal disputes presented in pipeline projects in the region. Maria Athanasiou holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of South Wales and a Master’s degree in International Commercial Law from Cardiff University. She is also pursuing her Doctorate in the field on the Law of the Sea at the University of Nicosia. Being a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, Maria is the Founder of Athanasiou & Associates LLC, based in Cyprus. Moreover, Maria is a co-author of the book “The Future of the Maritime Industry” and a Lecturer in Law at the European University and the Cyprus Maritime Academy. She is involved in various exhibitions concerning Energy security in the framework of international law.

This episode engages with women's role in CSDP Missions and Operations in the EU and beyond. What sort of deficits are there when it comes to gender mainstreaming? How should the EU approach its civilian and military components in line with the Women Peace and Security Agenda? What sort of advisors should we have behind the scenes and in the field? These questions, including many more, are all discussed in this episode. Veronika Hornyák is a PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of Military Sciences of the University of Public Service - Ludovika. She is a Doctoral Fellow of the Doctoral School on Common Security and Defence Policy at the European Security and Defence College. She holds Master’s degrees in International Public Service Relations and International Security and Defence Policy from the National University of Public Service, and a postgraduate diploma in Sports Diplomacy from Széchenyi István University. Her area of expertise is European security and defence, and her PhD research focuses on gender mainstreaming in EU-led military missions. Alongside her doctoral studies, Veronika works as a consultant on capacity building projects in the fields of internationalization, education, and gender equality. Veronika is a prospective Fulbright scholar for AY2023/2024 and will pursue a non-degree program at American University in Washington D.C.

This episode looks at the Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the region of the Middle East, as well as the impact this rivalry brings upon conflict, with the example of the Yemeni civil war. This conversation also considers the ways through which the states in the Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean sub-regions engage with the Saudi-Iranian rivalry. Alexandra Nikopoulou is a PhD Candidate at the University of Peloponnese, Greece. Her research focuses on proxy wars, regional security, the antagonism between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the role of great powers in the Middle Eastern sub-system. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International and European Studies from the University of Piraeus and an MA in Mediterranean Studies from the University of Peloponnese. Since 2017, she serves as an research associate at the Center for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS).

This episode looks at questions pertaining to the public disclosure of intelligence. Why do states and agencies publicly disclose intelligence? How do they benefit from such practices? How is it done? And to what extent does society understand intelligence to begin with? Listen to our guest, Dr. Riemer, to find out more. Dr. Ofek Riemer is an adjunct lecturer at the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the coordinator of the Israeli Forum for Intelligence Studies. He earned his PhD in October 2022 from the Hebrew University for his dissertation, titled, "States' Public Intelligence Disclosure in International Relations". He holds an M.A. in Diplomacy and Security and a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, both from Tel Aviv University. He has published in Contemporary Security Policy and has written commentaries for War on the Rocks and the Institute for National Security Studies.

Season 4 of The Conversation starts with Dr Andrew Hom elaborating on the concept of time in the spatial imaginary of International Relations. We discuss what constitutes time, the ontological questions behind it, who creates and uses time within international politics, and why it is useful for policymakers to acknowledge their use of time. Dr Andrew Hom is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the intersections of time, international relations, and just war theory. He has previously worked as a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow and as an Adjunct Lecturer at Vanderbilt University. Dr Hom has published in several journals, including International Studies Review and Security Dialogue, and has co-edited volumes on related research.

This episode features a conversation on civil society groups and their capacity of grassroots involvement in the policy-making and security processes, with examples derived from Poland and Ukraine. Bohdana Kurylo is a PhD candidate at University College London, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is a recipient of the Victor and Rita Swoboda Memorial Scholarship, the Overseas Research Scholarship and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies Excellence Scholarship. Her research interests include security theory, international political sociology, social movements, populism and Eastern Europe. Contributing to Security Studies, Bohdana’s research investigates how civil society can become empowered as a security actor in the context of perceived emergency. It draws on a vernacular contextual approach in combination with semi-structured interviews and social media research to study the meanings of security, emergency and power that guide the action of local agents. On the one hand, her dissertation examines the discourses and practices of Ukrainian civil society groups against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war (2014-). On the other, it explores the mobilisation of Polish civil society around the issue of reproductive rights in the lead-up to the 2021 near-total ban on abortion. Alongside her PhD project, Bohdana has been conducting research on the populist politics of security, focusing on the discursive and aesthetic ways through which populists enact (in)security in various contexts. UCL Profile: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/bohdana-kurylo

(Originally recorded 17th February - 1 week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine) This episode hosts a discussion on regional security, the role of the European Union, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and IR theories and concepts. Neli Kirilova is a PhD candidate in International Relations and Security Studies at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and a PhD Fellow at the European Doctoral School on CSDP, at the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). Her PhD research explores the geopolitical competition in the Black Sea region between Russia, Turkey and the EU, and the incompatible concept of power as a reason for international conflicts and security crises. As a visiting researcher at the Brussels School of International Studies at the University of Kent from April to October 2020, she developed a theoretical framework on contemporary balance of power theory, something which she applies to the Black Sea region. She undertook her expert interviews during a diplomatic traineeship at the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU between Nov 2017 and July 2018. Neli Kirilova holds an International Masters degree in Russian, Central and East European Studies (University of Glasgow, UK), an MA in Political Science (Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary), an MA in International Relations: International Public Administration and a BA in International Relations (University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria). She pursued international exchange studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, and held visiting fellowships at the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in Baku, and the Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She successfully defended two MA theses: ‘The role of Russia within BSEC. Implications to regional diplomacy’ (2015) and ‘Energy diplomacy in the EU-Russia relations and the role of Bulgaria’ (2013).

This episode focuses on Artificial Intelligence in modern warfare and military automation. It also features a discussion on the ethical use of emerging technologies in conflict. Such discussion is much needed in order to understand our changing world, as well as the conditions that shape and repeat history itself. Originally a historian and a sociologist, Maaike Verbruggen now studies the future of warfare. She is a Doctoral Researcher at the Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). Her specialty is the intersection between emerging technologies, military innovation, and arms control, and she is currently finishing up her PhD on military innovation in Artificial Intelligence – and particularly the controversies behind it.

This episode takes a more technical twist. It looks at cyber autonomy, cyber capabilities, and critical infrastructure within the European Union and the private sector. Iryna Leroy has more than 14 years of working experience in ICT and SaaS solutions at international ICT companies in Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. Iryna has relevant higher education and work experience qualifications in journalism, marketing (Public Relations, Investors Relations) and international economics. She has worked closely with ministries of health and education in Caucasus and Central Asian countries for 7 years, supporting the digital transformation processes for academic institutions. Mrs. Leroy is the author of the book “Building a reputation. Experience of non-governmental organizations”. She joined the European Security and Defence College as a PhD Fellow in 2020 and has served as a representative of the Doctoral Fellows at the ESDC. Iryna also helps businesses and government institutions with digital transformation processes, where ICT, SaaS and Cloud solutions are implemented and integrated. Currently, she is working as Head of Core Western Europe Department in one of the biggest French IT and R&D companies, responsible for the security of payments application development in BeNeLux and Western Europe. From 2021, Iryna also teaches Risk Management at the Université de Lorraine, France

This episode brings us to the more complex yet interesting dynamics within the European Union’s Defence Structure. Andreas Theofilis is a PhD researcher at the University of Peloponnese. He is also a PhD CSDP fellow at the doctoral School of the European Security and Defence College. His research focuses on how the EU defence structure has been developed. Moreover, Andreas Theofilis is an officer of the Hellenic Navy. He graduated from the Hellenic Navy's Petty Οfficers' Academy as an electrician in 1997. Afterwards, he served at warships until 2011, when he was placed at the Directorate of IT and Communications at the Hellenic Navy General Staff. In 2014, he started studying Political Science and International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese. He graduated in 2018 with distinction. In the same year, he was repositioned at the Plans and Policy Directorate at the Hellenic Navy General Staff, assuming staff officer duties at the Defence Planning department. His duties relate to National Defence Planning, the participation of the Hellenic Navy in the PESCO (the Permanent Structured Cooperation), and the management of a PESCO project led by the Hellenic Navy. Mr Theofilis holds a Master's Degree in "Global Risk and Analytics" and has earned "Honourable Mention " for academic excellence by the Chief of the Hellenic Navy twice.

Season 3 Episode 1 kicks off in conversation with Dr Constantinos Adamides, Director of the Diplomatic Academy. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the Middle East - to what extent are interventions as such branded a success or a failure? What lessons can we draw from Afghanistan and other cases as such? Listen to S3E1 to find out more. Dr Constantinos Adamides is an Associate Professor of International Relations and the Associate Head of the Department of Politics and Governance at the University of Nicosia, where he also serves as the Director of the Diplomatic Academy. Further to the academic activities at the University, he also continues to develop a close relationship between the Diplomatic Academy and the government sector, especially the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the National Guard, as well as with foreign diplomatic Missions in Cyprus, and other international organizations that focus on diplomatic and security-related issues, such as the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies in Germany and the Center for Study and Practice of Conflict Resolution at the University of Malta. Dr Adamides was also appointed by President Nicos Anastasiades as a Member of the first Geostrategic Council of the Republic of Cyprus (2014-2018), contributing to the development of reports and analyses for the President and/or other government officials on issues pertinent to geopolitical developments. Furthermore, he was appointed as a member of the inter-ministerial task force responsible for drafting the first Cypriot National Security Strategy. Dr Adamides holds a PhD in Political Science and International Studies, an MA in Diplomacy and International Relations, an MBA in Finance, and a BSc in Finance and Political Science. His research focuses mostly on protracted conflicts, security, the future of warfare, cybersecurity, terrorism, EU foreign and security policy, and securitization theory.

[Originally recorded: May 2021] From cyber-threat intelligence and advanced persistent threats (APTs), to the attribution problem in cyberspace and the geopolitical landscape, this episode addresses some of the most emminent online and cybersecurity issues states and corporate actors face. What are these threats and concerns really about? How do entities react and respond? Camille Bigot is a Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at Deloitte in London. She has spent the last three years as an analyst at both Security Alliance and Control Risks, mostly working for large financial organisations. She is also undertaking a part-time PhD in Computer Science at King’s College London, applying data-driven approaches based on the MITRE framework to malware attribution. She also holds the CREST Registered Threat Intelligence (CTIA) accreditation. She has a rather eclectic academic background, having read International Relations and Social Anthropology at St Andrews, as well as holding an MPhil in Gender Studies and an MPhil in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. In her spare time, she enjoys her daily runs having performed a half-marathon during the first lockdown and the first wave of COVID-19.

[Originally recorded: May 2021] It is widely acknowledged that politics and security priorities vary from region to region. What threats, interests, and priorities do the Baltic states have? How do external players behave in the region? What sort of policies are they willing to pursue? In this episode, Dr Matthew Crandall at Tallin University shares his insights and latest work. Dr Matthew Crandall is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, where he also defended his PhD (2016). He completed a master’s degree in EU-Russian Studies from the University of Tartu (2010) and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University (USA) in Political Science (2007). His research interests include small state security and contemporary security threats. He has published in Contemporary Security Policy, Defence Studies, East European Politics, and Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe.

This episode looks at political violence, clandestine and covert operations, strategic theory, conflict, and security. We also explore some themes related to Dr Aaron Edwards' related book, "Agents of Influence: Britain's Secret Intelligence War Against the IRA". Aaron Edwards is a Senior Lecturer in Defence and International Affairs in the Faculty for the Study of Leadership, Security and Warfare at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he teaches on an International Security Studies course. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow the School of History, Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, Strategy in War and Peace: A Critical Introduction (Edinburgh University Press, 2017), UVF: Behind the Mask (Merrion Press, 2017) and Agents of Influence: Britain’s Secret Intelligence War Against the IRA (Merrion Press, 2021). Get your copy of "Agents of Influence": https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/agents-of-influence/ For more on Dr Edwards' work: http://aaron-edwards.co.uk/

This episode focuses on an interdisciplinary approach towards health, mortality, and the socio-economic implications and determinants of inequalities. In conversation with Dijana Spasenoska, we explore this topic through a new, fresh lens. Dijana Spasenoska is a PhD candidate in Demography and Population Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on the impact of socio-economic and political changes on health and mortality; particularly changes that happened as a result of the transition from communism to democracy in the Western Balkan countries. She is interested in understanding health and determinants to poor health, and her previous degrees gave her the tools to understand it from different perspectives. While her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London, has given her a perspective in understanding diseases at the molecular level, during her postgraduate degree in Global Population Health from the LSE, she explored how poor health is attributable to long-term accumulation of harmful experiences and can be affected by other macro-level conditions and events. In addition, Dijana also has experience in working with international organizations, such as the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on projects focusing on generating evidence and using evidence based decision-making in low- and middle- income countries to promote coverage and equity of immunization. She has worked closely with numerous countries where she supported the implementation of a methodology she has developed.

This episode explores Turkish foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean. What objectives does Turkey have? How and why is Turkish foreign policy revisionist? What about the conflict and the presence of non-state actors in the region? And what do Turkish actions mean for other regional players? Dr Zenonas Tziarras is a Researcher with PRIO Cyprus Centre, focusing on Eastern Mediterranean geopolitics. He is also the co-founder of Geopolitical Cyprus. His latest monograph (2020, in Greek) is titled International Politics in the Eastern Mediterranean. PRIO Profile: https://www.prio.org/People/Person/?x=10787 Geopolitical Cyprus: https://geopoliticalcyprus.org/the-team/

This episode discusses popular mobilisation, sectarianism, social movements, and the process of framing these in Lebanon. Contentious repertoires and politics is a very prevalent theme in various cases, including that of Lebanon, as observed recently. Anne Kirstine Rønn is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University, part of the Project on Sectarianism, Proxies, & De-sectarianisation (Project SEPAD), and a guest researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies. Her research focuses on how civil society can contribute to de-sectarianize socio-political life in divided societies. In her dissertation, she looks into the various strategies anti-sectarian social movements in Lebanon and Bosnia-Herzegovina use to oppose sect-based politics and promote political communities that transcend sectarian divides. With an offset in Social Movement Theory, she investigates how choices of framing, movement organization and contentious repertoires impact processes of mobilization, demobilization and movement development. Anne Kirstine holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from University of Copenhagen and a master’s degree in International Studies from Aarhus University. Academically, she has a great interest in inter-communal conflict, identity politics, social movements in non-democratic settings and Middle Eastern relations.

This episode explores the radical left, left-wing politics, protests, and social movements in Cyprus and beyond. Dr Yiannos Katsourides at the University of Nicosia shares with us his insights and his new upcoming projects on the radical left. Dr Yiannos Katsourides is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Department of Politics and Governance of the University of Nicosia. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cyprus. He was previously Director of Prometheus Research Institute and adjunct lecturer at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Cyprus. He has held visiting fellowships from the Hellenic Observatory of the European Institute of the LSE, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies of the University of London for 5 years (2010-2015) and the British School at Athens. His research interests include South European Politics, Cyprus and Greek politics, radical left and extreme right political parties, political participation, and political institutions. He is the author of three books: The History of the Communist Party in Cyprus (I.B. Tauris, 2014); The Radical Left in Government: the cases of SYRIZA and AKEL (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); The Greek Cypriot Nationalist Right in the Era of British Colonialism (Springer, 2017). His articles have appeared in West European Politics, South European Society and Politics, Nations and Nationalism and in the Journal of European Integration, among others.

This episode takes a legal and Constructivist take of crises and identity-shaping. It addresses the multi-faceted themes of crises such as the late financial crisis in Europe, COVID-19, and EU citizenship. It also addresses the issue of Brexit and how it is generally understood in different contexts. Dr Katerina Kalaitzaki was appointed as an Early Career Fellow in EU Law at the Edinburgh Law School in September 2019. She is acting as the Course Organiser for a number of courses including European Law Moot Court, New Classics of EU Law, Brexit: Withdrawal from the European Union and European Union Law Ordinary. She has further teaching duties both on the LLM and the LLB programmes in the area of European Union Law and she was also acting as the Programme Director for the European Law LLM programme during the 2019-20 academic year. Dr Kalaitzaki is also an accredited mediator in the UK since April 2019 and a non-practising lawyer (Cyprus Legal Board) since September 2015. She was awarded her PhD for her thesis “EU citizenship as a means of reinforcement of EU fundamental rights: challenges, developments, limits” in June 2019, after submitting it in December 2018. The research, using the case study of the financial crisis, proposes that a constructivist approach to EU citizenship can constitute the key element in reinforcing the current fundamental rights protection system, through a structural link with EU fundamental, based on a newly developed doctrine of the CJEU. Dr Kalaitzaki's research interests lie in the area of EU citizenship and EU fundamental principles and values. Current projects deal with the development and/or potential use of these concepts, including the rule of law principle, during periods of crises such as Brexit and the rule of law crisis.

This episode looks at the unique geopolitical and security dynamics generated in the Eastern Mediterranean, the US and Russia role, as well as the psychological and strategic aspects of security crises in the region. Dr. Vassilis Kappis is Deputy Director and Lecturer at the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies in the University of Buckingham (BUCSIS), as well as a Visiting Professor at the War Studies University of Poland. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree (2016) in International Security from the University of Sydney and Master’s degrees in Strategic Studies and European Integration from the Australian National University and the London School of Economics, respectively. Before joining the University of Buckingham, Bill undertook post-doc research at the University of Tel-Aviv (2015-2016). His research interests lie in the strategic and psychological aspects of security crises and foreign policy decision-making, as well as the geopolitical dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean with an emphasis on great power competition in the region. Bill, has, finally presented his work in numerous conferences and workshops and has been awarded by the University of Sydney for his excellent teaching practices (2013).