CEO (Acting)

E. Azaz has directed and developed research, policy, and program initiatives for over 2 decades in the Indo-Pacific and Europe with universities, think tanks, INGOs, and multilateral organisations, and has served as a consultant on a spectrum of related issues to migration and regional stability.

Director

Hugh Tuckfield has a career that spans policy, law, academia, and international consulting. His expertise lies in international human rights, international relations, and political science. He has consulted in a diverse range of issue areas, including education, human rights law, Indigenous rights, climate and the environment, human trafficking, refugee rights, and global migration in the Indo-Pacific region. He has worked in the field on human rights issues and advocacy in Nepal and Bangladesh and is a member of the Global Campus of Human Rights.

Hugh's academic journey began at Monash University, where he earned bachelor degrees in Economics and Law, followed by a Master of Human Rights and Democratization (Asia-Pacific Region) from the University of Sydney and the Kathmandu School of Law. He completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Sydney in the discipline of Government and International Relations, investigating and explaining the influence of the two great powers, China, and the United States, on small states in the Indo-Pacific region to comply with international norms in the face of great power coercion.

In the legal arena, Hugh has been admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Hugh was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, a WZB Sydney University Merit Fellow at the WZB Social Science Center in Berlin and was an associate of the Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Center.

He has consulted for the UN, state, and federal governments in Australia and provided advice to international and national human rights organizations on a diverse range of issues. Hugh has presented papers at numerous international conferences and published articles and papers on human rights and refugee studies.

Hugh has lectured at the University of Sydney and the Kathmandu School of Law on subjects including international human rights, research methods, and the regional and global governance of migration.

Deputy Director

Dr. Kumari Mansi is a distinguished scholar and educator with a multifaceted background in both French studies and Political Science. Currently, she holds the prestigious position of MoFA Taiwan Fellow at the National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition, she has been honored with the Ministry of Education Taiwan Short Term Research Award (2022) at the post-doc level.

Dr. Mansi has been contributing to the academic community as an Assistant Professor at Amity University, Haryana, India, since 2013.

Her teaching journey began earlier as a guest lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Ministry of Defense, India.

Her academic achievements are further highlighted by the awards she has received, including the Shastri Indo-Canadian Students Mobility Program (2012) and the Shastri Knowledge Grants Award (2014). These accolades reflect her dedication to research and education.

Dr. Mansi's educational background is both rich and diverse. She earned her PhD from the School of International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). In addition to her doctoral studies, she holds two Master's degrees: an MA in French and an MA in Political Science.

With her extensive experience, innovative research, and commitment to education, Dr. Kumari Mansi continues to be a leading figure in her field. Her work in both language studies and political science showcases her versatility and passion for fostering international understanding and collaboration.

Non-Resident Fellow

Barbara is a post-doctoral research fellow with the Biosecurity and One Health Centre, Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University in Australia She is also a Fulbright Fellow and spent 2021–2022 at Kansas State University, USA. She is passionate about environmental biosecurity (modelling, monitoring, and surveillance) and how it relates to food security, focusing on the mitigation and impact of crop pests and diseases. She has worked extensively in multidisciplinary settings in Southern Africa and Australia as a statistical consultant. She is currently working on a project on environmental insecurity risks in the IndoPacific Region, exploring how extreme weather events exacerbate the occurrence of pests and disease outbreaks that threaten food security at national, regional, and global levels. The project aims to identify strategic opportunities for enhanced environmental diplomacy for Australia and to inform and influence policy debate on food security.

Non-Resident Fellow

Rubiat Saimum is a lecturer in the Department of Maritime Security and Strategic Studies at BSMR Maritime University. He has graduated from the Department of International Relations at the University of Dhaka.He is a Fellow at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) and a visiting fellow at the Sea Power Centre-Australia, the research directorate of the Australian Navy. His policy pieces have appeared in the East Asia Forum, International Policy Digest, Dhaka Tribune, Asia Times, and Modern Diplomacy. His peer-reviewed articles have been featured in China Report, Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs, and the Journal of Bangladesh and Global Affairs. He has also co-authored a monograph on the strategic and security landscape of the Bay of Bengal. Before joining BSMR Maritime University, Rubiat served as a researcher at the Bangladesh Institute of Maritime Research and Development (BIMRAD). He has a keen interests in South Asian history and geopolitics. His core research interests are Foreign Policy formulation, Regional Security Complex, Maritime Security, Governance and Emerging Technologies.

Fellow

Captain Parmar, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and Defence Services Staff College, served in the Indian Navy from 1987 to 2023. A Sea King pilot, he commanded ships and a key helicopter squadron. He represented the Indian Navy at international conferences and was part of the XI Indian Antarctic Summer Expedition in 1991. As Director (Strategy) at IHQ MoD (Navy), he contributed to revising the maritime security strategy. At the Maritime Doctrines and Concepts Centre, he directed strategic maritime assessments and doctrine development. Joining the National Maritime Foundation in 2018, he served as Executive Director and Senior Fellow, focusing on national and maritime security strategies in the Indo-Pacific and international maritime law. Currently a Distinguished Fellow at the United Service Institution of India, he specializes in lawfare and related aspects.

Fellow

Michael’s research centers on international security studies, with high-tech policy, Sino-U.S. relations, and Cross-Strait relations being the focal points. While pursuing my master's at Tsinghua University, he concurrently serves as a Young Ambassador at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Carnegie China) and an International Relations Technical-Governance Researcher at the World Institute of Politics, Economics and Technology. Having lived in both China and the U.S. for a dozen years, I have cultivated a profound interest in and understanding of the power dynamics of our century. Michael is a Master's student (in transition to a PhD degree) in International Relations at Tsinghua University.

Fellow

Ian Katusiime is a Ugandan journalist, researcher, governance consultant, and foreign policy analyst. He is the author of Foreign Policy by Troop Deployment, a paper on how Uganda conducts its foreign policy in the East, Central and Horn of Africa regions that was published by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

He has also written a paper assessing the viability of the troop drawdown in the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) published by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Regional Programme Security Dialogue for East Africa.

He has contributed a chapter to Monstrous Anger of the Guns, a book sponsored by the UK-based Peace and Justice Project. Ian is a consultant with the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he works on executive briefings for diplomats posted to the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions.

In 2022, Ian did a migration fellowship with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Uganda under their Youth for Policy Program, where he focused on the role of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in its refugee response in Uganda. In November 2022, Ian spoke at the 12th IREN Thought Leaders Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on the impact of ongoing global conflicts on Africa’s strategic interests.

Ian is the Founding Editor of Leo Africa Review where he is a contributor, and a Senior Reporter at The Independent where he covers politics, security and foreign affairs.

Fellow

Sakshi is an author, geopolitical researcher, and public speaker. Her professional journey spans impactful roles encompassing research, policy development, and international relations across diverse organizations like the National Maritime Foundation and YOUNGO. Her peace and climate change articles are also published in the Bharata First Newsletter of Frank Rausan Pereira, the Usanas Foundation, and The Diplomat. Sakshi’s policy recommendations are listed in Global Youth statements and recognised by ministries. Recently, I was interviewed at Al-Qahera NewsTV- Cairo News Channel on economic offerings, green bonds, and environmental jobs. I work under the Human Rights Working Group and am an organizing team member of the UNFCCC COP28 and SB58 of the UN Climate Change Secretariat Side Event under its preview. I have also represented the HR Working Group as a keynote speaker at educational webinars in collaboration with UNA-USA and COP28.

Fellow

Genevieve Donnellon-May is a geopolitical and global strategy advisor interested in regional resource conflict and environmental governance in Asia. Currently, she is the Asia-Pacific analyst at The Red Line and a researcher at the Oxford Global Society. Genevieve is a 2023 CSIS Pacific Young Leader, a 2023 Yenching Global Symposium, and has been listed on the 2023 Young Women to Watch International Affairs by Young Australians in International Affairs.

Fellow

Pratik Purswani is a Lecturer at Jindal Global Law School (Sonipat, India). He completed his LL.B. from Symbiosis Law School (Pune) and LL.M. from Leiden University (the Netherlands). Pratik’s primary area of interest is public international law. More specifically, he researched on topics related to international environmental law, climate change law, and human rights law.

Fellow

Santram is from the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg and is an experienced policy analyst with a passion for carbon dioxide removals. Skilled in policy development and environmental advocacy with thorough knowledge of the Paris agreement, the global methane pledge, and UNCLOS.

Fellow

Maximilian is a PhD student at the SciencesPo Paris. Maximilian’s interests lie in maritime security, networked security and alliances in the Indo-Pacific, EU foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific

Fellow

Alex is from the University of Nairobi and assists farmers and organizations in the adoption of digital technologies, the transformation of farming strategies through the use of technology and data, and the evangelization of how people, processes, and technology can improve food security.

Fellow

Vivek Mishra is a fellow with ORF’s Strategic Studies Programme. His research interests include America in the Indian Ocean, Indo-Pacific, and Asia-Pacific regions, particularly the role of the US in security in South Asia, Indo-US defence relations, and the Indian defence sector.

Fellow

Rogelio Leal is a Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences and Government, Department of Political Science and International Relations at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico. He holds a joint PhD in Political Science & China Studies from King’s College London and the National University of Singapore. His research interests include Confucianism, Chinese political thought, ethical governance, global affairs, statecraft, security, and public and economic diplomacy.

Fellow

Kelly Arévalo is a Professor in government and international relations, with an emphasis in political studies and international organizations, and holds a Master's in Management for Development from the Externado de Colombia University.

Kelly has experience in market research, coordination of academic programs, and higher education. with an emphasis on Asian studies, mainly India and South Asia.

Fellow

Manuel Carranza is a research assistant for the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies and a non-resident fellow at the Joint Special Operations University. He had the privilege of undertaking study opportunities at military academies and defense-affiliated institutions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, and the United States.

Fellow

Xian Hong is a Master's graduate of International Relations and National Security at Curtin University. I worked with the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. I also worked as an intern Research Analyst with Future Directions International in Perth, WA. I recently just completed a project with Blue Security Australia on current maritime governance in ASEAN.

Fellow

Milan is an independent scholar and activist working in the fields of human rights, IR and development cooperation. Currently, I am an MPhil. PhD student. I have taught the above subject in the past and have also served on the field for the past 23 years.

Fellow

Neelmani Verma is an independent human rights law consultant and a member of the International Criminal Court Bar Association.

Fellow

Cherry is a non-resident Vasey Fellowship at Pacific Forum Hawaii, USA, where their research is based on Sino-American Maritime Governance Models and their implications for the Pacific Islands and the Network for Advanced Study of China (NASC) Fellowship at Takshashila Institution, India, where they research on China's discourse power under Xi Jinping through a study of political cartoons.

Fellow

Kester is an aspiring foreign policy analyst and a recent graduate in Global Affairs and Policy from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. He currently works as a research intern for the ‘UK in the World' programme at Chatham House, where he covers the most pressing foreign policy challenges facing the UK, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific. Kester is also a nonresident James A. Kelly Korea Fellow at the Pacific Forum, where he explores the interconnected security dynamics between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions and investigates strategies to facilitate closer engagement between the two to bolster regional and international security. While in South Korea, Kester worked at the Peninsula Diplomacy Group Forum, the East Asia Institute (EAI), the Yonsei Center for International Studies, and the Yonsei Center on Oceania.

Fellow

Abhishek Sharma is a Research Associate at the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), pursuing his Ph.D. from the Department of East Asian Studies at Delhi University. He is also a non-resident Kelly fellow at Pacific Forum and a NASC fellow at Takshashila Institution. His research focuses on the intersection of geopolitics and critical emerging technologies, particularly cyber strategy, cyber capabilities, and critical minerals in the Indo-Pacific region.

Intern

Alex is from the University of Nairobi and assists farmers and organizations in the adoption of digital technologies, the transformation of farming strategies through the use of technology and data, and the evangelization of how people, processes, and technology can improve food security.

Intern

Ritikka is pursuing her masters in political science. As a student of political science, Ritikka always had an interest on Foreign Policy/International Relations or other programs such as Human Rights.

Intern

Intern

Ridimmha has published 15 newsletters as a research intern at Organization For Research On China and Asia (ORCA) , worked on articles for ORCA on topic ‘Monopoly of China on lithium supply chain’ and the Bihar Business Connect translation projects (Chinese) . Ridimmha was the rapporteur for closed-door roundtable discussion on “China’s Global Initiatives Underscoring its New Era Ambitions” and rapporteur for CCSEAS@50 conference on topic, “Major Areas of Research on Indian Literature in China (1950- 2020)”.

Intern

Intern

Rana Danish Nisar has been associated with the department of Politics and International relations at the University of Sargodha, Pakistan. He completed his PhD in international relations. His research interests are international security, Security structure & competition in Indo-Pacific, Nuclearization & conventional militarization of Indo-Pacific, Traditional and non-traditional security threats & challenges in the I.R era, health security in the post-pandemic era, and digital health. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 21st century warfare, non-kinetic warfare (gray-zone warfare, neuro-warfare, wisdom warfare, EMP weapons), India-Pakistan arms race & South Asia security belt, Rectangle competition: China-Pakistan vs. USA-India. He widely publishes in international and national journals and occasionally writes commentaries, op-eds on global power politics.