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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.