Thomas Matyók, Ph.D. (USA) is Executive Director of the Joint Civil-Military Interaction Network and Senior Lecturer in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Middle Georgia State University, USA. Tom conducts high-impact, policy-relevant studies regarding the strategic environment, its principle strategic challenges, and the relative balance of national and human security ends, ways, and means to contend with them. Tom also investigates ways of merging design and conflict analysis and resolution methodologies to achieve a multi-dimensional understanding of conflict. Tom was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Konstanz in Southern Germany researching the role of international student exchanges in strengthening the Trans-Atlantic Partnership using a Peace Studies dual-degree curriculum. He has published and presented on Civil-Military Interaction, Religion and Conflict, Negotiation, and Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He has taught Conflict Analysis and Negotiation at both the US Army and Air War Colleges and he was a Visiting Research Professor at the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). Tom is a former Director of the US Air Force Negotiation Center. Email is: thomas.matyok@outlook.com (Founding Member)

Ansgar Gohlke (Germany) serves as Civil- Military Interaction staff- officer in the Multinational Joint Headquarters in Ulm, Germany. Since 2013, his task is to facilitate Civil- Military Interaction in Joint Planning, Joint Coordination, Joint Support, Joint liaison and civil-military training and education. He is a member of Interacta Global Network. (Founding Member)

Francesca Dell’Acqua (Italy) is a high-energy professional working with the UN, NATO, EU, OSCE, academic institutions and other international organizations in the field of international development, post-conflict reconstruction, governance and democratization, civil military relations, humanitarian assistance and human rights. Francesca is a Trainer in negotiation, intercultural communication, security and gender issues with experience gained in conflict and post-conflict areas in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Email is: francescadellacqua@gmail.com (Founding Member)

Yvan Ilunga, Ph.D. (USA) is Deputy Director of JCMI and assistant professor of political science at Central State University in Ohio, USA. He holds a Ph.D. in Global Affairs from Rutgers University. His research agenda broadly focuses on international relations, security, peace and development, but more specifically on questions related to humanitarian action, civil– military interactions, natural resources-based conflicts, peace operations, regional cooperation and security, and economic and social sustainability. Some of his past affiliation include a visiting scholar in department of peace and conflicts at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, visiting scholar at the New Jersey Institute of technology (USA), and visiting lecturer at the School of Economics and Political Governance (ECOPO), DRC. Apart from academia, Dr. Ilunga has also worked intensively with Think Tanks, Not-for-Profit organizations, business consulting firms, as well as micro finance institutions and small businesses in the area of investment and risk assessment in fragile states and conflict regions. Dr Ilunga is a member of the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON). He is the author of the book Humanitarianism and Security: Trouble and Hope at the Heart of Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).

Srečko Zajc (Slovenia) was in his career journalist, chief editor, manager, secretary general of the national Red Cross society. He joined to the MoD in 2008 and developed Slovenian civilian contribution to the ISAF. Until September 2019 he served as Director General of the Defense Affairs Directorate. Main subjects: Defense plan, Critical Infrastructure Protection, resilience, civilian support to the military, civil-military cooperation, and interaction. In June 2019, the NATO CCOE awarded him with the CIMIC Award of Excellence. Hi is a member of Interacta Global Network

William Flavin (USA) is currently an independent consultant on peace and stabilization. Previously, he was the Assistant Director at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Institute (PKSOI) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Mr. Flavin assisted PKSOI with the implementation of its Joint Proponent responsibilities in peace and stability operations coordinating with Department of Defense, Department of State and USAID. Additionally, he assisted with advancing the U.S. government’s United Nations initiatives by working with the key member states as well as NGOs and international fora. Previously he was a senior foreign affairs analyst with Booz Allen and Hamilton on contract to assist the Peacekeeping Institute in doctrine development. Prior to this assignment, he was a Colonel in the U.S. Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from June 1995 to June 1999. Mr. Flavin served in the US Army for 31 years in Infantry and Special Forces where he has had extensive experience in planning and executing at the strategic and operational level. He has participated in many of the key operations from Viet Nam through the Balkans. He was the Special Operations Chair at the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) from 1991 to 1995 and prior to that served on the staffs of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Department of the Army. He has published on the topics of Peace and Stabilization Operations as well as interagency and civil military operations. Bill can be reached at: william.flavin@comcast.net

Maximilian Kallabis (Germany) serves as Civil- Military Interaction officer in the Multinational Joint Headquarters in Ulm, Germany. Since 2020, his task is to facilitate Civil- Military Interaction in Joint Planning, Joint Coordination, Joint Support, Joint Liaison and Civil-Military Training and Education. As a former Public Affairs officer he is adding his perspective within the comprehensive approach to Peace Operations. E-Mail is maximilian.kallabis@gmx.ch 

Howard Lind (USA) is serving as the President and Executive Director of the International Stability Operations Association that represents private sector companies and non-governmental organizations who work in fragile states around the world. Previously, Mr. Lind previously served as a Washington DC representative for the Fluor Government Group regarding work in the middle east and central Asia. Prior to joining Fluor, Mr. Lind served in the Departments of Defense and State in the offices of Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction from 2003 to 2007. He began at the Pentagon in support of Iraq and Afghanistan, then in the State Department’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office. Following that assignment, Mr. Lind served again in the Pentagon in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA-ALT) as Deputy Director for the Iraq Project and Contracting Office. Mr. Lind began his professional career as a US Naval Officer. After a 20-year career, he retired at the rank of Commander having served aboard five Navy ships of the line and at Navy headquarters staffs. Mr. Lind received a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Maj Fritz (Slovenia) graduated from Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia (1999) and holds a master’s degree in European Studies (2008). He has been working for the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Slovenia since 1991. His interests and research include intelligence and security issues, peace operations and military outsourcing. He is a guest lecturer at Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, lecturing on private security industry and international defense cooperation.

Colonel R. Scott Buran (USA), USMC (Retired) Areas of Expertise: Non-Lethal Weapons, Naval Expeditionary Operations, Operational Planning and Military Art, Use of Force, U.S. Congressional Matters. Colonel Scott Buran is currently the Executive Director, Cor Christi Trinitate, a non-profit 501(c)3 institute dedicated to the development of the moral conscience and the renewal of ethics, moral leadership, and spirituality in vocations. Colonel Buran is also a War, Peace, and Justice Symposium (WPJS) project coordinator and currently resides in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Prior to his retirement on 1 September 2012, Colonel Buran served as the U.S. Marine Corps Senior Service Representative at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA. From 1 September 2013 through 15 May 2014 Colonel Buran served as the Maritime Stability Operations advisor to the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Colonel Buran was employed by The Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory, State College, PA as a Non-Lethal Weapons Course Instructor from 2013-2020.

Yuri Loboda (Ukraine) is a leading researcher at the National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Cherniakhovskyi (Kyiv). Yuriy concentrates on strategic epistemology, theory of strategic intelligence analysis, academic civil-military relations; courses he has taught include: “Intellectual dominating on the battlefield”, “Introduction to strategic epistemology”, “Critical thinking for intelligence officers”, “History of military science”. Yuriy was a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge (2010), NTNU, Trondheim (2012), University of York (UK, 2013), University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Fulbright Scholar, 2015-2016), University of Wurzburg (DAAD scholarship, 2017). Yuriy has an MA in War Studies (KCL) and is a candidate of Philosophic Sciences.

Frederik Koolhof (Netherlands) CMI/Civil Affairs Independent contractor, field operator, and staff officer. Being an entrepreneur and CIMIC officer and contractor Fred has been supporting international organizations in a multicultural setting for more than 20 years. Fred assists organizations, teams, and individuals in getting and keeping effectively moving into an ever changing environment, exercising the art of effective communication, or even better “verbal judo”. Applying an open mind and the will to explore ways for cooperation are the most important assets to bring dialogue into effect, rather than discussion. Fred@Ontdekkingsreizigerbv.nl

Iztok Prezelj (Slovenia) Ph.D., is a Professor and Vice-Dean for Scientific Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is directing research process in the Institute of Social Sciences with 20 research centers (https://www.fdv.uni-lj.si/en/research/institute-of-social-science). He was a Head of Defence Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the period from 2015-2017. His teaching and research activities cover national security, threat and risk assessment, terrorism & counterterrorism, comparative defense systems, crisis management and critical infrastructure. Iztok Prezelj is a President of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia (http://en.euroatlantic.org/). He is a member of Interacta Global Network and he can be reached at: iztok.prezelj@fdv.uni-lj.si. Further info can be obtained on: https://www.fdv.uni-lj.si/en/news-and-information/contacts/teachers/info/iztok-prezelj 

Scott Buran (USA) Prior to Colonel Scott Buran’s retirement on September 1, 2012 after 30 years of military service in the United States Marine Corps, Colonel Buran served as a faculty member in the Department of Military Strategy, Planning and Operations (DMSPO) and as the U.S. Marine Corps Senior Service Representative at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA. From 1 September 2013 through 15 May 2014 Colonel Buran served as the Maritime Stability Operations advisor to the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, PA. Colonel Buran was also employed by The Pennsylvania State University
Applied Research Laboratory, State College, PA as a Non-Lethal Weapons Course Instructor from 2013-2020. Colonel Buran is currently the Executive Director, Cor Christi Trinitate, a non-profit 501(c)3institute dedicated to the development of the moral conscience and the renewal of ethics, moral leadership, and spirituality in vocations. Colonel Buran is also a War, Peace, and Justice Symposium (WPJS) project coordinator and a resident of Carlisle, PA. His email is: rsburan@gmail.com

Leslie Parks (USA) Leslie D. “Les” Parks, Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Army, is a Member of the Joint Civil-Military Interaction (JCMI) research and Education Network. As an Army Civil Affairs Officer, he is a 25-year veteran of the practical level Civil-Military Operations and Interactions.  He has lectured at the UK Defence Academy at Shrivenham’s Spatial Socio-Cultural Knowledge Workshop.  He has planned and executed Civil-Military activities from the ground level to the strategic.  He has a BA in International Relations from the California State University, LA and is a Graduate of the Resident US Army Command and General Staff College.  He has a graduate certificate in Stability, Security, and Development in Complex Operation from the Naval Post Graduate School. Lieutenant Colonel Parks is currently a senior Civil Affairs Planner in Germany.  He can be reached at: parksattila@att.net

Phillip Allinger (Germany) Philip Allinger is attached as a member of the reserves to the Multinational Joint Headquarters, CIMIC in Ulm. His main interests are Just War Theory and it’s modern application, the interaction between civilian stakeholders and the military as well as the processes that allow a fruitful cooperation for both sides. He received a dual master degree in Public Administration/Political Science and in Peace and Conflict Studies from the universities of Greensboro/NC and Konstanz/Germany. In his civilian job, he’s working as a career  counsellor for the German Federal Employment agency with a focus on digitalization, the fourth industrial revolution and its implications for the modern working environment.

Davit Petrosyan (USA) is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Politics and Public Administration of the University of Konstanz in Germany. In his research, Davit currently focuses on the role of humanitarian NGOs in civil wars, their strategic potential, utilization, and weaponization in the hybrid warfare of civil war actors and stakeholders. His prior research and interest areas cover the theory of national security, surveillance studies and counterterrorism, and the politics and security of Europe and the post-Soviet space. Davit received his dual master’s in Political Science and International Security Studies from the University of Konstanz and Charles University in Prague. Davit can be reached at: davit.petrosyan@uni-konstanz.de

Maurizio Geri, Ph.D. (Italy) is an international consultant with 20 years’ experience in research and civilian operations on peace and security, international order, democratization, human rights and collective defense, in particular in the area of MENA and Africa. Former analyst on MENA/Africa at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Virginia, US and NATO Southern Hub in Naples, Italy, Dr. Geri currently works as analyst for different think tanks, including Three Stones International, Euro Gulf Information Center and the Center for the Innovation of Defense at the Italian Defense General Staff (MOD). Dr. Geri holds a PhD in International Studies (major International Conflict and Cooperation) from Old Dominion University in Virginia, a MA in Cultural Studies and a BA in Political Science from the University of Florence, Italy. His latest publication is a 2018 Palgrave book on “Ethnic Minorities in Democratizing Muslim Countries: Turkey and Indonesia”. He has professional experience also as officer on the field in different countries of Latin America and South Asia, with different INGOs (to include Peace Brigades International and Nonviolent Peaceforce) in Southeast Asia on mediation and peacebuilding with local NGOs and in the US researching on international issues for different centers, to include The Carter Center and The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.