Professor Mansouri is the Director of the Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University and Co-director of the Strategic Research Centre for Comparative Social Research.

He holds a Research Chair in Migration and Intercultural Studies and is the Director of the Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University and Co-director of the Strategic Research Centre for Comparative Social Research.Professor Mansouri is also the founding Convener of the Australia-Middle East Research Forum (AMERF)

Professor Mansouri is the author of many books including ‘Lives in Limbo: Voices of Refugees under Temporary Protection’ (UNSW Press, Sydney 2004, with MP Leach), ‘Australia and the Middle East: A Frontline Relationship’ (I.B. Tauris, London/New York 2006); and two edited volumes on ‘Political Islam and Human Security’ and ‘Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West’, (I.B. Tauris/Palgrave: London/New York, 2007, with S Akbarzadeh). His most recent books are ‘Identity, Education, and Belonging: Arab and Muslim Youth in Contemporary Australia’ (MUP, Melbourne 2008, with S Wood) and ‘Youth Identity and Migration: Culture, Values and Social Connectedness’ (2009, Common Ground Publishers, Melbourne). His forthcoming books include ‘Globalisation and the Politics of Forced Migrations’ and ‘Migration, Citizenship and Intercultural Relations’ (Ashgate, 2010).

Previously, Anna was a lecturer in Sociology and in Politics for the Global Terrorism Research Centre (GTReC) at the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University. She was also a researcher for the UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations – Asia Pacific, Monash University. (2005-2012).  She continues to collaborate with the UNESCO Chair and GTReC on intercultural and interreligious relations research and community building projects in and beyond Australia.

Anna holds degrees from Monash University (PhD 2010), the University of New England (Master of Letters in Peace Studies 2000 and Grad. Dip. Ed 2005) and the University of Melbourne (BA 1991). Prior to joining Monash, Anna coordinated the Religion and Peacebuilding Program at the International Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Melbourne.

Anna’s current and recent research projects/interests include: The Multifaith Movement in Australia, the USA and the UK; The Multifaith Movement in Asia; Buddhism in Australia; Multifaith Education and Social Inclusion; and Perceptions of Multiculturalism and Security in Victoria.

Anna’s work has been published in the following books and journals: Terrorism and Social Exclusion: Misplaced Risk – Common Security; International Handbook of Inter-religious Education; Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century; Buddhism in Australia: Traditions in Change; Cultivating Wisdom Harvesting Peace: Education for a Culture of Peace; Political Theology; Studies of Conflict and Terrorism; the Journal of Religious Education and the Journal of Research in International Education.

Dr. Benjamin Isakhan is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Comparative Social Research, and a faculty member of the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, Australia. Previously, Dr. Isakhan has been a Research Fellow with the Centre for Dialogue at La Trobe University and a Research Fellow and Lecturer for the Griffith Islamic Research Unit, part of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, Australia.

In 2009, he was awarded his Ph.D. for a thesis entitled Discourses of Democracy: ‘Oriental Despotism’ and the Democratization of Iraq which received high appraisal from international and national assessors. This work is currently being re-worked into a book tentatively titled Democracy in Iraq: History, Politics and Discourse (Ashgate, 2012). Dr. Isakhan is also the co-editor of The Secret History of Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy (Edinburgh University Press, 2012), both with Stephen Stockwell.

In addition, he has authored several publications including book chapters in Islam and the Australian News Media (Melbourne University Press, 2010) and is the author of refereed articles in the journals Middle East Policy, International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Global Media Journal, Journal of Sociology, Australian Journalism Review and the Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies. Dr. Isakhan has also given guest lectures at The Centre for Middle Eastern Studies and The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago as well as The Middle East Institute at Columbia University (New York).

In his time as a Research Fellow at both La Trobe and Griffith University’s, Dr. Isakhan has collaborated on a number of research projects and publications including The Politics of Withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq; Who Speaks for Islam?; Obama and the Middle East Peace Process; The History of Democracy; Measuring Islam in Australia; and The Arab Revolutions in Context.

Dr. Isakhan is a member of the Middle East Studies Association (US); The American Academic Research Intitute in Iraq (US and Iraq); The International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies (UK); The Middle East Institute (US); The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (UK) among others.

Dr. Bowker became Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at Australian National University (ANU) in 2008, following his retirement from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) at the conclusion of his posting as Australian ambassador to Egypt.

A specialist on Middle East and Islamic issues, Dr. Bowker joined the then-Australian Department of External Affairs in 1971. He had six overseas postings with DFAT. In addition to serving as Australian ambassador to Egypt (2005-2008) and to Jordan (1989-1992), he served in Jeddah (1974-1976) and Damascus (1979 to 1981).

From 1994-1995 Dr. Bowker was the DFAT research scholar at the Australian National University’s Centre for Middle East and Central Asian Studies. In 1997-1998 he was Director, External Relations and Public Information, and subsequently Senior Adviser, Policy Research of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza and Jerusalem. From 2001-2003 he was seconded from DFAT to the Directing Staff of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at the Australian Defence College, Canberra.

Prior to his posting as Ambassador to Egypt, he was the Visiting Reader in the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia), at the ANU teaching graduate courses on the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Persian Gulf security.

Dr. Bowker is the author of three books on Middle East issues. He has a PhD and MA from the ANU, and a BA (Hons.) from the University of Melbourne.

Andrew Tan is Associate Professor and Convenor for international studies at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The author, editor or co-editor of 13 books published by leading academic publishers such as Routledge, Edward Elgar and Palgrave Macmillan, he specializes in the areas of defense, terrorism and insurgency, and has special expertise on Southeast Asia.

Prior to joining the University of New South Wales, he was a senior lecturer in defense studies, King’s College London, and was based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Watchfield, UK, where he taught defense studies as well as a range of defense studies courses to senior military commanders from the UK, NATO and the Commonwealth. He has also previously worked and researched at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore, where he taught security analysts from the Asia-Pacific in the strategic studies program.

Born in Singapore, Professor Tan performed national service in the Singapore Armed Forces and joined Singapore’s Foreign Ministry. He then left for Australia to pursue an academic career and is today a naturalized Australian. He has spoken at many major international conferences and his advice on regional security issues has been sought after by governments, corporations, universities, research institutes and the media.

He is a prolific author who has established an international reputation through his research. His research articles and book reviews have appeared in leading academic journals, including Contemporary Security Policy, Contemporary Southeast Asia, International Affairs, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Defence Studies, Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Harvard Asia Quarterly, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Asia-Pacific Review.

He has also written, edited or co-edited 13 books, including the following: US Strategy Against Global Terrorism: How it Evolved, Why it Failed and Where it is Headed (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), The Global Arms Trade (London: Routledge, 2010), A Handbook of Terrorism and Insurgency in Southeast Asia (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2007), The Politics of Maritime Power (London: Routledge, 2007), The Politics of Terrorism (London: Routledge, 2007), Security Perspectives of the Malay Archipelago: Security Linkages in the Second Front in the War on Terrorism (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2004), and A Political and Economic Dictionary of Southeast Asia (London: Europa / Taylor and Francis, 2004).

Professor Tan was educated in Singapore, Cambridge and Sydney, where he obtained his PhD. He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (UK).

Amin Saikal is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies  at Australian National University. He is a leading authority on Afghanistan, and author of Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (2006).

He is also a member of many national and international academic organisations, and the author of numerous works on the Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia. His major works include The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran from Autocracy to Religious Rule (Princeton University Press, 2009); Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (I.B. Tauris, 2006); Islam and the West: Conflict or Co-operation? (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); (co-author) Regime Change in Afghanistan: Foreign Intervention and the Politics of Legitimacy (Westview Press, 1991); (co-editor) Islamic Perspectives on the New Millennium (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004); (co-editor) Democratization in the Middle East: Experiences, Struggles, Challenges (New York: United Nations University Press, 2003); (co-editor) The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Cambridge University Press, 1989); (co-editor) Russia: In Search of its Future (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

Professor Saikal has also published many articles in international journals, as well as numerous feature articles in major international newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune. He is a frequent commentator on radio and television. He has a long association with ANU and brings to the Centre a rich source of knowledge and experience in the University’s operations.