Dr. Bernard Lim
Bernard is an experienced practicing psychologist, who has worked with and applied psychological principles in various settings. His experience spans corporate communications, assessment, selection, Organisational Development, leadership and team effectiveness as well as policy evaluation and research using evidence-based approaches. Bernard is a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is a Registered Psychologist and currently president of the Singapore Psychological Society.
Dr. Bruno Stefan
Born in the eastern Romanian town of Galati, Bruno Stefan graduated from University of Bucharest’s Sociology Faculty in 1993. In 2005 he completed his doctoral studies at the same university. Following the demise of the communist system, Dr. Stefan joined the newly formed Independent Centre for Social Studies and Opinion Polling within the Group for Social Dialogue and became its deputy director in 1994. Since 1993 he has been lecturing at the University “Politehnica” of Bucharest in the field of organisational sociology and general sociology.
In 1999 Dr Stefan formed the Bureau for Social Research (BCS), a non-governmental research institution that carried out over 400 studies since its formation. BCS carried out a series of monthly political opinion measurements and proved itself by carrying out highly accurate pre-electoral research.
Dr. Stefan acted as an advisor for numerous political figures in Romania. He also published 13 books, of which 4 as the sole author. These works include: “The Romanian Penal Environment” (2006), “The Size of Inter-Ethnic Hatred in Szeklers Lands” (1999), “Idols of the Forum; Why a middle class of the spirit is preferable to the elite of public intellectuals” (2010).
Dr. Stefan has been a member of the Romanian Association of Sociologists since 1990. He has collaborated with numerous academic institutions including the Faculty of Public Administration and Business at the University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Psychology at the Titu Maiorescu University Bucharest and the Faculty of Sociology at the State University of Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. He formed the Department for Psycho-Social Research of the PETROM Federation of Free and Independent Trade Unions (1998-1999) and collaborated with numerous institutions of social research in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. He received awards from the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Water and the Environment (2003), the National Foundation of Young Managers (2003 and 2009), and VMB Partners SA (2004). Dr Stefan has also published over 20 short stories in various Romanian publications.
Dr. Eduard Mihailov
Eduard Mihailov was born on 15th October 1968 in the Republic of Moldova. In 1995 he graduated from the Al. I. Cuza University, Lasi, Romania where he studied sociology and political science. In 1997 he obtained a qualification in qualitative research (focus group discussions and depth interviews) in collaboration with John Hopkins University (SUA) and GFK Ukraine. In 2009 obtained his PHD in Sociology from the University of Bucharest’s Sociology, Psychology and Social Assistance College. His thesis was “The formation of public opinion during elections.”
From 1996 until 1997, Dr. Mihailov coordinated the sociology service “Public Opinion FLUX”, part of the FLUX Press Group from Republic of Moldova. Since 1997 he is the General Director of The Center of Analysis and Sociological, Political and Psychological Investigations, CIVIS from the Republic of Moldova. He served as a consultant and strategist on numerous public opinion campaigns.
Dr. Mihailov has published many studies, including Human Rights in Moldova, Testimonies of 24 Trafficked Women and Television Media Coverage of Political Activities Surrounding the National Election Campaign. He also published the pamphlet: How to Run an Election Campaign in a Single Member District.
Dr. Mihailov has also worked as project manager on sociological studies including: Family Planning, Pre- and Post-Natal Care, Mass-Media Through Journalists’ and Public Opinion Leaders’ Eyes, TV programs audience and preferences in Moldova, Political Behaviour and Participation, Social Mobilization of the Health System Workers, The Behaviour of the Intravenous Drug Addicts, Study on Child Sexual Abuse Phenomenon, Study on the Prevention of Forced Labour and Sexual Abuse, Study on Democratic and Social Transition in the Black Sea Region and Study on the Impact of property rights in the Republic of Moldova.
Dr. Khaled Al Awamleh
Dr. Khaled Al Awamleh is the current Board Chairman of the Visions Center for Strategic and Development Studies in Jordan. He has acquired both his B.A in History and B.A in Political Sciences from the University of Michigan, both with high Distinction, and enrolled in the Cairo University to be granted an M.A degree in Comparative Politics with high Distinction and a Ph.D in International Relations by the year 2005. Besides his vast theoretical knowledge, Dr. Khaled has experience in the field of applied social and political sciences, worked on programs on religious and cultural diversity and has profound experience in strategic planning through long term experience in the field. In addition, Dr. Khaled has worked as a Cultural and Political consultant for the Provincial Reconstruction Team, as Executive Director at A&W Associates, and as Human Resource manager at the US Census Bureau in the Department of Commerce.
www.jordanvisions.org
Dr. Paul Lieber
Dr. Paul Lieber holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Mass Communication (and Public Affairs) from Louisiana State University (U.S.), and a B.S. - Magna Cum Laude - in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University (U.S.). Paul’s widely published research emphasis mirrors his several years professional practice in global strategic communication, centered on creating valid, predictive models of persuasion within interactive and/or advanced technology environments. He recently served as the Strategic Communications Advisor to Special Operations Command - Australia, preceded by stints as the Command Writer for U.S. Special Operations Command, head of information operations research for U.S. Central Command, and on the faculties of the University of Canberra (Australia), University of South Carolina (U.S.) and Emerson College (U.S.), respectively.
Dr. Yael Lieber
Dr. Yael Lieber holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in School Psychology from Tulane University in New Orleans (U.S.), and a B.A. - Highest Honors in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island (U.S.), with her research - subsequently published in both journals and at conferences - emphasizing problem sets stemming from exposure to community violence within a developmental psychological perspective. She recently served as a licensed psychologist in Canberra, Australia, a role that built upon her several years of applied experience in clinical, hospital and school settings. Near-recently, Yael functioned as a statistical analyst at U.S. Special Operations Command’s Joint Military Information Support Command, where she analyzed complex psychological operations datasets across all of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Combatant Commands.
Dr Dave Sloggett
Dr Sloggett is a member of the American Psychological Association and the International Institute of Strategic Studies [IISS]. He holds the visiting titles of Adjunct Professor of Behavioural Sciences at the Behavioural Dynamics Institute (BDI), a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for the Mathematics of Human Behaviour at the University of Reading and an Associate Research Fellow at the Advanced Research and Assessment Group [ARAG] at the Royal College of Defence Studies at Shrivenham.
At BDI Dr Sloggett is engaged upon a series of studies that explore the subject of strategic, operational and tactical persuasion of target audiences in both a civilian and military context. Dr Sloggett’s main research area is the topic of behavioural transformation and its use in helping shape political and economic recovery in countries be-set by a series of multi-faceted and complex natural and human-orientated disasters. He has also been researching its application to the political reconciliation process in Iraq and Afghanistan; from where he has recently returned.
Dr Sloggett has lectured and written widely on this subject publishing both in the United Kingdom and the United States. His focus is upon how to develop messaging that resonates with specific and ethnically-mixed target audiences and through gaining empathy enabling them change their current behaviours. His early studies focused in detail on Rwanda and the ethnically and tribally motivated confrontations that plagued its history in the latter part of the 20th century.
Dr Sloggett’s more recent studies have looked the issues of narrative creation and dissemination against the kind of complex multi-ethnic backdrops that are seen in countries in Africa and the Middle East. His current studies are focused on the issues political, diplomatic and economic issues emerging in: Sudan from the creation of the separate state; the Democratic Republic of the Congo – with its legacy of colonial exploitation and recent conflicts; Libya – in the aftermath of the replacement of the regime and Eritrea.
Dr Sloggett has a wide and varied career supporting law enforcement and military organisations both in the United Kingdom and on the international stage, notably in cooperation with the United States State Department and Department of Defence. This has lasted for over 40 years. His interests and field work cover a range of subjects with his principle interests laying in the study of social networks and the societal landscape against which they operate.
This had led Dr Sloggett into several detailed studies on the nature of the human terrain in a number of operational civilian and military theatres and into detailed studies of the reasons for state failure in a number of African countries. In those studies his has looked at connections between psychological, anthropological, theological, linguistic and sociological elements of the societal landscape.
His work in the United Kingdom has developed these areas in consideration of the ways in which people become radicalised and groomed to become terrorists. This research work has been widely acclaimed in the United Kingdom and overseas, in countries such as Iraq where Dr Sloggett works alongside the counter-terrorism teams in the country through NATO sponsorship.
Dr Sloggett is also well versed in the organisation and operation of international criminal groups. His knowledge of the societal landscape in Somalia has been used to brief NATO and European Union Task Forces attempting to address the problems of piracy off the coast of Somalia and into the Indian Ocean. Dr Sloggett has also recently completed an assignment for Janes updating terrorist group profiles for Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb [AQIM], The Islamic State of Iraq [ISI] and the Mahdi Army.
Dr Diego Garzia
Dr Diego Garzia holds a PhD in ‘Comparative and European Politics’ from the University of Siena. He previously studied at the Universities of Rome “Sapienza”, Leiden, and Oxford, and is currently a Jean Monnet post-doctoral fellow at the EUI’s Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.
The long-term focus of his research is on the drivers of voters’ choice in Western Europe. He explains: “During my studies, I have heard that people would do a much better job as voters if they had all the relevant information. Based on this normative expectation, my actual research project investigates the potential of web-based Voting Advice Applications to affect voters’ behavior in both quantitative (turnout) and qualitative (party choice) terms.”
Over the last few years, he has authored numerous academic papers and professional reports, including articles accepted for publication in the Journal of Political Marketing, Political Psychology, Political Research Quarterly, The Leadership Quarterly, and World Political Science Review.
Further details on Dr Garzia can be found here.
Professor Rachel Gibson
Rachel Gibson is Professor of Politics and Director of the Institute for Social Change at the University of Manchester. She came to Manchester in December 2007 having held previous appointments as Professor of New Media Studies at the University of Leicester, Senior Research Fellow in the ACSPRI Centre for Social Research (ACSR) in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University and Lecturer in politics at the University of Salford.
Her PhD thesis focused on the rise of anti-immigrant parties in Western Europe in the late 20th century at Texas A&M University in the US. She has held visiting research positions at the University of Antwerp, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, (UAB), the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). She is a Principal Investigator of Australian Election Study (AES) and has held a series of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded projects dealing with the impact of the new media on politics, including a Professorial Fellowship .
She is currently an editor of the Journal of Public Opinion and Parties and sits on the editorial board of a range of political science and new media journals. In 2012 she was appointed as a member of the ESRC Peer Review College.
You can read more about Professor Gibson’s research here.
Dr Gregory Seese
Dr. Seese is a Psychologist presently serving as a Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Officer in the United States Army. His clinical specialties include neuropsychology (evaluation and treatment of learning disabilities, developmental disorders, and traumatic brain injuries for the purpose of developing academic interventions and accommodations), and neurofeeback/qEEG to treat stress and anxiety, attention and concentration, and various social/emotional and behavioral disorders. Dr. Seese is also a Charter Member of the Prescribing Psychologists’ Register (PPR). His research interests include attitude and behavior change, motivation, deception, and behavioral prediction/modeling. Dr. Seese is a licensed psychologist, and has a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science, and Doctorate in Psychology. He also earned a graduate certificate in Stability, Security, and Development in Complex Operations (SSDCO) from the Naval Post Graduate School. Relevant publications include: Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism: Targeting Active Support Networks. (Seese, G. (2015)) In-press; Comprehensive PSYOP Assessment and Evaluation in Counterterrorism Efforts (Seese, G. (2014)); Deconstructing Narratives: Using Primal Branding to Design Oppositional Narratives (Hanlon, P., & Seese, G. (2013)); Measuring Psychological Operations (PSYOP): It’s all about the SPO. (Seese, G. (2009)); Measuring Psychological Operations (PSYOP) Effectiveness. (Seese, G., & Smith, P. (2008)).
Keith Dear
Keith has a decade of experience in analyzing human behaviours and systems both in the UK and overseas. In 2011 he consolidated and built on this experience at King’s College London, earning an MA with distinction in terrorism and counter-terrorism. His focus was on the efficacy of leadership targeting and his studies encompassed social and cognitive psychology, behavioural economics and anthropology. Since completing his studies he has continued to study and practice in the area of influence and persuasion.
His article ‘Beheading the Hydra’, on targeted killing, was published in the Vol.13, Issue 3 of the Journal of Defence Studies in December 2013, and is available here.