Meet our advisory committee

is Strategic Campaigns Director within the UK Government & Defence business of KBR, a leading provider of science, technology and engineering solutions to governments and companies worldwide. She joined KBR in 2025 after nearly nine years at QinetiQ, where she held two consecutive roles as Group Director of Services and Products Strategy and as Global Campaign Director for Training and Mission Rehearsal. She holds an MA and a PhD in International Relations (concentration in Strategic Studies) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (Bologna, Washington, DC), is fluent in French, German and Greek, and has published widely on issues of transatlantic defence and security. Christina has been part of the WIIS UK Advisory Committee for several years.

is an international negotiator, arbitrator and mediator, and a convenor of back-channel negotiations, principally but not exclusively in the Middle East. She has been the lead commentator on events in the Middle East for a number of leading media outlets. Nomi is a former speechwriter and a former Associate-Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, and a former political adviser in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General, where she covered the Security Council. She is the former Director of the Middle East and Conflict Management programmes at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

is an independent consultant and a Research Associate with ODI Global's Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG). Prior to this, Veronique was a Senior Research Fellow with HPG focusing on inclusion, localisation, protection and displacement. Veronique worked with Geneva Call, a Swiss NGO engaging armed groups on humanitarian issues and was a Policy Officer at the World Food Programme for protection in food assistance. Veronique holds a PhD from the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit of the University of York in the UK where her research focused on humanitarian engagement with armed groups and peace processes. French-English bilingual, most of Veronique’s research concentrates on East, Central and West Africa as well as the Rohingya and Syrian crisis.

is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Her work focuses on defense against gray-zone and hybrid threats as well as the intersection of geopolitics and the globalized economy. Elizabeth is also a columnist with Foreign Policy and Politico Europe. She is a member of the advisory boards of M&C Saatchi World Services and GALLOS Technologies, an adviser to Willis Towers Watson’s research arm, a member of the United Kingdom’s National Preparedness Commission, and a member of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy’s advisory council. Elizabeth has published numerous books and is also the author of the upcoming book The Undersea War. Elisabeth has supported WIIS UK in an advisory capacity for several years.

is a Senior Lecturer in National Security Studies and the Assistant Director of the Centre for Defence Studies in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She is on the editorial board of open access, peer-reviewed journal Small States and Territories and serves as the Academic Chair for the Knowledge Hub on Climate for Circle-U, an alliance of nine research-intensive universities. Beyond the university, she sits on the board of the London Defence Conference and regularly consults on foreign policy and defence issues for the British government and international governments, ranging from Estonia to Fiji.

is a Senior Trade Policy Advisor at the UK Department for Business and Trade, specialising in economic security, and supply-chain resilience. She leads policy development on non-tariff measures and contributes to cross-government work on the UK’s manufacturing plans. She serves as Co-Chair of the Redefining National Security Working Group within Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS), where she co-leads a network of practitioners contributing to national security policy discussions on resilience, technology governance, and geopolitical competition. Yasmine is an alumna of the German Marshall Fund with an interest in transatlantic relations and public engagement with foreign policy.

graduated from University of Birmingham with a degree in European Studies and Russian (language and politics) in 2007. She joined the Houses of Parliament following graduation and worked for Select Committees since 2010. She undertook a two-year secondment to the Cabinet Office in April 2019. Eleanor has worked on two Select Committees at Parliament: The Home Affairs Committee (2010-2014), focusing on international crime and terrorism, and the Defence Committee (2014-Present), focusing on defence policy, military operations and UK alliance and partner relationships. She has contributed to House of Commons Library papers on Defence and National Security. She is a RUSI Associate Fellow. Eleanor has been a supporter of WIIS UK in an advisory capacity for several years.

is a Lecturer in Strategic Studies at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, and a deputy editor of the Journal of Strategic Studies. Her research focuses on Western knowledge production on war and strategy, combining studies on strategic theory; the changing character of war; discourses and ideas about war; and civil-military relations. It aims to deepen and diversify the field of Strategic Studies. Chiara previously held positions at Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Innsbruck. From 2019 to 2022, she was part of the leadership team of WIIS UK.

is a human rights lawyer and advocate with over twenty years of experience at the intersection of arms control, human rights, defence governance, and anti-corruption. She has led global advocacy and policy initiatives advancing humanitarian disarmament, shaping international standards such as the Arms Trade Treaty, and integrating human rights and gender-based violence into defence and security frameworks. Ara has served as Senior Strategy Adviser at Transparency International Defence and Security, Head of Advocacy for Defence and Security at Transparency International UK, and Deputy Director for Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty International. She now works as an independent consultant.

is the former Executive Director at CCL Group-Evidence Talks. Elizabeth co-founded Evidence Talks in 2002, today a globally recognised and long-established leader in the development of digital forensic solutions. Elizabeth also served as the Honorary Vice President of Security for ADS. Elizabeth's achievements and contributions to digital forensics and security were recognised in her award as the CBI First Woman of Science and Technology 2017. She is a long-standing supporter of WIIS UK, serving on the Advisory Committee for several years.

is a Visiting Fellow in the LSE Department of Gender Studies, where she completed her PhD on ‘Feminist Futures and Transformative Potential: The Paradoxes of CSO Engagement in Shaping the Women, Peace and Security agenda’.

is an author, academic researcher, and advisor. Her expertise is in the role of empathy and emotions in international affairs, politics, leadership, and society.  She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Australian War College, Deakin University, Canberra. Between September 2021-2023, she was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship at the Centre for War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, leading a new project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Fund on Empathy and International Security. Between 2018-2020, she was a Henry A. Kissinger Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at International Security Studies and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University. Her first book ‘Empathy in Politics and Leadership: The Key to Transforming our World’ was published by Yale University Press in October 2025.