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This episode focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)and the energy prospects in the Eastern Mediterranean. It engages in a conversation on international law, international arbitration and negotiation, conflict mitigation, and some of the legal disputes presented in pipeline projects in the region.

Maria Athanasiou holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the University of South Wales and a Master’s degree in International Commercial Law from Cardiff University. She is also pursuing her Doctorate in the field on the Law of the Sea at the University of Nicosia. Being a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, Maria is the Founder of Athanasiou & Associates LLC, based in Cyprus. Moreover, Maria is a co-author of the book “The Future of the Maritime Industry” and a Lecturer in Law at the European University and the Cyprus Maritime Academy. She is involved in various exhibitions concerning Energy security in the framework of international law.

This episode engages with women's role in CSDP Missions and Operations in the EU and beyond. What sort of deficits are there when it comes to gender mainstreaming? How should the EU approach its civilian and military components in line with the Women Peace and Security Agenda? What sort of advisors should we have behind the scenes and in the field? These questions, including many more, are all discussed in this episode.
Veronika Hornyák is a PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of Military Sciences of the University of Public Service - Ludovika. She is a Doctoral Fellow of the Doctoral School on Common Security and Defence Policy at the European Security and Defence College. She holds Master’s degrees in International Public Service Relations and International Security and Defence Policy from the National University of Public Service, and a postgraduate diploma in Sports Diplomacy from Széchenyi István University. Her area of expertise is European security and defence, and her PhD research focuses on gender mainstreaming in EU-led military missions. Alongside her doctoral studies, Veronika works as a consultant on capacity building projects in the fields of internationalization, education, and gender equality. Veronika is a prospective Fulbright scholar for AY2023/2024 and will pursue a non-degree program at American University in Washington D.C.

This episode looks at the Saudi-Iranian rivalry in the region of the Middle East, as well as the impact this rivalry brings upon conflict, with the example of the Yemeni civil war. This conversation also considers the ways through which the states in the Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean sub-regions engage with the Saudi-Iranian rivalry.

Alexandra Nikopoulou is a PhD Candidate at the University of Peloponnese, Greece. Her research focuses on proxy wars, regional security, the antagonism between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the role of great powers in the Middle Eastern sub-system. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International and European Studies from the University of Piraeus and an MA in Mediterranean Studies from the University of Peloponnese. Since 2017, she serves as an research associate at the Center for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS).

This episode looks at questions pertaining to the public disclosure of intelligence. Why do states and agencies publicly disclose intelligence? How do they benefit from such practices? How is it done? And to what extent does society understand intelligence to begin with? Listen to our guest, Dr. Riemer, to find out more.

Dr. Ofek Riemer is an adjunct lecturer at the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the coordinator of the Israeli Forum for Intelligence Studies. He earned his PhD in October 2022 from the Hebrew University for his dissertation, titled, "States' Public Intelligence Disclosure in International Relations". He holds an M.A. in Diplomacy and Security and a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, both from Tel Aviv University. He has published in Contemporary Security Policy and has written commentaries for War on the Rocks and the Institute for National Security Studies.

Season 4 of The Conversation starts with Dr Andrew Hom elaborating on the concept of time in the spatial imaginary of International Relations. We discuss what constitutes time, the ontological questions behind it, who creates and uses time within international politics, and why it is useful for policymakers to acknowledge their use of time.

Dr Andrew Hom is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the intersections of time, international relations, and just war theory. He has previously worked as a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow and as an Adjunct Lecturer at Vanderbilt University. Dr Hom has published in several journals, including International Studies Review and Security Dialogue, and has co-edited volumes on related research.

This episode features a conversation on civil society groups and their capacity of grassroots involvement in the policy-making and security processes, with examples derived from Poland and Ukraine.

Bohdana Kurylo is a PhD candidate at University College London, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. She is a recipient of the Victor and Rita Swoboda Memorial Scholarship, the Overseas Research Scholarship and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies Excellence Scholarship. Her research interests include security theory, international political sociology, social movements, populism and Eastern Europe.
Contributing to Security Studies, Bohdana’s research investigates how civil society can become empowered as a security actor in the context of perceived emergency. It draws on a vernacular contextual approach in combination with semi-structured interviews and social media research to study the meanings of security, emergency and power that guide the action of local agents. On the one hand, her dissertation examines the discourses and practices of Ukrainian civil society groups against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war (2014-). On the other, it explores the mobilisation of Polish civil society around the issue of reproductive rights in the lead-up to the 2021 near-total ban on abortion.
Alongside her PhD project, Bohdana has been conducting research on the populist politics of security, focusing on the discursive and aesthetic ways through which populists enact (in)security in various contexts.
UCL Profile: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/bohdana-kurylo