Gino Neil Lupini was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, to an Italian father and British mother. He was educated at South African College Schools (SACS), the oldest school in the country, where he developed a lifelong passion for history, education, and sports. Upon completing his schooling, Lupini embarked on a professional rugby career that led him to Italy, where he proudly represented the Italian National Rugby Team. After retiring from professional sports, he transitioned into the field of education, where he continues to inspire young minds through teaching and writing. Lupini’s literary journey began under a pen name with a fantasy novel for young adults, followed by two additional works that reimagined the ideals of folklore through a modern lens. His enduring fascination with history led to a pivotal encounter with Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, the de jure King of Italy. This meeting marked the beginning of Lupini’s close collaboration with the Italian Royal House, to which he contributed to charitable, cultural, and traditional initiatives across Europe. His service to the House of Savoy earned him recognition in the form of a Knighthood in the dynastic order of chivalry. He continues to advocate for the transformative power of education and the enduring relevance of historical consciousness in shaping modern identity.

is widely regarded as one of America’s leading Middle East experts. After studying economics at Colgate and Arabic at Oxford, he embarked on a thirty-year diplomatic career. He is particularly noted for his expertise on Saudi Arabia, where he served as Chief of Mission, Deputy Chief of Mission, Political Counselor, Economic Counselor, and Commercial Counselor. He was stationed in Saudi Arabia during both Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 Al-Qaeda insurrection. He played important roles in negotiating Saudi entry into the World Trade Organization and is the author of the highly regarded book Vision of Mirage, Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads.

Ambassador Michael Gfoeller (ret.) is a distinguished U.S. diplomat with a 26-year career in the State Department, serving in key posts across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Poland, and Belgium, retiring in 2010. He advised General David Petraeus at U.S. Central Command, providing strategic insights on Middle Eastern affairs. After retirement, Gfoeller led ExxonMobil’s Middle East and North Africa government affairs, leveraging his deep regional expertise. A committed philanthropist, he founded the Gfoeller Renaissance Foundation, dedicated to advancing archeological research and cultural preservation in Armenia. His extensive diplomatic experience and leadership in energy and cultural initiatives reflect a legacy of effective global engagement.

Ambassador Zion Evrony was born in Iran and immigrated with his family to Israel in 1950, when he was one year old. He spent his childhood in a ma’abarah (refugee camp), without electricity or running water. With his father unemployed, the family endured severe poverty. At age 13, Evrony was admitted to a Jerusalem boarding school for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He went on to receive a B.A. in sociology and political science, an M.B.A, and a Ph.D. in international relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1973, he joined Israel’s Foreign Service and held distinguished positions in Jerusalem and abroad, including Ambassador to Ireland, Ambassador to the Holy See, Consul General in Houston, and Consul in New York. He also served as Head of the Policy Planning Division and Director of the Cadet Course for new diplomats. In 2001, he received Awards for Excellence from both Israel’s Foreign Ministry and its Civil Service. From 1991 to 1995, Ambassador Evrony taught at the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and the Open University of Israel. Since his retirement, he has been an adjunct professor at universities in the United States, where he teaches courses on diplomacy, Israeli foreign policy, Judeo-Christian relations, and the Holocaust. Among his publications are Human Rights in International Relations (Hebrew; Open University Press, 2011) and Jewish-Catholic Dialogue (ed., Urbaniana University Press, 2016). He has also written opinion pieces for the New York Times and other papers focusing on the war in Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Judeo-Christian relations.

Sid Lukkassen is a Dutch historian and philosopher who has taught at Radboud University Nijmegen. He was a city councilor for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2010 to 2018 and was a policy advisor to the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sid actively participates in the public debate with books, frequent opinion articles, and media appearances. He comes from a family of no-nonsense middle class entrepreneurs and hardworking laborers. He writes to connect, for people and country, under the motto “clarity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Dr. Jeremy Havardi is a cultural historian and journalist based in London, where he serves as Director of the B’nai B’rith UK Bureau of International Affairs. His role is to advocate for the international legal rights of the Jewish people, fight against all manifestations of antisemitism, work for a better understanding of Israel within the international community and tackle hatred against minorities. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Alcala in cultural and literary history. He has written several previous books, including The Greatest Briton: Essays on the Life and Political Philosophy of Winston Churchill, Projecting Britain at War: The National Character in British World War II films, Refuting the Anti-Israel Narrative: A Case for the Historical, Legal and Moral Legitimacy of the Jewish State and A Persistent Prejudice: Anti-Semitic Tropes and Double Standards in the Anti-Israel Movement. His articles have appeared in many publications, among them The Spectator, The Guardian, The Gatestone Institute, Times of Israel, The Jewish News, Spiked, and Military History Magazine.

Shubh Mathur is an independent scholar specializing in anthropology, history, and international affairs. She has published extensively on human rights, religious nationalism, state violence and sovereignty, including three books: The Everyday Life of Hindu Nationalism: An Ethnographic Account, The Human Toll of the Kashmir Conflict: Grief and Courage in a South Asian Borderland and (co-edited with Mirza Saaib Bég), and Life, Politics, and Resistance in Kashmir after 2019: A Multidisciplinary Understanding of the Conflict. Mathur’s current interests include environmental ethics and animal rights. She believes that the notion of sovereignty as unchecked power links political violence with environmental devastation, and that the way we treat the natural world is a reflection of how we treat each other.

Zoë I. Levornik is an expert in the field of nuclear security and policy, international relations theory and constructivism. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Haifa and also studied at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany. Dr. Levornik was a Stanton Nuclear Security Research Fellow at MIT’s Security Studies Program and a Research Fellow at the National Security Study Center (NSSC) at the University of Haifa. Dr. Levornik is also an analyst and political consultant.

Kakhaber Kalichava received his Ph.D. from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in 2019, with a focus on recent conflicts in Georgia and their broader international implications. Dr. Kalichava completed an MA thesis examining the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, “The Russo-Georgian War of 2008 in Georgian and English-Language Scholarship: A Survey of Historical, Ethnical, Political, and Legal Aspects of the Conflict,” which was published in 2016. Since 2013, Dr. Kalichava has been a contributing member of the editorial team of the popular Georgian historical magazine Istoriani. He also lectures at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, where he teaches graduate courses, and teaches history and global politics at New School International School of Georgia. A past research scholar of the Erasmus Mundus program in Poland, he has also developed an English-language course designed for the program’s exchange students. Dr. Kalichava also serves as an international examiner for history, global politics, and the extended essay components of the international baccalaureate curriculum.

Dr. John A. Gentry teaches at the School of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University. For twelve years, he was an intelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he mainly worked on economic issues associated with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries. For two of those years, he was senior analyst on the staff of the National Intelligence Officer for Warning. Dr. Gentry is a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer, with most assignments in special operations and intelligence arenas. Previously, he taught at Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the National Intelligence University. He writes regularly on intelligence and security issues. He is the author of Neutering the CIA: Why US Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-Term Consequences (2023) and about 40 articles and book chapters on intelligence topics. He has an economics background and received his Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University. Follow him at @gentry_johna.

Niccolo Caldararo, Lecturer in Anthropology, San Francisco State University,
Owner, Director, and Chief Conservator, Conservation Art Service.
Author of The Future of Leisure and Retirement: Pension Schemes, Community Support, and Contemporary Consequences for the Next Generation (Academica Press, 2021)