Read more about our Contributors

Dr. Daniel Abankwa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University. He specialises in International Political Economy (with a regional focus on Africa). More specifically, he is interested in China-Africa economic relations, neoliberalism, and state capitalism. He can be reached via dabankwa@email.wcu.edu

Diane Stone is Chair of Global Policy in the Florence School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute.

Gavin Bridge is Professor of Economic Geography at Durham University and Fellow of the Durham Energy Institute. His research focuses on the political economy of extractive industries. Gavin’s long-term engagement with the extractive sector has led to work on the geographies and geopolitics of energy transition, including co-founding the Royal Geographical Society’s Energy Geographies Research Group. He recently led a large collaborative project on transformation in the UK oil sector funded by UK Research and Innovation; and he is currently working with the UK Energy Research Centre on low carbon supply chains and the geopolitics of energy security & net zero. His previous research on resources, infrastructures and decarbonisation has been funded by the US National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Leverhulme Trust, British Academy, Swedish Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, Newton Fund and EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. Books include Oil, the Routledge Handbook of Political Ecology, and Energy and Society: A Critical Perspective.

Llani Jayne Kennealy is a Monash University’s Global Peace and Security (Monash GPS) Affiliate, retired Wing Commander, international consultant on Women, Peace and Security, and team member of Monash GPS’s project ‘Advancing the Meaningful Participation of Women in UN Peace Operations by Supporting Personnel with Caring Responsibilities' (2023-26), funded by Global Affairs Canada as part of the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations.

Annika Ramasay is a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) intern attached to the Herb Feith Indonesian Engagement Centre at Monash University. She studies the Chinese language and International Relations.

Ms Maheen Farhat Raza is currently serving as a Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad. She is a post-graduate of the National Defence University, Pakistan. Ms. Raza is actively contributing to the international academic discourse. She frequently presents her research at prestigious forums, including, but not limited to, Sakarya University in Türkiye, the University of Birmingham, and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. She may be reached at maheen.raza@numl.edu.pk.

Akhmad Hanan is an independent Indonesian researcher specialising in geopolitics and energy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Oceanography from Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) and a Master’s in Energy Security from Universitas Pertahanan (UNHAN) – the Indonesian Defence University.

Sawathey Ek OAM is a lawyer, Principal of E K Lawyers (Sydney) and founder of Cambodian Action Group. Sawathey is a former refugee from Cambodia in 1983 and has recently been successfully coordinating with federal Cross Benchers, the Greens and the Labor Party to secure a motion passed in the Federal Senate on 25 June 2018 human rights situation in Cambodia. He is the founder and CEO of the Australian South East Asian Network - ASEAN Ltd and on 7 May 2025, a motion was passed in the NSW Legislative Council recognising initiatives of the Network to promote Australian values for social cohesion. The Constitution of the Network registered with ASIC successfully enshrined statements of Australia's former justice of the High Court, the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, as part of the definition of Australian Values.