G. Alexander (Alex) Crowther is a Non-resident Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis. He is a Professor of Practice for Cyber Issues at Florida International University and does research for the Swedish Defense University. He has lived overseas 13 times for a total of 25 years. His work at the strategic level includes tours at the Pentagon, as a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI, the U.S. Army’s think tank), and as a Senior Research Fellow on NATO/Europe and Cyber Policy at the U.S. National Defense University. He was personally selected for several positions as an advisor for senior officials including several years as a Special Assistant for the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). He was also an adjunct Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation and a Senior Analyst at Wikistrat, the world’s first massive multiplayer online consultancy. He has published in a variety of formats and locations since 2005, mainly on cyber and European security issues. Alex also teaches at the graduate level and lectures in Europe and Latin America in both English and Spanish. Alex has a BA in International Relations from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in International Development from Tulane University. He was also an International Security Studies Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy. He specializes in NATO and Europe, cyber policy, strategy, and unconventional forms of competition.
Nadiya Kostyuk (@NadiyaKostyuk) is an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy and the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy (courtesy) at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on security studies, modern warfare, cyber conflict, cyber institutions and capability, and Russian and Eurasian politics. Dr. Kostyuk’s research has been published (or is forthcoming) in International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Global Security Studies, the Journal of Strategic Security, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Cyber Defense Review, and several edited volumes and general-audience publications. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Belfer Center for Science and International Technology at Harvard's Kennedy School, the Department of Computer Science and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Cybersecurity, Internet Governance, Digital Economy, and Civic Tech Initiative at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Nadiya is a co-organizer (with Christopher Whyte) of the Digital Issues Discussion Group. She received degrees from the University of Michigan (PhD), New York University (MSc), City University of New York John Jay College (B.A. 2011), and Kyiv National Linguistic University (B.A.).
Tanel Sepp (@Tanel_Sepp) is the Ambassador at Large for Cyber Diplomacy since January 2022. He started his diplomatic career in 2003, has been posted to Luxembourg (2005), to Estonian Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels (2006-2009) dealing with civilian crisis management, to Kabul (2009-2011) as head of the Special Mission of Estonia, Washington (2012-2015) as Deputy Head of Mission and to Addis-Abeba (2020-2022) as Estonian Chargé d’Affaires during Estonia’s seat at the UN Security Council. During the years in capital, Mr Sepp has dealt with the EU integration, European security policy and South-Asia matters. From 2015-2019 he was seconded to the Ministry of Defence to deal with international partnerships at the Cyber Policy Department where he become the director of the department in 2019.
Leon Hartwell (@LeonHartwell) is a Senior Associate at 杏吧论坛 IDEAS and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington DC. His research interests include conflict resolution, genocide, diplomacy, democracy, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Western Balkans. Previously, Hartwell was the Senior Advisor of the Central and South-East Europe Programme (CSEEP) and the 2022 Sotirov Fellow at 杏吧论坛 IDEAS, and CEPA’s Acting Director of the Transatlantic Leadership Program. From 2012 to 2013, he was also the Senior Policy Advisor for Political and Development Cooperation at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Zimbabwe, where his work included government and civil society engagement, political reporting, peace building projects, and supporting human rights defenders. In 2019, Hartwell completed a joint doctoral degree summa cum laude at Leipzig University (Germany) and Stellenbosch University (South Africa). His thesis analyzed the use of mediation in the resolution of armed conflicts. Hartwell has published extensively in professional scholarly outlets and mainstream media ranging from the Negotiation Journal (Harvard-MIT-Tufts) and Oxford University Press to War on The Rocks. He speaks Afrikaans, English, Dutch, and Latvian, which he studied at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute.