Contributors

Brian Klaas

LSE Fellow in Comparative Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science Dr. Brian Klaas is a Fellow in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. He focuses on democracy, global politics, political violence, voting, and elections. Klaas is the author of the forthcoming book: "The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy."

Bettina Friedrich

Academic Researcher, PhD Supervisor, University of Sydney Dr. Bettina Friedrich is a psychologist and researcher. Bettina has worked in the in the research areas of mental health and mental health stigma at different international academic research departments: USA (UCSD), Australia (USyd), England (King's College London) and Germany (University of Würzburg). In addition to this she has worked for a year as a free-lance journalist for the Braunschweiger Zeitung. Her main areas are Clinical Psychology, Media Psychology and Cross Cultural Psychology. She is particularly interested in social-psychiatric questions in health communication. She is investigating for example how we use media to communicate about mental health and how this impacts on mental health related stigma and self-stigma. She has also worked on the evaluation of Time to Change, the national mental health campaign of England which is the biggest of its kind world-wide. Bettina is also involved with the Global Anti Stigma Alliance (GASA), a network of 120+ stigma researchers and health educators from five continents. She produces the quarter-annual newsletter for GASA. Bettina obtained her PhD from the University of Glasgow in Scotland (Department of Psychology).

Brooke Macnamara

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University Brooke Macnamara is an assistant professor of psychology, and she specializes in the psychology of expertise, among others. For her first piece for The Conversation, she is writing about sports and children. And she has news for all parents who think they can engineer the next Tiger Woods.

Benjamin Cowie

Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Doherty Institute Epidemiologist, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Doherty Institute Infectious Diseases Physician, Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, Royal Melbourne Hospital Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne

Bulent Gökay

Professor of International Relations, Keele University My research and publications cover two interrelated strands- the first relates to the social and political history of the post-WWI settlements; and the second to contemporary issues and political economy of resources in Eurasia. Through my work I have set out to marry macro historical analysis with contemporary micro dynamics of political economy by employing a 'globalist' perspective. Since the outbreak of global financial and economic crisis in 2007-08, I have been writing on the historical/ long-term origins of the crisis and the overall structure of the global economy, using a particular perspective which can be described as the ‘global shift model’. My recent book, The Fall of the US Empire: Global Fault-Lines and the Shifting Imperial Order (co-authored with Vassilis Fouskas), Pluto Press, 2012, is a good example to this, analysing the changing balance of global power, the hegemonic shift from the global "West" to the global "East/ South". The decline of the US hegemony, the rise of China and other Emerging Powers, and the nature of contemporary global economy are issues of paramount importance for understanding HOW THE WORLD WORKS, the current crisis and Where Do We Go from Here. I joined Keele in 1996 from Wolfson College, Cambridge, where I had been a postdoctoral Research Fellow for the previous three years. Before coming to Keele, I taught at the Birkbeck College-London, University of North London, and at the University of Cambridge. I am the founder and the Managing Editor of the Journal of Global Faultlines. My books include The Politics of Caspian Oil by Palgrave in 2001; Eastern Europe Since 1970 by Longman in 2005 (second edition in 2006), The New American Imperialism: Bush's War on Terror and Blood for Oil, co-authored with Vassilis K. Fouskas, published by Greenwood Publishing Group in 2005; SOVIET EASTERN POLICY AND TURKEY, 1920-1991 by Routledge in 2006, Politics of Oil – A Survey, by Routledge in 2006; Unholy Alliance: Muslims and Communists in Post-Transition States (with Ben Fowkes) by Routledge, 2011; The Fall of the US Empire. , Global Fault-Lines and the Shifting Imperial Order, co-authored with Vassilis K. Fouskas, published by Pluto Press, June 2012. (GlobalFaultlines- interview)

Balsam Mustafa

PhD Candidate in Modern Languages & Politics, University of Birmingham I started my PhD at Birmingham university in 2013. My focus is on translation, media, and politics, particularly with regards to Islamic State in Iraq. I completed my BA and MA in translation and interpreting studies in Al-Mustansirriya university, Baghdad, Iraq. I also worked as a lecturer in the Translation department , Faculty of Arts, Al-Mustansirriya University, from 2006 to 2013 when I was awarded a scholarship to pursue my PhD study at Birmingham University.