Senior Researchers

Dr Syed Adnan Bukhari carries more than 20 years of experience in the fields of policy research, academia, capacity building, socio-development sector and media.
Dr Bukhari has worked in numerous leading thinktanks including the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore; Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI); Geneva Centre for Training & Analysis of Terrorism (GCTAT); Fudan Development Institute (FDDI), Shanghai; and FATA Research Centre Islamabad. He has also taught at the Rabdan Academy (UAE) and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology (SZABIST), Islamabad.

His research areas are South & Central Asia, where he has focused on internal and external dynamics of the region, including terrorism and insurgencies, on which he also wrote his PhD dissertation at the RSIS, NTU. From 2015-2020, Dr Bukhari has worked as a consultant with numerous development agencies like the UNDP, UNESCO, DFID, GIZ, German Federal Foreign Office and Coffey International on post-conflict reconstruction (PCR) initiatives in the Af-Pak border land. He has also been part of capacity building initiatives in counterterrorism and PCR in Singapore, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Pakistan & Afghanistan.
Dr Bukhari has earned his PhD in International Relations from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

Niko is a young professional in the field of international relations and policy making. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Languages and International Relations from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, and a MA in International Relations with Political Strategy and Communication from the Brussels School of International Studies (University of Kent), which he achieved with a compelling dissertation on the effects of the use of national identity in the Greek-EU negotiations of 2015 and awarded his degree with Distinction.
His strongest theoretical expertise ranges from linguistics to foreign policy analysis, and from cross-cultural negotiations to discourse analysis. He applies the theoretical tools to provide close insights on Mediterranean, European and Latin American relations, the effects of national identity on international relations, the role of non-state actors in foreign policy making, cultural diplomacy and transformative mediation as a peaceful tool for conflict resolution.
Niko collaborates with Katoikos.eu as a writer and commentator on foreign policy. Besides, he also participates in NGOs that promote democracy and transparency by advising communication and lobbying strategies, and has been collaborating as fundraiser and facilitator for Cometa ASMME, an Italian NGO fostering research and assistance on metabolic disorders. He has also worked in the international law firm Todarello & Partners (Milan, Italy), which enabled him to do legal research and refine bargaining skills. Apart from Italian, he is fluent in English, Spanish, Greek and has a fair understanding of French, while is learning Arabic. Niko is also a polyhedral musician and plays four instruments excellently. Since late 2016 he collaborates with KEDISA as an analyst.

 

He is an Officer of the Greek Army, a graduate of the Hellenic Army Academy (Evelpidon) and holds a postgraduate degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Department of Political Science and Governance of Law School of University of Nicosia. He is PhD Candidate at School of Political Sciences of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specialized in International Political History, Warfare and Strategic Studies, focusing on the evolution of warfare and the influence on the design of armaments programs, from the age of massive armies to the age of artificial intelligence. Also, he is a researcher at Hellenic Institute of Strategic Studies with a significant number of original research projects, is a member of the Defense Standardization Advice organization and was a researcher in geopolitical forecasts at ForTank think tank of the Department of Economics of University of Peloponnese. His articles are often published in reputable journals of international relations and geopolitics. He has received two honorary distinctions from the Greek Army General Staff and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

 

 Georgios Koukakis is a Lieutenant Colonel ret. of the Greek Army. He was born in 1980 in Heraklion (Crete) and in 1998 entered the Hellenic Army Academy, from which he graduated in 2002 as a Second Lieutenant (Infantry). Throughout his military career he  served in numerous Special Forces, Infantry and Levy Units, not only in Greece but also abroad (Kosovo and Cyprus Republic). He attended many military courses in Greece and the U.S.A. and served as an instructor in the Hellenic Airborne School and the Hellenic Infantry School. He was a Static Line and Military Free Fall (Skydiving) Parachutist and he was nominated with several Army ethical awards and medals.

He holds a Master of Arts in «Governance, Development and Security in the Mediterranean» of the Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean, which he obtained having received a scholarship form the Hellenic Army General Staff (H.A.G.S.). In May 2019 he participated as a lecturer at the Mare Nostrum X conference conducted by the Center of Study of Mediterranean-Middle East Policy and Civilization (ΚΕ.Μ.ΜΕ.Π.), while several of his articles have been published in the «Military Inspection» (Στρατιωτική Επιθεώρηση) magazine of H.A.G.S. and the «Hellas, Europe and the World» (Η Ελλάδα, η Ευρώπη και ο Κόσμος) scientific magazine of the Research Unit for the European and the International Policy of the Department of Mediterranean Studies.

He possesses a Certificate of Proficiency in English of Cambridge University and in his leisure time enjoys reading, fishing, collecting coins and paper coins, listening to music and working out. In the past he has taken part in long-distance and ultra-marathon races.

Vasilis (Vasileios) completed his MSc in Crisis & Security Management at Leiden University in June 2018. He holds a Bachelor’s degree (Ptychion) in International & European Studies from the University of Piraeus, where he briefly participated as a Junior Assistant Researcher in the BRICS research center and in the Turkish & Eurasian Studies Workshop with an emphasis in international conflicts & cybersecurity governance topics.

He has served internships at the Protocol department of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Center for Security Studies (KEMEA) in the Greek Ministry of Public Order & Citizen Protection, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in Cologne, Germany and completed his 9 months military service in the Hellenic Army Aviation. He has also worked as a Research Associate at the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH) supporting the research & project management activities in Fighting Crime & Terrorism (FCT) & cybersecurity (DS) EU funded projects. Since May 2022, he is working as a Junior Expert in Cybersecurity & Emerging Risks in Aviation at EASA.In November 2015 he joined the team of Junior Analysts of KEDISA and then he was promoted to Analyst and Senior Researcher. On June 30, 2018 he was elected a member of the Board of Advisors by the General Assembly of the Partners of KEDISA and took over the duties of Financial Manager. On June 30, 2021 he was re-elected a member of the Board of Advisors and assumed the duties of Secretary General. His main research interests include Cyber Security & Aviation Security and their interconnections to (Aviation) Safety, Crisis Management, and Turkish Foreign Policy. In addition to Greek, he speaks English, has an adequate knowledge of French, and a basic understanding of Turkish and German.

Dragan was born in Belgrade in 1985. He has completed undergraduate studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Political Sciences, as a scholar of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hellenic Republic. During the academic year 2015/16 he attended Goethe University in Frankfurt as an exchange student, reading for postgraduate modules in Sociology of Financial Markets, Research Design, Banking in the New Normal and Big Data Technologies. Ηe worked as a marketing consultant for Belgrade-based microenterprise and as a guest economic analyst for Radio Belgrade 1, covering a number of events of critical importance for the world economy, including Greek crisis, bail-in in Cyprus and macroeconomic developments in European Monetary Union. Currently Dragan follows Postgraduate Specialization Program in Political History and Strategic Studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research work mainly focuses on the interplay between political and investment risk, with the emphasis on elevated possibility of conducting political warfare when both risks are high. Other research interests include: Monetary Policy Strategy, Commercial Banking, Sociological and Political Perspectives of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence Policy. He is fluent in Serbian, Greek and English, and speaks German and Russian as well.