Contributors

Agah Oktay Acar is currently a final-year LLB student at Ankara Social Science University, Faculty of Law. He is eager to focus on International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, and MENA Region Policy.

Jeff Zhou is currently pursuing a Master in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, with a focus on international and global affairs. His background spans venture capital, civic innovation, and global advocacy. At Untapped Ventures, an early-stage fund investing in agentic AI, Jeff led investor relations and portfolio operations for a network of startups, while managing public-private partnerships to support inclusive economic growth.

Outside of work, Jeff serves as Regional Director at The Borgen Project, mobilizing support to fight global poverty and meeting with congressional offices to advocate for U.S. leadership in international development. He also supports campaign finance reform through AI-driven outreach at American Promise and contributes foreign policy analysis as the MENA Correspondent for the Young Diplomats Society. An active member of the United Nations Association and Foreign Policy for America, Jeff aims to use both policy and entrepreneurship to tackle complex global challenges.

Diyar Jabar is a Politics and International Relations graduate from the University of Sulaimani, with a keen interest in global affairs, political theory, and the intersection of technology and international diplomacy. He has contributed to academic platforms and research centers, demonstrating a strong commitment to exploring critical global issues. Through writing and public engagement, he continues to pursue his passion for fostering informed dialogue and analysis.

Anjana Sinha  Kumar is originally from India and is currently pursuing Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of Warsaw. Her research focuses on refugee and migration studies, with a particular interest in the intersections of populism, displacement, and humanitarian governance. She has previously authored a thesis titled “India’s Treatment of Rohingya Refugees: Humanitarian Commitment Amidst Global South Leadership,” showing her academic inclination towards  refugee rights within the context of emerging global powers.

Her academic work is mainly in critical engagement with the Global South, and she continues to investigate the political narratives and policy frameworks surrounding refugee and asylum seekers in South Asia. Beyond her research, she is passionate about music and cinema and enjoys spending time with her beloved furry friend- June.

Oscar Bermudez was born in El Paso, Texas, and earned a degree in Economics with a minor in International Relations from Saint Louis University Madrid. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in World Politics and International Relations at the University of Pavia and is set to graduate in April 2025. His thesis, titled; The Impact of the Turkish Language on Syrian Refugee Integration: Perceptions, Lived Experiences, and the Implications for Conflict Management, reflects his strong focus on migration and conflict studies. In 2024, he spent six months in Istanbul, conducting research on Syrian refugees, interning at the Istanbul Policy Center, and actively participating in workshops at Istanbul University on social cohesion and refugee integration. His academic and professional interests center on conflict management and migration in the Middle East. Proficient in Levantine Arabic, he closely follows regional developments.

Eda Salik (born in 2000) has been working as a freelance journalist and editor on Türkiye Atlas. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University (METU) in June 2024. She is continuing her education as an MSc in Asian Studies at METU. Turkish politics, International Political Economy, and East Asian Politics are among her study areas.

Keerthana from India transitioned from commerce to international affairs after her bachelor's, driven by a passion for diplomacy. She aspires to join the United Nations and become a diplomat. Her interests include international and social affairs, negotiations, culture, heritage, and the evolving landscape of global diplomacy.

Burcu Al was born in Tokat in 1994. She completed her undergraduate education in the Department of Physics and Political Science and International Relations at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University between 2009-2014 and 2019-2023. She completed her master's degree in Nuclear Physics at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. She worked as a physics teacher in various courses and institutions. She is currently continuing her education in the field of Public Administration without a non -thesis master's degree at Karadeniz Technical University. As of 2025, she started her doctorate in Nuclear Physics. She continues her academic studies in the fields of Energy Security, Turkic World and Sustainability, participates in conferences related to these fields and works as an expert in various think tanks.

Özgen Tüylüoğlu graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy and is currently continuing her studies in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. She has volunteered as a writer for various platforms such as Bubi Sanat and Sanitaloji. She writes articles on art, pharmacy, and social issues.

Zuzanna Piotrowicz (born in 2000) holds a Bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in International Relations at Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Her Master’s thesis explores the role of Indigenous communities in the Amazon within the global environmental dialogue, aligning with her academic focus on socio-environmental justice in South America and the resistance of Indigenous peoples to extractivist projects. In 2024, she participated in a bilateral exchange program at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru in Lima, during which she spent a week in Madre de Dios as part of a rainforest conservation course. Zuzanna is a co-organizer of the annual "Latin American Culture Days" international conference at Jagiellonian University and has written two academic articles examining the impact of the governments of Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the Brazilian Amazon. She is fluent in Spanish and is learning Portuguese.

Lara Gülmez was born in Istanbul in 1998. She completed undergraduate education in the Department of International Relations and Economics (Double Major) at Işik University in Turkey. During her undergraduate education, she worked as a research assistant on the production of unmanned aerialvehicles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles and rhetoric of the Turkish government. Also, she covered how tax reform affected security in Colombia and unmanned combat aerial vehicle and non-state actors’ relations. Currently, she is studying for a master’s in World Politics and International Relations at the University of Pavia in Italy.

Barbara Gregorczyk (born 2001) has been a working as a journalist for Polish Radio Nowy Świat since 2020. She covers foreign events and topics related to the environment and climate. She is the winner of the 10th edition of the Leopold Unger scholarship in 2022 for the best young journalists. This allowed her articles written in French to appear in the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir. In 2023, she was Radio Nowy Świat’s correspondent at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In 2024, she was a finalist for the “ Polish Student Nobel Prize” in the field of “Journalism and Literature.” In December 2024, she received a grant from the Balkan Invastigative Reporting Network to do a report on press freedom in Serbia.