Cyrus Hodes Author

Cyrus Hodes is a consultant focusing on country and geopolitical risks. He first worked in Afghanistan in 1998 with the NGO Solidarités, and has worked there since 2001 as a consultant for the private sector, governments, think tanks and international organisations. His special interests include conflict-affected states, counter-terrorism and international security. He studied at Sciences Po Paris, and received an MA in Defence and Geostrategy from the University of Paris II and a MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington DC, and has published various articles and book chapters on Afghanistan and the defence sector.

Mark Sedra is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science of the University of Waterloo and a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), both in Waterloo, Canada. His research focuses on post-conflict state-building, with an emphasis on the security sector, and he has published numerous editorials, journal articles, policy reports and book chapters on this area. He is also a PhD candidate in the Political Studies Department at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. His dissertation focuses on the challenges of rebuilding security structures in post-conflict societies, with Afghanistan and Iraq serving as his principal case studies.