The role of OSINT in understanding VEOs

Dr. Joana Cook is an assistant professor of terrorism and political violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She's a senior project coordinator and editor in chief at the International Center for Counter- Terrorism, also in the Netherlands, and an adjunct lecturer at Johns Hopkins University in the US. She's the author of a Woman's Place US Counter- Terrorism since 9/ 11, referred to as ground-breaking and a tour de force. She regularly appears in international media and engages with governmental and international bodies to discuss her research, which focuses primarily on terrorism and counter- terrorism with a specialization in the roles of women, children, and gender dynamics. She's the lead investigator of the EU funded project Prepare, which focuses on the risks, stigmas and resilience factors of children in violent extremist family environments, and has recently conducted extensive field work and visits in Iraq.

Dr. Shiraz Maher is the director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and a senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies at Kings College London. He's a recognized expert on the current Middle East crisis and jihadist movements. The BBC has described him as one of the world's leading experts on radicalization. While the Washington Post has called him a respected specialist on Islamic State. His book, Salafi Jihadism, the History of an Idea, has been widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking exploration of the political philosophy behind contemporary jihadist movements.