AEI Insights Vol. 2, No. 1 - 2016

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dr. Azirah Binti Hashim, Executive Director, AEI

Managing Editor
Dr. Sameer Kumar, University of Malaya

Copy Reviewer and Editor
Dr. Michael Hadzantonis, University of Malaya

Editorial Board members
Professor Datuk Dr. Norma Mansor, Professor, University of Malaya
Dr. Azmi Mat Akhir, Deputy Executive Director, AEI, University of Malaya
Dato’ Mat Amir Jaffar, University of Malaya
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jatswan S. Sidhu, University of Malaya
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fumitaka Furuoka, University of Malaya
Dr. Michael Hadzantonis, University of Malaya
Dr. Helena Binti Muhamad Varkkey, University of Malaya

International Advisory Board
Prof. Dr. T.J. Pempel, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Prof. Emeritus Dr. Wilfrido V. Villacorta, De La Salle University, The Philippines
Prof. Dr. Aileen San Pablo-Baviera, University of the Philippines, The Philippines
Prof. Dr. Rajendra K. Jain, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Prof. Dr. Alfredo C. Robles Jr., De La Salle University, The Philippines
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sebastian Bersick, Fudan  University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

Editorial Co-ordinators
Mohammed H. Al Aqad, University of Malaya

Contact Information
Editor-in-Chief, AEI-Insights
Asia-Europe Institute
University of Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Fax: +603 7954 0799
Tel: +603 7967 7823
Email: aei.insights@um.edu.my
Website: http://aei.um.edu.my/

Contributor Biographies

Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global Political studies in Vienna. He is editor of the New York-based Addleton GHIR Journal (Geopolitics, History and Intl. Relations), as well as Senior Editorial member of multiple specialized international publications, including the Canadian Energy Institute’s Journal Geopolitics of Energy. He has hosted ambassadors of all five Caspian littoral states at special university events, and taught in three of these (in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan). Professor Anis teaches and publishes in Kuala Lumpur, and has held the position of guest lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute.

Petra Posega is a Master`s degree student at the University for Criminal justice and Security in Ljubljana. She obtained her Bachelor`s degree in Political Science-Defense studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana. She currently works on online platforms related to political, economic, diplomatic news, and modern diplomacy. Her recent publications include those in the Geopolitics of Energy, Foreign Policy News and Geopolitical Monitoring.

Martyn de Bruyn is an associate professor of Political Science at Northeastern Illinois University, where he specializes in the study of comparative regional integration and institutional reform of the European Union. His work has been published in The Asia Europe Journal, The Journal of Contemporary Political Society, and The Journal of Contemporary European Studies. He serves as an international editorial board member of The Journal of Contemporary Political Society. His current research, entitled “The European Union, Japan, and the Elusive Global Human Security Partnership” is included in an edited volume, Human Security, Changing States and Global Responses: Institutions and Practices, on Routledge.

Petr Blizkovsky holds a PhD in Economics and Management from the Mendel University, The Czech Republic. Since 2004, he has served as Director at the General Secretariat of the Council. First responsible for Economic and Regional Affairs and later for Agriculture. Prior to becoming a European official, Petr was, from 2003 until 2004, an EU Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Czech Republic, where he coordinated the position of the Czech Republic towards the EU in several economic areas. In earlier years, he was an Agriculture Attaché in Belgium, a Deputy Director to the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, a Researcher and Lecturer at The Mendel University. In 2011-12, he was an EU Fellow at the National University of Singapore. He is currently a guest lecturer at several universities in Belgium, France and The Czech Republic.

Alberto de Gregorio Merino is member of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union. He obtained his law degree at The Universidad de Salamanca (1996), an LL.M at the College of Europe. Alberto de Gregorio Merino has been teaching assistant at the Universidad de Salamanca, at the Department of Public Law (1996-1998); he has practiced as lawyer at The Bar of Madrid (1999-2002); administrator at The European Commission (2002-2005) at The Directorate-General for Trade; he then joined the Council Legal Service. Within the Council Legal Service, he is responsible for matters related to The Economic and Monetary Union, as well as to financial services. He is the author of numerous articles on aspects of law related to The European Union. He has recently published articles concerning the crisis of the euro, the intergovernmental method, and the banking union.

Mumtaz Ali holds a PhD in Sociology and Cultural Studies from The University of Malaya, Malaysia. He conducted much of his study on organizational communication. He studied his Masters in Sociology, an MBA in Human Resource Management, and a M.Phil (C/W) in European Studies. Dr. Mumtaz has experience of more than fifteen years of research, teaching and training at international levels. He has also worked for NGOs at different leading capacities. His areas of interest include The Sociology of Communication, Community Development, Cultural Studies, Media and Society, Human Capital and Talent Management, Institutional Development, Leadership, and Organizational Communication.

Maya Khemlani David is a Consultant attached to the Humanities and Research Cluster, University of Malaya and an Hon. Academic Consultant with the London School of Clinical Hypnosis. She has written, edited and published widely and is a Certified Executive Coach and Counsellor. Her passion for research and publication consumes her and she currently conducts workshops on research methodology, qualitative research, critical thinking, academic writing and supervisory skills.

Fumitaka Furuoka is a visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya. He was an Associate Professor at the School of Business and Economics, University of Malaya, Sabah and has taught economics at University of Malaya, Sarawak. Before joining academia, he was a senior assistant, Consulate-General, Japan, in Penang, from 1991 to 1999. His main interests include comparative studies of Asian and European economic development, and Japanese studies.

Mohd. Aminul Karim is presently the visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is also a senior fellow at the International Institute of Non-Proliferation Studies, USA. He worked as the Chief of National Defense College, Bangladesh, and a Visiting Scholar at the Mershon Centre for International Security Studies, Ohio State University, USA. His areas of interest include international relations, geopolitics, regional integration etc.

Hans Volker Wolf is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, at the University of Malaya. He studied a Master’s degree in Classical Literatures and Pedagogies (Heidelberg), a Master’s degree in Library Science (Köln), a Master’s degree in German, British, American, Australian and African Literatures in English (Heidelberg and Townsville, Australia). His Ph.D. thesis (Wuppertal) was on The Reception of Australian Literature in German Speaking Countries (1982). He was the director of the German Cultural Center (Goethe Institute), Kuala Lumpur, from 2002 to 2012 after representing German culture in Shanghai (1985/6), Melbourne (1987-1993), München (1993-1996), Bandung (1996-2000), and Busan (2000-2002).