Utham Kumar Jamadhagni. S is currently Professor and Head, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, and Dean, College Development Council,University of Madras. In addition to a doctorate in Defence & Strategic Studies, he also holds a post graduate degree in Political Science. Further, he has an Advanced International Diploma from the Dept. of Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. He is also an Alumnus of Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo and Salzburg seminar, Austria. He was a visiting fellow to the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Hull, United Kingdom. Dr. Utham earlier led an Indian Youth Delegation to Japan to debate on Japan and South Asian Peace and Stability organized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. He regularly contributes articles and book chapters on National security issues. He continues to address National Defence College, New Delhi; Naval War College, Goa; Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai on topics of Strategy, policy, maritime security and International Relations.
Manickam Venkataraman is currently a professor at the Department of National Security Studies, Central University of Jammu. He served as Associate Professor at the Centre for Indo-Pacific Studies, JNU, New Delhi, for two years and as Assistant Professor teaching in the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies for about eight years (2014 to 2023). He also taught in various capacities in Africa for 15 years, his last position in Africa being Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, between 2004 and 2014. Besides, he was a visiting professor at the Department of History and International Relations, Universidad De Las Americas, Puebla, Mexico, during the summer of 2005. He has widely travelled in Africa and South and Southeast Asian countries.
His professional training was in Defence and Strategic Studies and international relations, and he graduated from the University of Madras in 1989 and took his PhD from the Centre for
South and Southeast Asian Studies in 1997, specializing in ASEAN-China relations. In all, he has about 26 years of teaching and research experience to his credit besides publications in
several peer-reviewed international journals. His research interests include foreign and security policy, peace and conflict studies and maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific.
region.
Tafsir Matin Johansson is an Associate Professor in Ocean Sustainability, Governance, and Management at the World Maritime University–Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (WMU-GOI), Malmö, Sweden, where he has served since 2013. He holds a Ph.D. in Maritime Affairs from WMU (supported by the Government of Canada) and an LL.M. in Maritime Law from Lund University, Sweden. His research focuses on international maritime and marine law, ocean governance, maritime and marine technologies, artificial intelligence, and decarbonization. Dr. Johansson has published extensively on Arctic governance, marine pollution, autonomous ocean systems, fisheries politics, climate resilience, and biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. He has led major interdisciplinary projects funded by Transport Canada, the EU, the Nippon Foundation, and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. He is an editorial board member of Ocean Development and International Law and a frequent international guest lecturer.
