The Founder

Olaf DEUSSEN (GER/EGY) holds a Master of Arts degree in Euro-Mediterranean Studies (International Politics) from Reading University , UK and a Bachelor degree in European Management from the Strasbourg Graduate School of Management, France. Over the last years he has been working inside and close to various European institutions including the European Commission (trainee in DG RELEX), the European Parliament (assistant to a MEP) and for the Anna Lindh Foundation (consulting, project management and audiovisual work). He has been working in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership on projects in the area of intercultural dialogue and communication. He joined GOPA-Cartermill (Communication Consultancy and part of the GOPA-Development-Consultancy-Group) in May 2007 and works as the Assistant to the Managing Director.

Languages: German, English, French and basic Arabic

olaf.deussen(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Co-Founders

Rouba AL-FATTAL (SYR/CAN/FR) is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Institute for International and European Policy at Leuven University (KUL), Belgium. She has obtained in Canada a B.A. (with honours) in international politics from McGill University and an advanced M.A. in European politics from Montreal University. Her doctoral thesis tackles instrumentalising democracy promotion in the foreign policy of Western actors in the Palestinian Territory. Rouba has also gained significant field experience having done prestigious internships at the Canadian Mission to the EU, the Security and Defence Agenda, and the NATO-Parliamentary Assembly as a Research Assistant. She is also an Associate Editor and the Chief Communication Officer of the Central European Journal for International and Security Studies (CEJISS). Rouba has published, lectured and worked as a project manager at various institutions including HIVA, CIMIC and McGill University. She received several research scholarships, and did a fellowship at PASSIA in Jerusalem, summer 2009. Languages: Fluent (English, French and Arabic), intermediate (Dutch and Hebrew) rouba.al-fattal(at)euroarab-forum.eu.

Francesco CERASANI (IT) holds a degree in International Relations from Luiss University in Rome and he's a PhD candidate in History of the Mediterranean at Sapienza University in Rome. He's been working since July 2004 as Head of Office of Pasqualina Napoletano, MEP, Vice-President of Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Responsible for Foreign Affairs, Middle East and Euro-Mediterranean Relations. In these years, Francesco has had a unique opportunity to increase his knowledge and passion about the Arab world and the Mediterranean Countries. Francesco has also been Youth Projects Coordinator of the "Institute for the Mediterranean" in Rome and a Member of the Euromed Youth Platform. Languages: Italian, French, English, German and basic Spanish. francesco.cerasani(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Alexander GEIGER (GER) holds a Magister Artium (Master of Arts) degree in Political Science and Economics from Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg , Germany . During his studies he specialized in international relations (focus on the Middle East and the Gulf countries) as well as in international trade. After internships in Saudi Arabia and Sudan and a research visit to Syria , he wrote his master thesis on “the perception of the West in the Arabic-Islamic World”. He is now working at the EU Office of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Brussels, where he is responsible for European Neighbourhood Policy.

Languages: German, English, French, and basic Arabic

alexander.geiger(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Mohammadi LAAZZOUZI (MA) is an external Ph.D. candidate in Marketing at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz , Germany . His research interests include: ' Nation-Branding ' with the focus on the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and the MENA-Region in general, linked with competitive-identity-, reputation-management- and public-diplomacy-issues of nations and regions. Prior to this, he received his Diploma (Master) in business administration studies (strategic marketing and communication studies) from the same faculty. He is also enrolled in the Master program of ' Peace Studies ' at the distance teaching university in Hagen, Germany. He has several years of professional experience in the private sector e.g. with Deutsche Bank and for a direct-broker in the start-up team. Currently he is working for the European Commission in the Directorate General for Energy & Transport (DG TREN) in Brussels . Beyond that, he acts occassionally as a Liaison Officer for the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. He is also interested in Islamic-Finance/Banking, the Orientalism-Debate and Negotiation.

Languages: German, English, Moroccan/Tamazight, Arabic & French (basic)

mohammadi.laazzouzi(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Mona SHAIR (GER/JOR) holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Kent in Brussels and a Bachelor of Science from McGill University , Montreal , Canada where she majored in Psychology and minored in Management. She is also qualified as a practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF). For the last 7 years, Mona Shair has been involved in various projects in the field of Euro-Arab and Transatlantic Relations in addition to working in the field of Human and Minority Rights. She has assisted multiple leaders in the political arenas of Jordan, Germany, Belgium and the United States to develop and implement their visions. In addition to being Managing Director of key2advance, she is the Program Director of Humanity In Action - Belgium. Currently, the majority of her work is directed towards life and career coaching for individuals and groups in Brussels, Germany, the UK and Dubai .

Languages: English, German, Arabic and basic French

mona.shair(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Johan VRINTS (BEL) obtained an M.A. in Religious Sciences and an M.A. in Modern Middle Eastern History and Politics in KUL (Catholic University of Leuven). He studied Arabic language and Middle Eastern history in several universities in Jordan and Egypt . He works now for a Belgian NGO (Kerkwerk Multicultureel Samenleven) which promotes the realities of the multicultural society in Europe . Besides this he is deeply involved in the interreligious dialogue between Muslim and Christian communities in Belgium and beyond.

Languages: Dutch, French, German, English and Arabic

johan.vrints(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Core Members

Bilal BENYAICH (MA/BLG) studied political science at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Currently he works as an adviser at the Social and Economic Council of Flanders. He also wrote several articles and essays about minorities, secularism, Euromed Affairs, European Foreign Policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ( De Morgen , De Standaard , La Libre Belgique, Samenleving en Politiek, Res Publica) . Benyaich is the author of the book ‘Europa, Israël en de Palestijnen. Van politiek deficit naar normatieve impasse' (VUBPress, june 2010).

Languages: Dutch, French, English, Arabic

bilal.benyaich(at)euroarab-forum.eu

Houda El Alaoui (MA) holds a Master degree in European Studies from the European College of Parma, Italy, and a Master II in Internationalisation and Communication in the Mediterranean Area from the University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy, she wrote her Master thesis on «The Union for the Mediterranean: points of view” taking Morocco as a case study. In the last years, she has been working for the European Network Europe Direct and the European Commission DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries with focus on the Maritime policy in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. She is now working as the communication officer for the European Managers Institute.

Languages: Arabic, French, English, Italian and basic Spanish, Turkish

houda.alaoui(at)euroarab-forum.eu