With diverse backgrounds spanning academia, diplomacy, policy, and beyond, our Fellows bring a wealth of knowledge. They are committed to generating insights into the Euro-Mediterranean region’s trends and challenges and fostering dialogue and progress.
Researcher
Amel Boubekeur
Researcher
Amel Boubekeur
Amel Boubekeur researches the political scenes of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), Euro-Arab relations, and Islam in Europe.She has held numerous research positions at the CNRS, the European Council for Foreign Relations, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the Brookings Doha Center, the Carnegie Middle East Center, and the Center for European Policy Studies. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago and the Center for Maghreb Studies in Tunis. She currently teaches at the Sorbonne University and is a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute and the Arab Reform Initiative.
Amel Boubekeur is the author of three books and around 40 articles (including in peer-reviewed journals Contemporary Islam, Mediterranean Politics, The Journal of North African Studies, The Year of the Maghreb, Archives en Sciences Sociales des Religions, History of Religions, etc). She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Journal of Law, Society and Power (in Arabic) and she was previously a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Politics, Religion & Ideology.
EU Ambassador (ret.)
John O’Rourke
EU Ambassador (ret.)
John O’Rourke
Amb. (ret.) John O’Rourke worked in the external relations services of the European Commission, where he focused on Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS), particularly on cooperation regarding energy and nuclear safety issues. He previously was Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Warsaw and worked on financial cooperation and accession negotiations with Turkey. Besides, he was responsible for the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), notably leading the preparation of the Commission proposal for the Eastern Partnership and subsequently its launch. He then headed the Division Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Iran and was the Ambassador and the Head of the Delegation of the EU to Algeria. He holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His professional interests are centered on the EU’s relations with the countries of the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, particularly in the areas of peacebuilding, energy policy, migration, governance and regulatory alignment.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Soltara Consulting
Carmen Geha
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Soltara Consulting
Carmen Geha
Dr. Carmen Geha is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Soltara Consulting, a Barcelona based platform of experts specializing in strategic advising, leadership development, and research with a focus on gender inclusive policies. Dr. Geha is a scholar-activist with 12 years of experience in higher education and international development. She has been granted prestigious scholarly awards including the Fulbright Scholar for a semester at Harvard University, and the Maria Zambrano fellowship for international talent for two years at Pompeu Fabra University. She is previously a Tenured Associate Professor of Public Administration and Leadership at the American University of Beirut. Dr. Geha holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews.
Dr. Geha’s expertise is at the nexus of academia, practice, and activism with a focus on women’s rights, social movements, refugee protection, and good governance in the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her first book “Civil Society and Political Reform in Lebanon and Libya” (Routledge, 2016) is a seminal research on constitutional and electoral processes. Her work has been published in Middle East Law and Governance, Journal of Refugee Studies, and Women, Politics, and Policy, among others.
Former Director for the Neighbourhood South, EU DG NEAR
Michael Koehler
Former Director for the Neighbourhood South, EU DG NEAR
Michael Koehler
Deputy Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, DG ECHO, European Commission, Brussels, since 2019. From April 2022 to March 2023 Acting Director-General.Ambassador and Co-lead of the Grand Bargain to improve the international humanitarian aid system.
Professor at the College of Europe, Department for General Studies since 1997.
Michael Köhler held various posts in the European Commission since 1994, with responsibilities for the Middle East, the Mediterranean, CFSP, the EU Integrated Maritime Policy and multilateral cooperation in the Directorate General External Relations, Directorate “Middle East and South Mediterranean” from 1994 to 2001, then Deputy Head of Unit in the Directorate CFSP – Policy Coordination 2001-2004, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Joe Borg 2004-2007, Head of Unit for international relations and Law of the Sea, DG MARE, 2007-2008, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Joe Borg in charge of maritime policy and fisheries 2008-2010, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger in charge of energy policy, Director for the Neighbourhood (East and South), DG DEVCO, 2013-2014, and Director for the Neighbourhood South, DG NEAR 2015-2019.
Before entering the European public service Michael Köhler was Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Morocco 1987-1990 and Tunisia 1990-1993. Between 1993 and1994 he served in the Policy Planning Division of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Studied Medieval and Modern History, Oriental Studies, Comparative Religion, Theology and International Law at Bonn, Tübingen and Hamburg Universities.
Anthropologist
Maria-Àngels Roque
Anthropologist
Maria-Àngels Roque
Maria-Angels Roque is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Quaderns de la Mediterrània since 2000. She has been Director of the Department of Mediterranean Cultures and Civil Society since 2001 and Head of Network of the Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation since 2007. She has more than 30 years of experience in carrying out anthropological and social research, projects and several publications and books.Previously, she held the position of Director of Studies at the then Catalan Institute of Mediterranean Studies (1989-2000), Technical Director of the 1st Euromed Civil Forum (1995), and Technical Advisor to the Euromed Women’s Conference Barcelona+10 (2005). She was also a member of the editorial board of L’année du Maghreb (2002-2010) and Visiting Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and at the Collège de France.
She holds a PhD in Cultural and Social Anthropology and a degree in Modern History from the University of Barcelona.