Speakers
James Green
IHS Jane's Security Publisher
James Green is responsible for Jane’s Security and Armed Forces services. In this role, he manages those editorial teams that publish on country risk issues such as terrorism, organised crime, political and social stability and armed forces capabilities.
James started his career at Jane’s after graduating in War Studies from Kings College, London. Before rejoining the company in 2004, James was responsible for editorial publications at the UK-based think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and previously was a journalist for The Daily Telegraph.
Alex Vatanka
Jane’s Middle East Senior Analyst
Alex Vatanka is the US-based Senior Middle East Analyst at IHS Jane’s. He joined IHS Jane’s in London in April 2001. Alex has since March 2006 been the managing editor of Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst (jiaa.janes.com) and Jane’s Intelligence Digest (jid.janes.com).
Prior to taking his current position, he worked for five years at Jane’s Sentinel Country Assessments in the UK as a Political Risk Analyst. In that capacity, he was responsible for the daily monitoring and identification and reporting of significant developments in international and regional security with follow-up in-depth coverage and published reporting of various state and trans-national security threats. His primary geographic areas of focus were Afghanistan, Iran and the CIS states.
His most recent publications include “Republic enemy: US policy and Iranian election” (with Ali Alfoneh) (Jane’s Intelligence Review, November 2008); “Iran’s Shia Reach Out to Mainstream Salafists” (CTC Sentinel/West Point, June 2008); “Ali Khamenei: Iran’s Most Powerful Man” (Middle East Institute, March 2008) and “Energy Security in Iran’s Khuzestan Province” (Jane’s Intelligence Review, December 2007). He has frequently appeared on media outlets such as the BBC World Service, CNN, MSNBC, Sky News, ITN, Voice of America, and CBC, and he has written for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor, The World Today, and the Jerusalem Post.
Mr. Vatanka joined the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., as an Adjunct Scholar in July 2007, and has since 2006 been a Fellow in Middle East Studies at the US Air Force Special Operations School (USAFSOS). He was born in Iran, but primarily lived in Europe, and is fluent in Persian (including Dari), Danish and Norwegian.