Professor Rouben Azizian came to CDSS after spending 13 years at the US Defense Department's Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu where he lectured and conducted research on the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Architecture, Diplomacy and Confidence Building, Security Sector Development, as well as US, Russian, Central Asian and Oceania security issues.

Before joining APCSS, Professor Azizian taught at the Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland in 1994 – 2001. From 1998 – 2001 he was the President of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

Prior to becoming a full-time academic he had an extensive career in the Soviet and later Russian Foreign Service, which included assignments in Nepal (1972-1978) as Attaché and Third Secretary; Sri Lanka (1980-1985) as Second and First Secretary; and New Zealand (1991-1994) as Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission.

He is a member of the editorial boards of scholarly journals Asian Politics and Policy, Central Asian Studies, Asia-Pacific Journal of Marine Science and Education and Russia and Asia-Pacific.

Dr Anna Powles's research and teaching expertise is in the geopolitics of the Pacific/Oceania and Southeast Asia, small state security, security sector reform and governance, civil-military relations, women, peace and security.

In addition to her work with CDSS she holds the following positions: Director of Women In International Security, New Zealand representative on the NATO Core Group on Women, Peace and Security, New Zealand Centre Fellow at Peking University, Member of Massey University’s Pacific Research and Policy Centre Caucus, Member of Women, Peace and Security Academic Collective (Australia/New Zealand) and Editorial board of Pacific Dynamics: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (University of Canterbury).

Dr Powles has previously held positions as the Monitoring & Evaluation Security Sector Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme Timor Leste; the Timor-Leste Analyst with the International Crisis Group; Advisor to the Timorese Government on the GoTL’s response to the 2006 humanitarian crisis; and various consultancy positions with international NGOs including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Action Aid and World Vision.

Recent publications include ‘Principled Engagement: Rebuilding Defence Ties with Fiji (Lowy Institute: 2016); Finding Common Ground: New Zealand and Regional Security Cooperation in the Pacific’ (APCSS: 2015); and the ‘United Nations Peacekeeping Challenge: The Importance of the Integrated Approach’ (Routledge: 2015).

She holds a doctorate from the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and is an Alumni of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.

Dr Germana Nicklin has had over 30 years experience in the public sector and brings a wealth of practical security experience from 17 1/2 years in the New Zealand Customs Service where she held various senior strategic advisory roles that exposed her to the security environment both nationally and internationally. Her particular area of expertise is border security.

She holds a PhD in Public Policy for which she received a Dean's Award, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies, and a Master of Public Policy with Distinction, all from Victoria University of Wellington.