EVC Global Advisory Board

In a shifting geopolitical landscape marked by democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism—from the Indo-Pacific to Central Europe—the European Values Center for Security Policy (EVC) is proud to announce the launch of its Global Advisory Board.

The EVC Global Advisory Board comprises 16 distinguished experts, including academic leaders, seasoned civilian and military professionals, and renowned think-tank specialists. This diverse group brings together expertise spanning foreign policy, defense, security, economic security, transatlantic relations, and European Union affairs, fostering a multidisciplinary and cross-regional approach to today’s global challenges.

The EVC Global Advisory Board members:

Justin Bassi

Director, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Australia

Justin Bassi is the Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

From June 2019 to March 2022 he was Chief of Staff to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Marise Payne.

Immediately prior to this, Justin was the Cyber Intelligence Mission Manager at the Office of National Intelligence, where he led the integration of cyber security and critical technologies across the National Intelligence Community.

From September 2015 to August 2018, Justin was the National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He led the team advising the PM and Cabinet Ministers on Australia’s national security, defence and international relations. This included responsibility for all areas of security legislation, policy and operations, including counter terrorism, foreign interference, cyberspace, intelligence and border security.

Justin was also previously the National Security Adviser to Attorney-General George Brandis, focusing on Australia’s national security legislation, policy and activities, including counter terrorism and telecommunications security.

Prior to that, Justin spent over 10 years in the Australian Public Service, including in the intelligence community for the Office of National Assessments and at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he had responsibility for cyber security policy.

Reinhard Bütikofer

Chair, German-Taiwan Dialogue Platform, Germany

Reinhard Bütikofer works with the European Policy Center in Brussels as a Senior Adviser, with the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., as a Non-resident Senior Fellow, and co-chairs the German-Taiwanese Dialogue Platform. He is a member of the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum, the Advisory Board of Global Taiwan Institute, and the Board of Trustees of the House of European History. Bütikofer was born 1953 in Mannheim, He studied philosophy, history and some sinology at Heidelberg University, where he was a student activist. Since 1984 he has been with the German Green Party, serving in many positions including in the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament, as the Green party secretary general 1998-2002 and its co-president 2002-2008. He was co-president of the European Green Party 2012-2019. He served as a member of the European Parliament 2009-2024, focussing on industrial policy, international trade and foreign relations, particularly transatlantic relations and EU-China relations. 2019-2024 he chaired the EP’s China Delegation. He has been sanctioned by the PRC. Bütikofer is married and father of three.

Raquel Garbers

Visiting Executive at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Visiting Executive from the Canadian Department of National Defence, Canada

Raquel Garbers is the Centre for International Governance Innovation visiting executive from the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND), where she held the role of director general, strategic defence policy, since April 2018. She served as the principal architect of Canada’s new defence policy, Our North, Strong and Free; led the policy development process for developing election transition materials for new incoming governments; and represented Canada on the team that led the US-led multilateral initiative Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience. In her time at DND, she also held the position of deputy director general, international security policy. In this position, Raquel spearheaded the development of advice on Canada’s strategic defence posture with allies/partners and accompanied the minister of national defence and chief of the defence staff on international engagements as their principal policy advisor. Her areas of specialty include strategic military effects, geopolitical assessment and grey zone conflict. She is a frequent speaker on international affairs.  

James Gomez

Regional Director, Asia Centre, Thailand

Dr James Gomez is the Regional Director of Asia Centre, a civil society research institute with Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC. Dr Gomez is a highly qualified communications expert with over 30 years of international experience working for international NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, public and private universities, research institutes and think tanks. At Asia Centre, he is leading the efforts to make the Centre and its programming AI-ready and ensure its projects consider the impact of other technological developments. Specific initiatives Dr Gomez is advising include: a digital transformation project to integrate AI tools into the Centre’s operations; policy research to help political parties track and positively influence AI legislation; addressing implications of technological developments for digital security; setting up an AI Hub for CSOs; and planning for Asia Centre’s 2025 conference “AI and Governance in Asia: Civil Society, Democracy and Media,” scheduled for 20-22 August 2025.

Sari Arho Havrén

Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute, United Kingdom, Finland

Dr Sari Arho Havrén is currently a Senior Geopolitical Advisor for Business Finland and an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. She is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Helsinki. She obtained her PhD in general history in the field of international relations, from the University of Helsinki. Her master’s thesis focused on general history, with a specialization in modern Chinese history, and she holds a minor degree in sinology. Additionally, she is a certified futurist. With 15 years of experience living in China and Hong Kong, she has authored numerous books, articles, and papers on China’s foreign relations, great power competition, and the future of geopolitics. Prior to her current roles, she served as an adjunct professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and as a European-China Policy fellow at MERICS, the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany.

Peter Hefele

Policy Director, Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, Belgium

Dr. Peter Hefele graduated in Economics and Economic History from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in 1997. He worked as an economic researcher at the Institute for Economy and Society/Bonn and joined the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in 2003 as Head of the Economic Policy/Political Education Department. 2006 he became Head of the China, Southeast Asia, and India at the Department in the Asia and Pacific Team of the KAS in Berlin.

From December 2010 to February 2015, he worked as Head of the China Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Shanghai. From March 2015 to April 2019, he was Head of the Regional Project “Energy Security and Climate Change” (RECAP), based in Hong Kong SAR/PR China. Between May 2019 and December 2020, he was the Director Asia and Pacific of KAS in Berlin.

Since January 2022, he has been Policy Director of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the European People’s Party (EPP) think tank in Brussels.

His work focuses on foreign and security policy, economic policy, international development cooperation and energy/climate policy. He is also an expert on Asia’s political, economic and social developments.

He is fluent in German, English and Hungarian, has good knowledge of French and Italian and basic knowledge of Chinese.

Atsuko Higashino

Professor, Faculty of International Studies at University of Tsukuba, Japan

Dr. Atsuko Higashino is Professor in the faculty of International Studies at University of Tsukuba, Japan. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Birmingham, the United Kingdom, and an MA and BA in Political Science from Keio University, Japan. Before working at University of Tsukuba, she was a Lecturer at University of Birmingham and Associate Professor at Hiroshima City University. She also worked as a special assistant for the Japanese Delegation to the OECD in Paris. Dr. Higashino is currently teaching International Relations, International History, and politics and policies of the European Union. Her research interests include EU enlargement (Turkey and the Western Balkans), European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and Eastern Partnership (EaP). Currently, she has written extensively on the Russian invasion to Ukraine and EU’s response to it.

Akira Igata

Project Lecturer, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Japan

Akira Igata is a Project Lecturer at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo. He is also the Director of the Economic Security Research Program (ESRP) at RCAST.

He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington DC, Pacific Forum (PF) in Honolulu, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in Canberra, and Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) in Prague. He is also the Non-Executive Director at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

He has been quoted widely in Japanese news outlets such as the NHK, Nikkei, Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, Sankei, Kyodo, and Yahoo! News. He also appears regularly on Japanese TVs, radios, and internet programs as an expert commentator on economic security issues.

Internationally, he has been quoted in the media such as CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Quartz, Nikkei Asia, Le Figaro, Handelsblatt, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Euractiv and Al Jazeera.

He advises the Japanese government, bureaucracy, and the private sector in various capacities.

I-Chung Lai

President, The Prospect Foundation, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Dr. I-Chung LAI is the President of the Prospect Foundation.

Dr. Lai served as Director General for Department of International Affairs (2007-2008) and Director General for Department of China Affairs (2006-2008) in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Prior to that, he was Special Assistant for Policy to Taiwan Representative to Japan (2000-2003), Executive Director for DPP Mission in the United States (1999-2000), and Vice President of the Taiwan Thinktank (2013-2016).

He received his Ph.D. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and was Visiting Researcher at Cornell University.

Chyungly Lee

Professor at Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Chyungly Lee is professor of international relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan and was the founding Vice President of Institute of National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) in 2018. Her researches cover topics on Asia-Pacific comprehensive security, Indo-Pacific regional multilateralism, and conflict prevention in East Asia. Dr. Lee has been an active participant in track II processes, including the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP), the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), and other bilateral strategic dialogues. She was an invited visiting scholar at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, the ASEAN Studies Initiative at American University, Stimson Center in Washington D.C., Liu Institute for Global Studies at UBC, and Center for Cooperative Monitoring at the U.S. Sandia National Lab. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park. 

Hsi Min Lee

Admiral (retired), former Chief of General Staff of Republic of China Armed Forces, Distinguished Fellow at INDSR, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Admiral Lee Hsi-Min is a renowned Taiwanese military strategist, scholar, and author. After decades of service, he culminated his military career as the 26th Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2017 to 2019, serving as the highest-ranking military officer and key advisor to the President. His notable roles also include Chief of Navy and Vice Minister of Defense. Transitioning to academia, Admiral Lee is an adjunct professor at National Chengchi University’s International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies and directs the Center for Peace and Security at the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation. He is also a strategic advisor to the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR). Admiral Lee introduced the “Overall Defense Concept,” a groundbreaking strategy for asymmetric warfare tailored to Taiwan’s defense needs. His 2022 book, The Overall Defense Concept – an Asymmetric Approach to Taiwan’s Defense, received widespread acclaim, earning a place among Taiwan’s “10 most influential books of 2022” and winning the distinguished non-fiction award at the 47th Golden Tripod Awards in 2023.

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit

Founder and President of Stratbase Institute, Philippines

Prof. Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit founded The Stratbase Group and the Stratbase ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ADRi) in 2004. Concurrently, he is the Philippine Country Head of BowerGroupAsia. He provides strategic analysis on global issues, identifying business opportunities and developing crucial relationships between government and private sectors. He has held significant government positions, including Undersecretary in the Department of Education and Deputy Secretary in the Philippine Senate. He was a former Chair and retired Associate Professor of the Political Science Department of De La Salle University, Manila. He also regularly contributes articles and columns to leading newspapers in the Philippines, such as Philippine Daily Inquirer and BusinessWorld. His professional involvement spans multiple domains: he chairs the Cybersecurity Committee for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, leads the Investment Policy Committee in the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and is active as Convenor in civil society initiatives like Democracy Watch Philippines and Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship. Internationally, he plays a key role in the U.S. – Philippines Strategic Initiative (USPI) and serves as an advisor to Asia Society Philippines. He was appointed as one of the ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons (ARF-EEP) by the Department of Foreign AZairs. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines.

Eva Pejšová

Japan Chair at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy of the Brussels School of Governance, Czechia

Dr Eva Pejsova is the Japan Chair at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG-VUB) and an Associate Fellow at the French “Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique” (FRS). Previously, Dr Pejsova was in charge of the Asia portfolio at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the EU’s agency for foreign and security policy research and analysis. She holds a PhD in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore and has previously worked with the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Prime Minister’s Office, the OECD and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). Dr Pejsova leads the Japan Chair and runs a course on Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy. She also lectures at SciencesPo (Paris School of International Affairs) in Paris, the Geneva Centre for Security Studies (GCSP), as well as briefs the Members of the European Parliament. Her research focuses on security issues within the broader Indo-Pacific region, notably related to maritime security, sovereignty disputes, regional cooperative mechanism and good ocean governance. She is also interested in the role of the EU as a foreign and security policy actor.

David Santoro

President, Pacific Forum, USA

David Santoro is the President and CEO of the Pacific Forum. He specializes in strategic and security issues with a regional focus on both Asia and Europe. Dr Santoro’s current interests focus on great-power dynamics, US alliances, and deterrence, particularly the role of China in an era of nuclear multipolarity. In 2021, Lynne Rienner published his volume on U.S.-China Nuclear Relations – The Impact of Strategic Triangles. Dr Santoro also leads several of the Forum’s track-1.5 and track-2 strategic dialogues. Before joining Pacific Forum, Santoro worked on similar issues in France, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In the spring of 2010, Dr Santoro was also a visiting fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and, in 2010-2011, he was a Stanton nuclear security fellow at the Institute for International Strategic Studies in London.

Vilém Semerák

Researcher at the Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia

Vilém Semerák is a Researcher at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He graduated from the University of Economics, Prague (VŠE) and the Institute of Economic Studies of Charles University (IES FSV UK), studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at CERGE, Charles University, and worked on research projects in China (Shandong Economic University in Jinan, 2004-2005; East China Normal University in Shanghai, 2006).

Matej Šimalčík

Executive Director, Central European Institute of Asian Studies, Slovakia

Matej Šimalčík is the Executive Director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, a think tank that focuses on foreign and security policy issues related to East Asia. Matej’s research looks at China’s economic and political presence and influence in Central Europe, elite relations, corrosive capital, and the role of European legal instruments in mitigating risks posed by China. In 2022, he founded the China-Europe Academic Engagement Tracker project, which aims to bring transparency to research collaborations with Chinese entities. He has a background in Law (Masaryk University, 2015) and International Relations (University of Groningen, 2016). He is also a senior associate at the Slovakia-based law firm Nechala and partners. Before that, Matej gained experience as an in-house legal counsel for the Slovak branch of Transparency International, a global anti-corruption watchdog, and several Slovak and Czech law firms.  In 2021, he was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list (Slovak edition) in the Governance and Social Innovation category. He is also a member of the Expert Pool at the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE); European Think-tank Network on China; and a country reporter at the CELIS Institute, a think tank focused on investment and economic law.