Jason E. Strakes is Co-Founder and Research and Publications Coordinator of the Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies (CFPSS) , Romania. He completed M.A. in International Studies and PhD in Political Science (Claremont Graduate University), serves as associate editor for the Journal of Global South Studies, vice chair of the International Studies Association Global South Caucus, founder of the Developing Eurasia Initiative His research interests include foreign policy analysis, defense and security policy, Middle East, North Africa and Central Eurasia, and the international relations of developing and former Soviet states.  He has previously served as lecturer in the Politics and Security Programme at OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, and Visiting Scholar and lecturer at the International School for Caucasus Studies (ISCS) at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia. He has held research fellowships at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) School of International Affairs, Strategic Research Center under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM), Uppsala Centre for Russian and Eurasian Studies (UCRS) at Uppsala University, Sweden, and was a visiting scholar at the Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies at Columbia University. He serves as associate editor for Eurasia for the Journal Of Global South Studies published by University of Florida Press. Strakes is a voting member of the International Studies Association (ISA) Committee on the Status of Engagement with the Global South for 2018-2021, is vice chair of the executive committee of the Global South Caucus for International Studies (GSCIS) from 2019-2021, and is founder of the Developing Eurasia Initiative (DEI) academic forum and research network.