Geneva Team

Of Algerian origin, Dr. Abbas Aroua is a medical physicist. He is adjunct professor at the Lausanne Faculty of Medicine in Switzerland, where he has been living for more than 30 years, combining scientific expertise, engagement in public health and a rich citizen engagement. A strong advocate for human rights, peace and dialogue among cultures, Dr. Aroua is engaged in several non-profit initiatives. He has written many articles and books on public health and human development.

In 2002, he founded the "Fondation Cordoue de Genève" (FCG), now the Cordoba Peace Institute - Geneva (CPI), aiming at promoting the exchange between cultures and civilizations in the spirit of Cordoba; and fostering research and debate about peace, issues in the world. CPI is actively involved in research, training and intervention in the fields of conflict prevention and conflict transformation. It focuses on the Arab world and Islam in Europe.

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Alistair Davison is a human resources consultant and chartered accountant who has spent most of his career in the private sector and in public-private partnerships, and has worked in businesses and on projects in North and West Africa and the Middle East.

Alistair has a M.A. in Arabic and Persian from the University of Cambridge, and taught languages at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London after graduating. Since his childhood in Iran, Alistair retains a deep interest in events and developments in the Muslim world and in its rich cultural heritage.

Alistair joined CPI in March 2014.

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Lakhdar Ghettas holds a PhD degree in International History form the London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE, University of London. He holds an MA degree in American History, 2005, from the School of American Studies, University of East Anglia, UK. His MA dissertation: U.S. Options with the Prospect of a Nuclear Iran, won the Board of Examiners’ MA Dissertation Prize in 2005.

Prior to joining CPI he initiated the Maghreb Studies Initiative within the Africa Affairs Programme at the LSE IDEAS Centre for Diplomacy and Strategy (2008-2012), where he published several position papers and articles on the international affairs of North Africa and the Middle East. Besides, he presented papers and gave public talks at international conferences in the U.S. and U.K. such as the 2011 Annual Conference of the Society for the Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), Alexandra, VA, and the 8th Annual Cold Ward Conference 2010 in Washington DC.

His main research interest and expertise areas include U.S-North African relations and history, democratisation and governance in North Africa, and political Islam. His recent publications include a chapter contribution: “Unrest in Algeria: The Window is Closing Fast”, in African Awakening: The Emerging Revolutions, edited by Firoze Mani and Sokri Ekine, London: Fahamu Books & Pampazuka Press, 2011.

His recent book: "Algeria and the Cold War: International Relations and the Struggle for Autonomy", London & NY: I. B. Tauris, 2018.

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Ozair Khan is a Swiss Pakistani student at the University of Geneva. He is currently in the final stages of his master's degree in Middle Eastern studies and is awaiting his defense for his thesis on the evolution of Salafism. Before that, he did a bachelor's degree in International relations and wrote his final dissertation on the ideological influence of the Muslim brotherhood on the Iranian revolution. He joined CPI in February 2022 and is currently working on topics related to Afghanistan.

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Amine holds a Diploma in Physics from the University of Algiers. He is a freelance web designer and a trained application developer from the Lutz&Grub Academy in Karlsruhe, Germany. He joined CPI at its foundation.

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Meg-Ann holds a MSc in International Finance with a specialization in Wealth Management. Before shifting towards a humanitarian career, she worked 7 years at the HSBC bank as a Wealth Advisor. For the past 5 years she has worked as a Protection, Programs and Grants Manager & Coordinator in different organizations such as ACTED, Danish Refugee Council and the International Organization for Migration, mostly in West and Central Africa (Central African Republic, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin).

She also holds a MA in International Relations from the IRIS’Sup (Institut de Relations Internationales et Strategiques, Paris) with a thesis studying the Geopolitics of Gender in the North East Nigeria conflict. As a member of a Research Group on Children Associated with Armed Actors at the University CEU Cardenal Herrera at Valencia, her research interests focus on Protection, Gender and Children Associated with Armed Actors.

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