Board Members

Simon Ball is a Chartered Security Professional (CSyP) specialising in threat, risk, and crisis management. He provides training and advice to both public and private sector clients.

With 30 years’ policing experience in Northern Ireland, Simon has developed expertise in the fields of public order and public safety, personnel security, information security, change management, and corporate governance. Most recently, he served as a Detective Chief Inspector with the Intelligence Branch (C3) of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Simon is an Expert on Crime and Terrorism with the EU Commission. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (F.ISRM) and a Member of the Security Institute (MSyI). In addition to serving as Chair of the Board of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) Europe, he also serves on the Education Practices Committee of IAFIE Global.

Simon’s academic experience includes a BA (Hons.) in Psychology, where he focused on social identity theory and intergroup conflict. He has a MA in Intelligence & Security, with his dissertation examining how the approach to tackling violent extremism can be informed by the Northern Ireland experience, and a MSc in Police Leadership & Management, where he studied the fear of crime. He holds certifications in information and cyber security. His academic research interests are:

• Enhancing public safety through more effective use of intelligence and information technology, particularly in preventing targeted violence; and

• Developing evidence-based approaches to preventing violent extremism, with an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms of radicalisation.

Simon is a qualified Mountain Leader and a passionate volunteer with Autism NI, leading fundraising mountain events for the charity since 2009.

I am a Lecturer in Intelligence and Security in the School of History, Politics and International Relations (HyPIR) at the University of Leicester. I am also Co-Director of Distance Learning for HyPIR. Before becoming a full-time academic I worked in the private security sector as an intelligence analyst and intelligence manager for 10 years, and served in the Intelligence Corps in the British Army and the West Midlands Police Force. I hold a BA (Hons) Degree in War Studies with Politics, and Ph.D., both awarded by the University of Wolverhampton. My Ph.D. thesis was an analysis of the origins and implementation of the US Marine Corps counterinsurgency strategy in Vietnam.

My recent publications include: Spreading Ink Blots from Da Nang to the DMZ: An Analysis of the US Marine Corps Strategy in Vietnam, a monograph published by Helion in 2020; ‘Intelligence and the Russo-Ukrainian War: Introduction to the Special Issue’ (co-authored with Mark Phythian) in Intelligence and National Security (available online in advance of publication); ‘Developing Theory on the Use of Intelligence by Non-State Actors: Five Case Studies on Insurgent Intelligence’, in Intelligence and National Security, Vol 34, No 7, December 2019; ‘The Use of Intelligence by Insurgent Groups: the North Vietnamese in the Second Indochina War as a Case Study’, in Intelligence and National Security, Vol 34, No 7, December 2019; ‘The Who, What, Why, and How of Teaching Intelligence: The Leicester Approach’ (co-authored with Mark Phythian and Helen Dexter), in Intelligence and National Security, Vol. 32, No. 7, June 2017. My current research interests are strategic intelligence, military intelligence, and the role of intelligence in assessing risk and uncertainty.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Association, a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management, and a Member of the Security Institute of Ireland. I am on the editorial boards of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence, and Counterterrorism, Journal of Security, Intelligence, and Resilience Education, and Intelligence and National Security, and I am a board member of the Europe Chapter of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE). I am also the IAFIE Regional Director for Europe, and my duties include outreach and membership recruitment. I previously served on the IAFIE Board as the Vice President (International) and as a member of the Governance Committee. In 2018 I organised and hosted the IAFIE Europe Chapter Annual Conference at the University of Leicester.

Assistant Professor and Security Studies Coordinator, School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal and Security Studies, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Dr. Andreea Stoian Karadeli is an internationally recognized scholar and "pracademic" whose work operates at the critical intersection of intelligence studies, national security, and law enforcement. Currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, she specializes in the evolution of extremist movements and the application of data-driven strategies to contemporary security challenges.

Academic Background and Expertise

Dr. Karadeli holds a PhD in Intelligence and National Security from the Academia Nationala de lnformatii "Mihai Viteazul". Her doctoral research focused on trends in Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, specifically the Daesh phenomenon in relation to Turkey. She also earned an MA in Security, Conflict and Justice Studies and a BA in Arabic Language and Middle East Studies from the University of Exeter.

Research and "Pracademia"

Dr. Karadeli’s professional philosophy emphasizes "pracademia," a dedicated effort to bridge rigorous academic scholarship with professional practice in the security sector. Her research agenda is defined by high-impact publications and direct engagement with law enforcement practitioners.

• Monograph and Scholarly Publications: She recently authored the peer-reviewed monograph Rebranding the Salafi-Jihadi Extremism: Tracing Daesh from Syria and Iraq to Türkiye and Europe (2025), published by Peter Lang. Her academic work also includes a detailed study on "Public Perception and Accountability" in European intelligence culture for the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence.
• Strategic and Hybrid Warfare Research: Her research extends into the emerging landscapes of cognitive warfare , the impact of Big Data on the modern battlefield , and the role of competitive intelligence in boosting the digital economy. She has also examined the transboundary role of higher education during international conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
• Practitioner-Oriented Analysis: As a regular contributor to European Security & Defence, she provides timely analysis on global security dynamics for a professional audience, covering topics such as NATO’s 2030 Agenda , cyber warfare in Eastern Europe , and the current terrorist threat in the United Kingdom.
• Law Enforcement Collaboration: Dr. Karadeli actively collaborates with law enforcement agencies to translate data-driven research into operational results. Through these partnerships, she has developed innovative policing models and utilized geospatial analysis of service data to enhance strategic planning and patrol efficiency. Her commitment to this field is supported by specialized certifications from the Department of Public Safety, ensuring her work is grounded in professional standards and data access.

Global Engagement and Fellowships

Dr. Karadeli is a Global Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and a Research Fellow at the University of South Wales. She is a frequent speaker at international venues, including the National Defence Institutions and various European security forums.

Raffaele Magurano is an Italian author in Social Sciences and Criminology, working for the Italian Public Administration in the Law Enforcement field, actively seeking for new opportunities. He is a Police Tactics & Techniques Instructor and IPA member, also actively researching in Neurosophy, an experimental branch of Neurosciences.

Prior to being professionally involved in the public sector, he has been a consultant operating in Italy and Romania, building business relations with Middle East and North-American companies. After graduating in Law, he completed two Master degrees in Jurisprudence and Public Administration & Safety and a Master Programme in Forensic Criminology, cultivating at the same time great interest in Intelligence, which has led him joining IAFIE in 2022.

Jeremy spent 30 years working with intelligence in the government sector – collecting it, processing it, analysing it, and communicating it to decision makers.

Since 2012 he has taught military and civilian students throughout Europe and North America about the business of intelligence analysis; how to inspire creativity, structure analytical thought, solve complex problems, and communicate analytic results. Now operating as Questimation, his mission is to train others how to use these intelligence methodologies and help organisations perform better analysis and make better decisions.

Jim is an intelligence professional with 28 years of experience as an intelligence analyst, trainer and manager with UK Defence Intelligence and the UK Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Organisation and more recently as an independent intelligence mentor, advisor and trainer. His career highlights include establishing and acting as the head trainer of the Defence Intelligence Analyst Training Programme, and being a founder member of the UK Professional Head of Intelligence Analysis (PHIA) Team, where he completed terms as both head of training and head of outreach (with academia and overseas partners). Since leaving government a highlight has been leading a train the trainers programme as part of a major intelligence capability building programme in a Gulf country.

Jim has been a regular and active participant in IAFIE and IAFIE Europe events and conferences for many years and served as a member of the IAFIE Europe Advisory Board from 2019 to 2025.

Jim has a particular interest in identifying and sharing intelligence best practice, especially with regards to ensuring that good intelligence leads to good decision making and through facilitating cooperation and mutual learning between intelligence students/academics and intelligence practitioners...bringing innovative thinking and real world practicalities together...and draws on his experience of producing and managing analysis at the strategic level, of designing and delivering participative learning to intelligence analysts and intelligence trainers and of using his network to put the right people in touch with the right people, to do this.

Jim was educated at Aberystwyth University where he gained a BSc (Econ) and than a MSc(Econ) , both in International Politics and Strategic Studies.

Dr. Anastasios-Nikolaos Kanellopoulos is a Senior Intelligence Executive with 13+ years of experience in Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism and Business Intelligence.

He combines operational law enforcement expertise with advanced academic training, holding a PhD in Competitive Intelligence and Counterintelligence, an MSc in Intelligence, Security, International Relations, and Strategy, a BA in Business Administration and Management and a BSc in Homeland Security and Policing.

He also serves as a member of the CT Travel Pool of Experts at the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism (UNOCT), the International Propeller Club of the United States and the Hellenic Institute for Strategic Studies (HELISS).