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Head of Unit
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ochirizzi
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Paolo Glisenti
Paolo Glisenti is a journalist, international strategist, and expert in communication and large-scale event management, known for his leadership as Italy’s Commissioner General for Expo 2020 Dubai and Expo 2025 Osaka–Kansai. With a background in economic and financial journalism in London, New York, and Italy, he held senior executive roles in major multinational companies—including News Corp Europe and Montedison USA—and served on the boards of listed firms across media, telecoms, and pharmaceuticals. Founder of PGConsultants, he has advised governments, institutions, and corporations on communication strategies and international bids, playing a pivotal role in Milan’s successful campaign for Expo 2015, for which he was awarded the Knighthood of Merit of the Italian Republic. His work blends public diplomacy, strategic vision, and deep industry knowledge, making him a key figure in Italy’s global outreach and event diplomacy.
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pcoadmin
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Raffaele Marchetti
Raffaele Marchetti (Laurea, Rome-La Sapienza; PhD, London-LSE) is Deputy Rector for Internationalization and Professor in International Relations at the Department of Political Science and the School of Government of LUISS. His research interest concerns global politics and governance, hybrid and city diplomacy, transnational civil society, (cyber-)security and political risk, and democracy.
He acts as external expert for the European Commission and other public/private institutions on issues of global governance, public policies, civil society, and security. He is ISA’s United Nations-NGO Representative (2022-2024). He is also member of the editorial board of The International Spectator, the Academic Advisory Board of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), LabGov – the LABoratory for the GOVernance of the City as a Commons, International Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IISES). He is the editor of the Routledge series Innovations in International Affairs and the Luiss University Press series Radar.
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riaia
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Rosario Forlenza
Rosario Forlenza specializes in the history of modern Europe and Italy in its global implications. He works at the intersection of history, politics and anthropology and focuses particularly on democracy and authoritarianism, political revolutions, nationalism and the politics of memory, politics and religion, symbolic politics, and the Cold War. He has written six books, co-edited two volumes, and published over forty peer-reviewed articles and chapters, most notably in The American Historical Review, Past & Present, and Journal of Contemporary History, He is currently working on a comparative history of revolutions from the perspective of political anthropology, on the totalitarian experiences in interwar Russia, Italy, and Germany, and on the global history of Christian Democracy.
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sdarrigo
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Silvia Menegazzi
Silvia Menegazzi is Head of the AsiaLAB Research Unit and Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Luiss Guido Carli University, where she teaches International Relations and Asian Studies. Her research interests span International Relations, Global Governance, and Area Studies, with a particular focus on the politics and economic development of Asian countries, especially China, Japan, and South Korea.
She has held visiting scholar positions at Sciences Po (Paris), George Washington University (Washington, DC), the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick, and China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) in Beijing. Dr. Menegazzi has been the recipient of research grants and scholarships from several European and Asian institutions.
She lived in China for more than four years and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Her work has been published in academic journals and media outlets, including International Politics, Global Society, Asia Europe Journal, East Asia Forum, and China Files. Among her most recent publications are China’s Blueprint for Global Leadership: GSI, GDI, GCI and Xi Jinping’s Vision for the International Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025, with M. Dian); La Cina e la politica globale (Mondadori, 2023); The NATO–South Korea strategic alignment and contemporary order-building, (International Politics, 2026, with T. Novotna).
Researcher
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Thomas Christiansen
Thomas Christiansen joined Luiss University as a Professor in the Political Science Department in September 2019. He previously held positions at Maastricht University, at the European Institute of Public Administration, at Aberystwyth University of Wales and at Essex University. He is Executive Editor of the Journal of European Integration and co-editor (with Sophie Vanhoonacker) of the ‘European Administration Governance’ book series at Palgrave Macmillan. He has published widely on different aspects of European Union politics. He recently co-authored, with Emil Kirchner and Uwe Wissenbach, The European Union and China (London: Palgrave, 2019) and co-edited, with Elena Griglio and Nicola Lupo, The Routledge Handbook of Parliamentary Administrations (London: Routledge, 2023).
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Valentino Trenga
Valentino holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in International Relations from LUISS University in Rome, graduating with top marks and honors. He completed his master’s degree through a double degree programme with MGIMO University in Moscow, majoring in Global Governance. He works at Revolut as a FinCrime & Sanctions Analyst and has gained professional experience in International Sanctions, Trade Law, EU Law, and Global Governance across governmental institutions, IOs, law firms, and diplomatic missions. He has a strong personal interest in political–diplomatic, and international finance dynamics, with a particular focus on developing countries of the Islamic world, Africa, and the Americas.
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Veronica Strina
Veronica Strina is an adjunct professor of Chinese language, culture and institutions at the University of Salerno. Her research interests focus on China’s public and cultural diplomacy, with particular attention to the influence of Confucian thought on the PRC’s foreign policy behavior and its visions of the international order. She holds a PhD in Diplomacy and International Cooperation from the University for Foreigners of Perugia, with a dissertation on China’s global role viewed through the lens of its cultural projection and engagements in the Xi Jinping era. She has been a visiting PhD fellow at NATO Defense College, the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London, and the School of Education at Shanghai International Studies University. She has a background in international relations and sinology, with study experiences in China, particularly at Peking University and Fudan University.
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Youngah Guahk
Youngah Guahk joined the Department of Business and Management (DIM) at Luiss University as a Lecturer in September 2020. She has a study background, with Masters degrees from Stenden University in the Netherlands and Birkbeck College, University of London, in UK. She received her PhD in Political Science from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. In her doctoral research, Dr Guahk has focused on urban governance and sustainable development in East Asia, with particular focus on the politics and policymaking regarding smart city projects in South Korea. Dr Guahk has been involved in various research projects and has published on different aspects of Korean current affairs, including chapters on the administration of the Korean National Assembly and the role of culture in Korea’s public diplomacy.
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Yuchen Xia
Yuchen Xia earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Politics from Liaoning University in China and then completed the double Master’s in Diplomacy jointly awarded by China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) and LUISS Guido Carli. She just started a Master’s in International Economics at the Graduate Institute (IHEID) in Geneva. Her work focuses on the evolving international positioning of Latin America, with a particular interest in triangular cooperation, South–South development frameworks, and interregional dynamics between Latin America, Africa, and Europe. She is especially engaged in exploring the intersections of global development, finance, and institutional partnerships.