Piscatori, James: - James Piscatori is Professor and Deputy Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. He is a recipient of research grants, including those awarded by the Ford Foundation, British Academy, and the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), he is a member of the Society of Fellows at The Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of Islam in a World of Nation-States (1986) and co-author of Muslim Politics (1994) with Dale F. Eickelman.

Saikal, Amin: - Amin Saikal is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. A recipient of the Order of Australia (AM) and elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA), he is the author of Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq (2014), Iran at the Crossroads (2015) and Iran Rising: the Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic (2018).