NORWEGIAN RISK FORUM 2014
Speakers & Panelists
Dr. Paul Chambers
Director of Research
Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs (ISEEA), Thailand
Paul Chambers currently serves as Director of Research, Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs (ISEAA), Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand and as Research Affiliate at both the German Institute of Global Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, Germany, as well as the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) in Frankfurt, Germany. Prof. Chambers completed an MA in International Affairs and an MA in political science, both at Ohio University. Following this, he became a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand’s rural northeast. He lived and worked in Thailand and Lao PDR for 5 years. “Ajarn Paul,” as he is referred to in Thai, returned to Thailand in 2001 as a Fulbright fellow where he conducted research for his dissertation, which focused on democratization and political parties in Thailand.
He graduated with a Ph.D. in political science from Northern Illinois University in 2003. In 2003-5, Dr. Chambers was a visiting assistant professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma. The following year he taught political science at Chiang Mai University and then from 2006 until 2008 taught Southeast Asian politics and served as Academic Coordinator of the Southeast Asian Institute of Global Studies at Payap University in Chiang Mai. From 2008 until 2011, Prof. Chambers served as research fellow at Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany. There he scrutinized civil-military relations in select countries of Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand and the Philippines. In 2011 he returned to Chiang Mai and since 2013 has served in his current post at Chiang Mai University.
Dr. Chambers has spent over 20 years off-and-on in Southeast Asia (particularly Thailand) both teaching and researching. His research interests focus on civil-military relations in Southeast Asia; international politics of Southeast Asia; dictatorship and democratization in Southeast Asia; and the Political Economy of Less Developed Nations in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Dr. Chambers has written four books ( three books on the security sector in Southeast Asia) as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters about the military, democratization, and international politics of Southeast Asia.
His articles have appeared in Asian Survey, Contemporary Southeast Asia and Asian Security, among others. He has focused his research upon Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. He is regularly quoted in the media as an expert on Thailand’s security sector and is often interviewed in the print, radio and television media.
Paul Chambers is a member of NRCI’s Global Advisory Board.
Anton Chan
Research Analyst
International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Anton Chan is a Research Analyst at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He works in Centre’s Southeast Asia Department, and areas of interest include self-radicalization, law enforcement efforts to counter terrorism and political and security dynamics in Southeast Asia.
Anton previously served as an Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces’ Military Security Department (MSD), and has also worked at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank’s Regional Crisis Management and Security Centre covering the Asia Pacific region.
Anton holds a B(A) in Philosophy from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and is completing his Thesis for an MSc in International Relations at Nanyang Technological University.
Arne Elias Corneliussen
Founder and CEO
NRCI
Arne Elias Corneliussen is the Founder & CEO of Norwegian Risk Consulting International (NRCI), a political risk consulting company based in Oslo. NRCI provides daily, monthly and tailor-made analysis and consulting services to Companies and investors expanding into Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Arne Elias Corneliussen received his bachelor of arts in political science at Wittenberg University in Ohio in 1998. He conducted research on Islamic terrorism at The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. He has lived in Santiago, Chile where he conducted research on South America´s democratization and economic integration, and US foreign policy towards Colombia. In addition, Corneliussen has studied at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in Egypt. He later continued and completed a master of arts in international relations and a master of public administration (MPA) at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in New York in 2000.
He worked as a political analyst for the Norwegian Armed Forces in Kosovo from 2001 until 2002. Since 2002 he held different roles in the corporate sector in Norway including sales, international business development and headhunting.
During 2013 Corneliussen spent 4 months travelling on fact-finding journeys mapping risks through 20 countries in eastern, southern and western Africa. In 2014 Corneliussen travelled through 10 countries in Southeast Asia mapping political and security risks, building network with local contacts and analyzed the business environments.
Arne Elias Corneliussen founded NRCI in 2010.
Per Quang Fjellstad
General Manager
Cavoi Ltd., Vung Tau, Vietnam
Per Quang Fjellstad is the general manager and owner of CAVOI Ltd., a consulting company based in Vung Tau City, Vietnam. CAVOI Ltd provides a broad range of consulting services for companies that expands or sets up new business in Vietnam.
Per Q. Fjellstad received his Master’s degree in Marketing from BI Norwegian Business School in 2003, he also studied at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He later studied and was awarded an Executive MBA from the BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo.
Per Q. Fjellstad has worked in Vietnam since 2006, and gained experience and a valuable network with local government and authorities in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, which is one of the top five provinces for FDI in Vietnam.
He has previously worked as the General Manager for Maritime Interior Vietnam (subsidiary of the Marinacc group). He also worked as a Business Development Manager at ODIM Vietnam (now part of Rolls Royce Marine), and as the Operations Manager at Aker Yards Vietnam. At ODIM, he was part of the initial team that was sent to set up the greenfield factory in Vung Tau.
Sidney Jones
Director
Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, Jakarta