Benjamin Isakhan is Associate Professor of Politics and Policy Studies and Director of the Middle East Studies Forum in the Alfred Deakin Institute at Deakin University, Australia. He is also Adjunct Senior Research Associate, Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and an Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network at the University of Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Democracy in Iraq: History, Politics and Discourse (Ashgate, 2012) and the editor of 6 books including The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy (Edinburgh University Press, 2015 [2012]). Ben's current research includes a 3-year funded project entitled 'Measuring Heritage Destruction in Iraq and Syria'.
Stephen Stockwell is Professor of Journalism and Communication in the School of Humanities at Griffith University, Australia. Previously he worked as a journalist, press secretary and media consultant. His publications include All Media Guide to Fair and Cross Cultural Reporting (2000), Political Campaign Strategy (2005), Rhetoric and Democracy (2010) and The Secret History of Democracy (2011).