Jim Lobe with “The Praxis of Upheaval”, United States

A Seattle native, Jim Lobe has worked as the chief of IPS' Washington, D.C. bureau for most of the last 25 years. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, particularly as it has affected the Third World, as well as the major Washington-based multilateral institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has followed the ups and downs of neo-conservatives in Washington's foreign policy since well before their most recent ascendancy under the Bush administration, and his expertise has been recognized by major international media, including the "Four Corners" public-affairs programme of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC's "Panorama" News magazine, and the "Daily Star" of Beirut, among others. He has also won several awards from "Project Censored." With a Juris doctor degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall School of Law), Lobe earlier received his B.A. from Williams College where he graduated magna cum laude with highest honours in history.

Austin Merrill worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cote d'Ivoire from 1995 to 1997, working to help improve water and sanitation conditions. Upon completion of his service, Austin attended Columbia University, where he received a Master in International Affairs degree. While at Columbia he was the editor-in-chief of the school's Journal of International Affairs. Austin moved back to Cote d'Ivoire in April 2002, where he wrote for IPS from different locations in Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone about the armed conflict and its effects on human rights, trade, and the environment. He subsequently worked as a reporter for the Associated Press in West Africa. He is currently a freelance writer and editor living in New York.

With a Master’s in Journalism (1985) from the University of Punjab, Lahore, and joining (1986) a woman’s monthly (in Karachi) as an assistant editor to finally heading it as an editor, may have been “sheer coincidence” for Zofeen Ebrahim, but “personal growth and hands-on learning” as well. Leaving the job at the helm, she joined Dawn, Pakistan’s widely circulated daily English newspaper as a feature writer. Joining the NGO Resource Centre (2001) was next on the cards for Zofeen. She quit after a year (2002). “I started working from home as a consultant doing report-writing and research for various NGOs, some international ones as well (Save the Children – UK, Unicef, Marie Stopes, to name just a few).” During that time she got in touch with Inter Press Service, and did stories. “Twice they invited me, as one of their reporters, once to cover the 2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health held in Bangkok (2003) and then for the World Social Forum in Mumbai (2004).” She has recently started writing for Women’s Feature Service, a Delhi-based online feature service.