LINOS MAPFUMO is a senior foreign policy analyst in the Zimbabwean Foreign Service and is also a research associate at both the N'Zarama Centre for Peacebuilding in Abidjan as well as the Development Reality Institute in Harare. He is also a Lecturer at the Bindura University of Science Education. He has more than 20 years of practical experience working for government institutions and civil society organisations, wherein part of his work included identifying, profiling and analysing world security threats. His main specialities are peace building and development, counterterrorism, climate change and local governance. He was previously stationed in South Africa as a diplomat, where he worked extensively at promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation, while at the same time identifying and analysing security threats towards the southern African region. Previously, he was an assistant managing editor/administrator with the Journal for Peacebuilding & Development, South-North Centre for Peace building and Development. He holds a PhD in Administration from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.