People

Chief Executive Officer

Manas Chawla is a political risk expert and the Founder of London Politica. He has advised heads of state, UN agencies and a range of Fortune 500 companies on navigating geopolitical volatility. He is also the Director of the Oxbridge Diplomatic Academy.

An accomplished public speaker, Manas has delivered keynotes on geopolitical risk for leading decision makers at conferences across the world. He is also a regular commentator for a range of international news broadcast programmes including CNN, BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg. Manas holds an MSc from St Antony's College Oxford, and his PhD research at the LSE explores how Big Tech actors shape the geopolitical order of the twenty-first century. In April 2026, Manas was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Impact - Europe.

Head of Research

Samuel Jardine specialises in geopolitical competition and governance, with particular focus on space, the polar regions, and the seabed, He is a Policy Specialist at the Lunar Policy Platform, Research Fellow for the Open Lunar Foundation, and Research Associate with Oxford University and the British Army’s Climate Change and (In)Security Project. He was previously the Project Manager for Lord Kerslake’s cross-bench Commission on UK Military Accommodation and, among other roles, was a Consultant for RUSI’s Defence, Industries and Society programme.

Head of Multilateral Engagement

Alexander Smotrov specialises in multilateral and multistakeholder engagement on global policy platforms, advising businesses and institutions on navigating forums such as the World Economic Forum, UN General Assembly, COP climate summits and the Munich Security Conference. At London Politica, he leads on related thought leadership, stakeholder engagement and strategic programming at the intersection of business and global governance.

Prior to this, Alexander spent over a decade at Global Counsel advisory, most recently as Director for multilateral platforms, and earlier leading the Europe and Eurasia practice with a focus on political risk and policy analysis, including the implications of the war in Ukraine and Russia sanctions. He began his career as an international affairs and business journalist, reporting from Moscow, Prague and London.

Chief of Staff

Kipp Mann-Benn specialises in global governance, intergenerational policy, and existential risk, advising on how institutions can fairly govern for future generations in an era of accelerating technological change. His work at Oxford University's Global Priorities Institute explored population ethics and AI existential risk, and he has collaborated with organisations including Bond UK and Save the Children to produce policy publications commissioned for several governments.

Kipp has previously been a Global Democracy and Justice Fellow sponsored by the UK and US Governments. He holds an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy from Magdalen College, Oxford University, where he was a Magdalen College Academic Scholar, and a BA in Politics and International Relations from Newcastle University.

Consultant

Caroline Rose is a geopolitical analyst specializing in defense, security, and criminality in Eurasia, with a special focus on the Middle East. She is the director of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios at the New Lines Institute and serves as a part-time consultant for the European Union, where she advises on policies for illicit synthetic drug proliferation in the Middle East, having previously served as an expert advisor to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). She has also served as an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, teaching a graduate course on the nexus of illicit economies, armed conflict, and insecurity.  Prior to joining the New Lines Institute, Rose served as an analyst at the forecasting firm and publication Geopolitical Futures. Rose holds a master of science in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor of arts in International Studies from the American University’s School of International Service.

Consultant

Dr Lāsma Kokina is a geopolitical consultant and an academic. She has gained substantive experience in British academia, teaching quantitative political science courses, political economy, and research methods, having worked at The University of Glasgow, Heriot-Watt University, the University of Essex, and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). Lāsma has an MA in Politics, Security and Integration from UCL, an MSc in International Development and an MRes in Politics from the University of Edinburgh, and a PhD in Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow. She is fluent in English, Latvian, German, and Russian, and regularly works across all four languages. 

Consultant

Tom Crofts is a senior foreign affairs and political risk specialist with over 20 years’ experience as a British diplomat. He has shaped UK strategy in high-stakes environments including Ukraine, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia. He now advises on geopolitics, conflict sensitivity, and strategic engagement across diplomacy, governance, and international security.

Consultant

Gerhard Wheeler CBE is a strategic defence and security advisor with over 30 years’ experience in UK military and government service. A former Senior Officer in the British Army, he has led multinational operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, directed UK Reserve Forces transformation, and advised on resilience, stabilisation, and polar strategy for the FCDO and MOD. Now Director of Hollow Square, he provides expert guidance on international defence reform, operational resilience, and national security strategy.

Consultant

Romain Le Dily is a geopolitical consultant specializing in European affairs, geoeconomics, and energy policy, with a strong focus on Russian strategic interests, energy mix, and global business governance.

Currently contributing to the B-Ready project at the World Bank, Romain applies his quantitative research and data-driven insights to global business governance. His career also includes roles as a Policy Analyst at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a Research Assistant at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), and a Legal Adviser at Dassault Group.

Romain holds a Master's in Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe, a double MA/MBA in Business Law from Panthéon Assas University, and a Master's in International Relations from Saint Petersburg State University.

Consultant

Eva is an analyst and a geopolitics graduate with an excellent background in research, risk analysis, and the advisory sector. Her expertise includes conflict and non-traditional warfare, especially in the psychological and digital spaces, and a focus on eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central and East Asia, and the Arctic region.

Eva’s previous experience includes working as an analyst and outreach assistant at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Brussels, where she was involved in the preparation of intelligence for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. She also worked as an undergraduate researcher on the project ‘Northern Neighbours: Canada and Russia’ led by Dr. Poplyansky of the University of Regina, and had the opportunity to present her own research on frozen conflicts in Ukraine and the Caucasus at the London School of Economics Undergraduate Research Conference.