Maurizio Carbone is Professor of International Relations and Development and Jean Monnet Professor of EU External Policies at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on the EU's relations with the developing world, including foreign aid as well as other development-related policies, and more generally the politics of international cooperation.

Jan Orbie is the Director of the Centre for EU Studies and Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Ghent University. His research focuses on the international policies of the EU, in particular EU trade and development policies, democracy promotion, and the EU's global social policy.