Mark Muller Stuart KC is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Borders Scotland.

In addition, he is a Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics, and currently acts as a Senior Mediation Advisor to the UN Department of Political Affairs and the UN Special Envoy to Syria in the Syrian peace talks. Prior to taking the UN post he advised numerous international bodies on conflict resolution, mediation, confidence-building, ceasefires, power-sharing, humanitarian law, constitution-making and dialogue processes and acted as a Senior Advisor to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Geneva), Beyond Conflict (Boston) and Inter-Mediate (London). He has first-hand experience of Track 1 and 2 negotiations between governments and armed groups and has worked in a number of conflict zones including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Gerogia, Ukraine and southern Africa. He is also co-founder of the Delfina Foundation.

As a senior advocate he has brought numerous human rights and rule of law test cases before the UK courts as well as the European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice. Between 2006-12 he acted as Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee and then Chair of the Rule of Law Group (2012-15) for the Bar Council of England and Wales. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics, a fellow of Harvard Law School and member of the Scottish Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh and Doughty Street Chambers in London. His most recent book Storm in the Desert: Britain’s Intervention in Libya and the Arab Spring, published by Birlinn, is available on Amazon. Information is also at: www.birlinn.co.uk/Storm-in-the-Desert.html .

Jessica Forsythe is Deputy Director of Beyond Borders Scotland, a role she has held for 12 years.

Jessica is responsible for implementing all Beyond Borders’ international projects, namely the Rule of Law and International Dialogue workstreams. Over the years this has included work across the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Prior to setting up Beyond Borders Scotland Edinburgh team, Jessica was Operations Manager of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, where she worked for almost 5 years. She holds an MA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews and an MSc in Middle East Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

jforsythe@beyondbordersscotland.com

Khulood Al-Saidi is is the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship and Alumnae advisor at Beyond Borders Scotland.

An experienced practitioner in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, with extensive expertise spanning the MENA region, including Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, and Lebanon. She has led reconciliation and capacity-building initiatives for UN agencies and other distinguished international organisations, focusing on advancing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda by building the capacities of peace agents and local mediators and integrating conflict and gender sensitivity approaches into local and regional projects and initiatives.

Khulood is the former manager of the Women in Conflict fellowship Program, a WPS adviser and an Alumni network member since 2018.

A Chevening Scholar with an MA in Advanced Practice in Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford, UK.

kal-saidi@beyondbordersscotland.com

Noor Al‑Naser is the Scottish Peace Programme Manager at Beyond Borders Scotland  and oversees the Scottish Peace Platform.

She is a former United Nations diplomat with over nine years’ experience in programme management, spanning mine action, peacebuilding, the prevention of violent extremism and counter‑terrorism. She has served with the United Nations Mine Action Service in Iraq, the United Nations Office of Counter‑Terrorism’s Global Programme on Parliamentary Engagement in Qatar, and the International Organization for Migration in Iraq.

Alongside her operational work, Noor lectures part‑time on Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of Salford and the University of Wolverhampton. She holds an MA in Terrorism and Security Studies from the University of Salford, funded by a UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Chevening Scholarship, and completed specialised training at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Most recently, she also serves as a Senior Advisor under the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund to Iraq’s Office of the National Security Advisor National PVE Committee.

nalnaser@beyondbordersscotland.com

Julianna Kubik is a Projects Officer at Beyond Borders Scotland, working on the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme and additional projects.

Her primary background is in global conflict resolution and security studies with additional experience in the arts, psychology, and environment. Prior to working for Beyond Borders, Julianna worked at the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and conducted a research project with the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki Finland. Julianna is also currently a volunteer with Girl Scouts of Northern California and Sigma Delta Tau National Sorority. She holds a BA in International Studies and Psychology from American University and a MSc in Global Crime, Justice and Security from the  University of Edinburgh.

jkubik@beyondbordersscotland.com

Shona McCallum is a Projects Officer at Beyond Borders Scotland, working on the Scottish Peace Platform as well as additional projects including the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship.

She is interested in feminist-informed approaches to studying peace-building, political imprisonment, and sectarianism especially in the MENA region.

She holds an MA (Hons) in Arabic, Persian, and International Relations from the University of St Andrews, and is continuing to learn Arabic with a focus on the Levantine/ Shaami dialect. She was the co-president of Amnesty International St Andrews during her time at university, where she developed activism and organising skills. She has volunteered extensively with refugee-support organisations in Scotland, especially on language exchange.

smccallum@beyondbordersscotland.com

Paul Doubleday OBE  has worked in the Middle East for over 25 years as the Director of the British Council in Sudan, Syria, South Caucasus and Oman. During his time with the British Council he focussed on rule of law projects working with the Judiciary, Public Prosecution and the legal profession to develop understanding of the international normative frameworks as well as creating links between the legal profession in the UK and the Middle East. He joined Beyond Borders Scotland as a Project Consultant and Advisor in 2016 while at the same time working on a Master’s degree in Comparative Criminal Justice at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. There he has specialised in human trafficking and modern slavery and has a strong interest in the influence of European and international legislation on national criminal justice systems and the changing nature and impact of cross-border crime.

Paul also has been working in the arts throughout his career, leading both small and large-scale projects developing mutual understanding between peoples. In particular he worked with the V&A Museum leading a major exhibition of ceramics in Damascus, as well as co-creating a large number of young peoples’ arts projects with UK and arts groups in the Middle East. He is a collector of contemporary Middle Eastern paintings.

Charlotte Muller Stuart is the Festival Director of the Beyond Borders International Festival. 

Having worked at Beyond Borders Scotland for five years, she has held roles including Outreach and Communications Officer and Junior Events Officer. She initiated and curated the festival’s youth programme, which began with the Youth Climate Summit in 2021, bringing together young climate activists from across the country. In 2022, she curated and designed a rewilding exhibition and established the festival’s annual poetry walk in 2021. This year, she is overseeing the full management of the festival, including site setup, marketing and promotion, and programme curation. She is responsible for organising and curating all festival walks, talks, workshops, and art exhibitions, as well as a range of activities for the youth programme.

Her interests lie in critical education, climate justice, and international politics as she has previously worked for 1.5 MAX Climate Education and interned at the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. She holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations and Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews.

cmullerstuart@beyondbordersscotland.com

Rose Moncur is the Communications and Outreach Director for the Beyond Borders International Festival at Beyond Borders Scotland. She will also be directing the Youth Programme during the festival.

In 2024, she was an intern for Beyond Borders Scotland, where she facilitated youth opportunities, contributed to the production and promotion of the Beyond Borders Podcast, handled press releases, and increased social media presence for the festival across multiple platforms.

In 2023, she interviewed Alisdair Campbell as part of the first youth programme, an initiative with Peebles High School to provide opportunities for young people to engage in political and creative discussion during the festival.

Rose has been involved with the festival for several years and was a previous weekend volunteer. This year, her focus is on expanding and strengthening the Youth Programme activities and opportunities at the festival. She also continues to lead press and outreach, and continues to maintain the growth of the festival’s social media.

Outside of her role at Beyond Borders, Rose is an active member of the Traquair Poetry Club, having performed with the group at previous festivals as part of the Poetry Walk, first launched in 2023.

Rose holds a BA (Hons) in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University. During her studies, she was as Co-Editor of the university’s political news platforms, contributing across online, radio, and podcast formats.

rmoncur@beyondbordersscotland.com

Catherine Muller Stuart is the Director of Heritage at Beyond Borders Scotland. She is currently the 21st Lady of Traquair. She lives at Traquair House where she was born and brought up. Over the past 20 years she has been actively involved in tourism, the arts, heritage and business both locally and nationally. She has been a board member of the Scottish Enterprise Borders, the Broadcasting Council for Scotland and non-Exec director of Border TV. She also sat on the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Records and Archives and currently is Chair of the Scottish Borders Area Tourism Partnership.