FPI Announces Two New Senior Fellow Appointments

The Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mvemba Phezo Dizolele and Cengiz Günay as Senior Fellows. Together, they bring exceptional expertise spanning Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and transatlantic affairs, and will strengthen the FPI's engagement and research across these critical regions.

"We are thrilled to welcome these two distinguished experts to the FPI," said FPI director Carla Freeman. "Their combined experience on the frontlines of policy research, journalism, and analysis makes them outstanding additions to our community of scholars. At a moment when African geopolitics and authoritarian pressures demand sharper attention from Washington and beyond, their voices will be invaluable."

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele is a renowned analyst, policy advisor, and researcher with over two decades of experience in African affairs, with expertise spanning governance, defense and security, economic policy, and geopolitical strategy. He has testified before both chambers of the U.S. Congress, as well as at the UN Security Council, and has served as an international election monitor in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he was also embedded with UN peacekeepers. He is a former Peter J. Duignan Distinguished Visiting Fellow and National Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Dizolele holds an international MBA and an MPP from the University of Chicago and served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. His analyses have been published in the Journal of Democracy, New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and other outlets. He is fluent in French, Norwegian, Spanish, Swahili, Kikongo, and Lingala. "Africa remains critical to the welfare of the world,  a truism that requires adequate policy analysis and engagement," said Dizolele. "I look forward to advancing these important conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute."

Cengiz Günay

Dr. Cengiz Günay is Director of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip) and a lecturer at the University of Vienna. His research focuses on autocratization, populism, neoliberal interventions and their effects on the state and statehood, the EU, European Neighbourhood Policy, and transatlantic relations, with a regional focus on Turkey and the MENA region. He was previously a visiting fellow at the FPI at Johns Hopkins SAIS in 2018–19. He has published in journals including Mediterranean Politics, Third World Quarterly, and the Journal of Common Market Studies, and holds a PhD in Political Sciences and a Masters Diploma in History from the University of Vienna. “The Foreign Policy Institute has long been a home for the kind of rigorous, policy-relevant scholarship I believe in," said Dr. Günay. "I look forward to deepening conversations about democratic resilience, European security, and the transatlantic relationship at this pivotal moment.”