Dr Victoria Stewart-Jolley is a senior research fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy. She worked as a legal advisor on electoral processes for the United Nations for over 15 years, holding positions in East Timor, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Iraq, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Montenegro, Albania and Libya. She has detailed comparative knowledge of electoral systems and has specialized in legislation development and electoral dispute resolution management. She has an LLB (University of Sussex), LLM in public international law (University of Edinburgh), an MSt in International Relations and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Her PhD focuses on the democratization processes of Afghanistan and Iraq from both legal and international relations perspectives, and includes an examination of our understanding of democracy, political rights, and state transformation. She is a by-fellow at Downing College, Cambridge. She has published on Iraq elections at Chatham House.