Nicholas A. Heras is an Analyst with Fair Observer and a former David L. Boren Fellow. He has extensive field experience in all regions of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. His work on the Levant, Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf countries is featured in the Jamestown Foundation amongst other publications. Michael Bassett is a Senior Asia Analyst with the private security firm, 361 Security LLC. He was a Staff Non-Commissioned Officer with the US Army’s most forward deployed forces on the Korean Peninsula where he served for four years on the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. In addition to this military experience, Michael Bassett’s civilian experience on the Korean Peninsula includes periodic trips to North Korea, and time in South Korea, where he lived in Seoul and worked with Mannam, an organization that helps defectors adjust to live in South Korea and promotes unification on the Korean Peninsula. He earned a BA in International Studies and Development with a focus in East Asian Affairs and a graduate certificate in North Korean Affairs from Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies.