Julien Bastrup-Birk

Julien Bastrup-Birk’s expertise spans across transnational threats, organised crime, illicit finance, and hybrid warfare. He has previously worked for various UK departments, including in senior research, policy, and advisory roles. This included leading policy teams in the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) and serving as Head of Transnational Threats in the UK’s Stabilisation Unit, as well as Head of Strategy in the FCDO’s Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (OCSM).

His advisory work has since included the position of lead consultant with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), where he authored the UNODC’s new Organised Crime Strategy Toolkit, which was translated into 11 languages. Julien holds a first-class honours degree in politics and international relations, a master’s in war studies (King’s College, London) and is completing a doctorate at the University of Leiden.