Dr. Curtis Bell is the creator and director of Stable Seas (www.stableseas.org), an international research program that works to help global partners eliminate the illicit maritime activities that finance and facilitate organized political violence. Stable Seas is showing how good maritime governance is imperative to reducing the influence of rebel and terrorist organizations. Dr. Bell has worked around the world on these issues, with recent visits to places as diverse as Malaysia, Djibouti, Gabon, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and the Seychelles. Dr. Bell is a political scientist by training, having previously taught at the University of Tennessee and the University of Colorado. He is currently based out of Broomfield, Colorado.