Simon Cottle is Professor of Media and Communications at Cardiff University. Previously he was Inaugural Chair and Head of the Media and Communications Program at the University of Melbourne and he holds honorary positions at various universities in other countries. He is currently Director of a new Research Group at Cardiff: ‘Communications, Human Security and Atrocity in Global Context.’ Simon is the author of 13 books on media, globalization and the communication of conflicts, crises and catastrophes. Currently he is exploring the history of violence and communications and the possible leverage that global communications can help secure in contexts of human insecurity and imminent atrocity. Simon is Series Editor of the Global Crises and the Media series published by Peter Lang – a series of 20 plus research monographs and edited volumes. The series aims to examine and theorize the complex roles and current performance of media and communications in some of the most profound challenges confronting the world today.