Gerald Knaus is the President of ESI and one of the two founding analysts. He oversees the strategic development of the institution, manages outreach and fundraising activities from the Berlin and Istanbul office, and co-ordinates field research across South Eastern Europe and Turkey, where he spends much of his time. Together with the Senior Editor, he is involved in the research and drafting of all ESI publications. He was also Director of the Lessons Learned and Analysis Unit (LLA) of the European Union Pillar of UNMIK in Kosovo, an innovative project managed by ESI. He is often invited to brief policy makers and to speak publicly on South Eastern European politics and economics. Gerald studied at Oxford, Brussels and the School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna

Ben Crampton is an adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Kosovo. Prior to joining the United Nations Mission in Kosovo he was Political Adviser to the Special Representative of the European Union in Skopje. This followed three years as an analyst on Balkan affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. He is co-author, with his father Richard Crampton, of An Atlas Of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century.