About
Stratum Advisory is led by Dr. Christopher von Dyck, an intelligence analyst and strategic advisor with more than two decades of experience analyzing political authority, security dynamics, and development trajectories in complex environments.
His work sits at the intersection of international relations, political risk, and institutional reform, with a longstanding regional focus on Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and degrees in International Development and Business. His doctoral and post-doctoral research examined security and defence sector reform following civil war, including comparative fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire, conducted in close engagement with military institutions, government officials, international organizations, and affected communities.
Across academic, consulting, and advisory settings, Dr. von Dyck has led multi-year, multidisciplinary research initiatives requiring high levels of discretion, methodological rigor, and contextual judgment. His work has supported decision-making related to post-conflict recovery, institutional reform, development programming, and risk exposure in politically sensitive environments. He specializes in synthesizing academic research, policy material, and open-source intelligence into clear, decision-relevant analysis.
In addition to field-based research across Africa, he has worked with universities, government bodies, think tanks, and international organizations, including engagements with United Nations departments and national authorities. His experience includes extensive confidential interviewing, archival research, and stakeholder engagement at senior levels, often in environments marked by political fragility or institutional transition.
Dr. von Dyck’s approach is grounded in discipline rather than spectacle: careful source evaluation, structured analytical methods, and an emphasis on how authority actually functions in practice. He brings particular attention to the gap between formal structures and lived political reality—where risk most often emerges.
Alongside his advisory work, he has taught at the graduate and undergraduate level in international relations and development, and has contributed to curriculum design and advanced research training. He continues to apply academic standards of evidence and reasoning to practical advisory contexts.
Stratum Advisory reflects this orientation: quiet, exposure-aware analysis designed to help clients understand risk, cut through uncertainty, and act with clarity.