Zoran Ivanov received his Bachelor's degree from Military Academy in Skopje, R. Macedonia. His education continues in US where he graduated from Command and General Staff College as a Master’s of Military Arts and Science in security studies. In 2014 he got his Ph.D. from the Institute of National History in Balkan security studies.

He served in the Macedonian Army since 1999 on different positions and deployments. As an active military officer in 2010, he was transferred to work within the government in the field of defense and security.

Additionally, in 2017 he started closed cooperation with the office of the President of RM in the field of defense, security, and terrorism. As a part of the Presidency, he has been involved in many bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of defense and security in the Western Balkans with many countries including NATO and EU. He was the initiator of several strategic level joint conferences for regional cooperation and strengthening the bilateral and multilateral initiatives for regional defense and security. In July 2019 he voluntarily decommissioned from Macedonian Army.

He was in a leadership position for over 18 years. Mr. Ivanov was leading military and governmental large and midsize organizations through restructuring and reorganizations. Terrorism, hybrid warfare, security, organizational leadership, and leading changes are among his research interests.

In parallel, he was visiting lecturer and keynote speaker in a few domestic and foreign Universities and other international schools and centers. Mr. Ivanov has numerous publications and also as co-author of many articles in domestic and foreign Journals and Magazines.

Zoran Ivanov joined TEPAV in August 2019 as a Director for Balkan Studies.