Athanasios Manis
Research Fellow, International Politics and National Security
Dr. Athanasios Manis is Research Fellow for International Politics and National Security at the Middle East Research Institute (MERI). His research interests include foreign policy analysis (FPA), theories of international relations, political psychology, security and energy politics. He has research and teaching experience over EU foreign affairs and enlargement policies as well as Turkey and other parts of the MENA region.
He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (European Institute). The thesis focuses on explanations of Turkey’s foreign policy change toward its neighbours, such as Cyprus, Armenia and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Towards that end, Athanasios put forward innovative and relevant theoretical models that explain risk-seeking and risk-averse behaviours of Turkish policy entrepreneurs, such as that of the incumbent President of the Turkish Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in terms of peace-making with neighbouring countries.
Manis has language skills in English (fluent), Turkish (fluent), Greek (native speaker), German (intermediate level), Arabic (basic) and Hebrew (basic).
Selected publications
- Manis, Athanasios, Averting an Economic Meltdown in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Aligning Political Objectives with Economic Necessities, MERI, Report, July 2016
- Manis, Athanasios, Turkey and its Kurdish Issue: The European Union Factor, The European Security and Defence Union, 23, March 2016, p. 34
- Manis, Athanasios, Chasing Chimeras in Syria: Turkey’s PYD Gamble, MERI, February 2016
- Manis, Athanasios, Electoral Failures, Misguided Choices: The Finite Point of the AKP’s Kurdish Policy, MERI, Op-ed, October, 2015
- Manis, Athanasios, The Middle East at breaking point: Turkey’s neighbourhood policy and the need for enhanced ‘Soft’ Power, MERI, Policy Note, January 2015.
