Seda Gürkan

Seda Gürkan is Assistant Professor in European Approaches to Security, Diplomacy and Global Affairs at Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA). She is also an Affiliated Fellow and Professor at the Department of Political Science and the Institute for European Studies (IEE), at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

Dr. Gürkan is a graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE), ULB and Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Gürkan was previously a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC and a visiting fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). In addition to her wide range of academic experience in EU Studies, she has worked at the highest levels of professional politics and policy: as a member of NATO International Staff and advisor to the Assistant Secretary General at NATO HQ dealing with NATO-EU relations, cyber defence, missile defence and counter-terrorism; as a consultant to the European Parliament; and as a lobbyist, researcher and trainer in Washington DC, London, Brussels, Istanbul and Madrid. Dr. Gürkan regularly provides expert opinions to the European Parliament on the EU's enlargement, human rights and the EU's neighbourhood. Dr. Gürkan is the country expert (Turkey) for Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) since 2018.

Dr. Gürkan's research interests include the EU’s external relations (with a focus on the Eastern neighbourhood, human rights and enlargement), the crises the EU has been facing since 2009, the EU's role in global affairs, EU institutions, European integration theories, parliamentary diplomacy (European Parliament) and emotions in international relations. Dr. Gürkan has published on these topics in peer reviewed journals and book chapters in edited volumes, and has presented around 70 innovative papers at leading international conferences and workshops. Her latest publications include a co-authored volume with Nathalie Brack ‘Theorizing the Crises of the European Union’ published by Routledge in 2021 and a Special Issue she co-edited with Ozlem Terzi and Trineke Palm on the ‘Emotions in EUropean Foreign Policy’ by Global Affairs in 2021. She is currently involved in two Horizon Europe projects, both dealing with the impact of the processes of autocratisation in the EU's neighbouring countries on the EU's foreign policy instruments: Horizon-MSCA ‘Globalisation, Europe and Multilateralism: Democratic institutions, the rise of alternative models and mounting normative dissensus’ and Horizon RIA project ‘Respond to Emerging Dissensus: Supranational Instruments and Norms of European democracy’.

Dr. Gürkan is a former scholar of German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Atlantik Brücke Young Leaders Program Alumna. She was awarded Jean Monnet scholarship by the European Commission. Dr. Gürkan was a Robert Schuman Scholar at the European Parliament, Directorate General for Committees and Delegations, Enlargement section (Brussels) in 2003. She offered senior courses on international relations and international security at NATO Defence College (Rome, Italy) and NATO School in Oberammergau (Germany). She received NATO research award with her research project on European Security Architecture.  Dr. Gürkan is a former American Field Service (AFS) scholar and she holds an Art Diploma from Rome, Italy. Dr. Gürkan speaks Turkish (native), Spanish (native), English, French and Italian (all fluent).