Prof. Ä°brahim Ă–zgĂĽr Ă–zdamar
Ă–zgĂĽr Ă–zdamar is Professor of International Relations, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative, and Social Sciences (FEASS), and Acting Dean of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences (ESBE) at Bilkent University. He joined the Bilkent faculty in 2009 and served as Chair of the Department of International Relations from 2020 to 2025.
Dr. Ă–zdamar’s research focuses on foreign policy analysis, leadership profiling, domestic sources of foreign policy, political forecasting, and international relations theory. He has served as Principal Investigator on numerous high-profile research projects, including multiple TĂśBÄ°TAK 1001 grants—Turkey’s flagship national research funding program—focusing on public opinion, role theory, and elite decision-making in Turkish foreign policy. His scholarship has appeared in premier international journals, including European Journal of International Relations, International Affairs, Political Research Quarterly, International Studies Review, and Foreign Policy Analysis.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Ă–zdamar has extensive policy consulting experience, having advised government agencies, private sector entities, and international organizations. He is also a regular commentator in national and international media on global politics and foreign policy.
He currently serves as Director of Research at Bilkent’s Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Studies. His co-authored book, Leaders in the Middle East and North Africa: How Ideology Shapes Foreign Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2023), received the Distinguished Book Award from the Foreign Policy Analysis section of the International Studies Association (ISA). Dr. Özdamar was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at Johns Hopkins University SAIS (2019–2020) and a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute’s Robert Schuman Center in Florence (2025–2026).
