Email: pinar@prio.org
Twitter: @PinarTank1
My current research focuses broadly on Turkey's domestic and foreign policies with a particular emphasis on the Middle East. In the realm of foreign policy, this includes Turkey's regional role, its geopolitical shifts as well as its international humanitarian outreach. In the domestic arena, my research has been related to the issues of democratisation, Kurdish-Turkish relations, gender, and political Islam. In addtion, I maintain my interest in civil-military relations in transitional democracies.
A related secondary theme using Turkey as a case is the role of rising powers in peacebuilding and humanitarianism.
English, Norwegian, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Spanish
1998–Present: Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Sept 2018 - present: Senior Researcher, PRIO
Aug 2013 - Sept 2018: Senior Researcher, based in Brazil
2011–Aug 2013: Research Director, Dimensions of Security
2010–2011: Programme Leader, Conflict Resolution and Peace Building
2009–2010: Senior Researcher
1998–2009: Research, Security Programme
1995–1997: Reseacher, Center for European and Asian Studies, Norwegian School of Management, BI.
1993–1995: Various positions including Teaching, translation and personal assistance.
2003 - Fulbright research scholarship, Georgetown University, Washington.
2001 (October) - Visiting Research fellow at Centre for Eurasian Strategic Studies (ASAM) in Ankara, Turkey.
2009 - Dr. Philos. in Political Science, Uniaversity of Oslo/PRIO.
Dissertation title: Turkey's military élite at a crossroad: Paths to desecuritisation?"
1993 -
Master of Philosophy in International Relations - Security Studies, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
M.Phil thesis: “Ecofeminism: Critique or critical theory?”
1990 -
Bachelor of Arts Honours in French and Politics (including one year spent at Literature Faculty of Université de Nantes, France as part of French language degree). University of Keele, England.
MidEast Policy Brief
Journal Article in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism
PRIO Policy Brief
PRIO Policy Brief
Popular Article in PRIO Blogs
Journal Article in Third World Thematics: a TWQ Journal
Popular Article in Den norske Atlanterhavskomité - Ukens analyse
Report - Other
Popular Article in PRIO blogs
Report - Other
For a week in December each year, Oslo city invites the public to learn about and discuss important issues related to peace, democracy and human rights. The series of events are called Oslo Peace Days.
PRIO will contribute to this year's Oslo Peace Days with four events, including the prestigious PRIO Annual Peace Address.
On 12 May, researchers and practitioners held interesting discussions on Syria at a roundtable at PRIO.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has been met with global condemnation drawing NATO and the EU closer together in coordinating collective responses.
In contrast to this coordinated front among US, French and German responses, it is worth drawing attention to the mixed regional responses among states in the Middle East for whom the war can have long-lasting destabilising effects.
In a series of brief blog posts, researchers of the PRIO Middle East Centre offer their reflections on the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The reflections cover historical and political background as well as current dynamics and future prospects.
In May, a new PRIO Middle East Centre project started. The project, entitled 'Reacting to COVID-19 Across the MENA region', aims to explore how Middle East states reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and what these varied reactions say about the regimes in question, combining statistical analysis of regional patterns with five case studies: Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Palestine. The case studies are published in the MidEast Policy Brief series, with an accompanying PRIO Paper presenting the statistical analysis.
The MidEast Policy Brief series was launched in late 2019. The series aims to disseminate timely and relevant research to the wider public on topics relating to the MENA region, and provide research-based policy advice. Three policy briefs have been published in the series. The first assesses the viability of Kurdish and Palestinian quests for self-determination, the second lays out misconceptions about the Yemen War, while the third scrutinizes the foundations of the EU policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In
the new PRIO Paper ‘The Shifting Turkish Agenda in
Syria’s Evolving Conflict: Understanding the Drivers of Turkey’s Policy in Syria’, Pinar Tank critically examines the Turkish
agenda in Syria, identifying Turkey’s domestic drivers and situating the
country’s policies within an ever-changing regional and international context. The focus is particularly on how internal dynamics and nationalist politics are
driving Turkish foreign policy in Syria. These domestic factors influence both Turkey’s relationship to the West and its more recent pivot towards Russia.
On the occasion of the Royal visit – by His Majesty King Harald V and Queen Sonja – to Jordan 2-4 March, PRIO co-hosted the seminar 'Preserving Spaces for Dialogue in the Middle East' in collaboration with the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan. The seminar took place over two days and aimed at providing a space for academia and key stakeholders to meet. Attendees and participants from Norway included the King of Norway, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide, and Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway will visit Jordan 2-4 March, accepting an invitation from King Abdullah II. As part of the program, PRIO will arrange a seminar, co-hosted with the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. Attendees and participants from Norway will include the King of Norway, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide, and Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø.