Postdoctoral Researcher · Bilkent University

Erman
Ermihan

Exploring the affective dimensions of foreign policy — where emotions, identity, and ontological security shape how states and leaders navigate an uncertain world.

Ontological Security Emotions in IR Turkish Foreign Policy EU–Turkey Relations Populism

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10+

Peer-reviewed publications

International conference papers

Courses taught

2025

PhD completed

Great Realignment Project
Carnegie Corporation of New York
with Assoc. Prof. Efe Tokdemir

01 / About

Scholarship at the
intersection of affect and power

Ontological Security Theory

Emotions and Affect in International Relations

Turkish Foreign Policy and De-Europeanization

EU–Turkey Relations

Populism and Political Psychology

Foreign Policy Analysis

Education

2019 – 2025

PhD, International Relations

Kadir Has University · GPA 3.94 · Full Scholarship

2017 – 2019

MA, Political Science

Sabancı University · GPA 3.36 · Full Scholarship

Feb – Jun 2016

Erasmus+ Exchange

Mannheim University, Germany

2013 – 2017

BA, International Relations

Istanbul Bilgi University · GPA 3.74 · 75% Scholarship

02 / Publications

Selected works

SSCI2026

"From sacred spaces to imperial glory: a deconstruction of civilizational discourses in Türkiye and Saudi Arabia"

Lacin Idil Oztig & Erman Ermihan

Globalizations

Read

SSCI2026

"The Abject Other in Turkish Politics: Populist Securitization, Affect, and the Victory Party"

Ceren Melis Kıcıroğlu, Erman Ermihan & Umut Can Adışönmez

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies

Read

SSCI2026

"The affective economy of aid: narcissistic security and the making of Türkiye's moral self"

Ceren Melis Kıcıroğlu & Erman Ermihan

Third World Quarterly

Read

SSCI2025

"Causal Mechanisms of Ontological (In)Security in Turkish Politics and Foreign Policy: Anxiety Transmittance from Sèvres to Lausanne"

Erman Ermihan & İrem Karamık

Turkish Studies

Read

SSCI2024

"The Self and the Other: Individual Emotions and Ontological Security in Turkish Foreign Policy"

Nasuh Sofuoğlu, Samer Sharani & Erman Ermihan

Alternatives: Global, Local, Political

Read

SSCI2024

"Emotions and norms in the Syrian refugee crisis: the comparative responses of the EU and Turkey"

Erman Ermihan & Sinem Akgül Açıkmeşe

Journal of European Integration

Read

Int'l2024

"End of jouissance, start of resentment: a Lacanian critical security approach to Turkey's relations with the West"

Erman Ermihan

Critical Studies on Security

Read

Int'l2023

"Quo Vadis, Turkish IR? Mapping Turkish IR's Footsteps within the Global"

İrem Karamık & Erman Ermihan

All Azimuth, 12(2): 241–260

Read

Int'l2023

"Feeling Imagined Spaces: Emotional Geographies in the EU–Turkey Relations"

İrem Karamık & Erman Ermihan

Uluslararası İlişkiler, 20(77): 71–88

Read

Chapter2025

"Turkey" — The Palgrave Geopolitical Atlas: State and Quasi-State Actors in Great Power Competition

Ceren Melis Kıcıroğlu, Erman Ermihan & Nuri Fudayl Kıcıroğlu

Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 193–208

Read

Chapter2026

"Politik Psikoloji: Duygular, Ontolojik Güvenlik ve Popülizmin Kesişimi"

Veli Özdemir & Erman Ermihan

Uluslararası İlişkilere Giriş — Orion Yayınları

Publisher

Chapter2023

"Türkiye'de Güvenlik Çalışmaları"

Sinem Akgül Açıkmeşe & Erman Ermihan

Türkiye'de Uluslararası İlişkiler Çalışmaları — İmge Kitabevi

Read

Report2026

"Ontological Insecurity and Emotional Governance in Turkish Foreign Policy"

Karel Franco Valansi & Erman Ermihan

GA Reports

Read

Blog2025

"The European Union's Enlargement Dilemma: Is Nihilistic Responsibility the New Normal?"

Erman Ermihan & Nasuh Sofuoğlu

EU-VALUES Blog

Read

Blog2025

"AKP Döneminde Türkiye-AB İlişkileri: Duygular ve Dış Politika"

Erman Ermihan

Global Panorama

Read

03 / Teaching

Courses taught

IR 236 · Bilkent University · Spring 2026

20th Century World Politics

Undergraduate · Visiting Lecturer From the collapse of empires to the Cold War, decolonization, and the post-1989 order — a survey of the forces that shaped the modern international system.

PSIR 468 · Kadir Has University · Spring 2025

European Integration

Undergraduate · Visiting Lecturer Theoretical and empirical foundations of EU integration, enlargement policy, and the evolving relationship between Brussels and its neighbourhood.

IR-INT 313 · Kadir Has University · Summer 2024

International Relations Theory

Undergraduate · Visiting Lecturer A critical survey of IR theory from classical realism and liberalism through constructivism, critical theory, and post-positivist approaches.

IR-INT 210 · Kadir Has University · Summer 2023

Introduction to International Relations

Undergraduate · Visiting Lecturer Core concepts, actors, and structures of the international system; foundational theories and contemporary global issues.

04 / CV

Academic record

Positions

Postdoctoral Researcher

2025–Present

Bilkent University · Carnegie Great Realignment Project

Visiting Lecturer

2023–Present

Bilkent University & Kadir Has University

Publication Coordinator

2022–Present

Uluslararası İlişkiler Journal

Project Assistant Fellow

2023–2025

TÜBİTAK 3005 & 1002 · PI: Sinem Akgül Açıkmeşe

Under Review / Working Papers

"Emotions as an Intervening Variable in Neo-Classical Realism" (with D. Sönmez)

Under review

"The Politics of Bodily Refusal and Dance in Turkey" (with V. Özdemir & C.M. Kıcıroğlu)

Under review — Intersections

"Digital Sovereignty, Emotions, and Ontological Security" (with A. Gücüyener Evren & J. Franceschini)

Revise & Resubmit

"Emotions and Affect in UN Peacekeeping: R2P Operations" (with İ.B. Karaman-Yılmazgil & İ. Karamık)

Revise & Resubmit — International Peacekeeping

Full academic CV available for download

Download CV (PDF)

ErmanErmihan

Scholarship at theintersection of affect and power

Selected works

Courses taught

Academic record

Get in touch

Erman
Ermihan

Scholarship at the
intersection of affect and power