Professor Gerasimos Tsourapas

Professor of International Relations (Political & International Studies)

telephone: 01413308832
email: Gerasimos.Tsourapas@glasgow.ac.uk

42 Bute Gardens, Room 1204, Glasgow G12 8RS, Phone 8832

Biography

Gerasimos Tsourapas is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Glasgow and Editor-in-Chief of Migration Studies (Oxford University Press). He also serves as the Chair of the Ethnicity, Nationalism, & Migration Studies (ENMISA) Section of the International Studies Association and previously held the role of Treasurer for the Migration & Citizenship Section of the American Political Science Association.

In 2024–25, Gerasimos is a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Distinguished University Scholar at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Henry J. Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security, Tufts University, and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Gerasimos has previously served as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University (2019–20) and the Migration Research Center, Koç University (2023–24), and served as an elected Trustee of the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL), where he was Acting Honorary Treasurer and a member of the Research Sub-Committee from 2019 to 2022.

Gerasimos holds an undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Yale University (2006), an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2007), and a PhD in Politics from SOAS, University of London (2016), under the supervision of Laleh Khalili and Charles Tripp.

Research interests

Gerasimos Tsourapas’s research explores the intersections of migration, international relations, and global governance, with a particular focus on the Middle East and the Global South. He has pioneered the concepts of migration diplomacy and migration interdependence, advancing theoretical frameworks that analyze the interplay between foreign policy and cross-border mobility.

Currently, he leads a five-year European Research Council Starting Grant project on migration diplomacy building on his previous award-winning research on migration interdependence in the Mediterranean, which earned the 2017 Martin O. Heisler Award by the International Studies Association. His latest book, Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa – Power, Mobility, and the State (Manchester University Press, 2021), supported by grants from the British Academy and the Council for British Research in the Levant, examines how states leverage migration to achieve foreign policy objectives. In 2021, he received the ENMISA Emerging Scholar Award in recognition of his contributions to migration studies.

A second strand of Gerasimos’s research focuses on migration politics across the Global South. He has extensively published on postcolonial migration regimes in the Middle East and South Asia, as well as on the emergence of a transnational social contract in South-South migration, developed in collaboration with Kamal Sadiq (University of California, Irvine). He co-edited a special issue on Diasporas and Sending States in World Politics with Maria Koinova (University of Warwick) for International Political Science Review. His doctoral dissertation, which explored migration policymaking in Egypt following the 1952 Free Officers Revolution, was awarded the American Political Science Association’s Best Dissertation Award on Migration & Citizenship in 2016. His first book, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt: Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies (Cambridge University Press, 2018), received the 2020 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award and was shortlisted for the L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize by the British International Studies Association.

Gerasimos is also researching forced migration governance, with a particular focus on the commodification of refugees in domestic and international politics. Based on fieldwork in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey during the Syrian refugee crisis, his work has uncovered processes of refugee rent-seeking, where host states leverage refugee populations for political and economic gain. His research on ‘blackmailing’ and ‘backscratching’ strategies by refugee rentier states was recognized with the 2020 VIADUCT Research Award (Erasmus+ European Union). In 2024, he co-edited a volume on the topic with Marc Lynch (George Washington University) under the auspices of the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS).

Gerasimos is a frequent commentator on migration, refugee, and diaspora politics, with his work featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, The New Humanitarian, and other leading publications.

Research groups

International Relations

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Number of items: 56.

2025

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2025) Migration diplomacy and Greek–Turkish relations: A three-level game analysis. International Migration, 63(2), e70004. (doi: 10.1111/imig.70004)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2025) The refugee rentier state and norm manipulation in the Arab world. In: Fakhoury, Tamirace and Chatty, Dawn (eds.) Refugee Governance in the Arab World: The International Refugee Regime and Global Politics. I.B. Tauris: London, pp. 153-162. ISBN 9780755650156

2024

Fernandez-Molina, Irene and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Understanding migration power in international studies. International Affairs, 100(6), pp. 2461-2479. (doi: 10.1093/ia/iiae230)

Lynch, Marc and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (Eds.) (2024) The Politics of Migration and Refugee Rentierism in the Middle East. POMEPS Studies. 50 [Edited Journal]

Lynch, Marc and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Introduction – Rentierism in Middle East migration and refugee politics. POMEPS Studies, 50, pp. 3-7.

Thiollet, Hélène and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Migration rentierism in the Middle East. POMEPS Studies, 50, pp. 135-143.

Sadiq, Kamal and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Reliant on labor migration, the Global South forges a new social contract with its citizens. Migration Information Source, 22 Feb.

Sadiq, Kamal and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Labour coercion and commodification: from the British Empire to postcolonial migration states. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50(3), pp. 617-636. (doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2023.2269778)

Grigoriadis, Ioannis N. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Understanding Greece’s new foreign policy towards the Arab world: instrumentalisation, balancing, and emerging opportunities. Mediterranean Politics, 29(3), pp. 307-330. (doi: 10.1080/13629395.2022.2148193)

2023

Sadiq, Kamal and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2023) The transnational social contract in the Global South. International Studies Quarterly, 67(4), sqad088. (doi: 10.1093/isq/sqad088)

Siniver, Asaf and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2023) Middle powers and soft-power rivalry: Egyptian-Israeli competition in sub-Saharan Africa. Foreign Policy Analysis, 19(2), orac041. (doi: 10.1093/fpa/orac041)

Sahin-Mencutek, Zeynep and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2023) When do states repatriate refugees? Evidence from the Middle East. Journal of Global Security Studies, 8(1), ogac031. (doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogac031)

2022

Adamson, Fiona B. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2022) Greece and Turkey: from state-building and developmentalism to immigration and crisis management. In: Hollifield, James F., Martin, Philip L., Orrenius, Pia M. and Héran, François (eds.) Controlling Immigration: A Comparative Perspective. Fourth Edition. Stanford University Press: Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 9781503631380

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2022) The illiberal paradox and the politics of migration in the Middle East. In: Hollifield, James F. and Foley, Neil (eds.) Understanding Global Migration. Stanford University Press: Palo Alto, CA. ISBN 9781503614772

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 and Zartaloudis, Sotirios (2022) Leveraging the European refugee crisis: forced displacement and bargaining in Greece’s bailout negotiations. Journal of Common Market Studies, 60(2), pp. 245-263. (doi: 10.1111/jcms.13211)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2022) EU-Egypt relations at a crossroads. In: Bouris, Dimitris, Huber, Daniela and Pace, Michelle (eds.) Routledge Handbook of EU–Middle East Relations. Routledge. ISBN 9780367330767 (doi: 10.4324/9780429317873-30)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2022) Transnational state practices and authoritarian politics. In: Yeoh, Brenda and Collins, Francis (eds.) Handbook on Transnationalism. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp. 128-140. ISBN 9781789904000 (doi: 10.4337/9781789904017.00015)

2021

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) The perils of refugee rentierism in the post-2011 Middle East. Digest of Middle East Studies, 30(4), pp. 251-255. (doi: 10.1111/dome.12252)

Sadiq, Kamal and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) The postcolonial migration state. European Journal of International Relations, 27(3), pp. 884-912. (doi: 10.1177/13540661211000114)

Malit, Froilan T. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Weapons of the weak? South-south migration and power politics in the Philippines-GCC corridor. Global Studies Quarterly, 1(3), ksab010. (doi: 10.1093/isagsq/ksab010)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Global autocracies: strategies of transnational repression, legitimation, and co-optation in world politics. International Studies Review, 23(3), pp. 616-644. (doi: 10.1093/isr/viaa061)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa: Power, Mobility, and the State. Manchester University Press: Manchester. ISBN 9781526132093

Freier, Luisa F., Micinski, Nicholas R. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Refugee commodification: the diffusion of refugee rent-seeking in the Global South. Third World Quarterly, 42(11), pp. 2747-2766. (doi: 10.1080/01436597.2021.1956891)

Malit, Froilan T. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Migration diplomacy in the Gulf – non-state actors, cross-border mobility, and the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(11), pp. 2556-2577. (doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1878875)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2021) Refugees, Residents, and Rentierism: A Critical Assessment of Responses to the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Bustan, 12(1), pp. 1-15. (doi: 10.5325/bustan.12.1.0001)[Book Review]

2020

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) Political participation and the Middle East migration state. In: Meijer, Roel, Sater, James N. and Babar, Zahra R. (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa. Series: Routledge handbooks. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon, pp. 395-409. ISBN 9780367178932 (doi: 10.4324/9780429058288-33)

Adamson, Fiona B. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) The migration state in the Global South: nationalizing, developmental, and neoliberal models of migration management. International Migration Review, 54(3), pp. 853-882. (doi: 10.1177/0197918319879057)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) Human Geopolitics: States, Emigrants, and the Rise of Diaspora Institutions. Global Policy Blog, 26 Aug. [Book Review]

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) The EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities and the Egyptian Migration State. Working Paper. MAGYC.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) The long arm of the Arab state. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), pp. 351-370. (doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1585558)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) Theorizing state-diaspora relations in the Middle East: Authoritarian emigration states in comparative perspective. Mediterranean Politics, 25(2), pp. 135-159. (doi: 10.1080/13629395.2018.1511299)

2019

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) The Syrian refugee crisis and foreign policy decision-making in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Journal of Global Security Studies, 4(4), pp. 464-481. (doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogz016)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) A tightening grip abroad: authoritarian regimes target their emigrant and diaspora communities. Discussion Paper. Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) Syrian refugees have become pawns in their host nations’ politics. Washington Post, 17 Jun.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) The politics of migration interdependence in the post-Arab Spring Middle East. In: Geddes, Andrew, Espinoza, Marcia Vera, Hadj-Abdou, Leila and Brumat, Leiza (eds.) The Dynamics of Regional Migration Governance. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK, pp. 128-145. ISBN 9781788119931 (doi: 10.4337/9781788119948.00013)

Adamson, Fiona B. and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) Migration diplomacy in world politics. International Studies Perspectives, 20(2), pp. 113-128. (doi: 10.1093/isp/eky015)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) Diaspora politics in illiberal contexts: Authoritarianism and cross-border mobility in the modern Middle East. In: Awad, Ibrahim (ed.) International Migration in the Euro-Mediterranean Region. Series: Cairo papers in social science, 35(2). The American University in Cairo Press: Cairo, pp. 90-116. ISBN 9781617979224

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) How migration deals lead to refugee commodification. Refugees Deeply, 13 Feb.

Sapsford, Roger, Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752, Abbott, Pamela and Teti, Andrea (2019) Corruption, trust, inclusion and cohesion in North Africa and the Middle East. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 14(1), pp. 1-21. (doi: 10.1007/s11482-017-9578-8)

2018

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt: Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9781108475549 (doi: 10.1017/9781108630313)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) Egypt: migration and diaspora politics in an emerging transit country. Discussion Paper. Migration Policy Institute, Washington, DC.

Koinova, Maria and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) How do countries of origin engage migrants and diasporas? Multiple actors and comparative perspectives. International Political Science Review, 39(3), pp. 311-321. (doi: 10.1177/0192512118755843)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) Authoritarian emigration states: soft power and cross-border mobility in the Middle East. International Political Science Review, 39(3), pp. 400-416. (doi: 10.1177/0192512118759902)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) Labor migrants as political leverage: migration interdependence and coercion in the Mediterranean. International Studies Quarterly, 62(2), pp. 383-395. (doi: 10.1093/isq/sqx088)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) The peculiar practices of 'authoritarian emigration states'. British Academy Review(32), pp. 22-24.

2017

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2017) The politics of Egyptian regional migration: examining autocratic cooperation processes in the Arab world. In: Jünemann, Annette, Scherer, Nikolas and Fromm, Nicolas (eds.) Fortress Europe? Challenges and Failures of Migration and Asylum Policies. Springer: Wiesbaden, Germany, pp. 51-69. ISBN 9783658170103 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-17011-0_5)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2017) The politics of “exit”: emigration & subject-making processes in modern Egypt. Mashriq and Mahjar, 4(1), pp. 29-49. (doi: 10.24847/44i2017.119)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2017) Migration diplomacy in the Global South: cooperation, coercion and issue linkage in Gaddafi’s Libya. Third World Quarterly, 38(10), pp. 2367-2385. (doi: 10.1080/01436597.2017.1350102)

2016

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2016) Hero of the Crossing: How Anwar Sadat and the 1973 War Changed the World. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, 26(2), pp. 114-117. (doi: 10.5840/peacejustice201626221)[Book Review]

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2016) Nasser’s educators and agitators across al-Watan al-‘Arabi: tracing the foreign policy importance of Egyptian regional migration, 1952-1967. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 43(3), pp. 324-341. (doi: 10.1080/13530194.2015.1102708)

2015

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2015) The politics of Egyptian migration to Libya. Middle East Report Online, 17 Mar.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2015) Why do states develop multi-tier emigrant policies? Evidence from Egypt. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41(13), pp. 2192-2214. (doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2015.1049940)

2014

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2014) Notes from the field: researching emigration in post-2011 Egypt. Migration and Citizenship: Newsletter of the American Political Science Association, 2(2), pp. 58-62.

2013

Lazarou, Elena, Gianniou, Maria and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2013) The limits of norm promotion: the EU in Egypt and Israel/Palestine. Insight Turkey, 15(2), pp. 171-193.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2013) Mariz Tadros, The Muslim Brotherhood in contemporary Egypt: democracy redefined or confined? SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research, 5, pp. 48-51. [Book Review]

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2013) The other side of a neoliberal miracle: economic reform and political de-liberalization in Ben Ali's Tunisia. Mediterranean Politics, 18(1), pp. 23-41. (doi: 10.1080/13629395.2012.761475)

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 01:02:04 2025 BST.

Number of items: 56.

Articles

Lynch, Marc and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Introduction – Rentierism in Middle East migration and refugee politics. POMEPS Studies, 50, pp. 3-7.

Thiollet, Hélène and Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2024) Migration rentierism in the Middle East. POMEPS Studies, 50, pp. 135-143.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) The long arm of the Arab state. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), pp. 351-370. (doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1585558)

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) Syrian refugees have become pawns in their host nations’ politics. Washington Post, 17 Jun.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2019) How migration deals lead to refugee commodification. Refugees Deeply, 13 Feb.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2018) The peculiar practices of 'authoritarian emigration states'. British Academy Review(32), pp. 22-24.

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2015) The politics of Egyptian migration to Libya. Middle East Report Online, 17 Mar.

Books

Book Sections

Book Reviews

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) Human Geopolitics: States, Emigrants, and the Rise of Diaspora Institutions. Global Policy Blog, 26 Aug. [Book Review]

Edited Journals

Research Reports or Papers

Tsourapas, Gerasimos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2746-9752 (2020) The EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities and the Egyptian Migration State. Working Paper. MAGYC.

This list was generated on Sun Jun 15 01:02:04 2025 BST.

Grants

'Securitisation Without Security: How Migration is Shaping the Global Order'
Co-PI – Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2024–26.
Budget: £381,292 ($500,000)
‘Disappearing Act: Reconstructing the Crime of Disappearances in Times of Political Violence.’
Co-PI – European Research Council Consolidator Grant, 2023–28.
Budget: £1,725,371 (€1,990,598)
‘The International Politics of Mobility Sanctions.’
PI – European Research Council Starting Grant, 2022–27.
Budget: £1,299,765 (€1,499,836)
‘De-Centring the Study of Migrant Returns and Readmission Policies in Europe and Beyond.’
Co-PI – Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme, 2022–25.
Budget: £2,939,545 (€3,392,025)
‘Refugees and Diplomacy in Power Politics.’
PI – Independent Research Social Foundation Small Group Project, 2022–23.
Budget: £2,435
‘Migrants and Refugees in the Levant.’
PI – Council for British Research in the Levant (British Academy) Project, 2022–23.
Budget: £12,000
‘The Libyan Migration State.’
PI – Society for Libyan Studies Grant (British Academy), 2021–23.
Budget: £7,160
‘Migration, Diasporas, and Transnational Authoritarianism in the Middle East.’
PI – Council for British Research in the Levant (British Academy) Pilot Grant, 2020–22.
Budget: £5,875
‘Non-State Actors and Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East.’
PI – Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account Grant, 2020–22.
Budget: £7,450
‘The International Politics of Middle East Migration: Problems, Policy, Practice.’
PI – British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award, 2018–19.
Budget: £14,957
‘Migration Diplomacy and Inter-State Politics of Population Mobility in the Middle East.’
PI – Council for British Research in the Levant (British Academy) Pilot Grant, 2017–19.
Budget: £5,700
‘The Politics of Forced Migration, Interstate Bargaining & Issue-Linkage in Greece & Jordan.’
PI, British Academy & The Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant, 2017–18.
Budget: £9,379
‘Syrian Refugees and Higher Education.’
Co-PI, University of Birmingham Global Challenges Doctoral Fellowship, 2017–20.
Budget: £56,224
‘The Politics of Migration Interdependence in Lebanon.’
PI, George Washington University POMEPS Grant, 2017–18.
Budget: £2,368 ($3,000)
‘Unpacking the Sending State: Regimes, Institutions and Non-state Actors in Diaspora and Emigration Politics.’
Co-PI, International Studies Association Venture Research Grant, 2016–17.
Budget: £8,138 ($10,310)

Supervision

Passionate about mentoring, Gerasimos has supervised five PhD projects to completion and currently supervises two doctoral students on migration, refugees, and Middle East politics. He is currently serving on the External Advisory Board of the Marie-Curie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network EuroMedMig, the Euro-Mediterranean Research Network on Migration.

Gerasimos welcomes potential doctoral students who are interested in his areas of expertise, namely:

Migration diplomacy and the broader politics of cross-border mobility
Refugee rentierism and forced migration governance
Transnational authoritarianism and diaspora politics
The politics and political economy of the Middle East

Previous PhD students (as primary, or co-supervisor) include:

Al-Khulaifi, Sultan (2021–24)
Echoes of Peace: Qatar’s Manoeuvres in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (1995–2013)
Piazzese, Giovanni (2018–22)
The Evolution of the Egyptian State's Emigration Policy: Transforming Neglect into Engagement
Alshamsi, Reem (2017–21)
Implementation of the International Standards for Countering Terrorist Financing in Different National Contexts
Wu, Wen-Yu (2017–21)
Waiting, Hopes and Futures: Experiences in Accessing Higher Education for Displaced Students from Syria in Lebanon and Jordan
Mustafa, Ziad Abu Attiya (2015–18)
The Causes of Palestinian Disunity, 1993-2014

Currently, Gerasimos is supervising the following PhD students:

Doğan, Gülşen (2025–28)
Right-wing Populism and Political Power: A Comparative Study on Türkiye’s and Hungary’s Migration Diplomacy with the EU

Habersky, Elena
Navigating Restrictions: How Sudanese in Cairo Contest the Egyptian-Sudanese Border.
Heneghan, Matthew
Remittance Regimes: Migrational (inter)dependencies between Russia and Eurasia and the comparative effects on political and institutional development

Teaching

Gerasimos has extensive experience in designing and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate courses on topics such as migration politics, international relations of the Middle East, and global governance at several leading higher education institutions across the UK. He has also delivered regular invited lectures at institutions including the United Nations University's School of Modern Diplomacy and other prominent organizations, sharing his expertise on migration diplomacy, refugee governance, and global power dynamics.

Teaching Recognition

Highly Innovative Teaching Award, Students' Representative Council – Students’ Representative Council, University of Glasgow (shortlisted, 2022)
Senior Fellow (SFHEA) – Higher Education Academy (2021)
Fellow (FHEA) – Higher Education Academy (2017)
Director's Teaching Prize – SOAS, University of London (2015)

Professional activities & recognition

Prizes, awards & distinctions

2021: International Studies Association – ENMISA Emerging Scholar Award
2020: British International Studies Association – L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize (short-listed)
2020: International Studies Association – ENMISA Distinguished Book Award
2017: International Studies Association – Martin O. Heisler Award for Best Graduate Paper
2016: American Political Science Association – Best Dissertation Prize (Migration & Citizenship)
2015: Middle East Studies Association of North America – Best Graduate Student Paper Prize

Research fellowships

2019 - 2020: Harvard University – Center for European Studies, Visiting Fellowship
2023 - 2023: Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc), Visiting Fellowship

Grant committees & research advisory boards

2023: UKRI, Talent Peer Review College
2023: Gulf Labour Markets, Migration and Population (GLMM), Advisory Board

Editorial boards

2024 - Present (Editor-in-Chief): Migration Studies
2020 - Present (Editorial College Member): Migration Politics
2020 - Present (Advisory Board): Comparative Migration Studies

Professional & learned societies

2020 - 2023: Trustee (elected), Council for British Research in the Levant
2017 - 2021: Treasurer (elected, two consecutive two-year terms), International Studies Association – Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Studies Section
2023 - 2025: Chair, International Studies Association – Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Studies Section

Additional information

Gerasimos is committed to ensuring that his research reaches wider audiences and contributes to addressing critical global challenges. His work on migration diplomacy, forced displacement, and authoritarian governance has been shared beyond academia through lectures, discussions, and media contributions. By engaging with policymakers, practitioners, and the public, he seeks to foster dialogue and drive meaningful change in areas of pressing societal concern.

He has delivered invited talks at leading institutions worldwide, including the United Nations University, the American University in Cairo, Harvard University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Notably, he has been invited to deliver distinguished named lectures, such as the 2024–25 Karkalas Lecture for the Scottish Hellenic Society and the 2020 Council for British Research in the Levant Annual General Meeting Lecture, reflecting the recognition of his expertise and impact in the field. These lectures demonstrate his dedication to translating academic research into accessible insights that inform public debate and policy.

Below is a selection of his recent invited talks and media contributions.

Invited Talks

'Migration Diplomacy as a Three-Level Game in the Eastern Mediterranean: The Case of Greece and Turkey' (8-05-2025)
IEMed – European Institute for the Mediterranean, Barcelona
‘New Theories, Old Regimes? Arab Diasporas and Authoritarian Politics After 2011’ (30–01–2025)
Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (CAREP), Paris
‘The Significance of Migration Diplomacy in the Context of the OSCE’ (13–12–2024)
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Vienna
‘Bordering Power: Unpacking the Authoritarianism-Migration Nexus in Egypt’ (28–11–2024)
University of Copenhagen
‘Understanding the Logic of Migration Crises in the Mediterranean’ (18–11–2024)
The American University in Cairo
The 2024–25 Karkalas Lecture: ‘Greek-Turkish Relations and the Importance of Migration in Shaping the Two Countries’ History and Politics’ (12–11–2024)
Scottish Hellenic Society
‘Migration Diplomacy and Electoral Politics in Greek-Turkish Relations’ (15–10–2024)
London School of Economics and Political Science
‘Tracing the Effects of the Transnational Social contract on Political Behaviours Across South-South Migration’ (28–05–2024)
Oxford University
'Remittances, Immigration, and Global Challenges' (26–04–2024)
Institute for Humane Studies, George Washington University
‘The Transnational Social Contract in the Global South’ (27–02–2024)
Toronto Metropolitan University
‘Migrations in the Mediterranean: Which Research Agenda for the Coming Years?’ (23–01–2024)
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
‘Greek-Turkish Relations and Migration Power Politics in the Mediterranean’ (11–12–2023)
British School at Athens
‘Migration Diplomacy as a Three-Level Game in the Mediterranean’ (13–11–2023)
Henry J. Leir Institute for Migration & Human Security, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
‘Migration Diplomacy & Conflict: Greek-Turkish Relations as a Three-Level Game’ (9–11–2023)
Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies – University of California, Irvine
‘Migration Diplomacy & Greek-Turkish Relations: A Three-Level Game Approach’ (10-05-2023)
Faculty of Arts & Sciences – Sabancı University
‘Migration Diplomacy & Greek-Turkish Relations: A Three-Level Game Approach’ (03-05-2023)
Migration Research Center – Koç University
‘Migration Diplomacy as a Three-Level Game in Greek-Turkish Relations’ (28–03–2023)
European Institute – London School of Economics & Political Science
‘Migration Diplomacy & the 2023 Elections in Greece and Turkey’ (07–03–2023)
Swedish Institute of International Affairs
Panel on ‘European Migration Management in the Eastern Mediterranean’ (02–03–2023)
Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence – University of Athens
Panel on ‘Politicised Migration and the Politics of Asylum’ (12–05–2022).
Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum – University of Cambridge
Panel on ‘Management of Forced Migration in the Global South’ (02–02–2022)
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs – Syracuse University
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (05–11–2020)
Middle East Centre – London School of Economics & Political Science
‘Egypt and the Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean’ (17–02–2020)
Amsterdam Centre for European Studies – University of Amsterdam
Panel on ‘Refugees, Migration & Governance in the Middle East & North Africa’ (25–11–2020)
Migration Policy Centre – European University Institute
The 2020 Council for British Research in the Levant Annual General Meeting Lecture: ‘Migration Diplomacy in the Levant: Lessons from the Syrian Refugee Crisis’ (15–11–2020)
Council for British Research in the Levant – London, United Kingdom
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (20–11–2019)
Elliott School of International Affairs – George Washington University
‘Syria, Forced Displacement, and the Rise of Refugee Rentierism’ (08–11–2019)
Center for European Studies – Harvard University
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (05–11–2019)
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies – New York University
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (30–10–2019)
Marist College
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (24–10–2019)
University of Pittsburgh
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (10–10–2019)
Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies – Boston University
‘The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt’ (24–09–2019)
Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies – Yale University
‘Migration and Authoritarianism in Egypt’ (04–2019)
Department of Politics – University of Liverpool
'Diasporas as Soft Power' (30–10–2017)
Center for Migration and Refugee Studies – The American University in Cairo
‘Migration Diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean’ (15–07–2017)
Sijal Institute for Arabic Language and Culture in Amman, Jordan
‘Agents of Nationalism: The Arab Cold War & Politics of Egyptian Migration’ (20–01–2016)
Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies – SOAS, University of London

Impact

A full archive of research uptake, citations, and institutional reports is available on the MOBSANCT Research Uptake page.

European Commission – Migration Diplomacy: An Analysis of Policy Approaches and Instruments (2024)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe – Transnational Repression and the Rule of Law (2023)
UK Parliament – National Security Strategy Inquiry on Defending Democracy (2024)
Swedish Government – DELMI Policy Brief on Return Migration Diplomacy (2024)
Austrian Institute for International Affairs – The Impact of Migration on International Relations (2024)
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Migration Diplomacy in the Biden-Harris Administration (2024)
Human Rights Watch – “We Will Find You”: A Global Look at Government Repression Abroad (2024)
International Foundation for Electoral Systems – Understanding and Interrupting Authoritarian Collaboration (2024)
Friedrich Ebert Foundation – Policy Brief on Migration Diplomacy (2024)
Mixed Migration Centre – Power Dynamics and Migration Diplomacy (2024)
Amnesty International – “On my campus, I am afraid”: China’s Targeting of Overseas Students (2024)
Human Rights Action Group – Transnational Repression by Eritrea’s Dictator (2024)
Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy – Migration Diplomacy and the Athens-Berlin-Ankara Axis (2023)
United States Congress – Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report (2023)
United States Congress – China’s Global Police State: Background and U.S. Policy Implications (2023)
Freedom House – Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach: The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression (2021)
Foreign Policy Centre – Countering Transnational Repression: The Importance of Integrating New Immigrants (2020)

Public Commentary & Media Coverage

Additional media commentary and interviews are available on the MOBSANCT MediaCoverage page.

Ta Nea (May 2025–) – Commentary on Middle East and global politics
- 24 May 2025 – "Οι ΗΠΑ κουράστηκαν πλέον να τον ακούνε" (“The US is tired of listening to him”) – analysis of declining US–Israel relations in the context of Gaza, generational shifts in American foreign policy, and international perceptions of Netanyahu.
  Read the article | [Download PDF – in Greek]
- 17 May 2025 – "Οι δρόμοι της οργής" (“The Streets of Rage”) – on youth-led protest movements and their emotional-political undercurrents, drawing on research on authoritarianism, transnational repression, and mobilisation.
  Read the article | [Download PDF – in Greek]
ARiSTEiA Podcast (May 2024) – “Winds of Change: Greece in the 21st Century”
Podcast discussion with Othon Anastasakis on political transformation, European integration, and Greece’s evolving migration politics.
Listen to podcast (Apple Podcasts)
The New Humanitarian (August 2024) – “What is Refugee Rentierism?”
Explainer article focused on the refugee rentier state concept, drawing on my published work and ongoing research. The piece situates the term within broader debates on humanitarianism, migration diplomacy, and global aid politics.
Read article (The New Humanitarian) | Read article (PDF)
The New York Times (April 2023) – “Tunisia's Influence in Europe.”
Quoted in an in-depth analysis of EU–Tunisia migration diplomacy, discussing the strategic use of migration as foreign policy and the growing relevance of the refugee rentier framework.
Read article (The New York Times) | Read article (PDF)
Krautreporter (January 2022) – “Flüchtlinge als Ware sind die neue Normalität” (“Refugees as a Commodity is the New Normal”)
Featured interview exploring the logic of refugee commodification and the strategic use of migration by states at Europe’s borders. The piece draws on my co-authored article Refugee Commodification: The Diffusion of Refugee Rent-Seeking in the Global South.
Read article (Krautreporter – in German) | Read article (PDF)
The Economist (February 2021) – “Repressive regimes are tightening their grip on their citizens abroad.”
Quoted in a feature article on the global rise of transnational repression, discussing how authoritarian states use extradition requests, Interpol red notices, and broadened terrorism definitions to suppress dissent abroad, with tacit support from democratic governments.
Read article (The Economist) | Read article (PDF)
Jadaliyya (2019) – “New Texts Out Now: Gerasimos Tsourapas, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt”
Interview on the book’s key arguments and its contribution to scholarship on authoritarianism, migration, and regime survival in the Middle East.
Read article (Jadaliyya) | Read article (PDF)

Gerasimos Tsourapas

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