Dr Gerasimos Tsourapas
- Senior Lecturer in International Relations (Politics)
telephone:
01413308755
email:
Gerasimos.Tsourapas@glasgow.ac.uk
Adam Smith Building, Room 1204, 28 Bute Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RS, Phone 8832
Biography
Gerasimos Tsourapas works on the international relations of the Middle East and the broader Global South, with a particular focus on the politics of migrants, refugees, and diasporas. He has secured research funding in excess of £1.4 million, and is currently the Principal Investigator of a five-year European Research Council Starting Grant project on migration diplomacy. He is a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and has been elected as the incoming Chair of the Ethnicity, Nationalism, & Migration Studies (ENMISA) Section of the International Studies Association (2023–25).
Dr Tsourapas is the author of The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt – Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa – Power, Mobility, and the State (Manchester University Press, 2021). He co-edited, with Prof Maria Koinova, a special issue on 'Diasporas and Sending States in World Politics' for International Political Science Review. His work has also appeared in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, International Migration Review, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and other leading journals.
Dr Tsourapas has received numerous awards. The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt was awarded the 2020 ENMISA Distinguished Book Award by the International Studies Association and was shortlisted for the British International Studies Association's L.H.M. Ling Outstanding First Book Prize. His work has also been recognised by the American Political Science Association (Best Dissertation on Migration & Citizenship, 2016), the International Studies Association (Martin O. Heisler Award, 2017), and the Middle East Studies Association of North America (Graduate Student Paper Prize, 2015). He also received the inaugural 2021 ENMISA Emerging Scholar Award by the International Studies Association.
Dr Tsourapas served as a Fellow at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University (2019–20) and The American University in Cairo (2013–14). He received a BA 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).
Grants
- 2023–28, ERC Consolidator Grant: Disappearing Act: Reconstructing the Crime of Disappearances in Times of Political Violence [DISACT]. Funded by: European Research Council. Role: Team Member.
- 2022–27, ERC Starting Grant: The International Politics of Mobility Sanctions [MOBSANCT]. Funded by: European Research Council.
- 2022–25, De-centering the Study of Migrant Returns & Readmission Policies in Europe and Beyond. Funded by: European Commission, Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Role: Consortium Participant Organisation Lead.
- 2022–23, ISRF Flexible Grant for Small Groups Award. Funded by: Independent Research Social Foundation. Role: PI.
- 2021–23, The Libyan Migration State. Funded by: Society for Libyan Studies. Role: PI.
- 2020–22, The Rise of Transnational Authoritarianism in the Middle East. Funded by: Council for British Research in the Levant Pilot Grant. Role: PI.
- 2020–22, Non-State Actors and Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East. Funded by: ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. Role: PI.
- 2018–2023, MAGYC (Migration Governance and asYlum Crises). Funded by: European Commission, Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Role: Research Team Member.
- 2018–19, The International Politics of Middle East Migration: Problems, Policy, Practice. Funded by: British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award. Role: PI.
- 2017–19, Migration Diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean - Inter-State Politics of Population Mobility in the Middle East. Funded by: Council for British Research in the Levant Pilot Grant. Role: PI.
- 2017–18, The Politics of Forced Migration in the Mediterranean: Interstate Bargaining and Issue-Linkage in Greece and Jordan. Funded by: British Academy & The Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grant. Role: PI
- 2016–17, Unpacking the Sending State: Regimes, Institutions and Non-state Actors in Diaspora and Emigration Politics. Funded by: International Studies Association Venture Research Grant. Role: Co-PI.
Supervision
I welcome potential doctoral students who are interested in his areas of expertise, namely:
- The politics of the Middle East
- International migration and refugee diplomacy
- Transnational authoritarianism and diaspora politics
Previous PhD students (as primary, or co-supervisor) include:
- 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, I am supervising the following PhD students:
- Al Khulaifi, Sultan Abdalrahmn S M
Qatari Foreign Policy & The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict : A Constructivist Understanding - Hoppermann, Judith
Syrian refugees between hospitality and calculation – Managing (unwanted) forced migration as a tool and a goal in Turkish foreign policy
Teaching
Teaching Recognition
- Highly Innovative Teaching Award, Students' Representative Council – University of Glasgow (shortlisted, 2022)
- Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2021)
- 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
- 2020 - Present: Comparative Migration Studies
- 2020 - Present: Migration Politics
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
Invited Talks
- 2023, Migration Diplomacy as a Three-Level Game in Greek-Turkish Relations; European Institute – London School of Economics & Political Science
- 2023, Behind the headlines: Migration diplomacy and the 2023 elections in Greece and Turkey (panelist); Swedish Institute of International Affairs
- 2023, European Migration Management in the Eastern Mediterranean (panelist); Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence – National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
- 2022, Politicised Migration and the Politics of Asylum (panelist); Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum – University of Cambridge
- 2021, Management of Forced Migration in the Global South (panelist); Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs – Syracuse University
- 2020, The Refugee Rentier State in the Global South; Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy – King’s College London
- 2020, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Middle East Centre – London School of Economics & Political Science
- 2020, Egypt and the Politics of Migration in the Mediterranean; Amsterdam Centre for European Studies – University of Amsterdam
- 2020, Refugees, Migration and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (panelist); Migration Policy Centre – European University Institute
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Elliott School of International Affairs – George Washington University
- 2019, Syria, Forced Displacement, and the Rise of Refugee Rentierism; Center for European Studies – Harvard University
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies – New York University
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Marist College
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; University of Pittsburgh
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Boston University
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; German Institute of Global and Area Studies
- 2019, The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt; Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies – Yale University
- 2019, Migration and Authoritarianism in Egypt; University of Liverpool
- 2017, Diasporas as Soft Power; Center for Migration and Refugee Studies – The American University in Cairo
- 2017, Migration Diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean; Sijal Institute in Amman, Jordan
- 2016, Agents of Nationalism: The Arab Cold War & The Politics of Egyptian Migration; Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies – SOAS, University of London