Dr. Michaël Tanchum
AIES Senior Associate Fellow
Michaël Tanchum conducts research and analysis on strategic affairs in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, with special interests in geopolitics, energy, maritime/naval affairs and security issues in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden Corridor, and the Persian Gulf.
Primarily focused on the rivalries among the Saudi Arabia-UAE-Egypt, Turkey-Qatar, and Iran-led blocs, along with the roles of Russia and China, Dr. Tanchum assesses the strategic implications of newly emerging patterns of energy and commercial connectivity on the evolving security architectures of the Maghreb, the Mediterranean region, and the greater Middle East.
Within this strategic framework and combined with his training in Islamic studies, Dr. Tanchum also examines the impact of various Islamic political movements on current conflicts in the region.
Dr. Tanchum holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was a Fellow at Harvard's Olin Institute for Strategic Studies and its Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He is also a non-resident affiliated scholar at the Centre for Strategic Studies (Başkent-SAM) at Başkent University, Ankara.
His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and several on-line policy journals. He has been a regular contributor to Turkish Policy Quarterly, Hürriyet Daily News, and other regional outlets.
Dr. Tanchum also teaches in the International Relations program of the University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
In the press
In Foreign Policy (18.08.2020): How Did the Eastern Mediterranean Become the Eye of a Geopolitical Storm?
In AP News (13.09.2020): Greece, Turkey signal willingness to talk about sea dispute
In N-World (14.09.2020): Blue Homeland: the doctrine behind Turkey's Mediterranean claims
In CNN (26.08.2020): NATO allies are facing off in the Eastern Mediterranean. The conflict could entangle the entire region
In TRT-World (28.08.2020): Could Turkey become a gas benchmark for the Eastern Mediterranean?
Events & Publications
Italy and Turkey‘s Europe-to-Africa Commercial Corridor
Michaël Tanchum: Italy and Turkey's Europe-to-Africa Commercial Corridor: Rome and Ankara's Geopolitical Symbiosis Is Creating a New Mediterranean Strategic Paradigm, AIES Fokus 10/2020
25.08.2020 / Mehr
Morocco‘s Africa-to-Europe Commercial Corridor
Michaël Tanchum: Morocco's Africa-to-Europe Commercial Corridor: Gatekeeper of an emerging trans-regional strategic architecture, AIES Fokus 8/2020
08.07.2020 / Mehr
The Middle East's Year of the Dragonbear
Michaël Tanchum: The Middle East's Year of the Dragonbear – The 2020 emergence of a Sino-Russian strategic architecture bridging Iran and its Arab Gulf Rivals, AIES Fokus 12/2019
19.12.2019 / Mehr
Turkey‘s String of Pearls
Michaël Tanchum: Turkey's String of Pearls: Turkey's Overseas Naval Installations Reconfigure the Security Architecture of Mediterranean-Red Sea Corridor, AIES Fokus 4/2019
21.05.2019 / Mehr