Özlem Kayhan Pusane was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1980. She graduated from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2002 with a B.Sc. degree in International Relations. She received her M.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2004, where she also received her Ph.D. degree in Political Science in 2009. She is currently a professor of international relations at Işık University (Istanbul, Turkey). Özlem's broader research and teaching interests lie in the areas of traditional and critical security studies, civil-military relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, foreign policy analysis and the role of emotions in foreign policy.

Education

• Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 2009.
  Fields of Specialization: International Relations and Comparative Politics.
  Dissertation Title: Insurgencies, Counterinsurgencies, and Civil-Military Relations: When, How, and Why Do Civilians Prevail?
  
• M.A. in Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 2004.
  
• B.Sc. in International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 2002.
  (Ranked first in the program)

Research

Research Projects

• “Turkish-Greek Emotions and the Discourses of Solidarity within the Context of the February 6 Earthquakes (With Aslı Ilgıt), ”Isik University Research Fund (BAP), 2023
• “The Role of State Actors in Conflict Contagion: Turkey’s Experience of the Syrian Civil War,”Isik University Research Fund (BAP), 2022-2023
• “Turkish Foreign Policy Toward Northern Iraq in the Face of the Independence Referendum", Isik University Research Fund (BAP), 2019-2020.
• “Dış Politikada Değişim Süreci: Türkiye'nin Kuzey Irak Politikası Örneği” [The Process of Change in Foreign Policy: The Case of Turkey's Northern Iraq Policy], TÜBİTAK 3501 Career Grant, 2014-2016.
• “When Battlefield Success Leads to Effective Counterinsurgency: Searching for a Cross-Regional Theory,” EU FP7 Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant, 2010-2014.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

• “Turkey’s Emerging Dichotomy between Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, Iraqi Development Road Project and the Fight Against the PKK”, Social Review of Technology and Change, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2024).
• Turkey’s Resolution Process and Its Endeavor to be A Regional Power: Prospects and Constraints”, Ortadoğu Etütleri, Vol. 15, No. 2 (2023).
• “Uluslararası Güvenlik ve Terör” [“International Security and Terror”], in Seçkin Barış Gülmez and Didem Buhari (eds.), Uluslararası İlişkilere Giriş (Ankara: Orion Kitabevi, 2022).
• “Ontological Insecurity, Anxiety, and Hubris: An Affective Account of Turkey-KRG Relations” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi, Vol. 19, No. 73 (2022).
• “Kalkışma ve Kalkışmaya Karşı Koyma”, in Oktay Bingöl and Ali Bilgin Varlık (eds.), Güvenlik Çalışmaları (Cilt II): Güvenlik Sektörleri ve Sorunları (İstanbul: Arel Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2022).
• “The Role of Context in Desecuritization: Turkish Foreign Policy towards Northern Iraq (2008-2017),” Turkish Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2020).
• “Countering Insurgency: Turkey’s Policy toward the PKK’s Transnational Dynamics in Europe” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Defense and Security Analysis, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Winter 2018).
• “How to Profile PYD/YPG as an Actor in the Syrian Civil War: Policy Implications for the Region and Beyond”, in Özden Zeynep Oktav, Emel Parlar Dal, Ali Murat Kurşun (eds.), Violent Non-state Actors and the Syrian Civil War: The ISIS and YPG Cases (Springer, 2018).
• “Çözüm Süreci Sonrası Türkiye’nin PKK ile Mücadelesi”, in Fahrettin Altun and Hasan Basri Yalçın (eds.), Terörün Kökenleri ve Terörle Mücadele Stratejisi (Ankara: SETA, 2018).
• “Türkiye’nin Kuzey Irak Politikasında Değişim Süreçleri: Turgut Özal ve Tayyip Erdoğan Dönemlerine Yönelik Karşılaştırmalı bir Analiz” [Processes of Change in Turkey’s Northern Iraq Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Turgut Özal and Tayyip Erdoğan’s Tenures], Uluslararası Iliskiler Dergisi, Vol. 14, No. 56 (Fall 2017).
• “La Guerra Civil Siria y El Asunto Kurdo en Turquia: Implicaciones Mutuas” [The Syrian Civil War and Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Mutual Implications], in Un Retrato de la Turquia Contemporanea: Vision General y Perspectivas (Mexico, Anahuac University Press, 2016).
• “Turkey’s Changing Relations with the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government”, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Summer 2016).
• “Turkey’s Struggle with the PKK and Civilian Control over the Turkish Armed Forces”, Conflict, Security, and Development, Vol. 16, No. 3 (May 2016).
• “Technology and Politics: Have the ICTs Turned into a New Domain for Civil-Military Relations in Turkey? (With Rabia Karakaya Polat), South European Society and Politics, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Summer 2016).
• “Turkey’s Military Victory over the PKK and Its Failure to end the PKK Insurgency”, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 51, No. 5 (September 2015).
• “Türkiye’nin Kürt Sorunu: Arap Baharı ile Değişen Yurt içi ve Bölgesel Dinamikler” [Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Changing Domestic and Regional Dynamics Through the Arab Spring]. Uluslararası Iliskiler Dergisi, Vol. 11, No. 42 (Summer 2014).
• "Turkey's Kurdish Opening: Long Awaited Achievements and Failed Expectations." Turkish Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1 (April 2014).
• "The Iraq War and the troubled US-Turkish Alliance: Some Conclusions for Europe." with Daniel A. Lindley in Joseph S. Joseph, ed., Turkey and the European Union: Internal Dynamics and External Challenges (New York, NY: Palgrave/MacMillan, 2006).

Other Publications

• “International Relations amidst Disasters: Turkish-Greek Perceptions and Emotion Discourses in 1999 and 2023 Earthquakes” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Panorama, Online, February 6, 2024, Download
• “Turkish Opposition Parties Grapple with the Kurdish Question”, Middle East Report Online, September 21, 2022, Download
• “What can Turkey Accomplish with Drones in Its Fight against the PKK? Lessons from the Past and Expectations about the Future”, Terrorism Analysis Platform, September 29, 2021, Download
• “Pandemi ve Silahlı Çatışmalar: Covid-19 Salgınının İran’ın Suriye İç Savaşındaki Rolüne Etkisi”, Panorama, Online, August 20, 2021, Download
• “Turkey as a Middle Power in International Politics: Betwixt and Between a Militarized Foreign Policy and Active diplomacy”, Panorama, Online, February 18, 2021, Download
• “Turkish Public Diplomacy and Operation Peace Spring”, War on the Rocks, January, 13 2020, Download
• "Two Years After the Independence Referendum: Are Turkey-KRG Relations Normalizing?” Turkish Policy Quarterly, September 9, 2019, Download
• “Review—Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Discourse and Politics since 1990 (Yazar: H. Akın Ünver)”, E-International Relations, July 24, 2016, Download

Conference Presentations

• “Turkey’s Engagement with the Regional Kurds as a Case of “Constrained Recognition,” 7th Global International Studies Conference, World International Studies Committee, July 24-26, 2024.
• “Politics of Images, Mediated Emotions, and Turkish-Greek Relations in the 2000s” (With Aslı Ilgıt), 7th Global International Studies Conference, World International Studies Committee, July 24-26, 2024.
• “Mediated Emotions in Greek-Turkish Relations in the 2000s” (With Aslı Ilgıt), 11th European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS), European International Studies Association, İstanbul, Turkey, July 3-5, 2024.
• “International Relations amidst Disasters: Turkish Greek Perceptions and Emotions Discourses in 199 and 2003 Earthquakes” (With Aslı Ilgıt), II. International Congress on Security, Peace and Stability in the Eastern Mediterranean: Cooperation, Competition, and Sustainability, Adana, Turkey, March 8, 2024.
• “Foreign Policy Narratives, Emotion Discourses, and the Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement” (With Aslı Ilgıt), 16th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association, Potsdam, Germany, September 5-9, 2023.
• “Turkey’s Resolution Process as a Way to Prevent Conflict Contagion,” Political Studies Association (PSA) 2023 Annual International Conference, Liverpool, UK (digital participation), April 3-5, 2023.
• “Early Republican Turkish Foreign Policy Between Postimperial and Postcolonial Anxieties” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Political Studies Association (PSA) 2023 Annual International Conference, Liverpool, Liverpool, UK (digital participation), April 3-5, 2023.
• “Emotional Multiplicities and Ontological (In)securities of Liminals: Turkish-Israeli Relations” (With Aslı Ilgıt), 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association, Athens, Greece, September 1-4, 2022.
• “Ontological Insecurity, Anxiety, and Hubris: An Affective Account of Turkey-KRG Relations” (With Aslı Ilgıt), 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association, Athens, Greece, September 1-4, 2022.
• "Türkiye-İsrail Yakınlaşması: Bölgesel Düzeni Ontolojik Güvenlik Çerçevesinde Yeniden Şekillendirmek?” [The Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement: Reshaping the Regional Order in an Ontologically-Secure Way?] (Aslı Ilgıt ile), UİK Uluslararası İlişkiler Çalışmaları ve Eğitimi Kongresi, Mersin, May 27-29, 2022.
• "Ontological Security, Emotions, and the Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Political Studies Association (PSA) 2022 Annual International Conference, April 11-13, 2022.
• "The Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement: Reshaping the Regional Order in an Ontologically-Secure Way?” (With Aslı Ilgıt), International Studies Association (ISA) Northeast 2021 Annual Conference, November 4-6, 2021.
• ”Emotions and Foreign Policy Change: An Alternative Affective Account of Turkey-KRG Relations” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Political Studies Association (PSA) 2021 Annual International Conference, March 29-31, 2021.
• ”Duygular ve Dış Politika: Türkiye’nin IKBY Bağımsızlık Referandumu Tepkisi” [Emotions and Foreign Policy: Turkey’s Reaction to the KRG Independence Referendum] (Aslı Ilgıt ile), Ulusaldan Küresele: Popülizm, Demokrasi, Güvenlik Konferansı, Işık University, Istanbul, December 10-11, 2020.
• “The Role of the State in Conflict Contagion: Turkish Experience of the Syrian Civil War”, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) 2019 General Conference, Wroclaw, Polonya, September 4-7, 2019.
• “State Agency and Conflict Contagion: The Turkish Experience of the Syrian Civil War”, Political Studies Association (PSA) 2019 Annual International Conference, Nottingham, UK, April 15-17, 2019.
• “Turkish Foreign Policy toward the KRG in the face of the Independence Referendum: From Cooperation to Conflict”, Political Studies Association (PSA) 2019 Annual International Conference, Nottingham, UK, April 15-17, 2019.
• “Desecuritization of Turkish Foreign Policy towards Northern Iraq: Actor, Context, Audience”, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) 2017 General Conference, Oslo, Norway, September 6-9, 2017.
• “Türkiye’nin Kuzey Irak Politikası Değişim Süreçleri: Turgut Özal ve Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Dönemlerine Yönelik Karşılaştırmalı bir Analiz” [Turkey’s Foreign Policy Change Processes towards Northern Iraq: A Comparative Analysis of the Tenures of Turgut Özal and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan], 8th Uludağ Congress on International Relations, Bursa, Turkey, November 28-29, 2016.
• “Türkiye'nin Irak Kürt Bölgesel Yönetimi Politikası: Güvenlik-dışılaştırma mı, yoksa Yeni Bir Güvenlik Tanımlaması mı?” [Turkey’s Policy towards the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government: A case of Desecuritization or a New Definition of Security?], The New Middle East Conference], Işık University, İstanbul, Turkey, March 24-25, 2016.
• “Role of Individual Leaders in Desecuritization: Turkish Foreign Policy Towards Northern Iraq”, 9th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association, Giardini Naxos, Sicily, Italy, September 23-26, 2015.
• “Role of Leadership in Initiating Foreign Policy Change: Turgut Özal’s Northern Iraq Policy”, 14th METU Conference on International Relations, Ankara, June 17-19, 2015.
• “Technology as a Domain for Civil-Military Power Struggle” (With Rabia Karakaya Polat), Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 16-19, 2015.
• “Counterinsurgency as Foreign Policy: Turkey’s Struggle with the PKK at the International Front” (With Aslı Ilgıt), World Congress on the Middle East 2014, Ankara, Turkey, August 18-22, 2014.
• “Counterinsurgency as Foreign Policy: Turkey’s Struggle with the PKK at the International Front” (With Aslı Ilgıt), Global International Studies Congress 2014, Frankfurt, Germany, August 6-9, 2014.
• “When Does Battlefield Success Mean Effective Counterinsurgency? Assessing the Effectiveness of Coercive Methods in Fighting Insurgencies”, Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 11-14, 2013.
• “Can Ethnic Terrorism End with Coercive/Military Strategies? Turkey’s Military Success against the PKK and the Resolution of the Kurdish Question”, International Interdisciplinary Social Inquiry Conference, Bursa, Turkey, June 17-21, 2012.
• "A Longitudinal Analysis of Civil-Military Relations in Turkey”, IPSA/AISP Armed Forces and Society Conference, Ankara, Turkey, June 17-19, 2011.
• "Domestic Security Threats, Civil-Military Relations, and Democracy in Turkey and Peru", International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention, San Francisco, California, March 26-29, 2008.
• "Domestic Security Threats and Civil-Military Relations: Turkish Military's Role in Counterinsurgency Policy Making", Middle East and Central Asia: Politics, Economics, and Society Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 6-8, 2007.
• "Insurgencies, Counterinsurgencies, and Civil-Military Relations: When, How, and Why Do Civilians Prevail?", Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 12-15, 2007.
• "Democratic Control of the Turkish Armed Forces: Rationality, Culture, and Structure", Middle East and Central Asia: Politics, Economics, and Society Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 8-10, 2005.
• "The U.S. War in Afghanistan: A Case for Military Innovation", International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 1-5, 2005.

Teaching Experience

Işık University

• Introduction to International Relations
• Diplomatic History
• Theories of International Relations
• Turkish Foreign Policy
• International Organizations
• Social Science Research Methods
• Current International Issues
• Civil-Military Relations
• Politics of Terrorism
• National Security
• Society, Science, and Human (Module II: Power)

University of Notre Dame (Teaching Assistant)

• United States Foreign Policy
  
• Building the European Union
  
• War and the Nation-State
  
• Introduction to Comparative Politics
  
• Introduction to International Relations
  

Professional Activities

• International Officer, Political Studies Association, Turkish Politics Specialist Group (2023-present).
• Member of the Faculty Executive Board, School of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Işık University (2023-present).
• Member of the Faculty Board, School of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Işık University (2021-present).
• Coordinator, CORE 0401: Society, Science, and Human (2021-present)
• Member of the Bologna Coordination Committee, Işık University (2019-present)
• Erasmus+ Coordinator, Department of International Relations, Işık University (2011-present).
• Participant, Reform Initiatives for Caucasian Security Institutions Workshop, İstanbul, Turkey (June 24-27, 2012).
• Participant, Security Academy: International Security in the 21st Century, International Relations Council of Turkey, Ilgaz, Turkey (December 18-22, 2009; December 21-25, 2011, December 18-22, 2013).
• Participant, Institute for Qualitative Research Methods (IQRM), Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (January 3-13, 2006).
• Member, International Relations Council of Turkey.
• Member, Political Studies Association.
• Member, European International Studies Association

Fellowships and Honors

• TUBITAK EU-FP7 Participation Incentive Award (2010).
• Dissertation Year Fellowship. Awarded by the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies (2007-2008 Academic Year).
• Gil Loescher Teaching Fellowship. Awarded by the Department of Political Science (2007-2008 Academic Year - not used due to alternative fellowship support).
• Zahm Research Travel Grant (for conducting field research in Peru). Awarded by the University of Notre Dame (Summer 2007).
• Phillip Moore Dissertation Year Fellowship. Awarded by the Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame (January-May 2007).
• Graduate Seed Money Grant (for conducting exploratory field research in Turkey). Awarded by the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies (Summer 2006).
• Striving for Excellence in Teaching Certificate. Awarded by the John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame (May 2006).
• Graduate Student Summer Research Stipend. Awarded by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, University of Notre Dame (Summer 2005 - not used due to alternative fellowship support).
• Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award for Excellence in Teaching. Awarded by John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame (March 2005).
• First rank among all graduates of the bachelor’s degree programs in the Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University (June 2002).