Meet the CPD Eastern Mediterranean Research Fellows

Join us in welcoming the inaugural cohort of the CPD Eastern Mediterranean Research Fellowship, which aims to encourage new scholarship on the public diplomacy dimension and implications of the evolving regional relations. We are pleased to announce that two researchers have joined us for the year-long, nonresidential fellowship.

Dionysos Alexiou, University of Nicosia

Dionysos Alexiou holds a bachelor of arts degree in Classics and a master of arts degree in Medieval Greek Literature from the University of Ioannina, and a Ph.D. from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where his research was focused on the reception of ancient Greek drama in newer dramaturgy. He has also successfully completed specialized courses for the accredited guide-Docent at The A.G. Leventis Gallery in Cyprus, in ‘Copy Editing and Proofreading’ at the National and Kapodistrian University in Athens, in ‘Cultural Diplomacy’ at the Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies and ‘Management of Arts Organizations” offered by the University of Maryland. Throughout his studies, he has worked on educational campaigns that took place in developing countries involving the repatriation of stolen artifacts to their rightful country of origin as well as combating illicit art traffic. He has had and continues to hold various lecturer positions at the University of Cyprus and University of Nicosia, as well being involved at Harvard University’s Centre for Hellenic Studies as a postdoctoral researcher. His research interests focus on the reception of ancient Greek drama, intercultural education, arts management, cultural diplomacy, corporate cultural diplomacy, international relations, etc. Alexiou has been working as Associate to the Office of the President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus for 5 years (2016–2021), where, among other responsibilities (projects, preparation of research papers, symposium, conferences, bilateral/trilateral meetings, observing and reporting parliamentary committees sessions, etc.), he has been Parliamentary Representative/Coordinator of the Committee on Literature, Arts and Quality Education, and the Committee of Cultural Heritage; both aforementioned committees belonging to the Parallel Parliament initiative.

Through this fellowship, Alexiou will explore two issues: (1) the energy security that the East Med Gas Forum (EMGF) and Electricity Interconnection could ensure in the region and (2) whether regional collaboration agreements in the Eastern Mediterranean could contribute to regional stability.

Vassilis (Bill) Kappis, University of Buckingham

Vassilis (Bill) Kappis is Deputy Director and Lecturer at the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham and a visiting professor for the two highest-ranking military education institutions in Poland and Greece, the War Studies University (Akademii Sztuki Wojennej) and the Hellenic School of National Defence (Σχολή Εθνικής Άμυνας), respectively. He holds a doctor of philosophy degree in International Security from the University of Sydney and master’s degrees in Strategic Studies from Australian National University and in European Integration from the London School of Economics. Before joining the University of Buckingham, Kappis undertook post-doc research at the University of Tel-Aviv, investigating Greek-Israeli security cooperation. His scholarly interests lie in the strategic and psychological dimensions of interstate security crises and foreign policy decision-making, as well as in the geopolitical dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean with an emphasis on great power competition in the region. He has considerable experience designing bespoke training programs for academic and practitioner audiences in the UK and overseas and is, moreover, a Steering Committee member of the UNESCO Chair on Threats to Cultural Heritage and Cultural Heritage-related Activities to the Ionian University in Greece. Kappis has presented his work at numerous high-profile conferences and workshops (Princeton, Oxford, INSS Israel, etc.) and has been awarded by the University of Sydney for excellent teaching practice.

Through this fellowship, Kappis will explore how the changing geopolitical conditions and grand strategy formulation by small states, such as Cyprus, could enable them to mobilize their scarce resources toward major foreign and security policy change.