Dr Dimitris Bouris an Assistant Professor (Senior Lecturer) of EU Security/European External Relations at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and also the coordinator of the Master’s track programme ‘European Politics and External Relations’ (EPER). He is also a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin) and the coordinator of EUMENIA. Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam, he was a Research Fellow in charge of the southern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy at the European Neighbourhood Policy Chair at the College of Europe (Natolin) and a visiting lecturer in Middle East Politics at Kingston University.
Dr Bouris holds a BA in Political Science (University of Crete), a MA in International Politics/International Relations (University of Manchester) and a PhD in Politics and International Studies (University of Warwick). His research focus lies at the intersection of International Relations (IR theory, peacebuilding, state-building, security sector reform, conflict resolution), EU Studies (EU External Relations, EU Common Security and Defence Policy) and Middle East and North Africa Studies (with a particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Libya).
Dr Bouris is the author of “The European Union and Occupied Palestinian Territories: State-building without a State” which was published by Routledge in 2014 (Hardback) and 2015 (Paperback) and for which he was selected as Routledge Politics and International Relations author of the month for February 2014. Dimitris is also the co-editor of the “Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change in EU Foreign Policy” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and the co-editor (with Daniela Huber and Michelle Pace) of the forthcoming “Routledge Handbook of EU-Middle East Relations” (Routledge, 2022).
He has also published a number of scholarly articles in peer-reviewed academic journals as well as policy briefs and op-eds for major news and policy outlets.
Publications
Books
Drawing on extensive fieldwork and over 140 interviews carried out in Brussels, London, Jerusalem and Ramallah with EU, Palestinian and Israeli officials as well as academics, members of NGOs and civil society, the author evaluates the present approach of state-building and offers a framework to test the effectiveness of the EU as a state-builder. Examining security sector reform, judiciary sector reform and the rule of law, the book brings the ‘voices from the field’ to the forefront and measures the contribution of the EU to state-building against a backdrop of on-going conflict and a polarised social setting.
Link The European Union and Occupied Palestinian Territories
This book analyses the revised European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which entered into force in May 2011, thereby replacing its predecessor of 2003/2004. The edited volume provides a structured and comprehensive overview of the most recent developments in EU foreign policy (EUFP) towards the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood through the prism of continuity and change. Topics covered include: conceptual, theoretical and methodological issues; the legal and institutional aspects of the revised ENP and the changes brought by the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty; and conflicts and crises in the EU’s neighbourhood, such as the Western Sahara conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the South Caucasus conflicts and the crisis in Ukraine. The authors also focus on sectoral cooperation, analysing the changes brought by the revised ENP of 2011 in the domains of energy cooperation and migration. This volume will appeal to scholars and upper level students in EU/European Studies, International Relations, Political Science, as well as practitioners and policy-makers in the field.
The Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change in EU Foreign Policy
Journal Articles
Bouris D. & Papadimitriou D.(2020) The EU and Contested Statehood in its Near Abroad: Europeanisation, Actorness and State-building, Geopolitics, 25:2, 273-293, DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2019.1643162
Bouris D. & İşleyen B. (2020) The European Union and Practices of Governing Space and Population in Contested States: Insights from EUPOL COPPS in Palestine, Geopolitics, 25:2, 428-448, DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2018.1552946
Bouris, D. (2018). Contested States, Hybrid Diplomatic Practices, and the Everyday Quest for Recognition, International Political Sociology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/oly006 (with Irene Fernandez-Molina).
Bouris, D. (2017) ‘Europeanisation, Sovereignty and Contested States: The EU in northern Cyprus and Palestine’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. DOI: 10.1177/1369148117727534 (with George Kyris).
Bouris, D. (2016) ‘Of Policy Entrepreneurship, bandwagoning and free-riding: EU member states and multilateral cooperation frameworks for Europe’s southern neighbourhood’, Global Affairs, 2(3): 259-272. DOI: 10.1080/23340460.2016.1216230 (with Tobias Schumacher and Maja Olszewska).
Bouris, D. (2015) ‘The Vicious Cycle of Building and Destroying: the 2014 War on Gaza’, Mediterranean Politics, 20(1): 111-117, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2015.1007000.
Bouris, D. (2012) ‘Introducing the Rule of Law in Security Sector Reform: European Union Policies in the Palestinian Territories’, The Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 4(1): 176-193, DOI:10.1017/S1876404512000103 (with Stuart Reigeluth).
Bouris, D. (2012) ‘The European Union’s Role in the Palestinian Territories: State-building through Security Sector Reform?’, European Security, 21(2): 257-271, DOI: 10.1080/09662839.2012.665804.
Bouris, D. (2011) ‘The Limits of Normative Power Europe: Evaluating the Third Pillar of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’, Political Perspectives, 5 (2): 80-106.
Bouris, D. (2010) ‘The European Union’s Role in the Palestinian Territory after the Oslo Accords: Stillborn State- building’, Journal of Contemporary European Research, 6 (3): 376-394.
Book Chapters
Bouris, D. (2018) ‘The EU and Civilian Missions in the Neighbourhood’, in Schumacher, T., Marchetti, A. and Demmelhuber, T. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy, Oxon: Routledge (with Madalina Dobrescu).
Bouris, D. (2017) ‘The 2011 Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change in EU Foreign Policy’, in Bouris, D. and Schumacher, T. (eds.) The Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change in EU Foreign Policy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (with Tobias Schumacher).
‘The Prospects of EU Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy’, in Maravegias, N. (ed.) The European Union: Creation, Organization, Politics and Policies, Athens: Kritiki. (In Greek with Nikolaos Tzifakis).
Bouris, D. (2015) ‘EU-Palestinian Security Co-operation: enforcing which border(s)?’ in Del Sarto, R. (ed.) Fragmented Borders, Interdependence and External Relations: The Israel-Palestine-European Union Triangle, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 27-47.
Bouris, D. (2013) ‘The European Union’s role in the Palestinian Territories: State-building through Security Sector Reform?’ in Dursun-Ozkanca, O. (ed.) The European Union as an Actor in Security Sector Reform, London: Routledge, pp. 119-133.
Other Publications – Outreach
Bouris, D. (2017) ‘Imposing Middle East Peace: Why EU member states should recognise Palestine’, Istituto Affari Internazionali (with Daniela Huber).
Bouris, D. (2016) ‘Deja vu: Moving on from the French peace initiative’, Al Jazeera (with Nathan Brown).
Bouris, D. (2016) ‘The Middle East Quartet’s Quest for Relevance’, Carnegie Europe/Strategic Europe (with Nathan Brown).
Bouris, D. (2015) ‘Riding Shotgun: The EU’s role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Bouris, D. (2014) Can the EU Revive the Cause of Middle East Peace?’, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (with Nathan Brown).
Bouris, D. (2013) ‘Palestine donors: time to end paper solutions to real problems’, EU Observer.
Bouris, D. (2013) ‘The EU becomes assertive in the Middle East peace process’, Open Democracy (with Tobias Schumacher).