Dr. Silvia Colombo is Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Programme at IAI. She is an expert on Middle Eastern politics and in this capacity she is working on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, transatlantic relations in the Mediterranean and domestic and regional politics in the Arab World. Among her research interests there are also the relations between the European Union and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). She speaks Arabic fluently and has travelled extensively in the Middle Eastern region. Silvia is also professor and module director in Mediterranean Regional Integration and Transformation at CIFE in Nice (France). She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Politics from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and a Master’s Degree in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.
Publications
Colombo, S. (2018), “A tale of several stories: EU-North Africa relations revisited”, ECDPM Great Insights magazine, Vol. 7, Issue 4, available at: https://ecdpm.org/great-insights/north-africa-hope-in-troubled-times/several-stories-eu-north-africa-relations/
Colombo, S. (2018), New Trends in Identity Politics in the Middle East and North Africa and Their Impact on State-Society Relations, MENARA Reports, available at http://www.iai.it/it/pubblicazioni/new-trends-identity-politics-middle-east-and-north-africa-and-their-impact-state
Colombo, S. (2018), “Challenging the State from above, Empowering It from within”, IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2018, pp. 17-22, available at: http://www.iemed.org/observatori/arees-danalisi/arxius-adjunts/anuari/med.2018/Challenging_Empowering_Silvia_Colombo_Medyearbook2018.pdf
Colombo, S. (2018), Political & Institutional Transition in North Africa: Egypt & Tunisia in Comparative Perspective, Routledge, London, UK.
Colombo, S. and B. Voltolini (50% each) (2018), “The EU and Islamist parties in Tunisia and Egypt after the Arab uprisings: A story of selective engagement”, Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 23, Issue 1, January 2018, pp. 83-102.
Colombo, S. and Natalia Shapovalova (50% each) (2018), “The European Neighbourhood Policy promotion of civil society” in T. Schumacher, A. Marchetti and T. Demmelhuber, The Routledge Handbook on the European Neighbourhood Policy.
Colombo, S. and E. Ragab (eds.) (2018), Foreign Relations of the GCC Countries amid Shifting Global and Regional Dynamics, Routledge, London, UK.
Colombo, S. et al. (2017), Global Identities: Embedding the Middle East and North Africa Region in the Wider World, MENARA Reports, available at: http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/global-identities-embedding-middle-east-and-north-africa-region-wider-world
Colombo, S. and B. Voltolini (50% each) (2017), The EU’s engagement with ‘moderate’ political Islam: The case of Ennahda, LSE Middle East Centre papers series, 19, LSE Middle East Centre, London, UK.
Colombo, S. and E. Ragab (eds.) (2017), Foreign Relations of the GCC Countries amid Shifting Global and Regional Dynamics, Special Issue The International Spectator, Vol. 52, No. 2, June 2017.
Colombo, S. (2016), The EU’s External Migration Policy and Implications for the MENA Region, EDA Insight, December 2016, available at: http://eda.ac.ae/images/pdf/EDAInsight_EUs_External_Migration_Policy_English.pdf
Colombo, S. (2016), “The Trajectory of the Crises in the Mediterranean” in A. Marrone and M. Nones, Italy and Security in the Mediterranean, IAI Research Papers, pp.11-23.
Colombo, S. et al. (eds.) (2016), The Future of Natural Gas, Hof van Twente, Lenthe: European Energy Review
Colombo, S. and N. Sartori (eds.) (2016), The OSCE’s Contribution to Energy Governance in the Mediterranean Region, IAI, April 2016, available at: http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/osces-contribution-energy-governance-mediterranean-region
Colombo, S. and D. Huber (50% each) (2016), The EU and Conflict Resolution in the Mediterranean Neighbourhood, Barcelona, European Institute of the Mediterranean, March 2016, 44 p. (IEMed/EuroMeSCo Papers ; 27), available at: http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/eu-and-conflict-resolution-mediterranean-neighbourhood
Colombo, S. (ed.) (2016), Youth Activism in the South and East Mediterranean Countries since the Arab Uprisings, Barcelona, European Institute of the Mediterranean, febbraio 2016, 74 p. (EuroMeSCo Joint Policy Study 2), available at: http://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/youth-activism-south-and-east-mediterranean-countries-arab-uprisings
Colombo, S. and N. Sartori (50% each) (2014), Rethinking EU Energy Policies Towards the Southern Mediterranean Region, Working Paper No. 1414, November 2014, available at: http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iaiwp1414.pdf
Colombo, S. (2014), “The Gulf and the EU: Partners or Competitors?” in S. Gstöhl and E. Lannon (eds.), The Neighbours of the European Union’s Neighbours. Diplomatic and Geopolitical Dimensions beyond the European Neighbourhood Policy, Farnham and Burlington, Ashgate, 2014, pp. 123-144
Colombo, S. and B. Voltolini (50% each) (2014), “‘Business as Usual’ in EU Democracy Promotion Towards Morocco? Assessing the Limits of the EU’s Approach towards the Mediterranean after the Arab Uprisings”, L’Europe en Formation, Vol. 371, pp. 41-57
Colombo, S. (ed.) (2014), Bridging the Gulf: EU-GCC Relations at a Crossroads, Roma, Nuova Cultura, IAI Research Papers No. 14, March 2014, Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura
Colombo, S. et al. (2013), Regional Dynamics in the Mediterranean and Prospects for Transatlantic Cooperation, Mediterranean Paper Series, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, July 2013
Colombo, S. et al. (2012), The GCC in the Mediterranean in Light of the Arab Spring, Mediterranean Paper Series, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, December 2012
Colombo, S. (2012), “The GCC and the Arab Spring: A Tale of Double Standards”, The International Spectator, Vol. 47, No. 4 (December 2012), pp. 110-126
Colombo, S. (2012), “Syria: Neither Spring nor Peace” in T. Behr and P. Sasnal, Still Awake: The Beginnings of Arab Democratic Change, The Polish Institute of International Affairs and The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, August 2012, pp. 30-36
Colombo, S. and B. Voltolini (50% each) (2012), “EU democracy promotion and electoral politics between ‘milieu goals’ and ‘possession goals’: the cases of Lebanon and Morocco” in B. Wassenberg and G. Faleg (eds.), Europe and the Middle East: The Hour of the EU?, P.I.E. Peter Lang (Euroclio 63), pp. 65-79
Colombo, S. and N. Tocci (50% each) (2012), “The EU Response to the Arab Uprising: Old Wine in New Bottles?” in R. Alcaro and M. Haubrich-Seco (eds.), Re-thinking Western Policies in Light of the Arab Uprisings, IAI Research Papers No. 4, February 2012, Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura, pp. 71-96
Colombo, S.; P. Caridi and J. Kinninmont (2012), New Socio-political Actors in North Africa: a Transatlantic Perspective, Mediterranean Paper Series, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, February 2012
Colombo, S. and N. Abdelkhaliq (2012), The European Union and Multilateralism in the Mediterranean: Energy and Migration Policy, Mercury E-Paper No. 18, January 2012
Colombo, S.; L. Debnárová; V. Rihácková and L. March (2012), The EU Neighbourhood and Comparative Modernisation, Mercury E-paper No. 17, January 2012
Colombo, S. and N. Tocci (eds.) (2011), The Challenges of State Sustainability in the Mediterranean, IAI Research Papers No. 3, September 2011, Rome: Edizioni Nuova Cultura.