Mustafa Cüneyt Özşahin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Necmettin Erbakan University and a Senior Fellow at the Istanbul Institute for Advanced Studies (ISTIAS). He completed his MA in Political Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia as a Fulbright Scholar and earned his PhD in International Relations from Selçuk University. His research interests include international relations theory, security studies, and Turkish politics. Dr. Özşahin’s work has been published in various edited volumes and leading journals, including Contemporary Review of the Middle East, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, and Europe-Asia Studies. He is also a regular contributor to Turkish media on issues of regional and domestic politics and security. He is the co-editor of “Turkey’s Return to the Western Balkans (Springer Nature, 2022).”