Global Affiliates

Prof. Dr.Aysegül Kibaroglu is the Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at MEF University in Istanbul. She was a Visiting Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2016. Previously, she was a Faculty Member and the Vice Chair of the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University in Ankara (2003-2011).

Prof. Kibaroglu regularly delivers conferences and seminars to diplomats, legal advisers, and government officials – both in Türkiye and abroad. She convenes extensive consultations with representatives of water bureaucracies by attending various expert committee meetings. Prof. Kibaroglu worked as the Advisor to the President of the South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration (RDA) from 2001 to 2003. Her past advisory position at the GAP RDA gave her the opportunity to interact with water technocrats at both national and international levels. She has acted as the co-founder of an informal water diplomacy initiative, namely the Euphrates-Tigris Initiative for Cooperation (ETIC), together with her colleagues from Syria, Iraq, and Türkiye.

ProfessorKibaroglu has participated in a wide range of international research projects, such as “Cooperation on Turkey’s Transboundary Waters” led by the Berlin Technical University, Adelphi, German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and German Development Institute-DIE (2004-2011); “Water Law and Cooperation in the Euphrates-Tigris Region: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Approach” led by the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, in Heidelberg (2011-2013); “Sustainability of Engineered Rivers in Arid Lands: Outlook to 2060,” led by the University of Texas at Austin, (2013-2021). Prof. Kibaroglu acts as the Consultant for the Horizon2020 project “CASCADES: Helping European Societies Address Cascading Climate Risks from outside Europe” led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU) (2019-2023).

ProfessorKibaroglu has published extensively on the politics of water resources with an emphasis on the Euphrates Tigris river basin, including a book volume, Building a Regime for the Waters of the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin (Kluwer Law International, 2002), and co-edited volumes, Water Development and Poverty Reduction (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003), Turkey’s Water Policy (Springer, 2011), and Water Law and Cooperation in the Euphrates-Tigris Region (Brill, 2013). and co-editor of Turkey’s Water Policy (Springer, 2011). She has published in International Negotiation, Water International, Water Policy, International Journal of Water Resources Development, Global Governance and International Affairs. She is a founding member of the Euphrates Tigris Initiative for Cooperation (ETIC).

Her recent publications include:

· “Water Management as a Tool for Conflict Prevention: The Case of MENA,” (with Vakur Sumer) Orient I/2023.https://orient-online.com/shop/full-issues/orient-i-2023-climate-change-and-climate-action-in-mena/

· Turkey’s Water Diplomacy: Analysis of its Foundations, Challenges and Prospects, Anthem Press (Cambridge Core), 2021. https://anthempress.com/science-diplomacy-managing-food-energy-and-water-sustainably/turkey-s-water-diplomacy-pdf

· Sustainability of Engineered Rivers in Arid Lands: Challenge and Response (with Jurgen Schmandt, Regina Buono and Sephra Thomas) (eds.) (Cambridge University of Press, 2021). https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sustainability-of-engineered-rivers-in-arid-lands/AF0C17C0816FF83974753DD3B9FCD3E1

· “Water and 'Imperfect Peace' in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin” (with R. Caner Sayan) International Affairs, Vol. 97, Issue 1, 2021, pp. 139–155. https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/97/1/139/6041469?login=true

· “Barriers in Participative Water Governance: A Critical Analysis of Community Development Approaches,” (with Raghav Shunglu et al.) Water, Vol. 14, Issue 5, 2022, 762. https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/5/762

· “The role of irrigation associations and privatization policies in irrigation management in Turkey,” Water International, Vol. 45, Issue 2, 2020, pp. 83-90.

· “State-of-the-art review of transboundary water governance in the Euphrates-Tigris river basin,” International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2019, pp. 4-29.

Bionote

Prof. Kibaroglu was a post-Doctoral Fellow at the International Water Law Research Institute at the University of Dundee, Scotland in 2002. Her areas of research include Middle East transboundary water politics, international water law, Türkiye’s water policy, political geography, and environmental security. Prof. Kibaroglu teaches courses on public international law, international organizations, and water politics to undergraduate and graduate students, respectively. She has supervised several master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations.