Dimitris Bouris
Dr Dimitris Bouris is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and a Jean Monnet Chair "The EU as a Global Actor" (ATHENA). He is an Associate Editor of the academic journal European Security and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin). He is also the leader and coordinator of the EU-Middle East Jean Monnet Network EUMENIA (www.eumenia.eu). Dr Bouris is a co-leader of the Europe in the World theme of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES), an Academic Board member of the Amsterdam Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (ACMES), an Academic Council Member of the European Neighbourhood Council and a non-resident fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy ELIAMEP.
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” (Routledge, 2014). Dimitris is also the co-editor (with Tobias Schumacher) 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 “Routledge Handbook of EU-Middle East Relations” (Routledge, 2022). He has also edited special issues and published a number of scholarly articles in leading peer-reviewed academic journals such as European Security, the Hague Journal on the rule of law, Mediterranean Politics, Global Affairs, International Spectator, the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, International Political Sociology and Geopolitics. He is also a frequent media commentator an has published a number of policy briefs and op-eds for major European and Middle East news and policy outlets such as EUROMESCO, Al Jazeera, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Open Democracy.
Specialties: International Relations, EU External Relations, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), CSDP, Conflict Resolution, Peacebuilding, State-building, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Security Sector Reform, Judiciary Sector Reform.
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” (Routledge, 2014). Dimitris is also the co-editor (with Tobias Schumacher) 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 “Routledge Handbook of EU-Middle East Relations” (Routledge, 2022). He has also edited special issues and published a number of scholarly articles in leading peer-reviewed academic journals such as European Security, the Hague Journal on the rule of law, Mediterranean Politics, Global Affairs, International Spectator, the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, International Political Sociology and Geopolitics. He is also a frequent media commentator an has published a number of policy briefs and op-eds for major European and Middle East news and policy outlets such as EUROMESCO, Al Jazeera, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Open Democracy.
Specialties: International Relations, EU External Relations, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), CSDP, Conflict Resolution, Peacebuilding, State-building, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Security Sector Reform, Judiciary Sector Reform.
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Books by Dimitris Bouris
The interdisciplinary and diverse assessments through which readers may grasp a more nuanced comprehension of the intricate entanglements in EU–Middle East relations are carefully provided in these pages by leading experts in the various (sub)fields, including academics, think-tankers, as well as policymakers. The volume offers original reflections on historical constructions; theoretical approaches; multilateralism and geopolitical perspectives; contemporary issues; peace, security and conflict; and development, economics, trade and society.
This handbook provides an entry point for an informed exploration of the multiple themes, actors, structures, policies and processes that mould EU–Middle East relations. It is designed for policymakers, academics and students of all levels interested in politics, international and global studies, contemporary history, regionalism and area studies.
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.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, EU politics, Middle Eastern politics, conflict resolution and state-building."
Reviews
"Bouris’s book is an important contribution to understanding statebuilding in the oPt because of its focus on the EU, whose central role is often ignored or downplayed. Through his assessment of security sector reform and rule of law promotion, Bouris lays bare the incoherence and inconsistency in EU policy and practices, and shows how statebuilding is not a technical project, but is highly political. He usefully reminds us of how Europe has a major responsibility not only historically for the situation in Israel/Palestine, but also for the current democratic deficit witnessed in the oPt." -
Mandy Turner, Director of the Kenyon Institute in Jerusalem.
"Bouris’ book offers a coherent and detailed assessment of the EU’s role in the Palestinian state-building after the Oslo Accords. What makes the book unique is that it places the EU at the centre of the state-building project conducted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, an endeavor that has so far been missing from the academic literature. The book is based on Bouris’ exhaustive research providing the reader with crucial empirical material linked to a clear theoretical framework. It is an important contribution, which should be read by scholars, researchers, students and policy-makers across the EU and beyond."
Richard Youngs, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Professor of International Relations at Warwick University.
"Dimitris Bouris’ book offers a unique insight into the EU’s role in the Palestinian institution-building. The book demonstrates how the different tools like security sector reform and support to the judiciary, and policies of the EU do come together in pursuing the EU's political goal of supporting a 'two-state solution' in the Middle East with Israel and the future Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security. Bouris' analysis highlights the EU's indispensable role despite the many drawbacks and pitfalls that come with a long-lasting conflict like the one in the Middle East."
Christian Berger, Director for North Africa, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq, EEAS - European External Action Service.
"This is an important monograph that advances our knowledge on both conceptual and empirical grounds. Bouris delivers a fascinating account of the EU’s engagement with the Palestinian territories that is well informed and sharply analytical. A must-read for those who wish to understand the limitations and opportunities of the European Union’s role in the Middle East Peace Process. It is also highly recommended for scholars interested in the wider field of the European Union’s external relations and literature on conflict resolution and contested statehood."
Dimitris Papadimitriou, Professor of Politics, University of Manchester.
"The Palestinian issue would seem to be well trodden scholarly ground, but Dimitris Bouris does us a tremendous service by placing the European Union and Palestinian state-building at the center rather than at the margins of his story. Indeed he shows the EU to be a significant actor. Bouris shows how the EU, well grounded in theory and deeply experienced in practice, sought to knit together an approach to peace making that was anchored in part in building the institutions of a Palestinian state. But by taking us through the details of two particular areas—security sector and courts—Bouris shows the shortcomings of the EU efforts. His evaluation is balanced and fair. While sympathetically aware of the difficult circumstances under which the efforts took place and mindful of some accomplishments, his overall judgment is both reflective and critical."
Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University and Nonresident Senior Associate Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Book Contributions by Dimitris Bouris
Academic Journal Articles by Dimitris Bouris
The existing literature on state-building has focused mainly on post-conflict cases and ‘conventional’ examples of statehood, without taking into consideration the particularities of states that remain internally and/or externally contested. The EU’s engagement in Palestinian state-building through the deployment of EUPOL COPPS and EUBAM Rafah has generated various types of unintended consequences: anticipated and unanticipated, positive and negative, desirable and undesirable, some of which fulfill and some of which frustrate the initial intention. These have important reverberations for the EU’s conflict resolution strategies in Israel and Palestine, the most important being the strengthening of power imbalances and the enforcement of the status quo.
This paper examines the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) with a focus on its effects on everyday police work on the ground. The main argument is that the mission illustrates the ways in which its training and advisory activities work to foster logics and practices that feed into and reproduce the borders that have over the years been imposed, primarily through Israeli security practices. Operating under conditions of contested statehood, EUPOL COPPS promotes Palestinian policing activities based on particular spatial logics and actions as to the governance of the Palestinian population. The article presents new empirical material collected through interviews and document analysis. As such, it aims to build bridges between the literature on critical border studies, EU external relations, the EU’s role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as well as the literature on the EU police missions in conflict and post-conflict missions by emphasising their spatial dimension.
Combining the literature on sovereignty and Europeanisation, this article investigates the engagement and impact of the European Union (EU) on contested states (states lacking recognition) through a comparative study of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Palestine. We find that characteristics of contested statehood mediate EU engagement and impact: the lack of international recognition limits EU’s engagement but encourages development promotion, international integration and assistance of local civil society. Lack of territorial control limits engagement, but ineffective government offers opportunities for development promotion and state-building. As such, and in addition to offering a rich empirical account of two prominent contested states, the article contributes to the discussion of international engagement by developing an innovative conceptual framework for understanding EU’s impact on contested states—a topic neglected within a literature dominated by conventional statehood or conflict resolution themes but very important given extensive international engagement in contested states—and related conflicts.
the European Union, 2008b). Will the normative character of the EU continue being in the forefront, or should the EU gradually adopt pure economic and military ways of making its influence stronger?
The interdisciplinary and diverse assessments through which readers may grasp a more nuanced comprehension of the intricate entanglements in EU–Middle East relations are carefully provided in these pages by leading experts in the various (sub)fields, including academics, think-tankers, as well as policymakers. The volume offers original reflections on historical constructions; theoretical approaches; multilateralism and geopolitical perspectives; contemporary issues; peace, security and conflict; and development, economics, trade and society.
This handbook provides an entry point for an informed exploration of the multiple themes, actors, structures, policies and processes that mould EU–Middle East relations. It is designed for policymakers, academics and students of all levels interested in politics, international and global studies, contemporary history, regionalism and area studies.
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.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, EU politics, Middle Eastern politics, conflict resolution and state-building."
Reviews
"Bouris’s book is an important contribution to understanding statebuilding in the oPt because of its focus on the EU, whose central role is often ignored or downplayed. Through his assessment of security sector reform and rule of law promotion, Bouris lays bare the incoherence and inconsistency in EU policy and practices, and shows how statebuilding is not a technical project, but is highly political. He usefully reminds us of how Europe has a major responsibility not only historically for the situation in Israel/Palestine, but also for the current democratic deficit witnessed in the oPt." -
Mandy Turner, Director of the Kenyon Institute in Jerusalem.
"Bouris’ book offers a coherent and detailed assessment of the EU’s role in the Palestinian state-building after the Oslo Accords. What makes the book unique is that it places the EU at the centre of the state-building project conducted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, an endeavor that has so far been missing from the academic literature. The book is based on Bouris’ exhaustive research providing the reader with crucial empirical material linked to a clear theoretical framework. It is an important contribution, which should be read by scholars, researchers, students and policy-makers across the EU and beyond."
Richard Youngs, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Professor of International Relations at Warwick University.
"Dimitris Bouris’ book offers a unique insight into the EU’s role in the Palestinian institution-building. The book demonstrates how the different tools like security sector reform and support to the judiciary, and policies of the EU do come together in pursuing the EU's political goal of supporting a 'two-state solution' in the Middle East with Israel and the future Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security. Bouris' analysis highlights the EU's indispensable role despite the many drawbacks and pitfalls that come with a long-lasting conflict like the one in the Middle East."
Christian Berger, Director for North Africa, Middle East, Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq, EEAS - European External Action Service.
"This is an important monograph that advances our knowledge on both conceptual and empirical grounds. Bouris delivers a fascinating account of the EU’s engagement with the Palestinian territories that is well informed and sharply analytical. A must-read for those who wish to understand the limitations and opportunities of the European Union’s role in the Middle East Peace Process. It is also highly recommended for scholars interested in the wider field of the European Union’s external relations and literature on conflict resolution and contested statehood."
Dimitris Papadimitriou, Professor of Politics, University of Manchester.
"The Palestinian issue would seem to be well trodden scholarly ground, but Dimitris Bouris does us a tremendous service by placing the European Union and Palestinian state-building at the center rather than at the margins of his story. Indeed he shows the EU to be a significant actor. Bouris shows how the EU, well grounded in theory and deeply experienced in practice, sought to knit together an approach to peace making that was anchored in part in building the institutions of a Palestinian state. But by taking us through the details of two particular areas—security sector and courts—Bouris shows the shortcomings of the EU efforts. His evaluation is balanced and fair. While sympathetically aware of the difficult circumstances under which the efforts took place and mindful of some accomplishments, his overall judgment is both reflective and critical."
Nathan Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University and Nonresident Senior Associate Middle East Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The existing literature on state-building has focused mainly on post-conflict cases and ‘conventional’ examples of statehood, without taking into consideration the particularities of states that remain internally and/or externally contested. The EU’s engagement in Palestinian state-building through the deployment of EUPOL COPPS and EUBAM Rafah has generated various types of unintended consequences: anticipated and unanticipated, positive and negative, desirable and undesirable, some of which fulfill and some of which frustrate the initial intention. These have important reverberations for the EU’s conflict resolution strategies in Israel and Palestine, the most important being the strengthening of power imbalances and the enforcement of the status quo.
This paper examines the EU Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS) with a focus on its effects on everyday police work on the ground. The main argument is that the mission illustrates the ways in which its training and advisory activities work to foster logics and practices that feed into and reproduce the borders that have over the years been imposed, primarily through Israeli security practices. Operating under conditions of contested statehood, EUPOL COPPS promotes Palestinian policing activities based on particular spatial logics and actions as to the governance of the Palestinian population. The article presents new empirical material collected through interviews and document analysis. As such, it aims to build bridges between the literature on critical border studies, EU external relations, the EU’s role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as well as the literature on the EU police missions in conflict and post-conflict missions by emphasising their spatial dimension.
Combining the literature on sovereignty and Europeanisation, this article investigates the engagement and impact of the European Union (EU) on contested states (states lacking recognition) through a comparative study of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Palestine. We find that characteristics of contested statehood mediate EU engagement and impact: the lack of international recognition limits EU’s engagement but encourages development promotion, international integration and assistance of local civil society. Lack of territorial control limits engagement, but ineffective government offers opportunities for development promotion and state-building. As such, and in addition to offering a rich empirical account of two prominent contested states, the article contributes to the discussion of international engagement by developing an innovative conceptual framework for understanding EU’s impact on contested states—a topic neglected within a literature dominated by conventional statehood or conflict resolution themes but very important given extensive international engagement in contested states—and related conflicts.
the European Union, 2008b). Will the normative character of the EU continue being in the forefront, or should the EU gradually adopt pure economic and military ways of making its influence stronger?