Sercan Canbolat, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Director of Abrahamic Programs

Global Affairs

Dr. Sercan Canbolat is currently the inaugural director of Abrahamic Programs at the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Global Affairs and a postdoctoral lecturer at UConn’s Department of Political Science. Born and raised in Turkey, Dr. Canbolat obtained two BA degrees in International Relations and Economics from Izmir University of Economics in 2011. He earned his MA degrees in International Relations and Political Science respectively from Bilkent University in 2014 and the University of Connecticut in 2017. Dr. Canbolat received a Fulbright scholarship in 2014 to continue his doctoral studies in the US. Dr. Canbolat graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2023 with a Ph.D. in Political Science whose doctoral dissertation focuses on the patterns of organizational formation and leadership styles of militant organizations in the Middle East and North Africa.

His scholarly works are featured and forthcoming in notable scholarly outlets such as International Studies Review, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Routledge, and Cambridge University Press. He and his co-authors earned the “Polity Prize” in 2018, which is conferred on the best research article published in the journal’s previous volume. Dr. Canbolat also received the ISA—Midwest Region’s 2020 “Margaret G. Hermann Award” for a paper he presented in St. Louis in November 2019. The paper was entitled “Understanding Extreme Islamists in Their Native Language.” The award is given for the best use of text analysis in leadership studies. He obtained the “Margaret G. Hermann Award” two years in a row in 2021 for his paper titled “Deciphering Political Islamists’ Rhetoric in Their Native Language: A Turkish Operational Code Analysis Approach.” Dr. Canbolat’s book, co-authored with Dr. Özgür Özdamar, Leaders in the Middle East and North Africa: How Ideology Shapes Foreign Policy came out from Cambridge University Press in 2023, which received the International Studies Association (ISA) Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) Section’s 2023 Best Book Award. Dr. Canbolat also earned the “University Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award” from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Connecticut in 2020.

Select Publications:

Book:

• “Leaders in the Middle East and North Africa: How Ideology Shapes Foreign Policy” With
  Ozgur Ozdamar. Cambridge University Press. Publication Date: August 17, 2023. It is
  available here.
  • Received International Studies Association (ISA) Foreign Policy Analysis Section’s
    The 2023 Best Book in Foreign Policy Award.

Articles:

• “Understanding New Middle Eastern Leadership: An Operational Code Approach.” With
  Ozgur Ozdamar, Political Research Quarterly. Volume 71, Issue 1, p. 19-31. 2018.
• “Elite Survival Strategies and Authoritarian Reversal in Turkey.” With Oksan Bayulgen
  and Ekim Arbatli, Polity. Volume 50, Issue 3, p. 333-365. 2018.
  ▪ Received the Polity Prize in 2018 from Northeastern Political Science Association
  (NPSA), which is given to the best research article published in the journal’s previous
  volume
• “Profiling Leaders in Arabic.” In A Forum Coding in Tongues: Developing Non-English
  Coding Schemes for Leadership Profiling, International Studies Review. Volume 11, Issue 4,
  p. 1049-1053. 2020.
• “Profiling Leaders in Turkish.” With Ozgur Ozdamar and Michael D. Young. In A Forum
  Coding in Tongues: Developing Non-English Coding Schemes for Leadership Profiling,
  International Studies Review. Volume 11, Issue 4, p. 1045-1050. 2020.
• “Understanding Political Islamists’ Foreign Policy Rhetoric in Their Native Language: A
  Turkish Operational Code Analysis Approach.” Project Highlighting Essay. American
  Political Science Association (APSA): Middle East and North Africa Section’s Annual
  Newsletter. Volume 3, Issue 1, p. 13-16. 2020. Available at
  https://apsamena.org/2020/11/16/understanding-political-islamists-foreign-policy-rhetoric-in-their-native-language-a-turkish-operational-code-analysis-approach/
  • Received the 2021 Margaret Hermann Award from International Studies Association
    Midwest (ISA-MW), which is given for the best use of text analysis in leadership
    studies presented at the conference each year.
• “Systemism, Foreign Policy Analysis and Political Forecasting: Exercises in Systematic
  Synthesis and Bricolagic Bridging.” With Sarah Gansen and Patrick James. Canadian Foreign
  Policy Journal. Volume 27, Issue 3, p. 404-434. 2021.
• “Systemism and International Relations: How a Graphic Method Can Enhance
  Communication.” With Patrick James and Sarah Gansen. International Studies Review.
  Volume 25, Issue 2, p. viad013. 2023.
• “Dominating the Superpower: A Bounded Rationality Approach to Nuclear Proliferation and
  Inhibition in the U.S. / North Korea Dyad” With Stephen B. Dyson. Uluslararası İlişkiler
  Dergisi (Journal of International Relations). Advanced Online Publication, pp. 1-23, DOI:
  10.33458/uidergisi.1357686. 2023

Book Chapters:

• “Deciphering Deadly Minds in Their Native Language: The Operational Codes and
  Formation Patterns of Militant Organizations in the Middle East and North Africa.” In
  Operational Code Analysis and Foreign Policy Roles: Crossing Simon’s Bridge, edited by
  Stephen G. Walker and Mark Schafer. London: Routledge. 2021
  • Received the 2020 Margaret Hermann Award from International Studies Association
    Midwest (ISA-MW), which is given for the best use of text analysis in leadership
    studies presented at the conference each year.

Research Website: Publications
LinkedIn: Connect
Twitter: Follow