Presentation
History-Aims
- To conduct research on the most significant contemporary issues in international economy paying special attention to the international economic relations of Greece.
- To provoke and enrich the public debate in business, academic and political circles.
- To put its expertise and consulting capability at the service of private and national institutions that determine the foreign economic affairs of Greece.
The means by which the objectives of the Institute are pursued are:
- Scientific studies and research projects undertaken directly by the Institute.
- Publication of research findings (books – monographs – journals – occasional and discussion papers).
- Holding international and national conferences, seminars, symposiums, lectures and public debates.
- Co-operation with governmental agencies as well as with public and private bodies for the exchange of information and the study of specific subjects.
- Development of close co-operation with Universities, Institutes and Research Centres.
- Conducting of training and educational programmes.
- Provision of facilities for visiting Fellows.
- Development and maintenance of a Research Library and a Documentation Centre.
Research
The research programmes of IIER focus mainly on the following areas:
- Problems and prospects of the international political economy.
- Globalisation and Regionalism.
- Analysis of the Greek economic diplomacy and foreign economic relations.
- Promotion of Greek exports and investments abroad.
- Study of economic relations and prospects of Greece’s cooperation with South Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, African and Asian countries.
STAFF:
Director:
Dr. Charalampos Tsardanidis is the Director of the Institute of International Economic Relations, Athens since 1993 and until recently (before his retirement) Prof. of
international relations at the Department of Mediterranean Studies, University of the Aegean .His research interests focus on the external relations of EU, foreign policy analysis
and nternational Political Economy.He taught at the Panteion University, University of Piraeus, Ηarokopio University, University of Athens, University of Peloponnese. Author of twelve books and co-editor of ten. He has published more than one hundred articles in edited volumes and in scientific journals including European Review of Foreign Affairs, European Review of International Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Integration, Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Journal of Area Studies, Geopolitics, Ethnopolitics, Southern European Yearbook, Le Courrier des Pays de l’ Est, Perceptions, Hellenic Studies, and others.
E-mail: [email protected]
Heads of Programmes
John Sakkas, Head of Mediterranean Studies Unit, is Professor of History and Geopolitics in the Department of Mediterranean Studies, University of the Aegean, Greece, specializing in the Mediterranean and the Middle East after World War II. He has published books and numerous articles in specialist and generalist journals (e.g. Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, Études Helléniques/Hellenic Studies, Thetis) and has contributed to a number of volumes. He has also lectured in European Universities through Erasmus+. He is an active participant in numerous professional associations (Greek Society of Historians, Royal Historical Society, Modern Greek Studies Association etc.). He is a University of the Aegean member of the Executive Board of the European Defense and Security College and temporarily participates in the design, evaluation and monitor of European research programs in Brussels and EE member states (Italy, Denmark, Cyprus, Greece).
E- mail: [email protected]
Vivi Kefala is Professor of International Relations in the Middle East and North Africa. She taught at the Department of Mediterranean Studies at the University of the Aegean. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the Université de Droit d'Economie et des Sciences Sociales de Paris (Paris II).
She has written articles in academic journals and chapters in edited volumes on issues concerning the wider Middle East and North Africa, as well as US and USSR/Russia policy in this region.
E- mail:[email protected]
Anthony Deriziotis is a Lecturer on Turkey and the Middle East at the Department of Turkish and Modern Asian studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (since
2010). Formerly Research Associate at the Hellenic Parliamenτ (2006-2009) and teaching staff at the Dep. of Turkish and Modern Asian studies (2005-2010). His research interests and publications cover Turkish domestic and foreign policy and focus on Turkey’s relations with the United States and the Middle East, and the Kurdish issue.
E- mail: [email protected]
Plamen Tonchev is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Asia Unit. Plamen publishes extensively on relations between Europe and Asia.
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Ioanna Anastasopoulou is Head of the Unit of International Business Studies since 1993. Her main research topics are Commercial Law and International Business Law.
E-mail: [email protected]
Theodoros Tsikas, Head of the Programme “Theory and Practice of International Relations” is a Political Scientist and International Relations Expert. He studied Political Science and International Relations at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Athens) and followed postgraduate studies in Paris. His academic and research interests focus on Greek foreign policy, with particular emphasis on Turkey, Turkish politics and society, Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue, and Southeastern Europe/the Balkans. He has also worked on issues related to refugee and migration policy. He has been engaged in topics of European integration, European governance, and international institutional relations, with a specialization in European Union-NATO and European Union-United States of America relations in the context of his professional work at the European Parliament. He has participated in missions and meetings in regions including the Middle East, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Vassilios Skronias, Head of the Programme “Economic Diplomacy”, International Relations Expert, Economist and First Minister Counsellor (Economic and Commercial Affairs), Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs (retired). Graduated in International Relations and Public Finance from the Paris Institute of International Relations (ILERI) and the University of Orleans respectively, holder of postgraduate degrees in the Management of International Organizations (D.E.S.S.-University PARIS 2) and Development Law (D.E.A. – University of Paris V. His career in the field of Economic and Commercial Counsellors & Attaches in Embassies of Greece began in 1989, initially, for two years, at the Ministry of Commerce in Athens (Directorate of European Affairs) and then as Attaché of the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of Greece in Paris (1991/94), as well as, negotiator for international commerce issues of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Union in Brussels (1994/97). In December 1997, he was appointed as Head of the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Greek Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia and in October 2003 at the corresponding Office in Dubai. Between September 2007 and August 2010, he served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens as Coordinator in the Department of Bilateral Economic Relations with the North Africa, Middle East & the Gulf countries. Between 2010 and 2016 he was the Head of the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs, Embassy of Greece in Nicosia, as well as in the relevant Offices in New Delhi (2016-2019) and Belgrade (2019-2023). Mr. Skronias has represented Greece until today in several international conferences and official meetings (European Union, BSEC,COCOM etc.).
He has published more than a dozen articles on international economic relations and strategic issues in Greek and foreign scientific Journals. Between February 2025 and January 2026, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Association of Economic and Commercial Affairs Diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. Between February 2025 and January 2026, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Association of Economic & Commercial Affairs Diplomats, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.
Dr. Floros Flouros, Head of the Programme “The Political Economy of European Security.” He serves as Assistant Professor of International Political Economy, specializing in energy, environmental security, and climate change, at the University of Neapolis Pafos (Cyprus). He has previously held positions as Visiting Professor at Eötvös Loránd University and Visiting Researcher at the University of the Peloponnese.He studied at the Polytechnic School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and pursued postgraduate studies in Business Administration (MBA), Oil and Gas Technology (MSc in Oil and Gas), and Mediterranean Studies (MA). He holds a PhD focusing on energy and national security from the perspective of International Political Economy, while his postdoctoral research concentrated on climate change and energy security in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.He has extensive professional experience in senior managerial positions in the energy, chemical, and petrochemical sectors. Alongside his professional background, he maintains a strong academic and research profile, with publications in international peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. His recent monographs include Energy Security in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and The Political Economy of Security and Defence (Poiotita Publications, 2024).
Andreas Stergiou, Head of the Programme Energy Geopolitics is Professor at the Department of Economics University of Thessaly specialised on European Institutions and International Relations. Degrees: B.A., History (Department of History, Ionian University) 1995 (scholarships granted by Greek State Scholarship Foundation and Minor Asia Refugees Foundation). Magister and Ph.D. (with distinction), Contemporary History and Political Science (University of Mannheim, Germany) 1996-2001 (scholarships granted by the Greek State Scholarship Foundation, the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Kölner Foundation and the Hermann Weber Foundation) Germany. Postdoc in History of International relations (Department of History, Ionian University) 2004–2006 funded by the EU. Postdoctoral seminar on American Politics and Political Thought, Donahue Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Summer 2010) State Department Scholarship.
Stella Milioti is working at the Institute since the summer of 1998, as the head of the Secretariat of the Institute. She is also responsible of the Public Relations Office of IIER.
E-mail: [email protected]