Nikolaos Tzifakis holds a Jean Monnet Chair in "EU Foreign Policy and the Western Balkans" and is Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the University of the Peloponnese. His research interests include contemporary Western Balkan politics, EU external relations, and International Relations theory. His recent publications include articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Conflict, Security & Development, Ethnopolitics, European Foreign Affairs Review, Global Society, International Journal, Journal of International Development, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Problems of Post-Communism, Southeastern Europe, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, and Voluntas. In 2008, he was awarded the Marcel Cadieux Distinguished Writing Award for his co-authored article with Professor Asteris Huliaras in International Journal.