Staff

Interim Executive Director

Dr. Christos Aliprantis
Christos Aliprantis is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Interim Executive Director of the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at Anatolia American University. He studied history in Athens, Vienna, and Budapest, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge with a dissertation on transnational political policing in nineteenth century Europe. Prior to joining Anatolia, he was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, a Marie Sklodowska Curie Research Fellow at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Associate at Ruhr University in Bochum, and an Early Career Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University in Greece. More recently, in 2025, he also served as a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at George Washington University and as a Visiting Research Fellow at Princeton University. His research interest and publications include two co-edited volumes as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on state formation, policing, migration, and nationalism in Europe from the nineteenth century to the present.

Members

Dr. Joseph Michael Gratale
Joseph Michael Gratale is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Anatolia American University, where he teaches a range of courses in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. After completing his BA in History and an MA in Sociology in the USA, he went on to complete a Ph.D in Thessaloniki, Greece, at Aristotle University in the School of English. His dissertation focused on American studies, primarily the role of travel narratives and colonial-postcolonial discourses in North America from the 1600s to the 1800s. He has published articles, book chapters, and book reviews on topics related to American history and culture, cultural studies, and globalization. His recent research interests include war and culture, cultural globalization, and cultural geography.

Dr. Pavlos Koktsidis
Pavlos Koktsidis is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Anatolia American University. He lectures on International Relations, Foreign Policy, Security and Strategic Studies, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. Prior to his appointment at Anatolia, he was project manager and researcher for the externally funded program on Eastern Mediterranean Geopolitics (LowGeo) and for the joint EU EastMed Erasmus+ programme (2016-2019). His research focuses on ethnic conflict and security analysis in Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, federalism and state-building, war and the development of strategic thought in international relations. He is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Studies of Politics and Democracy (ISPD).

Dr. Maria Kyriakidou
Maria Kyriakidou is Professor and Chair at the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at Anatolia American University, where she teaches courses on Greek history, politics and gender since 1997. After her B.A. and M.A. degrees in History and Archaeology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, she received a Fulbright scholarship and completed another M.A. in Anthropology at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. She gained her Ph.D. in Modern Greek Studies from King’s College, University of London. In addition to her teaching experience, she has published articles on gender history and women in politics in Greek and international scientific journals. She is the author of a monograph on gendered approaches to local democracy published in Greece and co-edited a volume on women in art published in the UK while she participated in a great number of international conferences and organized many workshops and presentations on topics related to her areas of expertise.

Dr. Tina Mavrikos
Tina Mavrikos is Associate Professor of Political Science and European Studies at Anatolia American University. Over the thirty years of her teaching, she has taught courses in international relations, the European Union, political theory and sociology, to name but a few areas. She has taught in the United States at Hofstra University, Adelphi University, and Colgate University, all located in New York. Her numerous research and publications have included contributions to volumes, articles in journals, and academic periodicals. Her most recent contribution to a volume, published by Edward Elgar Publications, July 2022, is entitled “Reconsidering Sovereign Borders and Authority: Irregular Migration into Europe,” in Reconfigurations of Authority, Power and Territoriality, Edited by Stephen J. Rosow, George Andreopoulos. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Global Policy Journal, Democratization, and Mediterranean Quarterly. She is a member of the Executive Council of the Interdisciplinary Studies Section (IDSS) of the International Studies Association, a member of the IIE (Institute for International Education), and Nationality Studies.

Dr. Lambrini Nassis
Lambrini Nassis is Attorney-at-Law and Adjunct Professor of International Law and International organisations at Anatolia American University. Her areas of expertise and her research interests include International Law, International Human Rights Law, International Trade Law, International Organisations, International Relations. She participated in a number of international conferences and panel discussions where she presented on topics related to her areas of expertise.

HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Aristides N. Hatzis | Professor of Legal Theory, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Director of Research, Center for Liberal Studies
Aristides N. Hatzis is a Professor of Legal Theory at the University of Athens, with a doctorate in Law & Economics from the University of Chicago (under the supervision of Judge Richard Posner). He is also the Director of Research at the Center for Liberal Studies, a Fellow of the Institute for Research in Economics and Fiscal Issues (Paris), and a member of the scientific boards of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the Institute for Justice and Growth (EPLO) and the Historical Archive of the University of Athens.
He has served on the National Council for Research & Technology (2014–2016), the Greek government’s supreme advisory body on research and innovation policy, and on the National Committee for the Bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence (2020–2021). His work has appeared in leading journals of law and economics, and he has taught as Visiting Professor at Greek, European and North American universities. He is the co-editor of Law and Economics: Philosophical Issues and Fundamental Questions (Routledge, 2015) and the author, among other books, of The Noblest Cause: The 1821 Greek War of Independence (forthcoming in the United States; Greek edition, Papadopoulos, 2021). His op-eds have been published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, and he has been interviewed by major international media, including the BBC, Bloomberg, The Economist, Der Spiegel and Al Jazeera. He is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International

Dr. Harris Mylonas | Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
Editor-in-Chief, Nationalities Papers
Harris Mylonas, born in Thessaloniki, is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers. His research focuses on nationalism, nation-building, and diaspora politics. He is the author of the award-winning The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities (Cambridge, 2012), co-author of Varieties of Nationalism (Cambridge, 2023), and co-editor of Enemies Within (Oxford, 2022) and The Microfoundations of Diaspora Politics (Routledge, 2021). His work appears in academic journals, including the Annual Review of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Security Studies. Professor Mylonas graduated from Anatolia College High School (’96) and holds a BA and an MA from the University of Athens. As a Fulbright Scholar, he continued his graduate studies in the United States, earning an MA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Yale. He later served as an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (2008–09, 2011–12) and has held visiting positions in Seoul, Jerusalem, Addis Ababa, and Madrid. He also served as Associate Dean for Research at GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs from 2017 to 2018. Beyond academia, he wrote and directed the award-winning documentary Searching for Andreas: Political Leadership in Times of Crisis and co-produces the podcast American Constitutive Stories.

Katerina Sokou, Executive Director, American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce USA Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Katerina Sokou is the Executive Director of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce USA. She is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Research Fellow at ELIAMEP, and a columnist at the Greek daily Kathimerini. Based in the U.S. since 2012, she has been Washington, D.C. correspondent for Kathimerini and SKAI TV, the inaugural Theodore Couloumbis Fellow on Greek–American relations at ELIAMEP, a visiting scholar at GWU’s Elliott School of International Affairs, and a member of the editorial board of the European Institute. She started her career in Greece as a financial reporter at To Vima and International Financial News editor at Kathimerini. Ms. Sokou studied History at the University of Ioannina and holds postgraduate degrees in International Studies from the University of Warwick and in Journalism from Columbia University, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism. She is active in strategic, future-oriented philanthropic and non-profit causes anchored in Hellenic advancement and diaspora engagement.

Dr. Jake Sotiriadis, Ph.D. | Executive Director of Global Foresight and Strategy, Phaedrus Engineering Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Dr. Jake Sotiriadis is a global strategist, geopolitical expert, and author who has advised prime ministers, generals, diplomats, and Fortune 500 executives. He is a Nonresident Senior Associate with the Hess Center for New Frontiers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an adviser and instructor at the U.S. Department of State’s National Foreign Affairs Training Center, where he trains American diplomats in geopolitics and strategic foresight. During his 21-year career as a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, Dr. Sotiriadis founded the Air Force’s Strategic Foresight capability and later established the Center for Futures Intelligence at the National Intelligence University, where he helped military and intelligence leaders think more rigorously about the future of global competition. Dr. Sotiriadis works with government, defense, and industry leaders on geopolitical risk, emerging technology, artificial intelligence, energy security, and long-term strategic planning. As Executive Director of Global Foresight and Strategy at Phaedrus Engineering, he leads advisory initiatives that help senior leaders anticipate disruption, stress-test assumptions, and navigate complex strategic environments. Recognized by LinkedIn as a “Top Voice” in Public Speaking and Operational Planning, Dr. Sotiriadis is a sought-after keynote speaker and commentator for global audiences. He serves on the Honorary Advisory Board of the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at Anatolia University in Thessaloniki, Greece. His insights have been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Diplomat, and The National Interest. He is a frequent commentator on international security and geopolitical developments, with appearances on Fox News, NewsNation, Euronews, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and other U.S. and international media outlets. Dr. Sotiriadis holds a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on geopolitical futures from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, along with master’s degrees from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, and the Air Command and Staff College, and a B.A. in international relations from Norwich University. He is the author of The Revenge of Ideology: The Hidden Forces Reshaping Global Power (2025), with a foreword by Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Dr. Theodoros J. Theodorou | Ambassador a.h. | Director General, MOHA Research Centre for the Arab World
Theodoros J. Theodorou is Ambassador a.h. He studied economics in Greece and received a postgraduate diploma in Diplomacy from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, Austria. He holds a PhD from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. He served as a diplomat in Brussels, Izmir (Turkey), Geneva, London, Damascus and Kuwait. He has been Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Director of the Minorities Department of the MFA, Diplomatic Adviser to the Vice President of the Government, Head of the B7 and A6 Directorates of the MFA, and Special Envoy of the Greek MFA to the MENA Region. He is Director General of the MOHA Research Centre for the Arab World. Apart from Greek, he speaks English, French and German.

Dr. Gonda Van Steen holds the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature in the Department of Classics at King’s College London, UK, where she also directs the Centre for Hellenic Studies. She is the author of Venom in Verse: Aristophanes in Modern Greece (2000); Liberating Hellenism from the Ottoman Empire (2010); Theatre of the Condemned: Classical Tragedy on Greek Prison Islands (2011); Stage of Emergency: Theater and Public Performance under the Greek Military Dictatorship of 1967–1974 (2015); and Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece (2019). Professor Van Steen edited The Battle for Bodies, Hearts and Minds in Postwar Greece: Social Worker Charles Schermerhorn in Thessaloniki, 1946–1951 (2024), and she co-edited The War for Anatolia and the Remaking of International Order: Greece, Turkey and the End of the First World War (2026) and Greece at the Turning Point: Remembrances of US Foreign Service Families Living and Working in Postwar Greece (with Harrison Blackman, 2027). In 2026, Professor Van Steen was awarded honorary Greek citizenship in recognition of her advocacy for the citizenship rights of hundreds of Greek-born adoptees and for promoting Modern Greek Studies in the English-speaking world.