Dr Arda Bilgen is a Research Officer at the LSE Middle East Centre, where he works on the PeaceRep project ‘Surface Water Changes in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin since 1984 and their Governance Implications for Iraq’, led by Dr Michael Mason.

Dr Bilgen holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, an MA in International Affairs/International Security Studies from the George Washington University, and a BA in International Relations from Bilkent University. Before joining LSE, he worked as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, and as a Lecturer at Clark University.

His work mainly focuses on water politics, transboundary water resources management, and hydraulic infrastructure development. He is particularly interested in researching (1) the use of hydropower and infrastructure development as a means of economic modernisation, socio-political change, and nation-building in the Global South, (2) the water security in the Middle East in general, and the Euphrates-Tigris Basin in particular, and (3) the role of discourses in shaping water policies at local, national, regional, and international levels.

Dr Bilgen has published his works in a wide range of journals such as British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Forum for Development Studies, Geoforum, Journal of Balkans and Near Eastern Studies, and New Perspectives on Turkey.