Dr. Efe Tokdemir is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Bilkent University, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, and Director of Research at the Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research. He earned his PhD in Political Science from Binghamton University (2017) and his BA from Boğaziçi University (2012). He has previously been a postdoctoral fellow of the ISA James N. Rosenau Fellowship (2017–2018), visiting fellow at The Ohio State University’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies (2016–2018), and visiting scholar at The University of Chicago’s CPOST program (2024–2025). Dr. Tokdemir is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council project COUNSTER, running from 2026 to 2031.

His research is on conflict processes — specifically non-violent strategies in civil war, foreign policy and public opinion, and the political use of force — using observational and experimental data analysis. His work has appeared in, among others, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Political Behavior, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Terrorism & Political Violence, and International Interactions. His book Battle for Allegiance: Governments, Terrorist Groups, and Constituencies in Conflict was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2020.

Dr. Tokdemir has received the Young Scientist Award (BAGEP) from the Science Academy of Türkiye (2019), the Award for Outstanding Young Scientist (GEBİP) from the Turkish Academy of Sciences (2020), the Sakıp Sabancı International Research Award (2021), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye Incentive Award (2023), and the International Relations Council of Türkiye Young Scholars Award (2024). He was awarded the TÜBİTAK National Young Leader Researchers Program (2022–2025) and the ERC Consolidator Grant (2025).