Francesco Belcastro

Francesco Belcastro is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Derby and a Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews.  His main areas of research are conflict and security, foreign policy and Middle Eastern politics. He is particularly interested in civil wars and their effect on regional security. His current research project looks at external actors’ involvement in civil wars. He has also worked on foreign policy and particularly on alliances. His first monograph, recently published by Routledge,  analyses the foreign policy of Syria during the years 1963-1989. Belcastro is also interested in the politics of Israel and Palestine and is currently working on a project that deals with sport and power in the region.

 


Thesis Title:  The formation of alliances of a regional power: the case of Syria


Supervisor:  Prof. Ray Hinnebusch


Publications

Belcastro F. (2019) Monograph “The alliances of Syria 1970-1989” Routledge Syrian Studies Series (edited by Professor Ray Hinnebusch), London: Routledge.

Belcastro, F. (forthcoming, September 2019) Journal article, “An odd ‘foreign policy couple’? Syria and Saudi Arabia 1970-1989”, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern

Belcastro, F.  (2019) Book chapter, Conflict in the Middle East” in Gani and Hinnebusch (eds.) Routledge Handbook. Middle East States and state system. London: Routledge.

Belcastro, F. (2017) Journal article, “From domestic to regional. The civil war conundrum and the cases of Syria and Algeria” Civil Wars, Vol. 19 (2), pp.198-219