About
Dr Arda Bilgen is a Research Officer at the LSE Middle East Centre, where he co-leads the Kuwait Programme project ‘Water Security in Kuwait: Exploring a Water Citizenship Approach to Sustainable Water Futures.’ Prior to that, he worked on the PeaceRep project ‘Surface Water Changes in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin since 1984 and their Governance Implications for Iraq.’
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 held positions as a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and as an Adjunct Professor at Clark University.
With an interdisciplinary background in development studies, security studies, and international relations, his research focuses on global water governance, transboundary water politics, national water infrastructure policies, and local experiences of water insecurity.
His broader research interests include the intersections of water, environment, security, and development; the operation of power across multiple scales of water governance; and the ways in which the water–power nexus both shapes and is shaped by political, economic, environmental, social, and technological dynamics.
His work has been published in journals including the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Environmental Science and Policy, Geoforum, International Journal of Water Resources Development, New Perspectives on Turkey, Qualitative Research, and Water International.