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About
Massimo is a Research Associate at Loughborough University London, where he contributes to different research projects spanning the Institute for Creative Futures and the Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs.
In 2025, Massimo was awarded a PhD in Diplomacy and International Governance from Loughborough University London. His thesis, titled “Humiliating Negotiations? The Rejection of Türkiye’s European Identity and its Authoritarian Consequences”, explored how EU-Türkiye accession talks have influenced domestic political developments.
During his doctoral studies, he also worked as a Research Assistant on various projects examining the role of civil society in fragile democratic contexts, including Türkiye, India, Peru, Nigeria, and Syria. As part of his academic training, he was a UACES-Renpet Visiting Fellow at Sabancı University and a Visiting Fellow at Koç University, both in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Alongside his research role at Loughborough University London, Massimo is a Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of Greenwich. He previously held a similar role at the University of East London. In recognition of his teaching experience in higher education, he was awarded Associate Fellowship of Advance HE (AFHEA) in July 2024. He has also served as Postgraduate Network Events Officer for the British International Studies Association (BISA).
Expertise
- Emotions in International Politics
- National and European Identity
- Civil Society and Political Engagement
- EU–Türkiye Relations
- Democratic Backsliding
- Identity Politics
- International Governance
Research
- D’Angelo M., Wydra D., (forthcoming, 2026). The Role of Humiliation in Eu Contestation: A Study of Türkiye and Serbia. In: D. Wydra K. Beshku, K. Koxha, eds., Adapting to Contestation: New Dynamics of the EU-Western Balkan Relations. Palgrave Macmillan.
- D’Angelo M., Del Pinto M., (forthcoming, 2026). Disaster Diplomacy, Risk Management and Climate Change in the MENA Region. Current and Future Scenarios in a Turbulent Context. In: F. Donelli and I. Costantini, eds., The MENA Region through the Lenses of Climate Crises from Present Challenges to Future Prospects. Routledge.
- D’Angelo M., (2025). The Christian Europe Debate: A Conservative-Led Agenda, Not a Far-Right Crusade. Journal of European Studies. Vol. 55(3).
- D’Angelo, M. (2024). Helping My Friends: Rethinking Disaster Diplomacy in the Wake of 1999 and 2023 Seismic Events in Turkey, Syria and Greece. Poliarchie/Polyarchies. Vol.7(1).
- D’Angelo, M. (2023) ‘Mussolini’s grandchildren: fascism in contemporary Italy: edited by David Broder, London, Pluto Press, 2023, Contemporary Italian Politics, 16(1), pp. 92–93.
- Sancak, M., D’Angelo M., and Chelotti N., 2023. “Challenges of and Opportunities for the Employment of Refugees in Late Industrialising Countries.” London: Loughborough University.
- D’Angelo, M. (2023). The Turkish National Rhetoric on Women from Atatürk to Erdoğan. In Margins and Forgotten Places. Edizioni dell’Orso.
- D’Angelo, M. (2022) Europe. Review of EU-Turkey Relations Theories, Institutions, and Policies, by Wulf Reiners and Ebru Turhan; and EU-Turkey Relations. A New Direction for EU Foreign Policy? By Elena Baracani. International Affairs, 98(1), p. 28-30.