About
Isabella Ilhan is a first-year PhD candidate in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Her research examines Turkish foreign policy through the lens of energy, with a particular interest in how energy politics shapes, and is shaped by, Türkiye's relationships across its regional neighbourhoods.
Isabella holds an MSc in International Relations with Distinction from LSE, where her dissertation examined the emergence of Türkiye's 'Mavi Vatan' doctrine, and its relationship to energy security governance in the Eastern Mediterranean. She also holds a BA in International Relations from SOAS University of London, where her dissertation examined Türkish-Qatari relations.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Isabella worked as a Foreign Policy Analyst at the New Diplomacy Project, producing policy briefs on Turkish foreign policy for UK parliamentarians. She has presented her research at Chatham House and worked as a Policy Rapporteur at the Middle East Peace and Security Forum in Duhok, Iraq. She previously interned at the Istanbul Policy Center, researching Turkish naval strategy and energy security.
Isabella has been funded by an LSE PhD Studentship.
Research topic
Türkiye, Energy and Regional Order
Academic supervisors
Research cluster affiliation
Theory/Area/History research cluster
Security and Statecraft research cluster
Expertise
Isabella's research focuses on Turkish foreign policy and energy politics, with particular attention to the Eastern Mediterranean and Türkiye's broader regional energy relationships. Her work is concerned with how energy shapes, and is shaped by, questions of regional order, maritime politics, and Türkiye's foreign policy behaviour.