Dr. Ömer Taşpınar is a nonresident senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe and an expert on Turkey, the European Union, Muslims in Europe, political Islam, the Middle East, and Kurdish nationalism. He is a professor at the National War College and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. He has held consulting positions at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights in Washington, and at the strategic planning department of TOFAS-FIAT in Istanbul.
He is the author of two books: Political Islam and Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey and Fighting Radicalism with Human Development: Freedom, Education and Growth in the Islamic World. Some of his recent publications include: “New Parameters in U.S.-German-Turkish Relations”; “The Anatomy of Anti-Americanism in Turkey”; “Turkey’s European Quest”; “Europe’s Muslim Street”; “An Uneven Fit: The Turkish Model and the Arab World”. Professor Taşpınar is also a columnist for the Turkish daily Radikal and the Pakistan Daily Times. He has appeared on BBC World, CNN International, NBC, CNBC, CBS, and is a frequent commentator for Turkish Television. He speaks French, Italian, and Turkish (native).
Professor Taşpınar has a doctorate and master’s in European studies and international economics from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and a bachelor’s in political science from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.