Dr Burcu Ozcelik

Dr Burcu Özçelik is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey Programme at RUSI.

Burcu brings over 15 years' experience across the public and private sectors, advising on geopolitical risk, strategic intelligence, and security and threat assessments in complex operating environments. Specialising in the Middle East, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, she delivers forward-looking analysis of regional and transnational conflict dynamics, foreign policy and emerging security risks. Her work examines how geopolitical and economic shifts shape conflict, diplomacy and regional security, helping decision-makers anticipate developments and assess their strategic implications. She brings extensive experience in counter-terrorism and threat analysis, with particular expertise in the evolving strategies of armed non-state actors, transnational smuggling networks, and the operational and financial links between armed groups.

At RUSI, she leads research, policy engagement and senior dialogues that bring together policymakers, practitioners and regional experts, with a focus on transatlantic security priorities and cooperation with partners across the Middle East and Turkey.

She also has extensive experience in corporate investigations and disputes support, including enhanced due diligence, fraud and misconduct investigations.

Burcu is a regular commentator on major international media, including the BBC, CNN, France 24, Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle. She speaks at international defence and security conferences and geopolitical risk dialogues. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Government and Opposition, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Democratic Theory and the Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, as well as leading international media and policy outlets, including the Financial Times, The National Interest, Foreign Policy and War on the Rocks.

Before joining RUSI, Burcu held roles as an Associate Fellow at IISS and an Associate Director at a London-based strategic advisory consultancy, where she led the MENA practice. She previously worked with the United Nations Development Programme.

Burcu holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she subsequently held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and taught conflict, peacebuilding and Middle East politics. Her research on reconciliation in post-conflict societies received the inaugural Iris Young & David Held International Prize in Democratic Theory.