The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Cyprus

This ongoing research project aims to examine the foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus, particularly since 2004 – the year of its accession into the European Union (EU) and of the failed Annan Plan V of the United Nations. The main problematique that drives the project is the fact that research and scholarly work about the politics and foreign policy of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) has been almost entirely analyzed through the prism of the Cyprus Problem. From this perspective, the project aims to provide a comprehensive account of the various aspects, drivers and levels that affect the foreign policy of RoC, especially in light of important external developments such as regional geopolitical changes, the politico-ideological transformation of Turkey, the discovery of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean and the competing international interests in the broader region not least because of the ongoing instability in the Middle East and North Africa. Moreover, it seeks to take into account both external and domestic dynamics in analyzing RoC's foreign policy while exploring its increasingly important role in the region as well as its traditionally blurry international orientation. It will do so by looking at RoC's relations with key regional and international players (e.g. Israel, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, US, Russia, EU) and different policy sectors (e.g. energy, security, diplomacy). In this sense the project also covers the role of Cyprus and the wider implications of RoC's foreign policy for NATO, the EU, Turkey, Russia, etc. thus covering the local, regional and international dimensions of Cypriot foreign policy.