I have held positions both at universities and think tanks. 

After finishing my post-doc in 2010, I was appointed Research Fellow/Senior Analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) in Paris - the European Union's official think tank - where I was in charge of EU-China/Asia relations.

After leaving the EUISS in 2014, I spent a few months at the Wilson Center in Washington DC as a Public Policy Scholar. 

Upon returning in Europe in 2015, I began my collaboration with the Rome-based Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), becoming Senior Fellow for Asia with the task to develop China/Asia-related research, including fund-raising and outreach.

I left IAI in 2020, remaining Associate Fellow. From 2020 to 2022 (the pandemic years) I was in the USA, spending the whole of 2021 as a Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington DC.

In 2022, I went to South Korea for research and later that year I returned to Europe. In 2024, I spent six months as a Visiting Scholar at the EU Centre-National Taiwan University (NTU).

My scholarly research has focused, in particular, on Europe-China/Asia relations, in the areas of: politics, security, trade and monetary affairs, as well as on the EU-China-US strategic triangle. Among the various strands of research developed over the years, three stand out for their originality and strategic significance:

Europe-China techno-political linkage. My PhD thesis - published as a monograph by Oxford University Press in 2009 - unveiled original findings on EU-China space technology cooperation, including European transfers of satellite navigation technology which were exploited by Chinese authorities to advance Beijing’s space military program – a dynamic with far-reaching implications for the United States and its Asian allies. These breakthrough findings - gathered during various fieldworks in China where I accessed government facilities and interviewed officials – have been used by policymakers in the European Parliament, the House of Lords, and the U.S. Congress in their inquiries into Europe-China relations.

Euro-Renminbi axis. I have carried out innovative research - based on fieldwork and interviews - on why and how Europe and China have come to support each other’s monetary ambitions, including: (i) Off-the-record findings and estimates on China’s diversification of its foreign reserves away from the dollar and into euro-denominated assets;  (ii) Analysis of Europe’s backing for the inclusion of the Chinese currency in the IMF’s official reserves (the Special Drawing Rights), a move strongly opposed by Washington; (iii) Data and insights into European banks’ use of the China International Payment System (Cips) alternative to the Western-controlled Swift. The findings have been used by EU institutions and published in various outlets, including Foreign Affairs and Project Syndicate.

Europe-Korea relations. I have been one of the first scholars in Europe to recognise the potential of Europe-Korea relations. In July 2013, still working at the EUISS, I organised the first major EU-Korea conference in Brussels, attended by the largest ever delegation of Korean scholars and former policy makers (almost 30) - an event mentioned in the final declaration of the EU-ROK Summit held in November 2013. In subsequent years, have researched, organised conferences, and managed various projects on Europe-Korea relations, with focus on the EU’s distinctive involvement in the Korean Peninsula and on EU-US differences over North Korea. These activities have led to several publications, including two books: EU-Korea Security Relations (Routledge, 2021); and the Routledge Handbook of Europe-Korea Relations, co-edited with leading scholars in the field. Since its publication, the Handbook has become the standard reference on the topic.

Contribution to the scholarly community

Have had the pleasure, honour, and responsibility to supervise students on their BA and Master's dissertations, as well as several doctoral students, serving also as external examiner to doctoral thesis at various universities, including the LSE, King’s College London, The Graduate Institute, and the EUI.

Have been peer-reviewer for some of the leading academic presses (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Pres, Bristol University Press, MIT Press as well as Routledge and Palgrave) and journals, including: International Security, Journal of Common Market Studies, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Journal of Strategic Studies, The International Spectator, Asia-Europe Journal, The Pacific Review.