In 2026-27, the focus of my scholarly and policy-oriented research will be on the following issues/areas: 

• Trump's imperial strategy towards China and its implications for Europe.
• China's de-dollarization and the role of the eurozone.
• US-EU similarities, and differences, in the Indo-Pacific.
• China-Taiwan relations and the role of Europe.
• Security developments on the Korean Peninsula and the transatlantic alliance.

The above research topics build upon my expertise in the following areas:

Geographical focus:

• The politics and international relations of the Indo-Pacific
• Europe’s relations with China and Asian countries
• European foreign policy
• China’s domestic and foreign policy
• Transatlantic relations and China/Asia

Thematic focus:

• The domestic-foreign policy nexus
• The regional order in the Indo-Pacific
• The US-China-EU strategic triangle

Research highlights

Among the various strands of research which I have developed over the years, I believe three stand out for their originality and strategic significance:

Europe-China techno-political linkage. This strand of research was developed in the 2000s, during my PhD and post-doc years at the EUI. My doctoral thesis at the LSE - 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 stakeholders – have been presented to the European Parliament, the UK House of Lords, and the U.S. Congress. The findings have been largely used by Western officials for their inquiries into Europe-China relations. To find out more, please see my OUP book and the Memorandum presented to the House of Lords in 2009.

Euro-Renminbi axis. This strand of research was developed in the 2010s, first during my four-year stint at the EUISS in Paris and afterwards when I begun working for IAI in Rome. 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 several EU institutions - including the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism - and published in various outlets, including Foreign Affairs and Project Syndicate.

Europe-Korea relations. This strand of research was fully developed in the second part of the 2010s and the early 2020s. 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 - 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, 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. In 2022-23, I was the recipient of a grant from the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) at Kyungnam University (South Korea) for a project comparing US-EU Perspectives on Inter-Korean Relations, North Korea, and Unification whose main findings were published on Global NK.