Michalis Kontos is an Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Governance of the University of Nicosia. He is the Associate Head of the Department and program coordinator of MA International Relations and Eastern Mediterranean Studies. His research interests focus on international relations and strategic studies, with special focus on great power politics in the Eastern Mediterranean. He has also researched and published on European integration, politics of the Cyprus question, and international law. He has served as a member of the Geostrategic Council of the Republic of Cyprus. He is Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Review (BSEMR). He has participated in many international conferences and has taught under Erasmus+ mobility schemes in the Universities of The Hague (Netherlands), Piraeus (Greece), and Salerno (Italy). He is the author of monographs, chapters in edited volumes and articles published in international peer-reviewed journals, such as International Politics (Springer), Digests of Middle East Studies (Wiley) and South East European and Balkan Studies (Taylor&Francis). His latest book, titled “US Security Interests in the “New Eastern Mediterranean: Balancing Russia in a post- Unipolar World” was published by Routledge in 2025.