I specialise in political violence and army-society relations with a focus on the Middle East. I currently hold a lectureship in Middle East Politics at Leiden University. Before joining Leiden, I have held research and teaching positions at the George Washington University, the University of Oxford, the American University of Beirut and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

More information about Marina Calculli

Research

In my research, I have examined various aspects of conflict involving state and non-state actors, with a focus on Hezbollah and the Armed Forces in Lebanon and Syria. My current project focuses on the nexus between borders, violence and political authority in the Arab Levant.

Part of this research has appeared or is forthcoming in Geopolitics, Oxford University Press, Springer, Palgrave, Les Cahiers de la Méditerranée, the Italian Journal of Public Policies, Il Mulino, Laterza, Il Manifesto and Huffington Post.  

Selected Academic Publications

• Marina Calculli, “Mirage of Retrenchment: Obama and the Syrian Conflict”, in Dian, M. and Clementi, M. (eds.), US Foreign Policy in a Challenging World - Building Order on Shifting Foundations (New York, Springer, 2017), pp. 279-296. www.academia.edu
• Marina Calculli and Francesco Strazzari, Terrore Sovrano. Stato e jihad nell’era postliberale (Il Mulino, Bologna 2017) www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli and Shady Hamadi (eds.), Esilio Siriano. Migrazioni e Responsabilità Politiche, (Guerini, Milano 2016). www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli, “Middle East Security: Conflict and securitization of identities”, in L. Fawcett (ed.), International Relations of the Middle East, 4^th edition (Oxford, Oxford University Press 2016), pp. 218-235. www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli, “Sub-regions and security in the Middle East: ‘hierarchical interdependence’, in Gulf-Levant relations, in Elizabeth Iskander Monier, Narratives of Regional Threat: (in)security, (in)stability and the Middle East (London, Palgrave McMillan 2015), pp. 41-58. www.academia.edu.
• National prerogatives in International Peacekeeping: Italy in Lebanese perception and Rome’s role within UNIFIL II, Les Cahiers de la Méditerranée, n. 88 (2014), pp. 201-214. www.academia.edu.
• Societal fragmentation and military rule in the Arab world: Syria’s civil-military relations in the wake of the Arab uprisings of 2011, Italian Journal of Public Policies, n. 1 (2013), pp. 102-130. www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli and Matteo Legrenzi, “Middle East security: Continuity Amid Change”, in L. Fawcett (ed.), International Relations of the Middle East, 3th edition (Oxford, Oxford University Press 2013) pp. 205-225. www.academia.edu.

Other publications

• Marina Calculli, “The Liberation of Mosul in the Middle Eastern Balance of Power”, in Andrea Plebani (ed.), After Mosul Re-inventing Iraq, ISPI REPORT, June 2017, pp. 109-122. www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli, “Hezbollah’s Lebanese strategy in Syria”, in I. Galariotis and K. Ifantis (eds.), The Syrian Imbroglio. International and Regional Strategies, European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Paper Series, 2017, pp. 36-44, www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli, “Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria may backfire”, Aspen Institute (30 May 2016). www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli, “Aleppo: a changing balance of forces in Syria?”, Aspen Institute (15 September 2016), www.academia.edu
• Marina Calculli, “The Iran-Russia alignment in Syria”, Aspen Institute (25 October 2015), www.academia.edu.
• Marina Calculli and Matteo Legrenzi, “Regionalism and regionalization in the Middle East: options and challenges”, International Peace Institute, 29 March 2013, www.academia.edu.