A graduate of Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences (Mülkiye), Department of International Relations, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın received his MA in International Relations and Strategic Studies and PhD in Political Science and International Relations from Lancaster University. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan (1998), Richardson Institute for Peace Studies (1999), Harvard University (2002), University of Athens (2003), European Union Institute for Security Studies (2003) and Institute for Human Sciences (2018). Having served as a faculty member at Ankara University between 1994-2005 and as the Head of the Department of International Relations at TOBB-Economy and Technology University between 2005-2009, Aydın served as the Rector of Kadir Has University for two terms between 2010-2018. Currently a faculty member in the Department of International Relations at Kadir Has University, Aydın is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Relations Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the World Council for Middle Eastern Studies. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Turkish-Greek Forum, the Global Relations Forum, the International Research Society, the Turkish Atlantic Council, the Turkish Association of Political Sciences and the European Association for Central Asian Studies.
In addition to his academic life, he has served as the Head of the Turkestan Desk at the Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies (1999-2003), Director of the Institute for International Policy Studies (2005-2011) and Co-Chair of the International Black Sea Commission (2010), as well as the Strategic Research Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Center for Strategic Research and Studies of the General Staff, Professor Aydın’s academic interests include International Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, Security Studies, and Foreign and Security Policy in Central Asia, Caucasus, Black Sea, Middle East and Turkey.