Foreign & Security Policy

The Foreign and Security Policy Programme contributes to the development of convincing alternatives to the dominant but deadlocked approach of realism in international practice, focusing on the narratives of feminist and green foreign policy through data collection and analysis guided by diplomatic practice, critical theory and international relations theory.

Director of the Programme

Articles

Green Foreign Policy Fellowship 2026-2027: Building partnerships, growing the narrative, expanding the knowledge

APPLICATION

The Heinrich Böll Foundation - Thessaloniki Office launches the 2026-27 Green Foreign Policy Fellowship, supporting emerging scholars and practitioners shaping progressive foreign and security policy. Running from July 2026 to May 2027, the programme offers a stipend, travel support, and global networking. Applications are open 15–31 March 2026 to candidates eager to advance data‑driven, green policy alternatives.

Gender-responsive climate finance as a tool in Green Foreign & Security Policy

ARTICLE

As climate change deepens existing inequalities and fuels instability, gender‑responsive climate finance is emerging as a strategic tool at the heart of Green Foreign & Security Policy narrative. Centering women and other vulnerable or marginalized groups turns climate action into a driver of resilience, justice, and sustainable peace.

Graciela Hijar-Pfenning

A feminist Green Foreign Policy approach to space debris: Centering justice and equity beyond Earth’s orbit

ARTICLE

Out of mind out in space? Space debris are often overlooked aspect of our daily use of space technology, but the issue is rapidly growing into a global justice and security challenge. What can the Green Foreign & Security Policy narrative bring in this discussion? Fair participation, shared responsibility, and protection of vulnerable communities can transform orbital space from a site of competition into a domain of cooperation and long‑term peace.

Giuliana Rotola

Dossiers

Feminist Foreign Policy

DOSSIER

What is a feminist foreign policy? Is it just one or can it take many forms? To this day, such questions guarantee either a heated debate or profound confusion. In this analyses variété, we attempt to collect material from around the world, describing the various aspects of this narrative in an effort to go deeper, ask the tough questions and look for convincing answers. Feel free to roam and get to know better one of the most debated foreign policy narratives of our time.

Media

‘Retrieved’: A Feminist Foreign Policy Podcast Series

Published: 4 September 2023

The future of foreign policy can be better. In the five episodes of this series of podcasts, with the help of policy advisors, journalists, researchers, and politicians, we examine how feminist foreign policy can reflect the interests of all genders and often overlooked stakeholders: from peace-building and climate, to migration and defence policy, we look to examples from across the EU that show how this bold new model benefits society at large - and the challenges on the horizon.

Retrieved: Short Trailer

Publications

EU statecraft in the age of permacrisis

PUBLICATION

The purpose of this working paper is twofold. First, to suggest and examine how the EU can enhance its security and its global role, without diverting its focus to the remilitarization of European politics. Second, to examine how, in the age of permacrisis, deliberative and discursive processes should be at the heart of EU public diplomacy.

Christos Frangkonikolopoulos

Green Foreign Policy Snapshots

PUBLICATION

Green foreign policy, lacking an agreed upon definition, is often misquoted and misinterpreted, narrowed down to only protecting the natural environment. In this preliminary study conducted in 2022, we attempted to see beyond scattered political opinion by analysing data. Partial or complete, a green foreign policy doctrine may be an eventuality based on these initial findings.

Evangelos Astyrakakis Aslanis

All publications