Born in Stuttgart, (then West) Germany, to parents who were art students in this country, I spent most of my life—with the exception of graduate studies overseas, military service and a number of academic stays abroad—in Istanbul, Turkey. I graduated from the German High School in Istanbul, obtained a B.A. degree in Economics from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey, a M.A. degree in International Business from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, and a Ph.D. degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University. My dissertation was titled “Business Associations and Foreign Policy: Revisiting State-Business Relations in Turkey.”I was affiliated with Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center, and Shanghai University’s Center for Global Studies. I also worked as research coordinator at Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK); was chosen a “Global Emerging Voices Fellow” by Torino World Affairs Institute, in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Australian National University, and Stiftung Mercator; and I was recognized as a “Young Academics Fellow” by the Global Relations Forum