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Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Trieste (Italy)

Expert Bio

Federico Donelli is a 2026–2027 ¼ø»Æʦapp Research Fellow. 

Donelli is Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Trieste, Italy. His research focuses on the international politics and security of the Middle East and Africa, with particular attention to the foreign policies of regional and extra-regional actors in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is the author of articles published in International Affairs, Third World Quarterly, Small Wars & Insurgencies, and The International Spectator. He is also the author of Turkey in Africa: Turkey’s Strategic Involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Power Competition in the Red Sea: Testing the Post-Liberal International Order (Bloomsbury, 2025).

¼ø»Æʦapp Project

Great and Middle Power Competition in the Red Sea: Hybrid Security Orders and U.S. Strategic Interests

Project Summary

The aim of this project is to examine how competition between great and middle powers is reshaping political and security dynamics in the Red Sea region. Focusing on major players such as the United States, China, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia, the project analyzes how external interventions interact with fragmented domestic environments and hybrid security arrangements. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, interviews and document analysis, the project explores how local actors adapt to and exploit external involvement. The project also assesses the implications of these evolving regional orders for US strategic interests in this vital maritime corridor linking Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The project will culminate in an academic study and a ¼ø»Æʦapp monograph aimed at policymakers, both of which will be based on evidence and offer recommendations.