Emmanuel (Manos) Karagiannis joined the Defence Studies Department in September 2013.

He received a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies (Islamic Studies) from King’s and a PhD in post-Soviet Politics from the University of Hull. He also obtained an MA in International Security Studies from the University of Reading and a BA in European Studies from London South Bank University. From 2000 to 2002, he underwent training as a reserve infantry officer and served with an elite unit of the Greek army in Cyprus.

During 2005-2011, he worked as an Investigator at the DHS-funded University of Maryland’s National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. He also held research positions in Cambridge University (The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, 2023-2024), Oxford University (Middle East Centre, 2019), the US Military Academy at West Point (Modern War Institute, 2016-2017), London School of Economics (European Institute, 2016-2017), Princeton University (Hellenic Studies Program, 2010), Yale University (Macmillan Center for International Studies 2008), Columbia University (SWAMOS, 2008), and the University of Pennsylvania (Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, 2005-2006). Dr Karagiannis’s academic engagements have extended internationally, with teaching appointments in Russia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Qatar, Greece, and Cyprus.

At the Defence Academy of the UK, he has taught on a range of programmes, including the Royal College of Defence Studies Course, the Higher, Advanced, and Intermediate Command and Staff courses, the Defence Attachés Foundation Studies Course, the RAF Junior Officer Development Programme, and the MA in International Affairs. In addition to his academic engagements, Dr Karagiannis has served as a consultant on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and for private political risk consultancy firms.

Dr Karagiannis has been interviewed and cited by leading international media outlets, including The Economist, Fox News, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN International, NBC News, Newsweek, Le Monde, Politico, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Voice of Russia, Sputnik International, and BBC Radio.

Research Interests

• Political Islam in the Middle East and the former USSR
• Radicalisation and terrorism
• Non-state and quasi-state actors in the MENA region
• New forms of warfare
• National Security and Intelligence

Dr Karagiannis is trained as a political scientist, though his research is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on insights from social psychology and religious studies. His scholarly work primarily concentrates on two regions: the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. He has conducted fieldwork in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Lebanon.

Doctoral Supervision

Dr Karagiannis is happy to supervise PhD students studying radicalization and terrorism, new forms of warfare, and political Islam in the Middle East and the former USSR. 

Special Subject

Radicalisation and Terrorism

Dr Manos Karagiannis PURE Profile

Dr Karagiannis is part of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies and the Environmental Security Research Group. 

Publications

Books

• Why Islamists Go Green: Politics, Religion, and the Environment (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, hc 2023, pbk 2024)
• The New Political Islam: Human Rights, Democracy and Justice (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, hc 2018, pbk 2024)
• The Ukrainian Crisis, edited volume co-edited with Tracey German (London: Routledge, 2017)
• Political Islam in Central Asia: The Challenge of Hizb ut-Tahrir (New York & London: Routledge, 2010)
• Energy and Security in the Caucasus (New York & London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002)

Books Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries

• “Islamism in Greece: An Elusive Threat” in Thomas Jäger and Ralph Thiele (eds.), Handbook of Political Islam in Europe Activities, Means, and Strategies from Salafists to the Muslim Brotherhood and Beyond (New York: Springer, 2024)
• “Political Islam and Animal Issues” in Shahram Akbarzadeh (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Political Islam, second edition (London: Routledge, 2021)
• “Understanding the Islamic Perspective on Environment – Doctrine and Practice” in James Walters (ed.), Religious Imaginations and Global Transitions: How Narratives of Faith Are Shaping Today’s World (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018)
• “The Politicization of European Converts to Islam” in Tali K. Walters, Rachel Monaghan, & J. Martín Ramirez (eds.), Radicalization, Terrorism, and Conflict (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013)
• “Adhering to Neo-Caliphatism: The Ideological Transformation of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan” in Madawi al-Rasheed (ed.), Demystifying the Caliphate (London: Hurst Press, 2013)
• “Hizb ut-Tahrir” in David A Snow (et al), Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (Oxford: Blackwell, 2013)
• “The European Union External Energy Policy” in Stelios Stavridis (ed.), Understanding and Evaluating the European Union: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches (Nicosia: University of Nicosia Press, 2009)
• “Ethnic Conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia” in Vassilis Fouskas (ed.), Politics of Conflict: A Survey (London: Routledge, 2007)

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

• “The Rise of Environmentalism in the Shi’i World: Evidence from Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen”, Review of Faith & International Affairs [Taylor and Francis], vo. 23, no. 2, 2025, 50–63.

• “Mass-casualty Terrorism and Strategic Surprise in Mumbai and Paris: Understanding the Islamist Perspective”, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism [Taylor and Francis], vol. 19, no. 4, 2024, 484-500.

• "The Clash of Geo-Identities in the Black Sea", Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, vol. 24 no. 2, 2023, 211-217.

• “Regime Continuity and Islamists’ Limited Opportunities in Post-2019 Algeria and Sudan” (co-authored with Ebtisam Hussein), British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 51, no, 5, 2024, 937-953.

• “Russian Surrogate Warfare in Ukraine and Syria: Understanding the Utility of Militias and Private Military Companies”, Journal of Balkan and Near East Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 23, no. 4, 2021, 549-565.

• “The Rise of Electoral Salafism in Egypt and Tunisia: The Use of Democracy as a Master Frame”, The Journal of North African Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 24, no. 2, 2019, 207-225.

• “The Russian Threat to the Baltic States: The Problems of Shaping Local Defense Mechanisms (co-authored with Dr. Rod Thornton), The Journal of Slavic Military Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 29, no. 3, 2016, 331-351.

• “The New Face of Political Islam in Central Asia: The Rise of Islamo-Democrats”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs [Taylor and Francis], vol. 36, no. 2, June 2016, 267-281.

• “Ukrainian Volunteer Fighters in the Eastern Front: Ideas, Norms and Emotions as Mobilization Mechanisms”, Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 16, no. 1, March 2016, 139-153.

• “Shifting Eastern Mediterranean Alliances”, Middle East Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 2, 2016, 1-10.

• “When the Green Gets Greener: Political Islam’s Newly Found Environmentalism”, Small Wars and Insurgencies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 26, no. 1, 2015, 181-201.

• “The Russian Interventions in South Ossetia and Crimea Compared: Military Performance, Basis of Legitimacy, and Goals”, Contemporary Security Policy [Taylor and Francis], vol. 35, no. 3, 2014, 400-420.

• “Comparative Islamist Perspectives on the Politics of Energy in the Middle East and Beyond”, Studies in Terrorism and Conflict [Taylor and Francis] vol. 37, no. 8, 2014, 619-637.

• “Defining and Understanding the Jihadi-Salafi Movement: A Review Article”, Asian Security [Taylor and Francis], vol. 10, no. 2, 2014, 188-198.

• “Transnational Islamist Networks: Western Fighters in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria”, The International Spectator: Italian Journal of International Affairs [Taylor and Francis], vol. 48, no. 4, 2013, 119-134.

• “The 2008 Russian-Georgian War via the Lens of Offensive Realism”, European Security [Taylor and Francis], vol. 22, no. 1, 2013, 74-93.

• “The Emerging Red-Green Alliance: Where Political Islam Meets the Radical Left” (co-authored with Clark McCauley), Terrorism and Political Violence [Taylor and Francis], vol. 25, no. 2, 2013, 167-182.

• “Making New Friends: Explaining Greek Radical Left’s Political Support for Middle Eastern Islamists”, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict [Taylor and Francis], vol. 5, no 3, 2012, 183-195.

• “European Converts to Islam: Mechanisms of Radicalization”, Politics, Religion and Ideology [Taylor and Francis], vol. 13, no. 1, 2012, 99-113.

• “Political Islam in the Former Soviet Union: Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan Compared”, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict [Taylor and Francis], vol. 3, no. 1, 2010, 46-61.

• “Hizballah as a Social Movement Organization: A Framing Approach”, Mediterranean Politics [Taylor and Francis], vol. 14, no. 3, 2009, 365-383.

• “The Rise of Political Islam in Kazakhstan: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami”, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics [Taylor and Francis], vol. 13, no. 2, 2007, 297-322.

• “The Challenge of Radical Islam in Tajikistan: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami”, Nationalities Papers [Taylor and Francis], vol. 34, no. 1, 2006, 1-20.

• “Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami: Evaluating the Threat Posed by a Radical Islamic Group that Remains Nonviolent” (co-authored with Clark McCauley), Terrorism and Political Violence [Taylor and Francis], vol. 18, no. 1, 2006, 315-334.

• “Political Islam in Uzbekistan: Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami”, Europe-Asia Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 58, no. 2, 2006, 261-280.

• “Political Islam and Social Movement Theory: The Case of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan”, Religion, State and Society [Taylor and Francis], vol. 35, no. 2, 2005, 137-149.

• “The Turkish-Georgian Partnership and the Pipeline Factor”, Journal of Balkan and Near East Studies [Taylor and Francis], vol. 6, no. 1, 2004, 15-28.

• “The U.S.-Iranian Relationship after September 11, 2001 and the Transportation of Caspian Energy”, Central Asian Survey [Taylor and Francis], vol. 22, no. 2/3, 2003, 151-162

Miscellaneous publications

• “What the West Can and Must Learn from Hamas’s Sneak Attack”, The Hill, 31 October 2023 (co-authored with Michele Groppi)

• "The Coming Naval Arms Race in the Eastern Mediterranean", RUSI Commentary, 22 July 2021

• "The Silent Rise of Greece as a Mediterranean Power", RUSI Commentary, 16 November 2020

• "Greek Deterrence of Turkey: Living to Fight Another Day", BESA Center Perspectives Paper, 6 October 2020 

• “Five Reasons Why the West Will Lose Turkey”, BESA Center Perspectives Paper, 16 July 2020

• "How and Why the Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah Axis Has Won the War in Syria”, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 5 May 2019

• “How Donald Trump Just Reinvigorated ISIS and Al-Qaeda”, Newsweek Europe, 2 February 2017

• “Brexit and the UK’s Geopolitical Destiny”, Al Jazeera Online, 14 June 2016

• “The Future of Europe after the Brussels Attacks”, Al Jazeera Online, 23 March 2016

• “Why the War in Syria is Only the Beginning”, Newsweek Europe, 29 February 2016

• “The Rise of Iran as a Regional Power: Shia Empowerment and Its Limits”, NATO Review, 24 February 2016

• “What Putin is Really After”, Al Jazeera Online, 1 December 2015

• “Paris Attacks: ISIS is not an Existential Threat”, Newsweek Europe, 15 November 2015

• “The Coming Dusk of the Golden Dawn”, Al Jazeera Online, 22 April 2015, 

• “Greece is not Russia's Trojan Horse to Europe”, Al Jazeera Online, 8 April 2015

• "The Social Roots of Islamist Militancy in the West", Valdai Paper, no. 21, July 2015

• “Greek Foreign Policy toward the Black Sea Region: Combining Hard and Soft Power”, Mediterranean Quarterly [Duke University Press], vol. 24, no. 3, 2013, 74-101.

• "The New Political Islam in Central Asia: from Radicalism to the Ballot Box?", Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. 19, no. 1, 2012, 71-82.

• "Islamic Activism in Europe: The Role of Converts", CTC Sentinel, vol. 4, no. 8, 2011, 16-19.

• “China’s Energy Security and Pipeline Diplomacy: Assessing the Threat of Low-Intensity Conflicts”, Harvard Asia Quarterly, vol. XII, no. 3-4, 2010, 54-60.

• "Political Islam in Central Asia: The Role of Hizb ut- Tahrir", CTC Sentinel, vol. 3, no. 2, 2010, 19-22.