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Paul LevinDirector

About me

Dr. Levin has published works on international relations and public administration. He is the author of Turkey and the European Union: Christian and Secular Images of Islam (2011) and the co-editor of Migration from Sweden to Turkey (2017 with Bahar Baser) and Interdisciplinarity and Comparison in Turkish Studies (2014 with Sinan Ciddi).

Paul T Levin has been the director of SUITS (Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies) since its inception in 2013. During his tenure he has led SUITS to become one of the leading centres for research on Turkey and fostered the development of young scholars, not least through his work as director of CEST, the Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey.

Before assuming his current position, Dr. Levin served as Program Director for Governance and Management Training and taught International Relations at the Department of Economic History, both at Stockholm University. A recurring guest lecturer at Oxford University’s Programmes in Leadership and Public Policy, Dr. Levin has given invited lectures in Turkey, China, the USA, Iran, Poland and elsewhere.

He received his Ph.D. from the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California in 2007, after earning an M.A. in Political Science also at USC.

Publications

The Turkish Veto: Why Erdogan Is Blocking Finland and Sweden’s Path to NATO, FPRI Analysis, Foreign Policy Research Institute (2023)

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A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Turkey and the European Union

    2011. Paul T. Levin.

    Book

    A critical examination of the origins of today’s anti-Islamic rhetoric in Europe, this book focuses specifically on representations of Turkey. Applying a novel theoretical framework that understands collective identities as dramaturgical achievements, it shows that stereotypes of Turks continue to provide an important “Other” against which a supposed European “Self” is contrasted. The book identifies two competing meta-narratives that have long vied for the right to define Christendom and later Europe, and argues that the struggle over these narratives--one tragic, the other comic--have come to a head in Turkey’s current bid for EU membership.

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  • The Swedish Model of Public Administration

    2010. Paul T. Levin. Journal of Administration and Governance 4 (1), 38-46

    Article

    In recent years, the so-called “Swedish Model” has received a great deal of attention in Asia. In this context, it is interesting to consider whether there is such a thing as a recognizable Swedish model, not the least when it comes to public administration. This article investigates Swedish structures of public administration with this aim, finding three characteristics that, in combination, distinguish it from most other systems. It argues that Swedish public administration is characterized by a high degree of openness and accountability, a higher degree of autonomy for civil servants than can be found almost anywhere else, and a far-reaching decentralization of political authority to regions and municipalities, the scope of which is unusual in unitary states. While not constituting an exhaustive depiction of Swedish public administration, these three features together arguably define a distinctive Swedish model of public administration.

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  • [Swedish Public Administrations]

    2008. Paul T Levin. [Journal of public administration] 1 (6)

    Article

    This paper provides an overview of the Swedish political and public administrative system on local,regional and national levels with special reference to the impacts of EU on public administration in Sweden.It examines principles,structure and operation of the Swedish public administration,of which the experience of NPM reform is highlighted.The relationships between state and citizens,politicians and servants,and central and local governments are identified as three distinguishing characteristics of the Swedish public administration.

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