Merve Dilek Dağdelen is pursuing her doctoral studies in the International Relations and Regional Studies program at the Atatürk Strategic Research and Graduate Education Institute (ATASAREN) of the National Defense University. She graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Yıldız Technical University in 2011. She received her master's degree from the Department of Political Science and International Relations (English) at Marmara University Institute of Social Sciences in 2019 with a thesis titled “Differing Conceptualizations – Overlapping Policies: A Comparison of Bush and Obama Doctrines.” Her research interests include international relations theories, international security, national security strategies, great power politics, and US-China-Russia competition. She continues her work as a researcher at the Türkiye Research Foundation.