Fabrizio Tassinari

Fabrizio Tassinari is the founding Executive Director of the Florence School of Transnational Governance (FSTG) at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence, where he sets the strategic direction, research portfolio and policy outreach of the School. A political scientist by training, he has previously served as Senior Researcher and Head of Foreign Policy Studies at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and as Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Adjunct Professor at Humboldt University Berlin (2012-2017).

Education

• PhD in Political Science, University of Copenhagen
• BA summa cum laude in Political Science, La Sapienza University of Rome

Research & Policy Focus
Tassinari’s research integrates comparative politics and international relations to explore questions of European governance, democracy, security and neighbourhood policy. His work analyses how the European Union can project stability beyond its borders, how crises reshape European solidarity, and how governance models—particularly the Nordic experience—can inform post-crisis reform.

He is the author of the widely-cited monograph Why Europe Fears its Neighbors (Praeger, 2009; updated Turkish ed. 2011) and the recent The Pursuit of Governance: Nordic Dispatches on a New Middle Way (Cambridge University Press/Agenda, 2022; Italian ed. Rubbettino). His analyses appear regularly in The Economist, Financial Times, Washington Post, CNN, Le Figaro, Die Welt and he maintains a bi-weekly column in the Italian daily Il Riformista.

Scientific Distinctions & Fellowships

• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (German Government)
• Berggruen Fellow, Berggruen Institute (Los Angeles & Venice)
• Fellow, SAIS/Johns Hopkins University
• Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• Senior Transatlantic Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Advisory & Governance Roles
Beyond academia, Tassinari advises European and North-American governments and institutions. He sits on the Council of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), the Board of the Italian Institute of International Affairs (IAI) and the Management Board of the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF).