Bulent Aras is Research Director of Center for International Policy Research. He is also Visiting Professor at Qatar University, Senior Scholar and Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center, and Research Professor of International Relations at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a leading expert on Turkish foreign policy, Middle Eastern politics, and Central Asia, he has worked as a consultant for numerous organizations, such as Oxford Analytica, Microsoft, and Human Rights Watch. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies form 2011 to 2014. 
Aras was chairman of Center for Strategic Research (SAM) and Diplomacy Academy between 2010 and 2013 at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey. He taught at Sabanci University and at Istanbul Technical University.