Seit 03/2022: Externe Redakteurin der Themenserie "Autocracies with Adjectives" bei the Loop, ECPR's Political Science Blog
Seit 10/2018: Research Fellow / Doctoral Student am GIGA Institut für Nahost-Studien und im GIGA Doktorandenprogramm
Seit 09/2010: Freie Journalistin
09/2016 - 01/2018: Studentische Hilfskraft im Student Recruitment Office der Central European University, Budapest
12/2014 - 02/2016: Studentische Hilfskraft am Institut für Soziologie der Goethe Universität Frankfurt. Professur für Soziologie mit dem Schwerpunkt Quantitative Analysen gesellschaftlichen Wandels
08/2015 - 10/2015: Praktikum am Leibniz-Institut Hessische Stiftung für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (PRIF – HSFK), Frankfurt am Main
Studium: M.A. in Political Science, Central European University Budapest; B.A. in Politikwissenschaften und Soziologie, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main
Aktuelle Forschung
Zivil-Militärische Beziehungen in Nahost und Nordafrika
Militärcoups und Zivile Kontrolle von Streitkräften
Autokratische Regime, Autoritäre Institutionen
Regimestabilität und Destabilisation
Parteisysteme und Cleavages in Nahost und Nordafrika
Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society (IUS), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2022
American Political Science Association (APSA), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2021
European Research Group on Military and Society (ERGOMAS), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2021
Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (DVPW), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2020
Neue Deutsche Medienmacher, Andere Funktionen, seit 2020
International Studies Association (ISA), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2020
European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Member of ECPR Standing Groups: Political Methodology, Political Violence, Comparative Political Institutions, Critical Peace and Conflict Studies, seit 2020
Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient für gegenwartsbezogene Forschung und Dokumentation (DAVO), Mitgliedschaft in regionenbezogenem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2019
International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS), Mitgliedschaft in disziplinärem Fachverband oder Netzwerk, seit 2018
Dissertation
Praetorianism in the MENA-Region. Military Governance and Civilian Control across Regime Types
Auszeichnungen
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop", European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), 2023
Europa bleibt für Golfstaaten bei Investitionen und geopolitischen Überlegungen zweitrangig. In Gaza und im Sudan ist internationale Vermittlung nötig. Der Libanon und Syrien drohen zu zerfallen. Wir stellen zehn zentrale Themen vor, die im Jahr 2026 die Entwicklungen im Nahen Osten und Nordafrika prägen werden.
In Sudans langem Krieg machten Mohammed Hamdan Dagalos Rapid Support Forces durch Sabotage, neue Waffen, und breitere Netzwerke große Fortschritte gegen Abdelfattah Al-Burhans Militär. Mit der zunehmenden Involvierung von regionalen Akteuren und lokalen Milizen, zerbrechen aber auch die Frontlinien.
In this book chapter, Matthijs Bogaards (Central European University) and Hager Ali (GIGA) review the literature on factionalism and factions in political parties as well as other organizations.
Hager Ali explains how Sudan's interim government enabled the violent power struggle between the country’s largest armed forces and how past political systems can still undermine present peace efforts.
In this policy paper, GIGA researcher Hager Ali and SWP researcher Gerrit Kurtz, argue that civilian actors formed a broad anti-war coalition that should set the tone for peace talks from the very beginning.
Im Sudan tobt ein Krieg, der Zivilisten mit aller Grausamkeit trifft. Angeheizt wird er von arabischen Nachbarstaaten und Russland, die sich geopolitischen Einfluss und Zugang zu Goldvorkommen versprechen.
Hinter dem Sudan liegt eine Jahrhunderte alte Kolonialherrschaft. Wie wirkt diese bis heute fort? GIGA-Forscherin Hager Ali spricht im Podcast über die Konfliktlinien, die den Sudan bis heute in Kriege verwickelt.
Inzwischen verlegt Moskau immer mehr Ausrüstung und Truppen nach Libyen. Im Interview erklärt die Sicherheitsexpertin Hager Ali, welche Ziele Russland auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent verfolgt – und was das mit dem Krieg in der Ukraine zu tun hat.
Vorträge
Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik e.V., Sektion Elbe-Weser (GSP e.V.) | 28.03.2025
Der Krieg im Sudan - wie Waffen und Netzwerke die Fronten zersplitterten
Organisation: Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik e.V., Sektion Elbe-Weser (GSP e.V.), Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik e.V.
Hager Ali (Berater:in)
Im Sudan tobt seit April 2023 ein Krieg, bei dem bis heute wenig Aussichten auf Frieden gibt. GIGA Forscherin Hager Ali referiert darüber, wie Waffen und Netzwerke zum Bruch der Fronten beitrugen.
Masterclass on Public Scholarship - Part I: PR Strategy for Scholars
This multipart masterclass addresses scholars at any career stage and teaches essentials on how to disseminate research to the general public through textual formats. The first online course focuses on PR-strategy for scholars.
Lehre | Central European University (CEU) | 2025
Masterclass on Public Scholarship - Part II: The One-Stop Writing Workshop
The second instalment of the "Masterclass in Public Scholarship" course series (held in cooperation with the Open Society University Network, the CEU Democracy Institute, and the Review of Democracy) is a One-Stop Writing Workshop, in which participants will practice writing and publishing blogposts based on their existing academic publications.
Lehre | Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik (IFSH) | 2024
Peace, Security and Authoritarianism: Governance and Intra-State Conflicts in the Middle East and Sahel
This seminar focuses on the nexus between authoritarian governance, conflicts and peace. It introduces core components of civilian and military-based authoritarian rule to outline how autocracies destabilize, break down completely or enable conflicts.
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
In Sudans langem Krieg machten Mohammed Hamdan Dagalos Rapid Support Forces durch Sabotage, neue Waffen, und breitere Netzwerke große Fortschritte gegen Abdelfattah Al-Burhans Militär. Mit der zunehmenden Involvierung von regionalen Akteuren und lokalen Milizen, zerbrechen aber auch die Frontlinien.
Dissolving former ruling parties and purging institutions breaks with old regimes. But, Hager Ali, building strong political parties to govern after ousting long-time rulers takes far more time than new incumbents have, especially when they face severe crises.
In this article, Hager Ali (GIGA), Salah Ben Hammou, and Jonathan Powell (University of Central Florida) investigate how armies re-entrench their power after thwarting democratic transitions.
Only a few months remain before elections in Libya. But Western policymakers are focusing on election preparations and the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, to the neglect of other pressing matters. Hager Ali argues that unless Libya tackles its political and military problems, elections may prove…
The study of regime types, Hager Ali argues, is imbalanced. Theories and concepts of democracy have received attention for decades. But amid the resurgence of autocracies, scholars of authoritarianism still do not have the luxury of nuanced typologies to dissect the broad spectrum of non-democratic regimes.
Just days after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban seized power. Hager Ali argues that the US army and its allies foundered because they couldn't resolve two simple questions: What was the democratic end state actually supposed to look like? And was it ever attainable through…
A military coup on 25 October put an abrupt end to Sudan’s fragile democratic transition. Hager Ali argues that although the coup pre-empted a power transfer, the military created a much bigger problem for itself. The same socio-political conditions that kept al-Bashir in power for decades now…
Auszeichnung | European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) | 08.2023
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop"
GIGA Researcher Hager Ali's opening Blog Post "Autocracies with Adjectives" at ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop" was nominated and shortlisted for the Best Blog Post of 2022.
How do the rival Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stack up against each other, and what might happen next? In this guest article for Aljazeera English, Hager Ali analyses the political and military roles of the two parties within Sudan's political system, and how their tactical specializations play out in the fighting in Khartoum today.
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
In Sudans langem Krieg machten Mohammed Hamdan Dagalos Rapid Support Forces durch Sabotage, neue Waffen, und breitere Netzwerke große Fortschritte gegen Abdelfattah Al-Burhans Militär. Mit der zunehmenden Involvierung von regionalen Akteuren und lokalen Milizen, zerbrechen aber auch die Frontlinien.
Dissolving former ruling parties and purging institutions breaks with old regimes. But, Hager Ali, building strong political parties to govern after ousting long-time rulers takes far more time than new incumbents have, especially when they face severe crises.
In this article, Hager Ali (GIGA), Salah Ben Hammou, and Jonathan Powell (University of Central Florida) investigate how armies re-entrench their power after thwarting democratic transitions.
Only a few months remain before elections in Libya. But Western policymakers are focusing on election preparations and the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, to the neglect of other pressing matters. Hager Ali argues that unless Libya tackles its political and military problems, elections may prove…
The study of regime types, Hager Ali argues, is imbalanced. Theories and concepts of democracy have received attention for decades. But amid the resurgence of autocracies, scholars of authoritarianism still do not have the luxury of nuanced typologies to dissect the broad spectrum of non-democratic regimes.
Just days after the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban seized power. Hager Ali argues that the US army and its allies foundered because they couldn't resolve two simple questions: What was the democratic end state actually supposed to look like? And was it ever attainable through…
A military coup on 25 October put an abrupt end to Sudan’s fragile democratic transition. Hager Ali argues that although the coup pre-empted a power transfer, the military created a much bigger problem for itself. The same socio-political conditions that kept al-Bashir in power for decades now…
Auszeichnung | European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) | 08.2023
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop"
GIGA Researcher Hager Ali's opening Blog Post "Autocracies with Adjectives" at ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop" was nominated and shortlisted for the Best Blog Post of 2022.
How do the rival Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stack up against each other, and what might happen next? In this guest article for Aljazeera English, Hager Ali analyses the political and military roles of the two parties within Sudan's political system, and how their tactical specializations play out in the fighting in Khartoum today.
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
