Many rural areas in the Global South are facing tremendous challenges including persistent poverty, demographic pressure, climatic change and an eroding resource base. Competition for land and resources affects the lives of rural populations in multiple ways.

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are being very seriously affected by the disease, and the states of the Global South are showing a wide variation in their reactions. Learn more how the GIGA contributes to addressing the worldwide repercussions of the pandemic.

Religion is socially important and affects politics and socioeconomic developments in multiple ways. In recent years, religion has become increasingly contentious. Terrorist attacks, armed conflict and xenophobia have been making headlines. At the same time, religion can also contribute to peace.

Russia's attack on Ukraine once again raises the question of the effectiveness of sanctions. Economic sanctions are a popular foreign policy tool for addressing a wide range of international challenges including conflicts, human rights violations, or terrorism. Learn more about GIGA's research on this topic.

We work on the politics of climate change. We investigate options to enable low and middle income countries to achieve lower-carbon trajectories without compromising economic development and poverty reduction and study the role of the Global South in international climate negotiations.

The global digital transformation is changing how we live and work, as well as how states relate to each other. Our researchers are analysing new opportunities/ challenges of digitalisation in the Global South and instruments of foreign policy, such as digital diplomacy and cyber sanctions.

The Indo-Pacific has emerged as the world’s economic and strategic centre of gravity, in which established and rising powers compete with each other. Learn more about the GIGA’s research, policy exchange and knowledge transfer activities on this mega region, focusing on the perspectives of governmental and non-governmental actors.

The trade war between the US and China and the deadlocks in the World Trade Organisation are two examples of the current crisis of globalisation. We investigate how the world trade order is influenced by domestic concerns, international negotiations, and geo-economic competition.

To overcome war and violent conflicts, building and strengthening institutions for peace is crucial. This includes power-sharing governments, security sector reform and other processes. We investigate these and pay equal attention to institutions and processes that may obstruct peace.

Around 80 million people have been forcibly displaced by war or political violence worldwide. Several millions more have fled because of environmental disasters and socio-economic marginalisation. We focus on the background of this phenomenon in the regions of origin.

Multilateralism and global institutions are under severe challenge. We investigate the causes and repercussions of these problems, provide theoretical and empirical analyses of different institutions, and contribute to policy and public debates on reform.

Democracy builds on common principles such as elections, division of power, and rule of law. In practice, democratic institutions often underperform due to executives overstepping powers, conflicts and power struggles causing stalemate in the policy process, and rule instability.

Authoritarian practices are not only used in non-democratic regimes. They can increasingly be found also in formally democratic states, as the examples of shrinking civic space, populism, and democratic backsliding show. Learn more about the GIGA‘s research and knowledge transfer on the topic.

Social protection shields people against health crisis and other shocks and can help people overcome poverty traps. We do research on a wide range of crucial social, economic, and political issues related to the design, scope, and implementation challenges of social protection programs.

Many rural areas in the Global South are facing tremendous challenges including persistent poverty, demographic pressure, climatic change and an eroding resource base. Competition for land and resources affects the lives of rural populations in multiple ways.

Large parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are being very seriously affected by the disease, and the states of the Global South are showing a wide variation in their reactions. Learn more how the GIGA contributes to addressing the worldwide repercussions of the pandemic.

Religion is socially important and affects politics and socioeconomic developments in multiple ways. In recent years, religion has become increasingly contentious. Terrorist attacks, armed conflict and xenophobia have been making headlines. At the same time, religion can also contribute to peace.

The world is still not on track to meet the 1.5°C maximum warming target. The United States, China, the European Union, India, and Brazil – these “great powers” play a crucial role in fighting climate change. This GIGA Talk will address what has been achieved (or not) and how the “great powers” justify their respective actions or inaction. Video now online!

This series of seminars on Advances in Comparative Area Studies (CAS 2.0) brings together numerous renowned scholars from Europe, North America and beyond. The upcoming authors` workshop will lead to a successor volume to CAS: Methodological Rationales and Cross-Regional Applications (Oxford University Press 2018).

GIGA President Prof. Amrita Narlikar contributed to the event as moderator and speaker. As a follow-up to the SCRIPTS conference in February, Prof. Narlikar shared her analyses on the liberal script in Asia, also in light of current developments, the Russian aggression, and Europe’s relation to the Indo-Pacific region, with a high-level panel of foreign policy practitioners and scholars.

For the first time in FIFA’s history, the Men’s World Cup will be held in an Arab country. Yet football has a long history in the Middle East and North Africa. This GIGA Forum focuses on the social and political significance of the sport.

The Franco-German Observatory invites key actors from the Indo-Pacific to discuss questions of a strategic nature, of economic interdependence and independence, and the expectations the countries of the Indo-Pacific might have towards the “West”. Upcoming talk by Prof. Dr. David Capie on New Zealand’s Indo-Pacific Dilemmas.

The WONAGO Lecture Series invites scholars and policymakers to speak on ideas of order prevalent in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. “World Order Narratives of the Global South (WONAGO)” is a joint research project by Universität Hamburg and the GIGA, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Upcoming lecture by Dr. Stella Franco.

Interested practitioners in democracy education are invited to our workshops on the results of the research project “Democracy and Games: Analogue and Digital Game-Based Learning Tools for Youth Work (DEMOGAMES).” The event offers insights into the educational tools, methods, and materials for democracy education in youth work.

Lecture by Emma Riley, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Washington

The East Asia Institute (EAI), Seoul, and the GIGA co-hosted a seminar titled “Engaging in the Indo-Pacific: German and South Korean Views” on 6 July 2022 at the East Asia Institute conference hall. The panelists held an in-depth discussion on the vision for the Indo-Pacific region, measures for German-South Korean cooperation, and both countries’ strategies for engagement.

The Digital Development Dialogue (3D) seminar is a monthly 45-minute online forum for policy and research exchange. Two speakers – one researcher and one practitioner – touch upon key topics in development policy with the goal of stimulating a meaningful dialogue across the theory & practice divide.

Public commitment to democracy is important for democratic governance. From surveys we can learn how the population relates to democracy and what influences this stance. In this lecture, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Zechmeister paints a picture of weak democratic commitment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This first MIASA Policy Conference on “Policies for a Sustainable Rural Transformation in Africa” provides space for exchange between researchers, policy makers, development practitioners, and other stakeholders in rural development to present and discuss the most recent policy-relevant research findings. Video now online!

The GIGA Speaker Series on African Affairs aims at painting a nuanced picture of sub-Saharan Africa by discussing political and socio-economic developments on a regular basis. At 20 June 2022, our guest, Prof. Kwesi Aning, spoke on the Role and Meaning of Russias’s Presence in West Africa and the Sahel.

Lecture by Roselyn Hsueh, Associate Professor at Temple University

To bring together leaders and participants of research projects of three major funding lines of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), as well as their international partners and practitioners, Universität Hamburg and the GIGA have jointly organised a networking event focused on the topic of “Crisis and Reordering.” The event takes place on 13–14 June 2022 in Hamburg and virtually.

Lecture by Prof. Gema Kloppe-Santamaría in cooperation with the LFF Graduate Programme: "Democratising Security in Turbulent Times" at Universität Hamburg. Video now online!

Lecture by Jacobus Cilliers, assistant professor at Georgetown University.

While most United Nations members quickly condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a few actors in the Global South adopted a “neutral” stance. This GIGA Forum discusses how countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa perceive the war, are reacting to it, and what its consequences are for these states. Video now online!

The consequences of ceasefires can be diverse, and are not necessarily positive. In this GIGA Talk, scholars and distinguished practitioners will discuss how research and experience from Syria can provide insights and practical strategies relevant for negotiating ceasefires in Ukraine. Video now online!

When Turkey announced that it would withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, it led to protests against the country’s democratic backsliding. In this GIGA Talk, experts will discuss the reasons behind and effects of this decision. Video now online!

The world is still not on track to meet the 1.5°C maximum warming target. The United States, China, the European Union, India, and Brazil – these “great powers” play a crucial role in fighting climate change. This GIGA Talk will address what has been achieved (or not) and how the “great powers” justify their respective actions or inaction. Video now online!

This series of seminars on Advances in Comparative Area Studies (CAS 2.0) brings together numerous renowned scholars from Europe, North America and beyond. The upcoming authors` workshop will lead to a successor volume to CAS: Methodological Rationales and Cross-Regional Applications (Oxford University Press 2018).

GIGA President Prof. Amrita Narlikar contributed to the event as moderator and speaker. As a follow-up to the SCRIPTS conference in February, Prof. Narlikar shared her analyses on the liberal script in Asia, also in light of current developments, the Russian aggression, and Europe’s relation to the Indo-Pacific region, with a high-level panel of foreign policy practitioners and scholars.