Dr. Hana Attia Appointed Junior Professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg
In Brief | 09/03/2025
Dr. Hana Attia Appointed Junior Professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg
Dr. Hana Attia has been appointed Junior Professor of Security Policy and Peace at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She conducts research on economic sanctions and analyses the decision-making processes behind such state-led coercive measures as well as citizens’ perspectives hereon, in particular public opinion on the use of instruments like these in foreign policy. The appointment by the President of Leuphana, Prof. Dr. Sascha Spoun, was made jointly with the GIGA. Dr. Julia Grauvogel, Interim Director of the GIGA Institute for African Studies, also oversaw the appointment.
Research and teaching at the professorship are situated at the intersection of Peace and Conflict Studies and Security Studies. The primary focus is on how states and international organisations can respond to and overcome national and international challenges to peace and security posed by both state and non-state actors. A major area of research at this professorship is the use of economic statecraft by states and international organisations – such as economic sanctions and foreign assistance – to address issues including nuclear proliferation, terrorism, democratic backsliding, and armed conflict. The professorship primarily engages in empirical-analytical research that employs quantitative methods, utilising observational data and original survey experiments. However, it also engages with research focused on single cases, particularly in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region.
With the professorship, Dr. Attia returns to the GIGA, where she is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Middle East Studies. Her research focuses on sanctions and analyses the decision-making processes behind such state-led coercive measures as well as citizens’ perspectives hereon, in particular public opinion around the use of instruments like these in foreign policy. She was previously a Research Fellow at the GIGA until 2023, having completed her doctorate as part of the GIGA Doctoral Programme. For her dissertation “Biased Coercion: The Imposition, Management, and Termination of US Sanctions,” she was awarded second place in the “Aquila Ascendens” Prize for Young Talents in Security Policy in 2023 and the Leibniz Doctoral Prize in 2024 (Humanities and Social Sciences category).
The GIGA congratulates Dr. Attia on this scientific recognition and we look forward to our further cooperation!
With her outstanding dissertation “Biased Coercion: The Imposition, Management, and Termination of US Sanctions,” GIGA researcher Dr. Hana Attia has been awarded second place in the “Aquila Ascendens” Prize for Young Researchers in Security Policy. Congratulations!
Political scientist Dr. Hana Attia receives this year’s Leibniz “Humanities and Social Sciences” PhD prize for her research on international sanctions. The award ceremony took place on 27 November 2024 during the annual meeting of the Leibniz Association in Berlin. The GIGA congratulates Hana on this award.
Rafael Castro Alegría, Hana Attia, Juliana Tappe Ortiz, Tom Konzack, Niklas Krösche, Aline-Sophia Hirseland, Jorge A. Rincón Barajas, and Anna Fünfgeld, members of the GIGA PhD programme, have successfully defended their doctoral theses. The GIGA team is proud of our colleagues and congratulates them on this wonderful achievement!
