New GIGA Annual Report

A look back and a look forward: 2014 was an extraordinary year for the GIGA, one of stocktaking and visions. In April 2014, the institute celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. At a Senate reception, Hamburg’s first mayor, Olaf Scholz, recognised the institute’s great importance for Hamburg, and Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier sent a congratulatory message.

The Leibniz Association also took stock of the GIGA’s work. In September, an 11-person expert commission visited the GIGA to thoroughly assess the institute as part of the Leibniz Association Evaluation, which is carried out at regular intervals. On 9 July 2015, the results were announced: The Leibniz Association rated the GIGA’s performance as “very good” to “excellent” – an exceptional validation of the GIGA team’s work, both in the past and into the future.

The GIGA made a great stride towards the future in October 2014, when the new president, Prof. Dr. Amrita Narlikar of the University of Cambridge, took office. Professor Narlikar is the founding director of the renowned Centre for Rising Powers and researches topics such as the rise of new world powers, multilateral negotiations, and global trade.

Alongside these special highlights, 2014 also saw GIGA researchers working on ambitious projects. Researcher Luicy Pedroza won the German Political Science Association’s (DVPW) Dietrich-Thränhardt Prize. At the end of the year the promising network International Diffusion and Cooperation of Authoritarian Regimes (IDCAR) took up its work under the GIGA’s coordination. And also in 2014, the institute presented the Comparative Area Studies (CAS) Award for the first time. The prize went to the University of Oxford scholars Paul Chaisty, Nic Cheeseman, and Timothy Power for their article “The Power of Presidents.”

You can find more highlights from the last year as well as data and facts about the GIGA in the 2014 annual report.