Publications

Recent pro-Palestine mobilisations in Tunisia restate the relevance of symbolic repertoires in the articulation of political discourses and in the reactivation of social movements. Culture and representation are once again sites of contention. Through aesthetic action in the public space, activists and artists are denouncing cultural colonialism and subalternity.

This article examines the link between grassroots peacebuilding and resilient local structures in the Global South, focusing on northern Ghana. While bottom-up approaches promote participation, findings reveal that civil society-led efforts have struggled to establish lasting peace infrastructure.

Vietnam's remarkable integration into global value chains (GVCs) has been fueled by the expansion of over 300 Special Economic Zones (SEZs)—and this paper sheds light on their true and overall very positive impact on local labor markets.

The project „Religion for Peace: Identifying Conditions and Mechanisms of Interfaith Peace“ explored ways to build and maintain peace between different religious groups. This illustrated summary presents key findings and highlights what we learned about interreligious peace, challenges involved, and ideas about what can be done to put interreligious peace together.

This book on comparative area studies (CAS) focuses on the openness of CAS’ to interpretive approaches and showcases strategies for leveraging CAS for causal analysis. It features efforts to rethink the logic, scale and purpose of comparison and promotes CAS’ role in deepening the interface between comparative politics and IR.

Ghana and Tunisia have often been framed as beacons of democracy in their respective regions. However, as Ghana’s democracy matured over decades, Tunisia’s experiment ultimately collapsed. This paper examines diverse factors shaping their paths, offering lessons on the risks of democratic backsliding.

Digital disinformation is on the rise in Latin America, threatening democratic dialogue in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. This report explores recent trends, campaign tactics, and offers policy ideas for stronger responses—including EU-Latin America cooperation.

This article examines Saudi Arabia’s complex positioning in the Russia-Ukraine war, considering its adherence to the norm of equal sovereignty alongside its foreign-policy determinants. Outwardly supporting Ukraine’s right to sovereignty its continued cooperation with Russia paints a different picture.

This book offers perspectives on Indo-Pacific dynamics by a set of experts who have collaborated in the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. It speaks to and updates existing scholarly discussions, investigating the nexus of order(ing) and agency in that strategic space.

This paper argues that the strategic gains of a strong India-Sweden relationship outshine persisting challenges. Both partners should focus on five key areas of convergence: innovation and technology, green energy, sustainable development, defence trade and security, and trade and investment.

The shift to a bioeconomy offers climate and sustainability benefits but risks biodiversity loss, land conflicts, and social inequities—especially in the Global South. This article explores inclusive pathways and governance for a just, sustainable bio-based future.

Informal, low-quality employment in MSMEs remains a key challenge in low- and middle-income countries. Evidence from an RCT in Côte d’Ivoire shows that a light-touch business consulting program increased formal employment through better minimum wage compliance and more written contracts.

This paper investigates the impact of sub-Saharan African immigrants on the Tunisian labour market as well as their labour market integration and social inclusion compared to other immigrants, with a focus on the migration influx since the Tunisian uprising of 2010–2011.

This dashboard examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced executive personalization in 32 countries. Each bubble represents a country and its number of personalization events. Select one or two, then use the buttons to explore the events and their underlying mechanisms.

Greenfield FDI can support job creation in Africa, but its full impact is unclear. Using new data from 2013–2020, we find more projects than previously reported. While FDI boosts formal jobs in some sectors, its overall impact is modest and may even crowd out domestic employment.

Cocaine hydrochloride is the final and most distributed form of cocaine. This visualization uses UNODC seizure data to show the scale, spread, and clustering of large interdictions, offering insight into global trafficking and enforcement patterns.

This line graph shows coca cultivation trends in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia from 2000 to 2023. Using UNODC’s Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme (ICMP) data, it tracks total hectares of coca bush cultivated annually, highlighting long-term shifts across the three countries.

The geopolitical competition between the USA and China takes place primarily in the Indo-Pacific. Co-edited by GIGA researcher Johannes Plagemann, this Special Issues explores regionals states' as well as the EU's ambivalent reactions to it through the prism of 'foreign policy signaling'.

Through state repression during Thailand’s 2020–2021 protests, this article identifies a two-pronged mechanism driving the nexus between judicial harassment and smear campaigns. First, smear campaigns delegitimize dissidents, framing them for legal charges. Second, these campaigns legitimize severe penalties, criminalizing dissent.

Global trade is shown through three relationships: trade within Global South Countries, trade within Global North Countries, and trade between them. As the arcs on the sides expand or contract, they represent the changing share of global trade occurring within or between these groups of countries.

Focusing on cocaine paste (pasta básica) seizures, this visualization examines the scale, distribution, and concentration of large interdictions. By analyzing seizure sizes and geographic hotspots, it highlights key trafficking routes and the role of enforcement in disrupting supply flows.

This visual exploration examines sea-related drug seizures recorded by the UNODC, focusing on seizures in ports, harbors, territorial waters, and vessels. It highlights trafficking patterns, enforcement efforts, and geographic distribution of maritime drug flows.

Diagnostic capacity played a crucial role in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing the experience of Latin America, the article shows that success depends on supra-national cooperation of which the existent influenza or dengue networks in the region are prime examples.

Africa’s digital transformation is accelerating, amid growing global competition. This study explores how the EU, China, and the US are striving to shape Africa’s digital future—focusing on infrastructure, innovation, and governance—and offers recommendations for stronger EU–Africa cooperation.

This widely cited and currently most-read article in Mediterranean Politics provides a concise overview of how the Arab uprisings changed repression in Arab states on the one hand. On the other hand, it points to lacunae in existing repression research and lines out several approaches and themes that are becoming relevant in researching repression in the MENA and beyond.

The 2025 Paris AI Summit marked a shift from global to national AI strategies. This paper explores India’s and Singapore’s AI governance, offering insights for the EU, with a focus on Germany, on cooperating with these emerging AI powers to advance ethical, sustainable AI.

People tend to seek out others who are like them. This preference for similarity can result in divided societies as people burrow deeper into like-minded groups. So, in the interest of social cohesion and peace, what would encourage people to engage with others across social divides?

Do war economies thwart postwar transformations and peacebuilding? This paper reveals a complex relationship shaped by political regimes and state capacities. It suggests that postwar countries can strengthen democratic institutions and state presence, rather than being inherently doomed by their war economies.

Kenya's rise as a digital leader in Africa showcases the power of digital leapfrogging in driving growth and innovation. This study explores Kenya's dynamic digital ecosystem, sectoral impacts, and key policies, offering insights on data governance, digital trade, and EU-Kenya collaboration, with Germany playing a leading role in digital cooperation.

The GCC countries are undergoing major economic and digital transformation beyond hydrocarbon export, requiring top-tier infrastructure and global tech collaboration. China has emerged as a key partner in this shift. This paper explores this partnership and potential cooperation with Germany and other European economies.

Academic freedom in the Maghreb has been deteriorating for the past decade. This paper documents the range of violations of academic freedom in Algeria, Libya, Mali, Morocco, and Tunisia and provides recommendations for universities and governments in their international cooperation.

This policy report examines the Nabas Wind Farm on Panay Island, Philippines, to explore the trade-offs between accelerating renewable energy projects and safeguarding the livelihoods of local communities.

This report synthesises cutting-edge research on labour standards in global supply chains. Authored by researchers from the Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains, it examines the impact of global supply chains on decent work, sectoral variations, and the implications of evolving due diligence regulations.

Current consumption patterns in the Global North are unsustainable on environmental, social, and economic levels. An experimental study involving 2,161 German consumers examines whether emotionally primed information about sustainability aspects of cocoa production influences their willingness to pay for sustainable products.

Energy transitions should prioritize justice, ensuring universal and reliable energy access at an affordable price for lower-income groups. Our analysis focuses on the significant expansion of wind and photovoltaic energy in Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceará from 2012 to 2022.

This special issue advances debates on status in international relations by integrating novel empirical research with innovative theoretical perspectives. It moves beyond traditional power-centric views, highlighting social and relational dimensions of status-seeking as a foreign policy practice.

Recent pro-Palestine mobilisations in Tunisia restate the relevance of symbolic repertoires in the articulation of political discourses and in the reactivation of social movements. Culture and representation are once again sites of contention. Through aesthetic action in the public space, activists and artists are denouncing cultural colonialism and subalternity.

This article examines the link between grassroots peacebuilding and resilient local structures in the Global South, focusing on northern Ghana. While bottom-up approaches promote participation, findings reveal that civil society-led efforts have struggled to establish lasting peace infrastructure.

Vietnam's remarkable integration into global value chains (GVCs) has been fueled by the expansion of over 300 Special Economic Zones (SEZs)—and this paper sheds light on their true and overall very positive impact on local labor markets.

The project „Religion for Peace: Identifying Conditions and Mechanisms of Interfaith Peace“ explored ways to build and maintain peace between different religious groups. This illustrated summary presents key findings and highlights what we learned about interreligious peace, challenges involved, and ideas about what can be done to put interreligious peace together.