German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

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North Africa

GIGA researchers examine political, socioeconomic, and cultural dynamics in North Africa, including authoritarian rule, regime stability, civil-military relations, political Islam, and social movements. They also study migration, youth, kinship, cultural production, precarity and repression.

  • Experts

    Contact

    Current Research

    Countries and Regions

    Hager Ali

    Hager Ali

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 (40) 42825-526[email protected]

    • Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East and North Africa

    • Military Coups and Civilian Control of Armies

    • Authoritarian Regimes, Authoritarian Institutions

    • Regime Stability and Destabilization

    • Party Systems and Cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa

    • German Military Deployments in the MENA-Region and Sahel

    • Middle East

    • North Africa

    • Sudan

    • Sahel
    Dr. André Bank

    Dr. André Bank

    Senior Research Fellow

    T. +49 (40) 42825-584[email protected]

    • Regional Explanations for Authoritarianism

    • Statethood and Political Domination in the Middle East (with a focus on Jordan and Syria)

    • The War in Syria

    • Regional Politics and the Relationship between Arabism and Islamism

    • Jordan

    • Syria

    • Palestine/Israel

    • Turkey (Near East Politics)

    Dr. Khalil Dahbi

    Dr. Khalil Dahbi

    Research Fellow

    [email protected]

    • World Order Narratives of the Maghreb’s Leftist Movements

    • States and Authoritarianism

    • North African Politics

    • Maghreb region

    • Morocco

    • Tunisia

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    T. +49 (40) 42825-714[email protected]

    • Authoritarian Rule in the Middle East and North Africa

    • Authoritarian learning

    • Legitimation of authoritarian regimes

    • Repression of protest movements

    • Algeria

    • Jordan

    • Tunisia
    Asma Khalifa

    Asma Khalifa

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 (40) 42825-792[email protected]

    • Impacts on inter-gender relations in Libya

    • Libya

    • MENA regions

    Dr. Alyssa Miller

    Dr. Alyssa Miller

    Research Fellow

    [email protected]

    • Religion and National Identity

    • Marginalization and Social Inequality

    • Borderlands

    • Transitional Justice

    • Kinship and Ambiguous Loss

    • Middle East

    • Tunisia

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Research Fellow / MECAM Outreach & Transfer Manager

    T. +49 (40) 42825 714[email protected]
    • Social movements and mobilization
    • Social (in)justice and marginalization
    • Islamist radicalization and political violence
    • Political transformation and regime change
    • Tunisia
    • Maghreb

    In Brief

    COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa and Its Impact on Migration

    In Brief | 13/07/2020

    COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa and Its Impact on Migration

    Many refugees and migrant workers in the Global South must thwart curfews in order to make a living. GIGA researchers Dr. Lea Müller-Funk, Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz and Dr. Christiane Fröhlich analyse, how COVID-19 impacts (forced) migration in the Middle East and North Africa.

    "Spotlight on..." New Doctoral Researcher Olena Osypenkova

    Spotlight on... | 02/01/2024

    "Spotlight on..." New Doctoral Researcher Olena Osypenkova

    Olena Osypenkova officially joined the GIGA Doctoral Programme in October 2023. The working title of her dissertation is “The Role and Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation in the Middle East and North Africa (Focusing on Cases of Syria and Libya).” She holds a master’s in political science from the Institute of Political Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Learn more about Olena in this interview.

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    Cooperation | 20/04/2020

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    The GIGA is taking part in the establishment of a Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in the capital of Tunisia. This research centre will be dedicated to the study of processes of social change that have come about as a result of the Arab protest movements of 2011.

    Publications

    Contemporary Politics | 02/2024

    Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of Morocco and Tunisia, 2000–2010

    This article investigates the communication of everyday repression in autocracies. It analyzes data from the novel "Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI)" covering human rights violations and judicial repression in the years 2000-2010.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Dataset | 2022

    Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI)

    This novel event dataset contains information on 439 repressive incidents in Morocco and Tunisia from 2000-2010. It disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its justification. The JuRI dataset is based on a compilation of publicly available human rights reports.

    https://doi.org/10.7802/2438

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft | 2017

    Legitimation Towards Whom? Managing the Legitimacy Crisis in Algeria During the Arab Uprisings

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Media Contributions

    Deutsche Welle | Quote | 26/11/2025

    Tunesien: Autoritarismus weiter auf dem Vormarsch

    In diesem Artikel liefert Dr. Maria Josua Einschätzungen zu den politische Strukturen in Tunesien anlässlich der zunehmenden Repression sowie jüngsten Proteste.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Deutsche Welle | Quote | 09/04/2025

    Tunesien: Umstrittener Prozess gegen Kritiker und Aktivisten

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Lectures

    Conference | 25/09/2025 - 27/09/2025

    Taking audiences seriously: Justifications of repression in the Tunisian and Moroccan uprisings of 2011

    Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oslo, Oslo Organisers: Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

    At the Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies, Maria Josua presented findings from her DFG-funded project on justifications of repression during the Arab uprisings.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Conference | 08/09/2025 - 12/09/2025

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen Organisers: Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft Dr. Maria Josua (Chair)

    The panel organized and chaired by Maria Josua challenged simplistic assumptions about Morocco by analyzing recent dynamics such as protest policing, shedding critical light on green development policies and the new social protection agenda, and the kingdom's increasingly assertive foreign policy.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Conference | 08/09/2025 - 12/09/2025

    The Soft-Handed Kingdom? Revisiting Repression in the Moroccan “Arab Spring”

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen Organisers: Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker), Dr. Kressen Thyen (Speaker)

    This paper disentangles the specific patterns of repression that was employed in Morocco during the 2011-12 protests, challenging the narrative of a benign and reform-based response to the Arab uprisings.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Dr. Kressen Thyen

    Associate

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