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

DEEN

Dr. Thomas Richter

Lead Research Fellow | Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

  • Short CV

    • Since 04/2020: Editor MECAM Papers

    • Since 10/2018: Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    • 04/2018 - 05/2018: IDCAR Visiting Fellow at WZB Berlin in the Research Unit “Democracy and Democratization”

    • 09/2017: Lijphart/Przeworski/Verba Data Set Award, GSRE - Global State Revenues and Expenditures Data Set

    • 2016 - 2018: Coordinator GIGA Forum

    • 2011 - 2015: Speaker of the GIGA Research Team "Persistence and Change in Non-Democratic Regimes" in the Research Programme 1

    • Since 2013: Senior Research Fellow at GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies

    • 2008 - 2013: Research Fellow at GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies

    • 2007 - 2008: PhD-Fellow at BIGSSS Bremer International Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Bremen (Scholarship of Hans-Böckler Foundation)

    • 2003 - 2007: PhD-Fellow at the GSSS Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Bremen (Scholarship of Hans-Böckler Foundation)

    • Education: Studies in Political Science, Economics and Islamic Studies at the Eberhard-Karls University Tuebingen and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor); Dissertation „Authoritarian Rule, Material Resources and Foreign Trade Reforms: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan between 1970 and 2003”; 2008: PhD (Dr. rer. pol.) at the University of Bremen (summa cum laude)

    Current Research

    • Global Political Economy

    • Structural Adjustment and Sectoral Transformation

    • Institutional and Material Determinants of Authoritarian Rule

    • Executive Personalization

    • Shrinking Civic Spaces

    Countries and Regions

    • Small Gulf states

    • Middle East and North Africa

    Memberships

    • American Political Science Association
    • International Studies Association
    • German Political Science Association
    • German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation
    • German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation

    Awards

    • Lijphart/Przeworski/Verba Data Set Award 2017

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-528thomas.richter@giga-hamburg.de

    Publications

    Energy Research & Social Science | 09/2022

    Whither Rentierism Following the 2014 Oil Price Decline: Trajectories of Policy Adjustment in the Arab Gulf

    This paper looks at key trajectories of policy adjustment across member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—a region shaped by state-controlled income from exporting hydrocarbons—since 2014, the year in which the price of crude oil dropped significantly.

    Prof. Dr. Martin Beck

    Associate

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 08/2022

    Auswirkungen des Gaza-Krieges 2021 auf Deutschland: eine mehrdimensionale Analyse des Radikalisierungsgeschehens

    Der Gaza-Krieg vom Mai 2021 hatte deutliche Auswirkungen auf das Radikalisierungsgeschehen in Deutschland. In diesem Beitrag des MOTRA-Monitor 2021 werden die Rückwirkungen eines Ereignisses, das außerhalb Deutschlands stattgefunden hat, dargestellt.

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Dr. Katrin Brettfeld

    Simon Greipl

    Julian Hohner

    Dr. Sophia Hunger

    Dr. Eylem Kanol

    Mirna El Masri

    Prof. Dr. Peter Wetzels

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 08/2022

    Der Gaza-Krieg im Mai 2021

    Die Eskalationsdynamiken zwischen Israelis und Palästinenser:innen, die im Mai 2021 zu einem militärischen Konflikt zwischen militanten islamistischen Palästinenser:innenorganisationen und Teilen der israelischen Streitkräfte führten, waren durch zwei internationale Entwicklungen geprägt: Erstens die proisraelische Haltung der Trump-Administration (2017–2021) und zweitens die von einigen arabischen Golfstaaten angestoßenen Bemühungen, ihre Beziehungen mit Israel zu normalisieren.

    Selman Almohamad

    Research Fellow

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 08/2022

    MOTRA-Monitor 2021 – Zusammenfassung: Radikalisierung im Schatten der Corona-Pandemie

    Eine Zusammenfassung der im MOTRA-Monitor 2021 dokumentierten Analysen, die erstmalig auf der Grundlage von MOTRA-Primärdaten, die themenspezifisch analytisch aufeinander bezogen wurden, greifbar das in MOTRA angelegte Erkenntnispotenzial illustrieren.

    Dr. Uwe Kemmesies

    Prof. Dr. Peter Wetzels

    Beatrix Austin

    Dr. Christian Büscher

    Prof. Dr. Axel Dessecker

    Prof. Dr. Edgar Grande

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Prof. Dr. Diana Rieger

    Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, Comparative Governance and Politics | 03/2022

    Gero Erdmann-Preis für vergleichende Area-Forschung 2022

    Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Lauth

    Prof. Dr. Susanne Pickel

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 15/01/2022 - 14/12/2024

    COVID-19 and Executive Personalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the MENA Region

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, political leaders reacted by containment measures that, next to combating the spread of the pandemic, also presented a window of opportunity to bolster executives’ personal grasp on power. Personalization of power has been particularly worrying in the Global South where constraints on the chief executives were often already weak prior to the pandemic. This project assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the personalization of executive power in 36 countries of the Global South.
    DFG, 2021-2024

    Research Project | 01/04/2020 - 31/03/2023

    Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM): Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity

    The "Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb" (MECAM), founded in 2020, is a platform for regional and international scientific exchange in Tunisia based on the central theme "Imagining Futures - Dealing with Disparity". The centre is located at the renowned Université de Tunis in the Tunisian capital. Its research work focuses on the effects of multidimensional disparity on models, visions and ideas about political, social, economic, and cultural futures.
    BMBF, 2020-2023

    Research Project | 01/12/2019 - 30/11/2024

    Monitoring System and Transfer Platform Radicalisation (MOTRA)

    "Monitoring System and Transfer Platform Radicalization" (MOTRA) is a research association in the context of civil security research (zivile Sicherheitsforschung) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project was created as part of the establishment of a top-level research cluster for the early detection, prevention and combating of Islamic extremism and terrorism and will be a central point of contact over a period of five years.
    BMBF, 2019-2024

    Research Project | 01/07/2014 - 30/06/2019

    International Diffusion and Cooperation of Authoritarian Regimes - IDCAR-Network

    In politics and political science alike, the increasing international influence of authoritarian regimes has become a central concern around the globe. From 2014-2019, the IDCAR network brought together some of the most renowned scholars in the field to produce high-level research and, based on this, policy advice and public outreach.
    Leibniz Association, 2014-2019

    Media Contributions

    Deutsche Welle | Quote | 09/01/2021

    Iran und das Ende des Boykotts gegen Katar

    Schwäbische Zeitung | Quote | 21/09/2019

    Warum der Khashoggi-Mord kein Thema mehr ist

    Magazin Zenith | Quote | 19/06/2019

    Hafen Duqm im Oman. Hier baut Oman an seiner Zukunft

    Lectures

    Speaker | 25/08/2022

    Polarization and Opportunism: Using Network Analysis to Explore how the German Far-Right Utilizes Escalations of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    Mirna El Masri and Thomas Richter present the paper at the panel "Conspiring Elites and Disgruntled Masses? Revisiting the Populist and Extremist Challenges to Democracy" at the ECPR 2022. This work presents results from the MOTRA project and is co-written with colleagues from LMU.

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Speaker | 25/08/2022

    The Impact of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on Intergroup Attitudes in Germany: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

    Thomas Richter presents a co-authored paper in the panel "The International Dimension of Radicalization and Extremism" at the ECPR 2022. This work puts forward results from the MOTRA project and is co-written with colleagues from the University of Hamburg and WZB.

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Panelist | 11/01/2022

    Labour Migration in the Gulf – Building Wealth on Precarity

    Migrant workers live in precarious conditions in the Persian Gulf region. Migration regulations prevent naturalisation; for many, however, the region is a second home. This GIGA Talk offers analysis of the structural problems in the regional labour market and a discussion of the consequences for international cooperation.

    Dr. Thomas Richter

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Accountability and Participation" Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Teaching

    Teaching | Leuphana University of Lüneburg | 2018

    Democratization and Authoritarian Resistance

    Leuphana University of Lüneburg Lüneburg Germany

    In this seminar an extensive overview about research and debates on democratization and authoritarianism looking at all World regions will be given. How are democratic and authoritarian political regimes defined and measured? What have been drivers of democratization since World War II and what regional similarities and differences exist? Which political systems around the globe persisted to the rise of democracy? And what are the tools of authoritarian leaders to stay in power? How do we understand and explain the recent resurgence of authoritarian politics? And what does this mean for the future of democracy? The seminar puts special emphasis on regional and international sources of democratization and authoritarian resistance.

    Teaching | Universität Hamburg | 2018

    The Comparative Study of Authoritarian Regimes

    Universität Hamburg Hamburg Germany

    In this seminar an extensive overview about research and debates on authoritarianism and authoritarian regimes looking at all World regions will be given. How is authoritarianism and how are authoritarian political regimes defined and measured? What have been the factors (de)stabilizing authoritarian regimes since World War II and what regional similarities and differences exist? In which political systems around the globe non-democratic rule has been maintained until today? And what are the tools of authoritarian leaders to stay in power? How do we understand and explain the recent resurgence of authoritarian politics? And what does this mean for the future of liberal democracy? The seminar puts emphasis on domestic, regional and international elements studying authoritarian regimes across all World regions.

    Teaching | Universität Hamburg | 2017

    Demokratisierung: Theorie, Empirie und Praxis

    Universität Hamburg Hamburg Germany

    Demokratisierung, d.h. die politische Entwicklung hin zur Demokratie oder die Verbesserung der demokratischen Qualität eines politischen Systems ist eine zentrale Entwicklungsdynamik innerhalb von politischen Systemen in allen Weltregionen. Die Beschäftigung mit Demokratisierung, ihren Erfolgsbedingungen und Fehlschlägen sowie den daraus resultierenden Folgen steht seit vielen Jahren auch in der politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung im Mittelpunkt. Seit den 1990-er Jahren ist die Förderung von Demokratisierung zudem zu einem wichtigen Schwerpunkt durch westliche Geber und internationale Organisationen geworden.

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