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

Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

Lead Research Fellow | Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

  • Short CV

    • Since 05/2015: Head of GIGA Research Programme 2 "Peace and Security"

    • 08/2014 - 04/2015: Acting Head of the GIGA Berlin Office

    • 09/2013 - 08/2014: Transatlantic Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

    • 2009 - 2015: Spokesperson, Research Team 4 "Causes and Effects of Sanctions", GIGA Research Programme 2

    • Since 2009: Member of GIGA Berlin Office

    • 05/2007 - 12/2007: Visiting researcher, Policy Planning Staff of the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin

    • Since 2005: Research Fellow at GIGA Institute of African Affairs, responsible for Southern Africa and East Africa, particularly South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe; Kenya

    • Doctoral thesis "The African State and the Capability to Raise Revenue", University of Leipzig. PhD (summa cum laude); PhD Price from Research Academy Leipzig and Junior Scientists Award from the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD)

    • Education: Study of Journalism (Communication Science, Political Science, Public Law), University of Munich, University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg), and University of Cape Town, South Africa. Training at the German School of Journalism (DJS)

    Current Research

    • International sanctions and interventions

    • Authoritarian regimes

    • Legitimation of political regimes

    • Foreign policy and development policy

    Countries and Regions

    • Southern Africa and East Africa

    • South Africa

    • Botswana

    • Zambia

    • Zimbabwe

    • Kenya

    Research Programmes

    Memberships

    • High Level Review of United Nations Sanctions, External expert, 2013 - 2015
    • German Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2010
    • Midwest Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2010
    • International Studies Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2009
    • Association for African Studies in Germany, Membership in region-specific association or network, since 2008
    • American Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2007
    • African Studies Association, Membership in region-specific association or network, since 2003

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-590christian.vonsoest@giga-hamburg.de

    Highlights

    Praising the Leader: Personalist Legitimation Strategies and the Deterioration of Executive Constraints

    Democratization | 11/2022

    Praising the Leader: Personalist Legitimation Strategies and the Deterioration of Executive Constraints

    In contrast to much current concern, this article shows that liberal democracies seem to largely escape the negative repercussions of government discourses that increasingly stress the uniqueness of the ruler.

    Lennart Brunkert

    Leuphana University of Lüneburg

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Why Do We Speak to Experts? Reviving the Strength of the Expert Interview Method

    Perspectives on Politics | 06/2022

    Why Do We Speak to Experts? Reviving the Strength of the Expert Interview Method

    The paper offers suggestions for making the most effective and reflective use of qualitative expert interviews. It puts forward concrete advice addressing this technique’s inherent challenges of selecting experts, experts’ personal biases, and the systematic capturing of evidence.

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Claiming the Right to Rule: Regime Legitimation Strategies, 1900 to 2019

    European Political Science Review | 02/2021

    Claiming the Right to Rule: Regime Legitimation Strategies, 1900 to 2019

    Marcus Tannenberg

    Dr. Michael Bernhard

    Dr. Johannes Gerschewski

    Ass. Prof. Dr. Anna Lührmann

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Publications

    Monograph | Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch | 10/2023

    Sanktionen: Mächtige Waffe oder hilfloses Manöver?

    „Sanktionen“ stellt fundiert, verständlich und anschaulich die Möglichkeiten und Fallstricke dieses zentralen Machtinstruments der internationalen Politik im 21. Jahrhundert vor und gibt einen Blick in die Zukunft: Wie werden Sanktionen künftig eingesetzt? Das Buch stellt Maßstäbe vor, die Europa und Deutschland bei der Verhängung ihrer Strafmaßnahmen in Zukunft leiten sollten.

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    GIGA Working Papers | 09/2023

    How Authoritarian Regimes Counter International Sanctions Pressure

    This Working Paper analyses the nature and effects of sanctions pressure imposed on authoritarian regimes, reviews mechanisms of how economic and diplomatic restrictions work, and examines authoritarian targets’ attempts to engage in pressure proofing.

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte | 03/2023

    Erfolg und Grenzen der Sanktionspolitik gegen Russland

    Westliche Staaten haben bemerkenswert schnell mit harten Sanktionen auf die Invasion Russlands in die Ukraine reagiert. Nach einem Jahr zeigen sich erste Wirkungen der Zwangsmaßnahmen, die Erwartungen an dieses Instrument sollten aber realistisch bleiben.

    Dr. Julia Grauvogel

    Senior Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 2023

    The Termination of International Sanctions: Actors, Processes and Consequences

    The termination of sanctions is an important but largely understudied phenomenon within international politics. The chapter conceptualizes the protracted process of sanctions termination and conducts an in-depth analysis of termination patterns of European Union, United Nations, United States and regional-organization sanctions in the post-Cold War era.

    Hana Attia

    Dr. Julia Grauvogel

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Elgar Handbooks in Development | 12/2022

    Neopatrimonialism: A Critical Assessment

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 01/06/2023 - 30/11/2025

    Targeting: How the USA and EU Use Individual Sanctions

    Individual sanctions have become a go-to instrument with which Western powers confront challenges to international peace and security. Shaping the trend of individualizing accountability, the USA and the EU as the main bilateral global sanction senders target individuals and entities to hold them accountable for the instigation of armed conflict, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or the violation of human rights. INSA seeks to systematically analyze and compare the listing decisions of the USA and the EU.
    DSF, 2023-2025

    Research Project | 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2024

    Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL): Digital Diplomacy and Statecraft

    “Digital Diplomacy and Statecraft” is funded by the Federal Foreign Office. It focuses on how digitalisation offers new opportunities, challenges, and instruments for foreign policy. It will identify the options and (security) threats of digitalisation to develop timely responses of (digital) diplomacy.
    FFO, 2021-2024

    Research Project | 01/01/2019 - 31/12/2025

    Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS), Cluster of Excellence / Universität Hamburg

    The Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS), based at Universität Hamburg, is guided by the overarching question: "Which climate futures are possible and which are plausible?" The GIGA contributes to the cluster in the central synthesis project and with its research on climate governance, the social construction of climate futures, and the interactions between climate change and conflict.
    DFG, Excellence Strategy, 2019-2025

    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

    Welt am Sonntag | Quote | 20/08/2023

    Schlupfloch im Kaukasus

    Westliche Waren fließen weiter nach Russland, darunter auch sanktionierte Güter wie Oberklasse-Limousinen. Viele davon kommen über eine Gebirgsstraße. Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest teilt seine Einschätzungen. 

    Welt | Quote | 20/08/2023

    „Die Indizien sind überwältigend“ – Wo die Sanktionen des Westens offenbar scheitern

    Die Umgehung der westlichen Russland-Sanktionen über Nachbarstaaten wie Georgien ist ein großes Problem. Über Fernstraßen kommen nicht nur westliche Produkte nach Russland – sondern wohl auch sanktionierte. GIGA-Sanktionsexperte Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest gibt seine Einschätzung zum Bruch von Sanktionen.

    DW Nachrichten - Der Tag | Interview | 10/08/2023

    Wie Russland westliche Technik-Sanktionen umgeht

    Allein in diesem Jahr wurde westliche Elektronik im Wert von 500 Millionen Dollar nach Russland exportiert, trotz der vielen Sanktionsrunden des Westens. DW-Ukraine-Korrespondent Nick Connolly wirft einen Blick auf eine tödlichsten Waffen Moskaus. Ein Interview mit Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest.

    Lectures

    Panel discussion | 11/09/2023

    The Future of Geopolitical Cooperation: South Africa and the Outcomes of the 15th BRICS Summit

    The Future of Geopolitical Cooperation: South Africa and the Outcomes of the 15th BRICS Summit, Online Event Organisers: Deutsche Afrika Stiftung e.V. Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest (Consultant)

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Conference | 26/06/2023 - 28/06/2023

    Targeting: How the USA and EU Use Individual Sanctions

    22nd Jan Tinbergen European Peace Science Conference, University of Bologna, Bologna Organisers: Network of European Peace Scientists Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest (Speaker)

    This paper seeks to theorize and compare the listing decisions of the USA and the EU. It asks: Which individuals and entities are selected as sanction targets and put on blacklists? And why are specific individuals and entities selected as sanction targets?

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Conference | 14/06/2023 - 16/06/2023

    How the USA and EU Use Individual Sanctions

    Offene Sektionstagung der Sektion Internationale Beziehungen der DVPW, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen Organisers: Sektion "Internationale Beziehungen", DVPW Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest (Speaker)

    This paper seeks to theorize and compare the listing decisions of the USA and the EU. It asks: Which individuals and entities are selected as sanction targets and put on blacklists? And why are specific individuals and entities selected as sanction targets?

    Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

    Lead Research Fellow / Head of Research Programme "Peace and Security"

    Teaching

    Teaching | University of Göttingen | 2023

    Sanctions and other Forms of Exerting Pressure

    In the 21st century, sanctions have become one of the most commonly used foreign policy tools to address armed conflict, restrictions on democracy, human rights abuses, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism. The seminar aims to discuss in depth the current research on international sanctions.

    Teaching | University of Göttingen | 2022

    Sanctions and other Forms of Exerting Pressure

    University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

    Seminar at Department of Political Science

    Teaching | Helmut Schmidt University | 2021

    State and Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg Germany

    Seminar at the Helmut Schmidt University

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