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

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

Short CV

Since 06/2023: Associate at the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies
09/2020 - 05/2023: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies (Funding: Fritz Thyssen Foundation)
03/2020 - 08/2020: Associate at the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies
2017 - 2019: PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, Australia; Thesis: Ceasefires as Statebuilding
2014 - 2015: Admission as a lawyer to the Supreme Court of Victoria, Legal traineeship: Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Education: PhD University of Melbourne; Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Current Research

War-to-peace transitions
Ceasefires
Political order
Local rebel governance
Legal systems

Countries and Regions

Syria

Awards

Syrian Studies Association 2020 Dissertation Prize, Syrian Studies Association (SSA), 2020

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

marika.sosnowski@unimelb.edu.au

Blog Article | 11/2023

Known Unknowns: Or the Things That You Thought You Knew about a Ceasefire in Gaza That It Turns Out You Did Not

Since the obscene attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli Defence Force has dropped between 18 and 35 kilotonnes of ammunition on the Gaza Strip on thousands of “targets”. Among these targets are hospitals, refugee camps, schools and mosques. For context, the combined explosive power of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in WWII was 36 kilotonnes. The rising death toll coupled with pictures of the utter physical destruction of the Strip bear witness to an overwhelming display of military power.

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

Monograph | Cambridge University Press | 05/2023

Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

International Studies Quarterly | 03/2023

Fear and Violence, Loyalty and Treason: Settlement of Status in Syria

This article examines the arbitrary and oftentimes violent nature of loyalty and belonging in the case of Syria but with applicability to other authoritarian or high-surveillance contexts.

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

Small Wars and Insurgencies | 2022

Neither Peace nor Democracy: The Role of Siege and Population Control in the Syrian Regime’s Coercive Counterinsurgency Campaign

This article examines the role of siege warfare and population control in the coercive counterinsurgency strategy used by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad to effectively crush the revolution that began in 2011.

Benedetta Berti

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

GIGA Focus Middle East | 4/2021

“The Right to Have Rights”: Legal Identity Documentation in the Syrian Civil War

During the civil war in Syria, various actors issued legal identity documents. The disadvantages of this web of interlocking documents for people's – especially women’s – parental, inheritance and property rights are analysed in this GIGA Focus Middle East.

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

Noor Hamadeh

International Corporate Accountability Roundtable

Research Project | 01/09/2022 - 31/08/2023

Legal Identity Under Insurgencies and Unrecognised States

Legal identity is a target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s and it underpins the SDGs at large. Not having a recognized legal identity can severely implicate people’s human rights and it may cause statelessness. Our project goes to the core of unresolved tensions around theorising sovereign statehood and the authority to make law.
Swedish Research Council, 2022-2023

Research Project | 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2022

Syria’s “Post-war” Landscape

The architecture of “post-conflict” Syria is intrinsically linked to war dynamics, making it far from a tabula rasa but replete with a range of competing forms of authority. This project investigates the changing nature of the Syrian state and its interactions with non-state actors such as militia leaders, economic elites, tribal leaders, international organisations and investors. It focuses on three topics: local security providers and governance; legal identity; housing, land and property rights.
Fritz Thyssen Foundation, 2020-2022

Good Will Hunters | Interview | 19/10/2020

The Free Kylie Campaign - Where to from here?

Conference | 04/09/2023 - 08/09/2023

The Bureaucratic Revolution: The Syrian Opposition’s Civil Registry System

ECPR General Conference 2023, Charles University, Prague Organisers: European Consortium for Political Research Dr. Marika Sosnowski (Speaker)

Dr. Marika Sosnowski presents her paper "The bureaucratic revolution: The Syrian opposition’s civil registry system" at the ECPR General Conference 2023 in Prague. The presentation is part of the panel "The lived legal realities of de facto sovereign states", co-chaired by her. Panel discussant is GIGA expert Dr. André Bank.

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

GIGA Talk | 12/05/2022

“If there is a ceasefire, people know the devil is coming”

“If there is a ceasefire, people know the devil is coming”, Online event Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest (Chair), Dr. Marika Sosnowski (Speaker), Dr. Rim Turkmani (Speaker), Benedetta Berti (Discussant), Dr. Bente Scheller (Discussant)

The consequences of ceasefires can be diverse, and are not necessarily positive. In this GIGA Talk, scholars and distinguished practitioners will discuss how research and experience from Syria can provide insights and practical strategies relevant for negotiating ceasefires in Ukraine.

Prof. Dr. Christian von Soest

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Dr. Rim Turkmani

Benedetta Berti

Dr. Bente Scheller

Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness | 26/08/2021

Citizenship constellations in Syria

Organiser: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, University of Melbourne Dr. Marika Sosnowski (Speaker)

This talk begins to rectify this by adding to scholarship on citizenship and rebel governance to question how non-state actors in Syria are going about establishing legal identity; what non-state issued documents this results in; and, the interplay between Syrian state and non-state based documentation systems.

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Associate

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Short CV

Current Research

Countries and Regions

Awards

Dr. Marika Sosnowski

Publications

Known Unknowns: Or the Things That You Thought You Knew about a Ceasefire in Gaza That It Turns Out You Did Not

Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria

Fear and Violence, Loyalty and Treason: Settlement of Status in Syria

Neither Peace nor Democracy: The Role of Siege and Population Control in the Syrian Regime’s Coercive Counterinsurgency Campaign

“The Right to Have Rights”: Legal Identity Documentation in the Syrian Civil War

Research Projects

Legal Identity Under Insurgencies and Unrecognised States

Syria’s “Post-war” Landscape

Media Contributions

The Free Kylie Campaign - Where to from here?

Lectures

The Bureaucratic Revolution: The Syrian Opposition’s Civil Registry System

“If there is a ceasefire, people know the devil is coming”

Citizenship constellations in Syria

Notification

Social Media