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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Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies | Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

  • Short CV

    • Since 10/2019: Director of GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies, Hamburg

    • Since 10/2019: Professor for contemporary history and politics of the Middle East at the University of Hamburg

    • 2012 - 2019: Senior Research Fellow, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)

    • Since 2013: Adjunct Lecturer, Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI)

    • 2016 - 2018: Scientific Advisor to the Kuwait Chair at Sciences Po, Paris

    • Spring 2014: KSP Visiting Professor, Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Sciences Po

    • 2009 - 2012: Visiting Research Fellow, Princeton University

    • 2006 - 2010: Director of Economic Studies, Gulf Research Center (GRC), Dubai

    • 2000 - 2006: Work for banks in Frankfurt, Mainz and Dubai in equity and fixed income trading

    • Education: PhD in Economics (Political Science and Islamic Studies as minors) Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (1999); Free University of Berlin (1995-1996); M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies (Political Science, Economics, Islamic Studies), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (1995); Institut Français d'Études Arabes de Damas and University of Damascus (1993-1994)

    Current Research

    • Contemporary history of Iraq (1979-2003)

    • Political Economy of the Middle East

    • Energy and food security

    • Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation

    Countries and Regions

    • Gulf region

    • Iraq

    • Egypt

    • Syria

    Memberships

    • Marco Polo book series of Department of Asian and North African Studies of Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Member of editorial board, since 2021
    • Review of Economics and Political Science, Editorial Board Member of Review of Economics and Political Science, journal of the American University of Cairo, since 2020
    • Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies, Member of Advisory Board, since 2019
    • German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation, Member of DAVO, since 2019
    • Food Security, Member of editorial board of Food Security, since 2013
    • Middle East Studies Association, Membership in region-specific association or network, since 2013
    • Journal of Arabian Studies, Member of editorial board, since 2010

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    T. +49 (0)40 - 428 25-504eckart.woertz@giga-hamburg.de

    Publications

    International Journal of Middle East Studies | 08/2023

    The Past is Never Dead. It's Not Even Past: History and Memory in Iraq Studies

    20 Years after the US invasion of Iraq this roundtable section reflects on recent Iraqi history and contemporary developments with an eye toward memory politics. It builds on a conference held at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg in March 2023 and portrays emerging avenues for research.

    Dr. Achim Rohde

    Academy in Exile

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    GIGA Focus Middle East | 1/2023

    Iraq 20 Years after the US Invasion: Challenges and Continuity

    The legacy of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq left its imprint on successor regimes post-2003 in terms of institutions, policies, and infrastructures. How to address these development challenges while also ensuring continued political stability is the task now facing both domestic and international partners.

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Water International | 11/2022

    Virtual Water, International Relations and the New Geopolitics of Food

    Food security and virtual water considerations interact in a corporatized third food regime, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the world’s largest grain importing region. The virtual water paradigm that Tony Allan first coined can be applied creatively to international relations that are increasingly characterized by ‘weaponized interdependence’.

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 10/2022

    Geopolítica de los Alimentos: El Impacto de la Guerra en Ucrania en la Seguridad Alimentaria de Oriente Medio

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Regional Environmental Change | 10/2022

    Scorched Earth Tactics of the “Islamic State” After its Loss of Territory: Intentional Burning of Farmland in Iraq and Syria

    This article examines the causes of uncontrolled and irregular fires within farmlands in parts of the two countries in 2019–2020 and quantify their extent spatiotemporally using a combination of medium and coarse-resolution satellite imagery, land cover, precipitation, temperature data, and multiple sources of armed violence data.

    Hadi H. Jaafar

    Lara Sujud

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 01/05/2021 - 31/12/2025

    SAGE-Centre: Sustainable Adaptation to Global Change in the Middle East

    In dealing with climate change, scientific cooperation between emerging countries and industrialised nations is of particular importance. The GIGA is part of the Climate and Environment Centre SAGE – one of four global centres on the topic, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service and the Federal Foreign Office. SAGE will contribute to empowering Middle Eastern societies to create a science-based, adaptive and sustainable management of natural resources in a changing world.
    DAAD, 2021-2025

    Research Project | 01/04/2021 - 31/03/2024

    World Order Narratives of the Global South (WONAGO)

    The decades since the late twentieth century are marked by the end of the bipolar world order and the rise of countries of the Global South. Most explanations focus on political and economic power shifts and do not pay much attention to ideas of order, especially those prevalent in the Global South. To provide a more inclusive perspective, this project researches world order narratives in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of its Area Studies strategy.
    BMBF, 2021-2024

    Research Project | 01/06/2020 - 28/02/2021

    Population Growth and Security in Africa

    As recent projections estimate, population growth will remain a challenge throughout Africa, although growth rates have slowed over recent decades. Africa’s population will continue to grow strongly over the next few decades, especially in sub-regions such as the Sahel. Many observers and practitioners have started to warn that population growth may escalate distributional conflicts and could increase related challenges such as uncontrolled migration.
    FFO, 2020-2021

    Media Contributions

    Der Spiegel | Quote | 21/09/2023

    ADNOC aus Abu Dhabi: Warum ein arabischer Ölkonzern bald eine deutsche Dax-Größe kaufen könnte

    rbb24 Inforadio | Quote | 18/05/2023

    Megacity in der Wüste - Das saudische Projekt NEOM in der Kritik

    L'express | Quote | 05/05/2023

    Arabie saoudite, Emirats arabes unis… La course à l’espace des pays du Golfe

    Lectures

    Conference | 21/09/2023 - 23/09/2023

    The Iraq War as a War over the Meaning of Europe

    29th International DAVO Congress, Universität Wien, Vienna Organisers: German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Speaker)

    Paper presentation at DAVO

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Conference | 21/09/2023 - 23/09/2023

    Paper presentation at DAVO

    29th International DAVO Congress, Universität Wien, Vienna Organisers: German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Speaker)

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Conference | 19/09/2023 - 22/09/2023

    The Iraq War as a War over the Meaning of Europe

    German Historians' Day, University of Leipzig, Leipzig Organisers: Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands e.V. Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Speaker)

    Paper presentation Panel: Geschichte(n) und Erinnerungen des Globalen Südens: Von der Erfindung der „Dritten Welt“ zu Debatten des 21. Jahrhunderts bezüglich postkolonialer Regelungen und historischen Reparationsfragen

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

    Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

    Teaching

    Teaching | Universität Hamburg | 2023

    Iraq 20 Years after the US Invasion: The Politics and Memory of the Transition from Dictatorship and Occupation

    Universität Hamburg Hamburg Germany

    https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/conferences-and-workshops/iraq-20-invasion-politics-memory-transition-dictatorship-occupation

    Teaching | Universität Hamburg | 2022

    German Foreign Policy in the Middle East since World War II

    Das Seminar behandelt die Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im Nahen Osten und Nordafrika seit dem 2. Weltkrieg.

    Teaching | Princeton University | 2022

    International Energy Trends

    Princeton University Princeton United States

    Lecture in Course on Oil, Energy and the Middle East

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