✨Meet the Minds ✨
Malin Nissen has been a research associate and doctoral researcher at the Institute of Political Science since October 2024. Prior to this, she completed a Blue Book Traineeship at the European Commission in Brussels.
Stay tuned as we introduce more minds of our Chair ✨
📣 Reminder: Join us on 12 March (16–18h) at the Paulinum, Leipzig, for our panel “Peace and Security in Times of Hybrid Threats.”
🗣️Panel:
Dr. Astrid Irrgang (ZIF)
Prof. Dr. @janinadill.bsky.social (ECLAC)
Oberst i.G. Katharina Benford (BAKS)
Ulrich Hörning, Mayor of Leipzig
German and English!
✨ Meet the Minds ✨
Kamal Chomani is a doctoral researcher at our department, funded by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. His PhD looks into political legitimation mechanisms in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He founded The Amargi in 2025 and serves as its Editor-in-Chief.
✨ Meet the Minds ✨
Tamim Karadamur is a doctoral researcher at our department, funded through a Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung scholarship. He is a member of their international doctoral programme on security and development in the 21st century.
📣 Join us on 12 March (16–18h) at the Paulinum, Leipzig, for our panel “Peace and Security in Times of Hybrid Threats,” held in the context of the AFK Conference.
🗣️Panel:
Dr. Astrid Irrgang (ZIF)
Prof. Dr. @janinadill.bsky.social (ECLAC)
Oberst i.G. Katharina Benford (BAKS)
German and English!
✨ Meet the Minds ✨
Sushobhan Parida is a doctoral student at our Chair of International Relations and Transnational Politics. His doctoral work focuses on armed groups, where he studies how people join insurgent groups and the role of personal social networks in facilitating mobilization.
✨ Meet the Minds ✨
Charlotte Meier is a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Chair. She has been engaged in research and teaching.
Her entry “Digital activism” was recently published in the Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication.
🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...
📘 New publication
What does regime change mean in debates over US intervention in Venezuela? Solveig Richter and Jonas Wolff analyze legitimacy, and hopes for democratic change and Europe’s role in the controversy.
blog.prif.org/2026/01/22/b...
#Venezuela #InternationalRelations
✨ Meet the Minds
Julia Leib is a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair of International Relations. Her research focuses on international peacebuilding and conflict management.
Her current work builds on Patterns of Sustaining Peace.
🔗 bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/patterns-of-...
One of the final publications of our chair 📘
The Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies: Perspectives from the Global South is now fully open access.
Many thanks to all editors and contributing authors 🌍
#OpenAccess #PeaceStudies #ConflictStudies #GlobalSouth #AcademicPublishing
Who’s behind our research? 👀🧠
We’re starting Meet the Minds, a new series introducing the people shaping our work in International Relations.
We begin with @solveigrichter.bsky.social recently shortlisted for the Supervisor Award at Universität Leipzig.
Stay tuned ✨
Venezuela and Latin America after the US intervention: Forced transitions in the making?
📅 22 Jan 2026 | 15:00–16:30 CET
📍 Leipzig & online
With Prof. Dr. Solveig Richter (Universität Leipzig) and Prof. Dr. Ralf J. Leiteritz (Universidad del Rosario).
Join us for discussion and exchange.
🔎 Der Mafia auf der Spur
Prof. Dr. Solveig Richter im Gespräch mit Axel Hemmerling (MDR Investigativ) zu transnationaler organisierter Kriminalität in Mitteldeutschland.
🗓 21.01.2026 | ⏰ 15–17 Uhr | 📍 S204
👉 www.tagesschau.de/investigativ...
Wie hängen Klimakrise und Konflikte um Ressourcen zusammen? 🌍
Am 08.01.2026 um 17:15 Uhr spricht Prof. Dr. Solveig Richter über Ressourcenkriege und Klimakrise in der Ringvorlesung zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung.
📍 Linnéstraße 5 – offen für alle, die sich für globale Zusammenhänge interessieren.
📚 New publication by our research associate @charlottemeier.bsky.social
the Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication:
Digital Activism explores how digital technologies shape social movement mobilisation.
🔗 www.elgaronline.com/display/book...
📢 On 4 December 2025, Saša Gavrić @sgavric.bsky.social, a doctoral candidate at Leipzig University under the supervision of Professor Solveig Richter, participated in an event in the German Bundestag in his role as an employee of the OSCE/ODIHR.
Find out more: www.uni-leipzig.de/newsdetail?t...
The paper examines how Fridays for Future constructs a collective “we” through generational framing, and how this identity shapes youth mobilization. Thank you to the other panelists and the attendees for their constructive feedback!
From August 26-29, @charlottemeier.bsky.social participated in the ECPR General Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece. There, she presented a paper co-authored with Sushobhan Parida, entitled “Constructing a Generational ‘We’: Generational Identity Formation in the Fridays for Future Movement.”
If you're interested in reading more, one student from @unierfurt.bsky.social has written about her experience of the trip: thebulletin.brandtschool.de/making-memor...
The blended-learning seminar was supported by ERASMUS+ and accompanied by filmmaker Ado Hasanović, who documented the journey. Stay tuned for the upcoming documentary!
They also visited the city of Srebrenica and the Memorial Center in Potočari, where they conducted interviews with survivor Nedžad Avdić and relatives of victims of the 1995 genocide. These personal conversations highlighted how reconciliation is both an academic and profoundly human challenge.
The program combined academic discussion with on-site learning, connecting theory with experiences in post-conflict societies. In Sarajevo, the group met researchers Jasmin Hasanović & Sarina Bakić at the University of Sarajevo, engaging in discussions on memory politics and transitional justice.
Students who participated in the study trip pose together in front of a wall showing different flags.
This summer, @solveigrichter.bsky.social & @malniss.bsky.social co-taught a seminar at Leipzig University on memory & reconciliation after violence. Together with students from @brandtschool.bsky.social, our students travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina for an intensive study trip.
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the KAPAZ Summer School on “Dealing with Hostility in Science Communication” at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (@hiigberlin.bsky.social) in Berlin.
I had the pleasure of having @richardstupart.com join my seminar last week for a guest lecture. He spoke to us about "Injustice, Witnessing and Journalism", helping us understand why journalists feel compelled to report on crises and conflicts and how they manage practical and ethical obligations.
🎓 Panel discussion and student exchange this Thursday!
The Unfulfilled Promise of Peace in Colombia?
🗓 26 June | 🕒 13:30–14:30 CEST | 📍 NSG S203
With Prof. Eduardo Pastrana & students of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá and Prof. Dr. Solveig Richter, in cooperation with the DAAD
⏰ Kleiner Reminder für den Gastvortrag morgen Mittag mit Dr. Ralf J. Leiteritz!
Zum Schluss sprach sie über die immer schwierigeren Bedingungen von Friedensmissionen weltweit sowie über den Wandel dieser Missionen, welche immer stärker von Regionalorganisationen durchgeführt werden. Vielen Dank für diesen spannenden Vortrag!
Ihr Vortrag regte eine aktive Fragerunde an, in der die Studierenden nicht nur wissen wollten wie Andrea Thies als gelernte Finanzwirtschaftlerin ihren Weg in internationale Friedensmissionen gefunden hat, sondern auch, wie die Beteiligung an solchen Missionen überhaupt zustande kommen kann.
Der rote Faden der sich vom Wiederaufbau Infrastrukturen im Kosovo, zur Humanisierung des Strafvollzugs in Kirgistan bis zur Unterstützung in der Einrichtung einer afghanischen Polizei in Kabul zieht, ist das Ziel, Menschen zu helfen und das Wissen, dass Demokratie nicht 'exportiert' werden kann.
