Welcome to the YJEA Blog!

Welcome to the blog of the Young Journal of European Affairs! Here you can find articles on how to improve your scientific research, career paths in International Relations as well as on several topics regarding Europe and the European Union. Contribute to the YJEA Blog Have you always wanted to write about EU politics and share you ideas and thoughts with the world? Have you been working on a shorter opinion piece but not yet had the chance to publish it? Then submit your article to the YJEA Blog! All […]

Wie wirksam sind die Vereinten Nationen? Eine Analyse am Beispiel des Haftbefehls des Internationalen Strafgerichtshofs gegen Wladimir Putin und der UN-Konvention gegen Gewaltsames Verschwindenlassen

Photo: the blowup | Unsplash Guest Author: Clara Paulina Hoffmeister  Clara Paulina Hoffmeister recently completed her undergraduate studies in Political Science at the University of Munich. She studied law as a minor, specialising in international law. She is currently preparing for her M.A. in Political Science.   Einleitung Am 21. Oktober 2022 legte das Internationale Komitee des Roten Kreuz (ICRC) der Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen einen Bericht vor, wonach zu diesem Zeitpunkt mehr als 180,000 Menschen weltweit beim ICRC als vermisst gemeldet waren. Seit 2017 sind die registrierten Fälle um […]

Towards More Effective Global Environmental Governance – Exploring tools to scale up climate action and foster global environmental sustainability

Photo: Kyle Glenn | Unsplash Guest Author: Costanza Galetto Costanza Galetto is a Master’s student in European Affairs at the Sciences Po, Paris. Enrolled in the “Europe in the World ” policy stream, she explores various topics related to European and International Affairs. She is particularly interested in subjects related to crises and crisis management by governments in the EU, such as the role of politics in narrating and constructing crises. She holds a deep interest in environmental sustainability and climate policies. In the past, she worked on topics related […]

From Streets to Policies: The Impact of Yellow Vests Movement on French Public Policy

Photo: ev | Unsplash Guest Author: Adil Yildiz Adil Yildiz is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, in the United States. Previously, he completed his master’s degree in European and Global Studies at the University of Padova in Italy. His research interests are diverse, but include political institutions, social movements, human rights violations and abuses, and international affairs.   The success and efficacy of social movements in influencing policy changes typically originates from their reliance on garnering support from other political and social entities. […]

How do you get your research published as a student, Morten Harmening?

© Morten Harmening

Photo: Morten Harmening  As the final instalment of our little interview series about student publishing, we spoke to Morten Harmening, M.A. about his work as Editor-in-Chief of a student journal and his recent book, together with Dr. Philipp Köker, in which they synthesise their years of experience in the field into a comprehensive guide for every student and teacher interested in or wanting to promote student research.   YJEA: Tell us a bit about your experience with student publishing? What’s your background? Harmening: During the first semesters of my undergraduate […]

Student Publishing in the Social Sciences – Insights from our Partner Journals

Photo: Maarten van den Heuvel | Unsplash As we are launching PoliNet, a network of junior social science journals (currently) across Europe and North America, we asked our partner journals to share some of their insights into student publishing and their struggles in starting and growing a student-led journal. This blog post is connected to our interview with Prof Dr Jeremy Richardson about his role as founder and co-editor of the Journal of European Public Policy (JEPP) and his take on the developments of publishing in IR over the past […]

“Cartography is never neutral”: an analysis of the agreement between Frontex and the Polytechnic University of Turin

Photo: Ruthie | Unsplash Guest Author: Amal Sadki Amal Sadki is pursuing a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Otto-von-Guericke Universität of Magdeburg, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies. Her main areas of interest are migration, border securitisation, arms exports, and postcolonial theory. She loves to write and dreams of a future in Peace and Conflict research.   On 14 July 2021, the Polytechnic University of Turin, one of the most prominent higher education institutions in Italy, announced through its magazine Poliflash […]

What does it take to become a professor, Thomas König?

Photo: Lāsma Artmane | Unsplash   YJEA: I would like to start by asking how you first became interested in the field of political science and European politics? Thomas König: My primary interest was stimulated by a very creative and unconventional professor in Mannheim, Professor Wildenmann, who focused on political institutions. We, his students, were very different in terms of theory, methods, and substance, but we had one thing in common, namely the focus on political institutions. Theoretically and methodologically, we decided to study the interactions between political actors and […]

A Critical View on the Treatment of Pushback Allegations by Greek Authorities and the Detention of Asylum Seekers

Photo: Mika Baumeister | Unsplash Guest Author: Ann-Kathrin Grunwald Ann-Kathrin Grunwald studies Law at the University of Bonn with a special interest in European law, international human rights law, and Asylum law.    Introduction According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “the right to seek and enjoy asylum does not depend on the mode of arrival to a country. People who wish to apply for asylum should be allowed to do so and they should be made aware of their rights and provided legal assistance”.[1] However, looking at […]

TEASER: How do you advocate for a feminist foreign policy, Nina Bernarding?

Photo: Georges Toiansky | Unsplash TEASER: You can find the full-length interview with Nina Bernarding published in our second issue.   YJEA: We would like to start our interview by talking about your studies. How did you become interested in the topics and what motivated you to start your studies? Nina Bernarding: For my bachelor’s, I studied History and Political Science in Heidelberg, and I did my master’s degree in Conflict, Security and Development at King’s College London. Before my studies, I had already been interested in international affairs in […]

An insight into development cooperation for sustainable development with Dr Inge Baumgarten (GIZ)

Photo: GIZ Moreira   YJEA: Hello Dr Baumgarten, it’s very nice to have you! I would like to introduce you shortly to our readers before going right into the interview: You have worked for the GIZ, the German development agency, for quite some years now. Your focus has been on health issues in Africa, where you directed the GIZ Office to the African Union until earlier this year. Now you serve as Director of the Office in Togo. Baumgarten: Thank you very much for the honour of this interview! This […]