IR in Science

You are not there for the research design, the research design is there for you.

Moving on in the research process, we talked to Nele Kortendiek from the Zeppelin University about research design and methods. In this interview, we gained insights into what to do and what not when developing your research design as well as in Dr Kortendiek’s current research on civil society contestation of international organisations (IOs).   YJEA: Your field of research lays mainly in international organisations and migration policy. Why are you particularly interested in these topics? Kortendiek: To begin with, I was very much interested in the basic question of […]

Guest Articles

Women Protesters in Belarus and Poland – the key to change?

Guest Author: Lara Brett Lara Brett is a MA student in Contemporary European Studies at the University of Bath.   2020 was a turbulent time for everyone, but it also saw the amplification of ongoing political upheaval in eastern Europe. In Belarus and Poland, there is growing discord between authoritarian governments and the freedoms demanded by their citizens. In both nations, women have taken a leading role in the protests, but have often faced harsh repercussions. This post aims to highlight the contributions of these female activists in challenging patriarchal […]

IR in Practice

“Be courageous, be brave, say what you think” – Interview on human rights work with Lanna Idriss

YJEA: We would like to start with your academic background. Could you give a short introduction of yourself? Idriss: Yeah, I will, because I am not the typical person who would end up in the public sector. So, about my international background: My name is Lanna Idriss, I am 45 years old and my father comes from Syria, my mother is a German-Danish mixture and I identify myself as a third-culture-kid. This is an expression by an American professor, who said, that when you have two different cultures in your […]

European Public Policy, Guest Articles

Making Polluters Pay – Policy Options for an Ambitious Reform of the European Emissions Trading System

Guest Author: Benedikt Heyl Benedikt Heyl is a climate activist with German Zero, developing a concrete plan to make Germany climate neutral by 2035. He is a member of the Green Youth in Germany and studies theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam.   The damages that the release of greenhouse gases causes to society as a whole are in crass contrast to the little repercussions that polluters experience for emitting them. To close this gap the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) was formed. Owners of selected point sources of […]

European Public Policy

Rule of Law in the EU – Killing the Goose that lays the Golden Eggs

“Because other issues are more important than ethics, ethics is more important than any issue” [1]. Similarly, I would argue that the rule of law (RoL) may not be everything but without the rule of law, everything is nothing. The rule of law is inherently linked to democratic governance and democracy without the rule of law can hardly be considered democracy at all. Alongside human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and human rights, the rule of law is one of the fundamental values uniting the member states in the European Union, […]

IR in Science

“We are all just a footnote to Plato”

As our series on how to improve your research continues, we went on to talk to Prof Dr Christian Kreuder-Sonnen about his professional tips and tricks to find the right literature, sort out what already exists in the field and how to embed your own research in it.   YJEA: Most of your research centers around the field of global governance with a focus on the issues of democratic legitimacy and constitutionalism. Why are you particularly interested in these topics? Kreuder-Sonnen: These topics are so foundational and involve such fundamental […]

European Public Policy

Future of Europe: Migration Policy – Aspirations vs. Reality

Starting into the Council Presidency, Germany declared that migration policy in the European Union would be one of the focal points during the six months to come. Now, more than four months in, the issue many thought would be off the table due to different priorities during the corona pandemic has attracted more public scrutiny than anyone had imagined back in July 2020. The coronavirus especially affecting refugees who are most vulnerable, the burning down of Moria, the new proposal by the European Commission are just among the most prominently […]

IR in Science

Theories structure our thinking

With this article, we follow up on the previous IR in Science contribution with Dr Monique Taylor regarding theory. This time we asked Prof Dr Elvira Rosert how to work with theories once you already found a suitable theoretical framework and discussed other aspects regarding theories that interested us.   YJEA: You mainly do research in the field of international norms and international humanitarian law. Why are you particularly interested in these topics? Rosert: My overarching research interest lies in the question of how social progress is possible. How can […]

IR in Science

You can’t avoid theory

In our second contribution to the science blog, we are interested in how to find a suitable theory for your research. We, therefore, talked to Dr Monique Taylor, lecturer at the University of Helsinki, and received some useful tips on finding a theoretical approach and becoming a better researcher.   YJEA: You do research mainly in the field of international political economy (IPE), with a particular interest in governance and institutional change and focus on China and Southeast Asia. Why are you particularly interested in these topics? Taylor: In essence, […]

IR in Practice

Climate Diplomacy: Working towards climate neutrality

YJEA: Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your job. Leonie van der Stijl: My name is Leonie van der Stijl and I’m a Dutch diplomat. I currently work at the directorate for Inclusive Green Growth (IGG) in the climate diplomacy team. The directorate houses a team of about 80 people. We cover food security, water, energy, arctic policies, and climate change. The climate team does two main things: on the one hand, we work on development programs, for example, a lot with the GIZ on renewable energy […]