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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North Africa

GIGA researchers examine political, socioeconomic, and cultural dynamics in North Africa, including authoritarian rule, regime stability, civil-military relations, political Islam, and social movements. They also study migration, youth, kinship, cultural production, precarity and repression.

  • Experts

    Contact

    Current Research

    Countries and Regions

    Hager Ali

    Hager Ali

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 (40) 42825-526[email protected]

    • Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East and North Africa

    • Military Coups and Civilian Control of Armies

    • Authoritarian Regimes, Authoritarian Institutions

    • Regime Stability and Destabilization

    • Party Systems and Cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa

    • German Military Deployments in the MENA-Region and Sahel

    • Middle East

    • North Africa

    • Sudan

    • Sahel
    Dr. André Bank

    Dr. André Bank

    Senior Research Fellow

    T. +49 (40) 42825-584[email protected]

    • Regional Explanations for Authoritarianism

    • Statethood and Political Domination in the Middle East (with a focus on Jordan and Syria)

    • The War in Syria

    • Regional Politics and the Relationship between Arabism and Islamism

    • Jordan

    • Syria

    • Palestine/Israel

    • Turkey (Near East Politics)

    Dr. Khalil Dahbi

    Dr. Khalil Dahbi

    Research Fellow

    [email protected]

    • World Order Narratives of the Maghreb’s Leftist Movements

    • States and Authoritarianism

    • North African Politics

    • Maghreb region

    • Morocco

    • Tunisia

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    T. +49 (0) 40 42825-714[email protected]

    • Authoritarian Rule in the Middle East and North Africa

    • Authoritarian learning

    • Legitimation of authoritarian regimes

    • Repression of protest movements

    • Algeria

    • Jordan

    • Tunisia
    Asma Khalifa

    Asma Khalifa

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 (40) 42825-792[email protected]

    • Impacts on inter-gender relations in Libya

    • Libya

    • MENA regions

    Dr. Alyssa Miller

    Dr. Alyssa Miller

    Research Fellow

    [email protected]

    • Religion and National Identity

    • Marginalization and Social Inequality

    • Borderlands

    • Transitional Justice

    • Kinship and Ambiguous Loss

    • Middle East

    • Tunisia

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Research Fellow / MECAM Outreach & Transfer Manager

    T. +49 (0)40 42825 714[email protected]
    • Social movements and mobilization
    • Social (in)justice and marginalization
    • Islamist radicalization and political violence
    • Political transformation and regime change
    • Tunisia
    • Maghreb

    In Brief

    COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa and Its Impact on Migration

    In Brief | 13/07/2020

    COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa and Its Impact on Migration

    Many refugees and migrant workers in the Global South must thwart curfews in order to make a living. GIGA researchers Dr. Lea Müller-Funk, Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz and Dr. Christiane Fröhlich analyse, how COVID-19 impacts (forced) migration in the Middle East and North Africa.

    "Spotlight on..." New Doctoral Researcher Olena Osypenkova

    Spotlight on... | 02/01/2024

    "Spotlight on..." New Doctoral Researcher Olena Osypenkova

    Olena Osypenkova officially joined the GIGA Doctoral Programme in October 2023. The working title of her dissertation is “The Role and Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation in the Middle East and North Africa (Focusing on Cases of Syria and Libya).” She holds a master’s in political science from the Institute of Political Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Learn more about Olena in this interview.

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    Cooperation | 20/04/2020

    New Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in Tunis

    The GIGA is taking part in the establishment of a Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) in the capital of Tunisia. This research centre will be dedicated to the study of processes of social change that have come about as a result of the Arab protest movements of 2011.

    Publications

    Contemporary Politics | 02/2024

    Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of Morocco and Tunisia, 2000–2010

    This article investigates the communication of everyday repression in autocracies. It analyzes data from the novel "Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI)" covering human rights violations and judicial repression in the years 2000-2010.

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Dataset | 2022

    Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI)

    This novel event dataset contains information on 439 repressive incidents in Morocco and Tunisia from 2000-2010. It disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its justification. The JuRI dataset is based on a compilation of publicly available human rights reports.

    https://doi.org/10.7802/2438

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft | 2017

    Legitimation Towards Whom? Managing the Legitimacy Crisis in Algeria During the Arab Uprisings

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Media Contributions

    Deutsche Welle | Quote | 09/04/2025

    Tunesien: Umstrittener Prozess gegen Kritiker und Aktivisten

    Dr. Maria Josua

    Research Fellow / Research Team Spokesperson

    Lectures

    German Institute for Global and Area Studies | 12/02/2025

    Screening of the Short Film Bord à Bord”, followed by discussion with its director/ MECAM Rencontre Ibn Khaldun

    Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß (Organiser), Ph.D. Sanabel Abdelrahman (Panelist)

    This MECAM Rencontre Ibn Khaldun presented the short film “Bord à Bord”. The screening was followed by a discussion with the film's director, Sahar El Echi, along with Ibtissem Labidi from Synergy Productions, and MECAM Fellows Cyrine Kortas and Sanabel Abdelrahman.

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Research Fellow / MECAM Outreach & Transfer Manager

    Ph.D. Sanabel Abdelrahman

    Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb

    Conference | 02/12/2024

    Energy transitions and cooperation potential between Europe and the MENA region

    Social Impacts of Climate Change in Iraq, American University of Iraq, Baghdad Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, American University of Iraq - Baghdad Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Speaker)

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz discussed climate change’s impact on food security in Iraq, highlighting a striking consensus: political crisis and poor governance were seen as the most critical threats to food security, even more so than water scarcity and climate Change.

    Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

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

    German Institute for Global and Area Studies | 27/11/2024 - 29/11/2024

    MECAM Policy Talk 2024: Solar, Hydrogen, Wind: German-Maghreb Partnership and the European Green Deal

    Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß (Organiser), Dr. Isabelle Werenfels (Moderator), Dr. Mohamed Ismail Sabry (Panelist), Sabrine Emran (Panelist), Hichem Mansour (Panelist)

    The Policy Talk was realized as a lunchtime discussion on the topic “Solar, Hydrogen, Wind: German-Maghreb Partnership and the European Green Deal” at the Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft in Berlin.

    Dr. Clara-Auguste Süß

    Dr. Isabelle Werenfels

    Dr. Mohamed Ismail Sabry

    Sabrine Emran

    Hichem Mansour

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