Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies | Vice President
Short CV
Since 2017: Vice President of the GIGA
Since 2011: Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies and Professor in political science (with a particular focus on Asia) at the University of Hamburg
2015 - 2016: Acting Lead Research Fellow of GIGA Research Programme 4 "Global Orders and Foreign Policies"
2010 - 2011: Academic Director (ad interim) Hamburg International Graduate School for the Study of Regional Powers
2007 - 2011: Acting Director, GIGA Institute for Asian Studies
2005 - 2009: Head of GIGA Research Programme 1
2000 - 2007: Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies, areas of research: Japanese domestic politics, politics and economy in North and South Korea
1996 - 2000: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Asian Affairs
Education: Konstanz University, Germany: Diplom, Politics and Management (major: international relations); University of Essex, United Kingdom: MA in the Study of Contemporary Japan; Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany: Ph.D. (Dr. rer. soc.), Political Science; Trier University, Germany: Habilitation, Political Science
Current Research
The Indo-Pacific as a New Strategic Space
Comparative Area Studies: Analytical and Organisational Issues
British International Studies Association, Member, 2023 - 2024
CrossArea - Verband für Transregionale Studien,
Vergleichende Area Studies und Global Studies e.V., Member of the executive board, 2022 - 2025
Korea Europe Review, Member of the Editorial Board, 2021 - 2026
Hamburger Stiftung Asien-Brücke, Chairman of the board, since 2018
Springer, Mitglied des Herausgeberteams der Buchreihe "Ostasien im 21. Jahrhundert. Politik - Gesellschaft- Sicherheit - Regionale Integration", since 2007
German Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, 2000 - 2024
Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner
Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies / Vice President
Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock zu Gast in China: GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner kommentiert im Interview bei WDR 5 die China-Strategie der Bundesregierung und ordnet die politischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen Deutschlands gegenüber China ein.
This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018‒2022), from a signalling perspective. It also explains why Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022 despite Australia’s wooing of Pacific Island countries.
This new book on comparative area studies (CAS) focuses on the openness of CAS’ to interpretive approaches and showcases strategies for leveraging CAS for causal analysis. It features efforts to rethink the logic, scale and purpose of comparison and promotes CAS’ role in deepening the interface between comparative politics and IR. Finally, it considers organizational challenges to advancing CAS.
This edited volume is a product of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. Fourteen scholars based in France, Germany, and the Netherlands examine different conceptions of order in the Indo-Pacific and analyse the agency of small and middle powers in that strategic space.
This article examines Australia's and New Zealand's policies towards the (South) Pacific. A context-sensitive, paired comparison reveals significant differences with respect to security and migration policies. These difference exist alongside the many similarities and joint approaches in the two Australasian countries' relations with and policies towards the Pacific.
This volume, co-edited by Patrick Köllner, was published in late 2021 by Palgrave Macmillan. The book brings together a unique team of academics and practitioners to analyse interests, institutions, and issues affecting and affected by the transition from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific.
This edited volume discusses the epistemological and methodological orientations of comparative area studies (CAS) and the promises and potential pitfalls of this approach. The second part of the book demonstrates how cross-regional comparisons can shed new light on a range of important substantive topics.
Australia and New Zealand have in recent years been at the forefront of the growing confrontation between the ‘West’ and China. In this article, Patrick Köllner takes stock of and compares the Australian and New Zealand recalibrations of their China policies, highlighting similarities as well as differences.
The Pacific Islands region is increasingly on Germany’s foreign policy radar. This Focus examines the challenges faced by this world region, takes stock of extant ties with Germany, and discusses possible future key areas of cooperation here.
GIGA expert Prof. Dr. Patrck Köllner explains the rationale for opening a German embassy in Suva and discusses possible foci of Germany's Pacific policy.
Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock zu Gast in China: GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner kommentiert im Interview bei WDR 5 die China-Strategie der Bundesregierung und ordnet die politischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen Deutschlands gegenüber China ein.
This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018‒2022), from a signalling perspective. It also explains why Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022 despite Australia’s wooing of Pacific Island countries.
This new book on comparative area studies (CAS) focuses on the openness of CAS’ to interpretive approaches and showcases strategies for leveraging CAS for causal analysis. It features efforts to rethink the logic, scale and purpose of comparison and promotes CAS’ role in deepening the interface between comparative politics and IR. Finally, it considers organizational challenges to advancing CAS.
This edited volume is a product of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. Fourteen scholars based in France, Germany, and the Netherlands examine different conceptions of order in the Indo-Pacific and analyse the agency of small and middle powers in that strategic space.
This article examines Australia's and New Zealand's policies towards the (South) Pacific. A context-sensitive, paired comparison reveals significant differences with respect to security and migration policies. These difference exist alongside the many similarities and joint approaches in the two Australasian countries' relations with and policies towards the Pacific.
This volume, co-edited by Patrick Köllner, was published in late 2021 by Palgrave Macmillan. The book brings together a unique team of academics and practitioners to analyse interests, institutions, and issues affecting and affected by the transition from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific.
This edited volume discusses the epistemological and methodological orientations of comparative area studies (CAS) and the promises and potential pitfalls of this approach. The second part of the book demonstrates how cross-regional comparisons can shed new light on a range of important substantive topics.
Australia and New Zealand have in recent years been at the forefront of the growing confrontation between the ‘West’ and China. In this article, Patrick Köllner takes stock of and compares the Australian and New Zealand recalibrations of their China policies, highlighting similarities as well as differences.
The Pacific Islands region is increasingly on Germany’s foreign policy radar. This Focus examines the challenges faced by this world region, takes stock of extant ties with Germany, and discusses possible future key areas of cooperation here.
GIGA expert Prof. Dr. Patrck Köllner explains the rationale for opening a German embassy in Suva and discusses possible foci of Germany's Pacific policy.
Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock zu Gast in China: GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner kommentiert im Interview bei WDR 5 die China-Strategie der Bundesregierung und ordnet die politischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen Deutschlands gegenüber China ein.
This new book on comparative area studies (CAS) focuses on the openness of CAS’ to interpretive approaches and showcases strategies for leveraging CAS for causal analysis. It features efforts to rethink the logic, scale and purpose of comparison and promotes CAS’ role in deepening the interface between comparative politics and IR. Finally, it considers organizational challenges to advancing CAS.
This chapter serves as an introduction to the edited volume, the second of two books dedicated to the articulation of comparative area studies (CAS). The chapter reviews the rationale for, and defining elements of, CAS as a distinct variant of cross-regional comparative analysis.
This edited volume is a product of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. Fourteen scholars based in France, Germany, and the Netherlands examine different conceptions of order in the Indo-Pacific and analyse the agency of small and middle powers in that strategic space.
This chapter examines the agency of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in the face of strategic competition in the region. PICs have sought to leverage such competition to advance individual and collective interests. Yet, substantial variation exists in PICs’ relations to metropolitan and external powers.
This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018‒2022), from a signalling perspective. It also explains why Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022 despite Australia’s wooing of Pacific Island countries.
This project bundles the China expertise of universities and non-university research institutes in the Hamburg metropolitan area. Against the background of current opportunities and challenges in cooperating with China, primary goals of the project include the development of instruments for such cooperation in accordance with legal parameters, the establishment of appropriate exchange formats among the consortium members, and the implementation of relevant training programmes. BMBF, 2023-2026
A policy-oriented research project bringing together the GIGA and the East Asia Institute in Seoul. The project aims at analysing German/EU and Korean strategies for Indo-Pacific engagement and identifying areas for in-depth consultation, coordination and cooperation. Korea Foundation, 2022
Australia and New Zealand (NZ) have in recent years been at the forefront of the growing confrontation between the ‘West’ and China. Despite very close economic ties with China, both countries have substantially changed their approaches to dealing with the People’s Republic. This research project contributes to and seeks to advance relevant academic as well as policy-oriented debates on the topic. GIGA, 2018-2021
Most research on think tanks has focused on their development, roles, and policy impact in North America, specifically the US. Yet, think tanks exist nowadays in every world region and have experienced particular strong growth in East Asia. Understanding them as a global phenomenon with different local manifestations, the project seeks to overcome the (conceptual and empirical) US bias in think tank research and explores the trajectories and traits of think tank sectors in East Asia and India. GIGA, 2015-2018
Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner was interviewed on the achievements of the Indo-Pacific policies of the Biden administration and on whether a possible second Trump administration would stay the course.
Diese Gastkolumne, die auch im Tagesspiegel erscheint, fragt danach, ob deutsche Marineeinsätze im Indo-Pazifik sinnvoll und notwendig sind. Sie diskutiert Pro und Contra derartiger Einsätze und regt eine öffentliche Debatte zum Thema an.
Lectures
German Institute for Global and Area Studies | 27/06/2025 - 29/06/2025
Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Organiser)
Patrick Köllner serves as co-director of the 2025 Otago Foreign Policy School at the University of Otago, the GIGA's institutional cooperation partner in New Zealand. This joint venture builds on the successful joint organisation of the 2018 edition of New Zealand's oldest international affairs conference.
Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies / Vice President
German Institute for Global and Area Studies | 15/11/2024
Area Studies in Germany and the Advent of Comparative Area Studies
Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Speaker)
At an international conference on area studies at Tongji University, Shanghai, Patrick Köllner spoke about recent developments around such studies in Germany and how they contributed to the advent of comparative area studies, the signature approach of the GIGA.
Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies / Vice President
German Institute for Global and Area Studies | 21/10/2024
Area Studies and Comparative Area Studies: What They Are, Where They Come From, and What They Do
Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Speaker)
Patrick K öllner talked about the characteristics and contours of area studies and comparative area studies at the first doctoral school of the European Area Studies Initiative (EASI).
Director of the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies / Vice President
Teaching
Teaching | Department for Political Science, Universität Hamburg | 2024
Introduction to Political Systems in Australasia
Department for Political Science, Universität Hamburg
Hamburg
Germany
BA intermediate-level seminar introducing students to political systems in Australia and New Zealand
Teaching | Department for Political Science, Universität Hamburg | 2024
Tracing and Comparing Indo-Pacific Policies
In the 2024/2025 winter term, Patrick Köllner teaches a political science seminar at Hamburg University, introducing MA students to process tracing, using the Indo-Pacific policies of various states and regional organisations as empirical reference points.
Teaching | Department for Political Science, Universität Hamburg | 2023
Introduction to Political Systems in East Asia
Department for Political Science, Universität Hamburg
Hamburg
Germany
BA intermediate-level seminar introducing students to political systems in Japan, the two Koreas, the PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mongolia.
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