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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Mira Demirdirek

Doctoral Researcher

Mira Demirdirek

  • Short CV

    • Since 08/2023 Member of  GIGA Doctoral Programme
    • Since 07/2023 PhD candidate at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen
    • Since 03/2022 Research fellow at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies
    • 01/2019 - 03/2019 Research internship with DIGNITY Kwanza (Dar es Salaam) as part of the EU-Horizon2020 research consortium "Transnational Figurations of Displacement" (TRAFIG)
    • 2018 - 2019 Student research assistant at the GIGA Institute for African Affairs
    • 01/2018 - 03/2018 Internship at the GIGA Institute for African Affairs
    • Education: MA in African Studies, Leiden University; BA in Sociology and Political Science, University of Hamburg and University of Ghana

    Current Research

    • Turkish foreign policy (toward Africa)

    Countries and Regions

    • Turkey
    • African continent (external actors)
    • Tanzania (refugee policy)

     

    Dissertation

    • (Dis)continuities in Turkey's Africa Policy

    Mira Demirdirek

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 40 42825-622[email protected]

    Publications

    GIGA Focus Middle East | 6/2024

    Non-State Actors and Autocratic Public Diplomacy: A Transregional View

    Public diplomacy looms large in the foreign policies of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Zooming in on these states’ engagement with the African continent, this GIGA Focus Middle East explores the role played by real and alleged non-state actors in autocratic public-diplomacy efforts.

    Dr. Jens Heibach

    Mira Demirdirek

    Hamid Talebian

    GIGA Focus Global | 6/2022

    Bolstering the Bromances: Turkey’s and Iran’s Tightening Ties with Africa

    The war against Ukraine has created possibilities for emerging actors in Africa – such as Iran and Turkey – to scale up their engagement with the continent. This Focus deals with the question of how the changing global dynamics are allowing Iran and Turkey to boost their ties across the African continent.

    Mira Demirdirek

    Doctoral Researcher

    Hamid Talebian

    Doctoral Researcher

    TRAFIG working paper | 09/2021

    Figurations of Displacement in and Beyond Tanzania - Reflections on Protracted Displacement and Translocal Connections of Congolese and Burundian Refugees in Dar es Salaam

    Catherina Wilson

    Bishara Msallam

    Joan Kabyemela

    Mira Demirdirek

    Jovin Sanga

    Janemary Ruhundwa

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 01/03/2022 - 28/02/2025

    Explaining Middle-Power Engagement in External Regions: A Comparison of Iranian, Saudi, and Turkish Sub-Saharan Africa Policies

    By means of a comparative historical analysis of Iranian, Saudi-Arabian, and Turkish engagement in Africa following the continent’s decolonization processes and running up until 2020, this project seeks to make sense of middle-power engagement in external regions. First, the project will identify the periods of shifting IST engagement in Africa. Second, it will analyze the reasons why, and the conditions under which, IST have stepped up—or reduced—their foreign policy efforts in Africa. Third, it will develop mid-range generalizations on middle-power engagement in external regions.
    DFG, 2022-2025

    Lectures

    Workshop | 03/07/2024 - 05/07/2024

    Populist Rebordering: Geopolitical Imagination in Turkey's Africa Policy under the AKP

    EWIS 2024: 11th European Workshops in International Studies, Istanbul Organisers: European International Studies Association Mira Demirdirek (Speaker), Hamid Talebian (Speaker)

    Paper presented in the workshop "Populist Geopolitics? Rethinking (Geo)Political Space through the Lens of Populism"

    Mira Demirdirek

    Doctoral Researcher

    Hamid Talebian

    Doctoral Researcher

    Conference | 21/09/2023 - 23/09/2023

    Opening Pandora's Box? The Cyprus Crisis and the Changing Role of Africa in Turkey's Foreign Policy

    29th International DAVO Congress, Universität Wien, Vienna Organisers: German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation Mira Demirdirek (Speaker)

    Mira Demirdirek

    Doctoral Researcher

    Conference | 14/06/2023 - 16/06/2023

    Turkey and Iran in Africa: Invigorated Geopolitical Visions in the Face of the Russian War against Ukraine

    Offene Sektionstagung der Sektion „Internationale Beziehungen“ der PVPW, Friedrichshafen Organisers: German Political Science Association, Sektion "Internationale Beziehungen", DVPW Mira Demirdirek (Speaker), Hamid Talebian (Speaker)

    Mira Demirdirek

    Doctoral Researcher

    Hamid Talebian

    Doctoral Researcher

    Teaching

    Teaching | Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Marburg | 2024

    Middle Eastern Powers and their Foreign Policies towards Africa

    Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Marburg Marburg Germany

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