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

DEEN

Dr. Christian Wirth

Former GIGA Team member

Dr. Christian Wirth

  • Short CV

    • Since 2018: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Asian Studies, Hamburg

    • 2017: University Lecturer (Assistant Professor), Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Leiden University, Leiden/Den Haag

    • 2016: Visiting Associate Professor, School of Law, Tohoku University, Sendai

    • 2013: Visiting Scholar, Asiatic Research Institute (ARI), Korea University, Seoul

    • 2012 - 2015: Research Fellow, Griffith University Asia Institute, Brisbane

    • 2011/2012: Adjunct Lecturer, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Sophia University, Tokyo

    • 2012: Research Associate, Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo

    • 2008 - 2011: Research Assistant, Global Institute of Asian Regional Integration (GIARI), Waseda University, Tokyo

    • 2002 - 2006 Federal Government of Switzerland

    • Education: Ph.D. in International Studies, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo; Master of International Affairs, Department of International Relations, Australian National University (ANU), Canberra; lic. iur. (Master of Law) University of St. Gallen (HSG); General Staff Officer of the Swiss Armed Forces; Chinese language studies at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei, and at Tsinghua University, Beijing.

    Current Research

    • 'Indo-Pacific' maritime politics
    • Socio-economic transformation and political change in Northeast Asia
    • Politcal geography and sociology of international relations

    Countries and Regions

    • China

    • Japan

    • Korea

    • East Asia

    • Australia

    Memberships

    • German Association for Asian Studies, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2021
    • German Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2019
    • European International Studies Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2018
    • International Studies Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2008

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    Publications

    Political Geography | 2023

    Solidifying Sovereign Power in Liquid Space: The Making and Breaking of ‘Island Chains’ and ‘Walls’ at Sea

    As new visions of international order emerged among major actors of the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions, calls for freedom and openness intensified. Yet, in maritime space, the strategies for implementing these competing visions produced contradictory outcomes.

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    GIGA Focus Asia | 5/2022

    Towards Closer European Union and German Cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific

    The European Union and Germany are implementing strategies for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. How does South Korea fit into the picture? In this GIGA Focus Asia, we share findings from a collaborative, policy-oriented research project examining the potential scope for closer cooperation here.

    Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

    Dr. Johannes Plagemann

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Blog Article | 03/2022

    The European Union’s Conceptualization of Maritime Security

    Marianne Péron-Doise

    Institute for Strategic Research at the Military School

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    GIGA Focus Asia | 1/2022

    How to Anchor Germany’s Drifting Indo-Pacific Policy

    Naval deployments have taken centre stage in the implementation of Indo-Pacific policies. Yet, as the voyage of the frigate “Bayern” exemplifies, the German, similar to other European policies, suffers from contradictions that are hidden under the “rules-based order” label.

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    Contemporary Security Policy | 2022

    Filling the Void: The Asia-Pacific Problem of Order and Emerging Indo-Pacific Regional Multilateralism

    Policy makers have converged on the need to safeguard the “rules-based order” across the newly coined “Indo-Pacific” region. However, it is not clear, what exactly is to be preserved, and why the contested terms have rapidly found their way into policy debates. An analysis.

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    Ass. Prof. Dr. Nicole Jenne

    Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 01/01/2022 - 31/12/2022

    Engaging the Indo-Pacific: German and Korean Perspectives on Regional Cooperation

    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

    Research Project | 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2023

    Transforming Orders: How ‘Indo-Pacific’ Geopolitics Reconstruct Maritime Space and Alter the Law of the Sea’s Territorial Sovereignty and Freedom of the Seas Norms

    Maritime territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and confrontations between China and the United States over the freedom of navigation have put questions of maritime governance high on the political agenda. This research project places Indo-Pacific maritime politics in a broader context and analyses how discourses and practices in China, India, the US, Japan and Australia alter (perceptions of) international order(s) and of the international law of the sea.
    DFG, 2021-2023

    Research Project | 01/01/2017 - 01/12/2019

    Crisis Narratives, Institutional Change and State Transformation: Japan in the Global Context

    While East Asia’s and especially China’s economic growth has become a major driving force of global change, developed countries struggle to readjust their social, economic and political institutions to the challenges of financial crises, shrinking populations, and the rising demand for and costs of social welfare. As an economically and technologically highly advanced society, Japan finds itself at the intersection and forefront of these regional and global changes.
    GIGA, Tohoku University Forum for Creativity, 2017-2019

    Media Contributions

    Contemporary Security Policy blog | Other | 30/03/2022

    The Indo-Pacific and the decline of the rules-based order

    The combination of antagonistic nationalist currents within East Asia and US resistance against the emergence of a post-Cold War order scuttled decades-long efforts to effectively institutionalize an Asia-Pacific region. Read Christian Wirth and Nicole Jenne analysis.

    Deutsche Welle | Quote | 25/03/2022

    Will Germany reduce its security role in Southeast Asia?

    After Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany increased its military spending substantially. Wary of the crisis closer to home, Berlin might not be able to play its role in providing security to other parts of the world.

    Wiener Zeitung | Quote | 28/02/2021

    Der Taiwan-Konflikt ist brandgefährlich

    Lectures

    GIGA Talk | 01/12/2022

    Towards Closer Cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific

    Towards Closer Cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific, Online event Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Speaker), Dr. Johannes Plagemann (Speaker), Dr. Christian Wirth (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Yul Sohn (Discussant), Prof. Dr. Sook-Jong Lee (Discussant), Prof. Dr. Chaesung Chun (Discussant), Dr. Martin Thümmel (Discussant), Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig (Moderator)

    The European Union and Germany are implementing strategies for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. How does South Korea fit into the picture? In this GIGA Talk, we will present and discuss findings from a collaborative, policy-oriented research project examining the potential scope for closer cooperation therewith.

    Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

    Dr. Johannes Plagemann

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Prof. Dr. Yul Sohn

    Prof. Dr. Sook-Jong Lee

    Prof. Dr. Chaesung Chun

    Dr. Martin Thümmel

    Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig

    University of Duisburg-Essen | 30/11/2022

    Lecture series 'Entering Choppy Waters? Cooperation and Competition in the Indo-Pacific'

    Organiser: University of Duisburg-Essen Dr. Christian Wirth (Speaker)

    Presentation on 'The East Asian Origins of the Democracy vs Autocracy Paradigm and its explanatory value for understanding Indo-Pacific Geopolitics'

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hamburg | 28/11/2022

    Korea-Germany Security Cooperation in the Far East and Indo-Pacific

    Organiser: Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hamburg Dr. Christian Wirth (Consultant)

    Presentation at panel discussion

    Dr. Christian Wirth

    Former GIGA Team member

    Teaching

    Teaching | Helmut Schmidt University | 2019

    Foreign Policy and International Cooperation

    Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg Germany

    Seminar taught at University of the Armed Forces Hamburg

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