Book
The Power of Dependence: NATO-UN Cooperation in Crisis Management (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Book Project & Related Articles
Islands of Stability: Subnational Security and Development in Fragile States. Manuscript (under review).
Bounded Rule and Regional Stability in Fragile States, Journal of Politics, 86:1 (January 2024), pp. 321-336 (with Kevin K. Troy).
Abstract: Even in the weakest, most war-torn states, remarkably peaceful regions exist. We posit that the emergence of regions with comparatively high levels of security depends on the presence of bounded rulers. Bounded rulers hail from a dominant local group that is a minority at the national level, which bounds their political careers within a given region. Because of their limited upward mobility, they govern with a long time horizon and can guarantee protection to their population in return for information and support for the regional government. To test this theory, we leverage interviews with local elites in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia; an original data set on governors in these countries; and a difference-in-differences estimation. The evidence supports our theory: bounded rulers significantly reduce local violence during their tenures. The findings suggest that donors could use targeted aid to support regional solutions to insecurity in fragile states.
How Missing Data Can Make the Global Fragility Strategy Work, Analysis, United States Institute of Peace, May 20, 2021 (with Calin Trenkov-Wermuth).
Is the Pandemic Decreasing State Capacity? Epicenter, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, May 20, 2021 (with Alexandra Norris).
Afghans Don’t Need U.S. Troops. They Need Islands of Stability, Foreign Policy, April 20, 2021 (with Taylor Whitsell).
Measuring State Fragility: A New Approach to Identifying and Strengthening Vulnerable Countries, Epicenter, Harvard University, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, October 2, 2020.
As the U.S. Gets More Involved in Somalia, Beware These Three Fallacies, Washington Post, July 18, 2017 (with Maximilian M. Meduna and Teresa Krug).
A Better Approach to Statebuilding: Lessons From “Islands of Stability. Foreign Affairs, January 2017.
Academic Articles & Book Chapters
International Courts and Public Opinion: Explaining the CJEU’s Role in Protecting Terror Suspects’ Rights. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 57:5 (September 2019), pp. 1091-1110 (with Vladislav Maksimov).
Related publications:
Europe struck down its data deal with the U.S. Facebook, other companies are in trouble, Washington Post, July 17, 2020 (with Vlagyiszlav Makszimov and David B. Ramsey).
Critics Claim That Europe’s Courts Are Unaccountable. Recent Cases Suggest Otherwise. JCMS Blog, June 27, 2019.
Resource Dependence Theory. In: Rafael Biermann, Joachim Koops (eds.): Palgrave Handbook on Inter- Organizational Relations in Global Politics, Basingstoke: PalgraveMacMillan, 2017 (with Rafael Biermann).
Life after Genocide: Comparing Bosnia and Rwanda. Foreign Affairs, July 2015, (with Tyler Y. Headley).
A Reluctant Warrior: The German Engagement in Afghanistan. PRIO Paper, Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo, October 2011.
NATO and the UN. Survival 51:2 (April-May 2009), pp. 5-12 (with Johannes Varwick).
Policy-Oriented Publications (Selection)
Germany’s Turning Point: 2 Years into Strategic Pivot, Progress Made Bodes Well for the US, NATO and the World, The Conversation, April 15, 2024.
Peacekeeping During Pandemics: How the UN Can Be Part of the Solution, IPI Global Observatory, June 3, 2020 (with Tyler Y. Headley, and Alexandra Novosseloff).
Making More Out of Less: How NATO States Can Seize the Opportunities of Shrinking Resources in Afghanistan. ETH Zürich International Relations and Security Network, 24 July 2012 (with Scott Seward Smith).
On the Road to Disengagement? Envisioning a Long-Term Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Notes de la FRS, No. 05/12, Paris / Washington, DC: Fondation pour la Recherche Stratgique / Johns Hopkins University, June 2012 (with Hannes Ebert and Lindsay P. Cohn).
German version:
Regional Denken, lokal Handeln – Grundzüge einer Strategie für Afghanistan und Pakistan. In: Ursula Bitzegeio, Rana Deep Islam, Robert Schütte, Lars Winterberg (eds.): Sozial – friedlich – global? Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik heute, Berlin: LIT, 2014, pp. 219-47 (with Hannes Ebert).
NATO and the UN: Partnership with Potential? SWP Research Paper, Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, January 2012.
NATO and the UN in Afghanistan: Partners or Competitors? In: Brooke A. Smith-Windsor (ed.), The UN and NATO: Forward from the Joint Declaration, Rome: NATO Defense College, May 2011, pp. 76-111.
NATO-UN Cooperation Revisited: A New Dawn? Studia Diplomatica 62:3 (2009), pp. 29-36 (with Johannes Varwick).
An Inundation of Envoys. ETH Zürich International Relations and Security Network, 24 February 2009 (with Thomas Ruttig).
EU Split on Kosovo Independence. ETH Zürich International Relations and Security Network, 13 October 2008.