Chair of International Organizations
Since October 2020, Prof. Dr. Thomas Sommerer holds the "Chair of International Organizations" at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Potsdam.
Dr. Evgenija Kröker joined the chair as a Postdoc in February 2024.
As our Office's Secretary, Anja Winter is responsible for the organisation of the secretariat and your contact person for various requests.
New PhD project
In October 2024, Samira Shahpesandi will start a PhD project at our chair, focussing on the role of the United Nations (UN) in peace missions, state-building, and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. Her project is funded by a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
She completed a Master's degree in International Relations at the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Dawat University, Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2018. before that, she worked as a Regional Assistant Gender Officer with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) on issues related to economic, social, political, and civic rights of Afghan women. Welcome to the University of Potsdam and our team!
New Report: Effectiveness and Democracy in Global Governance
International organizations are increasingly under pressure. But how effective and democratic have these institutions been over time and in different policy fields? In a literature review for the EU project ENSURED, Thomas Sommerer and Andrea Liese explore patterns and drivers of institutional performance and the inclusiveness, transparency, accountability and representativeness of IOs.
Say hello to: Ha Eun Choi
Since April 2024, Ha Eun Choi works as a Postdoc in the EU Horizon 2020 project "ENSURED", led by Prof Dr Sommerer and Prof Dr Liese for the University of Potsdam.
She ist also a PhD candidate at Michigan State University. Her current research is focused on three areas of interest: the design of trade agreements, human rights, and the effectiveness of international organisations.
In her doctoral dissertation, she examines how provisions related to women’s rights are incorporated into trade agreements. Her other works examine the effectiveness of UN diplomacy, such as the impact of the UN Secretary-General’s state visits on human rights and foreign aid allocations.
Welcome, Dr. Evgenija Kröker!
On 1 February 2024, we welcome Dr. Evgenija Kröker as a Postdoc at our chair! Previously, she worked as a Research Associate at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm. In April 2023, Dr. Kröker completed her dissertation entitled "Where do peacekeepers go? Unpacking the determinants of UNSC-authorised peace operation deployments" at the University of Oxford.
During the summer term 2024, Dr. Kröker teaches a research-oriented seminar on peace missions and the BA colloquium.
Research Project "ENSURED"
In November 2023, we started a new research project "Transforming and Defending Multilateralism: European Union Support for more Robust, Effective and Democratic Global Governance" (ENSURED). It is funded by the European Commission as part of HORIZON Europe.
The University of Potsdam is involved in the project with Prof. Dr. Thomas Sommerer and Prof. Dr. Andrea Liese. The consortium is coordinated by Maastricht University and comprises a total of 14 universities, think tanks and civil society partners from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the USA. Using case studies on five policy areas (trade, climate, health, human rights and digitalisation), a quantitative analysis and an expert survey, the project group is investigating how the EU and its member states can transform and defend global governance in order to make it more robust, effective and democratic.
