Selected Publications

This article focuses on interventions by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in Guinea-Bissau and Mali. In the literature, these are often approached in a ‘top-down’ manner, focusing on formal institutions, not accounting for the complex dynamics in and around conflict intervention. This article argues that adopting space as an analytical lens allows new ways to address these issues. It highlights how interventions by different actors and their interactions are influenced by spatial perceptions and framings, which result in the making of different ‘spaces of intervention’ through different practices. The two described here, ‘scaling’ and ‘establishing reach’, enable strategic and continuous formation and negotiation of spaces for action, according to actors’ needs and interests. Thus, shedding light on specific actors and their practices, the article contributes to a better understanding of the complex dynamics in conflict intervention in West Africa.
South African Journal of International Affairs, 2018
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Review of the edited volume: Tony Karbo and Tim Murithi (eds), The African Union: Autocracy, Diplomacy and Peacebuilding in Africa, London/New York: I.B. Tauris, 2018, ISBN: 9781788311496, 324 pp.
Africa Spectrum, 2018
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The African Peace and Security Architecture has organized its African Standby Force into five regional forces, creating an African Standby Force geography. By employing a sociospatial lens, this article argues that the intervention experience in Mali has impacted the African Union’s policies on peace and security in the region. It analyzes the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises and the Nouakchott Process that were proposed in early 2013 as well as the role of the African Union Commission and member states in their establishment.
African Security, 2018
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Recent Publications

. The spaces of intervention for Mali and Guinea-Bissau. South African Journal of International Affairs, 2018.

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. Review: Tony Karbo and Tim Murithi (eds), The African Union: Autocracy, Diplomacy and Peacebuilding in Africa (2018). Africa Spectrum, 2018.

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. The changing ASF geography: From the intervention experience in Mali to the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises and the Nouakchott Process. African Security, 2018.

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. 'New regionalisms' and Violent Conflicts in Africa: The Politics of the AU and ECOWAS in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. Working Paper Series des SFB 1199 an der Universität Leipzig, 2016.

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. African problems with African solutions: The history of a common phrase. Powision, 2015.

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. Review: Wyss, Marco; Thierry Tardy: Peacekeeping in Africa. The Evolving Security Architecture. London 2014. Connections. A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists, 2015.

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. Review: Moyd, Michelle R.: Violent Intermediaries. African Soldiers, Conquest, and Everyday Colonialism in German East Africa. Athens 2014. Connections. A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists, 2015.

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. Notes on the Contemporary Visioning of Future Humans. Powision, 2014.

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. Review: Perrin, Benjamin: Modern Warfare. Armed Groups, Private Militaries, Humanitarian Organizations, and the Law. Vancouver 2012. Connections. A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists, 2014.

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Recent & Upcoming Talks

More Talks

Spatial formats and security politics in the Sahel: Reconstructing the establishment of the Nouakchott Process and the G5 Sahel
May 4, 2018
WAPSN Symposium 2018
Bringing space into the study of African peace and security politics (w. Jens Herpolsheimer)
Nov 22, 2017
African Security and unbridled militarization? New approaches to African peace and security
Emerging practices of intervention: The new G5 Sahel Joint Force
Nov 16, 2017
60th Annual Meeting of the ASA
Strategic cooperation or strategic about cooperation? The politics of the African Union and the European Union towards the Sahel
Jun 29, 2017
7th European Conference on African Studies
The changing space(s) of intervention for Mali and the Sahel
Jan 26, 2017
African peacemaking seen from below: experiments, experiences and alternatives

Projects

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All Consultancy Workshops Peer review Maps

peer review

I am a referre for multiple journals.

Consultancy

I do occasional consultancy work and participate in dialogue events with politicians, practitioners, military as well as the policy community in Addis Ababa, Bamako, Berlin, Leipzig, London, and Stockholm.

Workshop organization 'The Role of Actors for Processes of Spatialization.'

I organized the workshop ‘The Role of Actors for Processes of Spatialization.’ in 2018

ACRIC and ASF maps

a collection of maps of ACIRC and ASF, as well as Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army

north-west africa maps

a collection of maps of north-west Africa, ECOWAS, and the Nouakchott Process

Workshop organization "The Spatial Turn and the Study of Africa 'as a place in the world and of the world.'"

I organized the workshop “The Spatial Turn and the Study of Africa ‘as a place in the world and of the world.’” in 2017

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2014 - 2019: PhD Global Studies, Graduate School Global and Area Studies, Leipzig University

2012 - 2014: M.A. Global Studies, Roskilde University, Leipzig University

2008 - 2012: B.A. African Studies (with a minor in political science), Leipzig University

Vocational experience

2019.11 – present: Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University

2016.01 - 2019.10: Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1199: Processes of Spatialization under the Global Condition, in the project New regionalisms and Violent Conflicts in Africa: The Politics of the AU and ECOWAS in Mali and Guinea-Bissau

2015.07 - 2016.03: Editorial Assistant, Editorial Desk at the Global and European Studies Institute (GESI)

2015.07 - 2016.09: Coordinator at the French Studies Centre

2014.09 - 2014.12: Research Assistant at the Global and European Studies Institute, Leipzig University

2013.09 - 2014.01: Research Assistant at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, University of Addis Ababa

2011.08 - 2013.09: Student Assistant at the Global and European Studies Institute, Leipzig University

Research and studies abroad

2015 - present: research stays in Addis Ababa, Abuja, Bamako, Brussels, Copenhagen, London, New York, Ottawa, Ouagadougou, and Washington.

2014.01 - 2014.06: Semester Abroad studying Global Studies at Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

2013.10 - 2014.01: Semester Abroad studying at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at the Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2010.08 - 2010.12: Semester Abroad studying Political Science and Gender Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

2005.07 - 2006.06: High School Year in Tzaneen, South Africa

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