Academic Engagement
My work in peace and security naturally extends into teaching and academic exchange. I enjoy sharing insights shaped by field experience and engaging with others on complex questions - from conflict dynamics and development in fragile environments to the challenges of security sector reform. Contributing to these conversations, whether in the classroom or in professional forums, is an important part of how I reflect on practice and stay connected to evolving debates.
Aiming to bridge the gap between project implementation and policymaking with academia, I am currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. I am a member of the UK Conflict Research Society contribute as an advisory board for the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK), where I support the preparation of conflict analyses published each year in the Conflict Barometer. This work allows me to stay closely engaged with global conflict trends while contributing to a shared evidence base for research and policy.
Publications:
Forthcoming: “The Political Economy of Reconstruction - Lessons learned from reconstruction contexts for international engagement in Ukraine”, 2026.
“Localized Ceasefires: Lessons from the OSCE Engagement in Ukraine, 2014–2022”, OSCE Insights, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH), September 2025.
“Presence without Power. Lessons from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) for Ceasefire Monitoring in Ukraine”, Policy Brief, Global Public Policy Institute, together with Julia Friedrich, April 2025.
“Localized Dialogue and Ceasefires: Lessons from the OSCE engagement in Ukraine 2014-2022”, together with Prof. Georg Albers; Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the UK Conflict Research Society, September 2024.
‘Human Dimension in the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine’, in: OSCE Yearbook 2018, IFSH.
‘Surviving in a forgotten, but not so frozen conflict – A perspective from the Luhansk People’s Republic’. Policy paper. Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark. 2018.
‘Pakistan zwischen Militär und Demokratie’. (in Engl. Pakistan between military and democracy); in: Buciak, S./ von Dehn, R. (2010): Indien und Pakistan - Atommächte im Spannungsfeld regionaler und globaler Veränderungen. Beiträge zur Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik Südasiens.
Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK), Conflict Barometer: Country analyses for Georgia & Russia 2005-2007.
Contributor about ‘Social Position of Women in Heidelberg’ to the Heidelberg – Study 2006.
Teaching & trainings on:
Conflict and Security Studies:
Systemic conflict analysis
Conflict, Security, and Development
Development cooperation in fragile and conflict-affected situations
Working in fragile and conflict-affected states
With a regional focus:
Russian Foreign Policy
Russian propaganda
War in Ukraine
Afghanistan
Invited lectures and presentations:
Presentation on Russian Foreign Policy, German Federal Police Academy, Germany, 2023-2026.
Presentations on the conflict in Eastern Ukraine at: the Department of War Studies, Southern Denmark University; at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg; at the University of Heidelberg; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Berlin; at the Information Centre of the German Armed Forces, Strausberg, Germany, 2017 and 2018.
Presentation on “When global does not work, try a local ceasefire - Analysing Donbas de-escalation dynamics through localised ceasefire“ at the UK Conflict Research Society Annual Conference, 2017.
Workshop organiser “Development cooperation in fragile and conflict-affected situations”, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Young DGAP, Berlin, Germany, 2015.
Panel member „How to bridge the gap between security policy and theory“, at the German Atlantic Association, 2014.
Chair panel on „Transnational organised crime and state fragility“, at the Heidelberg Dialogue on International Security, 2014.
Guest speaker at the “Youth Security Policy-makers’ Forum” at the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), Berlin, Germany, 2013.
Co-organizer of a seminar “Working in fragile and conflict-affected states”, at the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES), Berlin, 2012.