AIA Fellow Anna Shpakovskaya undertook a field research trip to China as part of her fellowship and reported on her fresh impressions and findings at the Fellow Colloquium. In her interviews with representatives from cities, universities, and research institutions in five major Chinese cities, Anna was able to ask about the significance of city clusters.…
John Horack, Vice President for Research and inaugural holder of the Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy at Ohio State University, visited the Academy to discuss the future of transatlantic cooperation in space. In his keynote speech, he reviewed the history of space travel, focusing in particular on the contribution made by German engineers. He…
The Academy of International Affairs NRW was once again represented with a stand at the United Nations Day organized by the City of Bonn. It was once again a great pleasure for us to exchange ideas with our partner institutions and the many institutions of international Bonn: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Entwicklungsdienste e.V., Auswärtiges Amt, BFIO –…
By Martin Wein, General-Anzeiger Bonn, 28 September 2025 In an interview with journalist Martin Wein, John Austin, Fellow at the Academy for Foreign Affairs in Bonn, argues that Germany must assume greater leadership in defending liberal democracy. The American political scientist contends that the United States has relinquished its traditional global role under Donald Trump’s…
As part of a hybrid event, AIA Fellow John Austin brought together innovation leaders and ecosystem builders from the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe to discuss the development of university-based innovation ecosystems in transatlantic cooperation. The discussion focused on why Europe, compared to the US, has long been unable to create the ideal conditions…
Tamara Ehs presented her project at the AIA Colloquium, which deals with the democratic theoretical potential of cities to strengthen liberal democracy. Based on the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) known from the UN context, she plans to develop “DDGs,” i.e., democratic development goals. Since the literature repeatedly refers to an autocratic playbook that can be…
As part of the Bonn Symposium, organized by the Development & Peace Foundation, the AIA NRW hosted the first panel discussion on the topic of “Peace with or protection from Russia? Rethinking Europe’s security after Ukraine.” Moderated by AIA Associate Fellow Mariia Levchenko, we discussed with Dr. Christina Horváth-Stenner, Head of the Europe Department at…
Unpacking the Performative Nature of Meaningful Youth Participation AIA Fellow Chisomo Banda hosted an interactive workshop on youth participation and integration. The workshop focused in particular on the challenge of tokenism in politics. Roen von der Marve, co-founder of Impacting Youth, presented the study on “Youth perspectives and engagement on sustainability” developed at the Managing…
The magazine Arbeit & Wirtschaft published an interview with political scientist and AIA NRW Fellow Tamara Ehs, in which she analyzes the current crisis of democracy in Austria. According to Ehs, many people feel that they are not represented politically, and some even entertain the idea of a “friendly dictator.” Democracy must therefore deliver on…
Europe’s Strategic Role and the Future of Transatlantic Relations As part of a public evening event, the Academy, together with AmerikaHaus NRW, hosted a panel discussion with the former foreign policy advisor to the German Chancellor, former German Ambassador to the UN and MSC Director Christoph Heusgen. Drawing on his wealth of experience, he spoke…
European International Studies Association (EISA), Bologna, 25-29 August A delegation from AIA NRW attended the biggest annual European conference for international politics in Bologna to present their ongoing research and catch up with the latest debates in the field. Fellows Chiung-Chiu Huang and Anna Shpakovskaya as well as Katja Freistein from the Academy participated in…
On 15 August, Nathanael Liminski, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media, and Head of the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, visited the Academy. He spoke with our Director Mayssoun Zein Al Din and the AIA team on the substantive contributions of our Fellows to the academic and intellectual landscape of North…
The European Forum Alpbach took place in August under the motto ‘Recharge Europe,’ with the US-American Heritage Foundation also participating. Fellow Tamara Ehs is a member of the forum’s scientific advisory board and spoke about the development of liberal democracies in Europe in an interview with the renowned newspaper “Der Standard”. Her research focuses on…
Migration remains one of the most defining and complex issues in international policy discourse today. Our fellow Chisomo Banda presented her research in the AIA colloquium. She focuses in particular on young people’s perspectives on migration. While global migration discourse is often dominated by concerns about border security, irregular migration, and economic contributions, the distinct…
Consul General Preeti V. Shah, U.S. Consulate General in Düsseldorf, welcomed our Fellows Chisomo Banda, Chiung-Chiu Huang, Chelsea Haramia, Inna Supac, and Anna Shpakovskaya, for an in-depth exchange focused on international research cooperation and the value of shared global standards. The meeting fostered a rich interdisciplinary dialogue on timely global issues, including the shifting dynamics…
Professor Chih-yu Shih from Tongji University in Shanghai visited the AIA and discussed new perspectives on international relations with the Fellows in a Global Policy Dialogue. For some time now, scholars from the Global South have been providing an impetus for a critical reflection on the canon of classical theories developed primarily by Western researchers.…
What role do cities play in regulating migration, and how can migrants counter-act discrimination? Researcher Philipp Lottholz from Marburg University presented case studies from Duisburg and Plovdiv (Bulgaria), where groups of disenfranchised migrants self-organise by demonstrating, establishing small-scale charity projects and drawing attention to unequal conditions. The talk addressed how precarious living and working conditions…
On July 3rd and 4th, Manuel Becker, Head of the Scientific Program at the AIA, took part in the “Trilateral Seminar Transatlantic Security Architecture: Developments and Perspectives” in Paris.
A group of Master’s and PhD students from the Bonn International Model United Nations (BIMUN) recently visited the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of International Affairs. The visit provided a valuable opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange between future practitioners and current researchers engaged in international affairs. Following an introduction to the Academy’s mission and fellowship programme, the main…
AIA Fellow Karolina Kluczweskas research deals with the geopolitical reorientations taking place in post-Soviet Eurasia, particularly concerning the impact of massive shifts in Russia on Central Asia. It investigates actors and rationalities of the ongoing geopolitical reorientation, as well as formal and informal practices characterising this process. In her presentation at the AIA colloquium she…
At the panel discussion held in Dortmund, experts explored the parallels between two of the world’s most emblematic post-industrial regions: Germany’s Ruhr region and the U.S. Rust Belt. Despite geographic distance, both have faced similar challenges—declining industry, community disruption, and a widespread loss of future prospects. John Austin (AIA NRW Fellow), Emily Adams (Chancellor Fellow…
Chiung-Chiu Huang presented a research paper she is currently writing at the AIA Fellow Colloquium. She focused primarily on the theoretical framework of the paper and also gave insights into her case studies. At the center of her considerations is the “International United Front” strategy, which she believes is crucial to understanding China’s foreign policy…
Addressing Economic Inequalities to Strengthen Democracies As part of the AIA Fellow Colloquium, John Austin gave insights into the work of his Heartlands Transformation Network. At its core, John and his colleagues are grappling with two questions: What is behind the rise of polarizing anti-system and ethno-nationalist movements that threaten our democracies? What can be…
Together with AIA Fellow John Austin, Senior Fellow at the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College, the Academy was a guest of the NRW-USA Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Düsseldorf State Parliament. After a brief introduction by our Director Mayssoun Zein Al Din, the members of parliament, moderated by Chair Angela Freimuth, discussed with John Austin…
Tâmara Andrade, German Chancellor Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Guest researcher at IDOS visited the Academy to engage with the Fellows on the cross-cutting theme of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB). In a very interactive session, she first addressed theoretical and conceptual foundations, and shared some insights from her current project…
Together with a delegation of Fellows and AIA employees, we visited IDOS with our Fellow Mariia Levchenko. Mariia gave valuable insights into her research on structured dialogue processes during a brown bag lunch. She gave an overview of the theoretical foundations and empirical effectiveness of dialogue-based interventions. She critically examined the question of how social…
Transformations of gender roles and practices in a transnational migration context During this Global Policy Dialogue, sociologist and anthropologist Rustam Samadov gave a talk on “Masculinities of Tajik labor migrants: Transformations of gender roles and practices in a transnational migration context”. He presented the extensive field research he conducted in Russia and Tajikistan as part…
AIA Fellows Mariia Levchenko and Bernhard Stahl organized a workshop on silence and dialogue in international relations. After Elisabeth Schweiger (University of Sterling, UK) first reflected on the analytical implications of silence in foreign policy from a theoretical and conceptual perspective, Bernhard Stahl, Sebatian Glassner and Julius Bonaventura (University of Passau) elaborated on this in…
AIA Early Career Researcher Bohyun Kim presented her PhD project at the colloquium. She compares the hydrogen strategies of the EU and South Korea. Both share the view that the hydrogen economy is an important element on the way to achieving climate neutrality goals. But the approach differs significantly. In contrast to various studies, which…
There is no doubt that Russia and China are already shaping global politics to a large extent and will continue to do so throughout the 21st century. It is obvious that relations between the two powers are often described in abbreviated form as a friendship between autocracies that are directed against the Western community of…
After many politicians long assumed that economic globalization would bring peace and prosperity, we are now seeing increasing tensions in international trade policy. Measures sold by governments as protection for domestic industry mean that many companies are faced with higher costs for imported materials and goods. Increasing protectionism and the tendency to seal off entire…
Bernhard Stahl, Professor of International Politics at the University of Passau, presented his research project on the silencing of mass crimes in foreign policy, which he has been researching since 2018, at the AIA Colloquium. He is examining this topic from a fundamental perspective, with a particular focus on German and British foreign policy. He…