Transnational Politics

In the summer of 2014, the jihadists of the Sunni Islamist terrorist organization Islamic State (IS/Da'esh) took control of predominantly Sunni regions of Iraq, including the megacity of Mosul, as well as large regions of eastern Syria in a sweeping offensive. As a result, regular Iraqi security forces collapsed in several regions and state actors were ousted in numerous regions of Syria. At times, the Islamists exercised de facto territorial control over large areas of Iraqi and Syrian territory. With the proclamation of a transnational caliphate, conceived as an Islamic “theocracy”, announced in June 2014, IS declared Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi as caliph and thus laid claim to religious and political leadership over the Islamic community (Umma). The organization then established proto-state rule structures in the areas under its control, temporarily governing several million people. The emergence and development of IS marked a turning point in the history of jihadist terrorism to date.

The dissertation project aims to systematically analyse the structural, political and organizational factors that enabled the rapid rise of IS, its remarkable military power, its temporary territorial dominance and its subsequent collapse in Iraq and Syria. It focuses on the question of how a jihadist organization was able to carry out highly complex, coordinated military offensives within a very short space of time, overpower regular state security forces and, at the same time, establish functional administrative and security structures for exercising rule.

The project situates the development of IS in the context of long-term state and social transformation processes in Iraq since 2003 and the Syrian civil war from 2011 onwards. In particular, it examines – beyond purely ideological explanations – how the operational and institutional performance of this organization emerged under conditions such as state fragmentation and why it was ultimately lost again.

The dissertation follows a qualitative research design. Its empirical basis is the evaluation of around 90 interviews, most of which were conducted during two research visits to Iraq. The interview partners include high-ranking Iraqi military personnel, members of the Kurdish Peshmerga as well as members of local vigilante groups and other actors who were directly or indirectly involved in the military conflicts with the IS. The interview material is supplemented by discussions with international terrorism and Middle East experts. In addition, the analysis draws on the evaluation of relevant primary sources from the IS organization as well as on a broad range of secondary literature from the fields of terrorism, conflict and Middle East studies

Terroristic threat has been a present phenomenon in European countries throughout the last decades. Nevertheless, its impact on the public opinion, policymaking and the national discussions has never been as strong as currently observed. At the same time, the European project is put to test. Right-wing populist parties are uprising and the future of nationalism, immigration, and the European Union are contro­versially discussed between the European countries as well as within the countries themselves.

This study aims to provide answers to the influence of terroristic threat on identity discourse in France and Germany. Damaris Braun will analyze to what extent terror attacks reinforce national identity markers. An additional research objective is to clarify in which manner the terroristic threat changes the setting we live in and therefore influences our situated identities. Drawing upon a social identity approach, she assumes an inter­depen­dence and/or inter­ference between national and European identity constructions. Aspects as agency, recon­struction of a positive identity and super­ordinate identity categories are additionally considered.

In the mixed methods design Damaris Braun contributes to research on identity by providing data showing how terroristic threat influences identity processes on a national and supra­national level.

This PhD project in­vestigates the rise of antifeminist conspiratorial mobilization in Germany, fueled by conservative, Catholic, and right-wing actors who oppose gender e­quality as well as queer and trans rights, because they view them as causing societal collapse due to the ero­sion of “natural” gender roles. Support of anti-feminism is not easily under­stood from a psychological needs perspec­tive, as it entails an opposition to politics which promise emanci­pation for many. The particular form of conspiracist opposition to these politics further­more connects them to anti­semitic notions and supports a perceived urgency to defend oneself against the supposedly femi­nist elites. This PhD project aims to ex­plore how individuals of different gender identities nevertheless experience political empower­ment within these movements and how they view those they perceive as threatening. Employing a mixed-method approach, in­cluding interviews and online narrative analysis, the project aims to explore the socio-psychological mechanisms by which indi­viduals gain political agency.

In her dissertation, Lotta Rahlf examines the institutionali­zation of evaluation and quality assurance in the prevention of extremism in twelve European countries. The doctoral project analyzes how and why European states use evaluation to varying degrees as an instrument of both external control (for example in funding structures) and self-regulation (as part of political strategies). 

Theoretically, the work combines approaches from gover­nance, institutio­nalization and evaluation research and develops an analytical frame­work to systematically and comparatively map and explain national differences in the institu­tionalization of evaluation and quality assurance. Empirically, the study includes a comparative overview of twelve European countries and the embedding of evaluation and quality assurance in funding structures and political strategies for the prevention of extremism. In addition, a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) will be carried out to identify necessary and sufficient conditions as well as in-depth analyses of Germany and Norway. 

The project makes a relevant contribution to research and practice in three respects: It offers a theoretically sound and operationalizable concept for the institutionalization of evaluation in the prevention of extremism, a comparative empirical mapping of the prevention of extremism and its evaluation structures, and a methodological innovation through the linking of QCA and process tracing. The dissertation is being written as part of the EU-funded Marie Skło­dowska-Curie doctoral network VORTEX and thus also makes a contribution to the evidence-based design of European extremism prevention.

So-called Reichs­bürger (‘citizens of the Reich [German empire]’) are not a new pheno­menon in Germany. However, recent events, such as the investi­gation into ‘Patriotische Union’ (‘Patriotic Union’) since December 2022, the Covid-19 protest move­ments, and several serious acts of violence have been high­lighting their increasing socie­tal relevance. And yet, the currently existing body of knowledge is highly fragmen­ted which hinders an in-depth analysis of this particular ideo­logical spectrum and its followers. Interestingly, preli­minary analyses suggest potentially substan­tial differences between the Reichs­bürger follo­wing and the followers of other, better-studied extremist pheno­mena. This relates to, for example, demo­graphic factors, social dynamics, and forms of organization. As a result, existing concep­tualizations of radica­lization cannot easily be transfer­red to Reichs­bürger, which necessi­tates new and dedi­cated research into the topic.

In his disser­tation, Maximilian Ruf investi­gates indivi­dual pathways and causali­ties of radica­lization of Reichs­bürger in Germany based on biographical-narrative interviews. The over­arching aim of the project is to generate and syste­matize new knowledge on Reich­sbürger radica­lization and to de­lineate it from other radica­lization pheno­mena in order to identify new starting points for further research and practical develop­ment.

Dealing with post­migrant diversity is a current challenge for state insti­tutions in Germany. Demo­graphic change as well as debates on racism lead to pressure to deal with quest­ions of belong­ing, represen­tation and partici­pation of people with migration back­ground. In Germany, an effort by police to address and employ people with migrat­ion back­ground in recruit­ment cam­paigns can be observed. However, this diversi­fication does not necessa­rily lead to institu­tional change due to the estab­lished cop culture and organi­zational culture.

Even if there is no para­digm shift yet, a change in the way the German police is dealing with post­migrant diversity can be observed. This disser­tation project uses ethno­metho­dological methods and quali­tative inter­views to investi­gate under­standings of diver­sity within the German police by analyz­ing practices of creat­ing diver­sity.

Radical positions are current­ly on the rise again in many Euro­pean coun­tries as well as in Ger­many, and anti-demo­cratic and anti-emanci­patory ideas are sprea­ding. Hate crime is on the rise, espe­cially online, and comments and state­ments in the virtual world are beco­ming more uninhi­bited. This develop­ment has become particu­larly evi­dent for seve­ral years in the pheno­mena of Sala­fist jiha­dism and right-wing extre­mism.

By winning over more people to right-wing or Sala­fist ideo­logy and increa­sing the willing­ness to use vio­lence within the scenes, the mobili­zation strate­gies and tech­niques of extre­mist actors seem to be pay­ing off. By means of a quali­tative con­tent ana­lysis of Facebook con­tent of Salafist and right-wing extre­mist actors, Man­jana Sold investi­gates in her disser­tation project which mobili­zation techni­ques are used by diffe­rently radi­cal indivi­duals and which differen­ces can be observed within the pheno­menon areas.

Dealing with the threat of terrorism has shaped national se­curity agendas since 9/11. German poli­tics, too, reacted to what was per­ceived as a “new di­mension” of threat. The German approach, how­ever, relies on legal mea­sures and the rule of law, defining terrorism as a form of crime which has to be dealt with in legal terms (in contrast to the US “war on terror”-approach). Conse­quently, numerous laws concern­ing counter­terrorsim have been passed on the fe­deral and state level since 2001. They cover a va­riety of legal areas, reflect a broad concept of security and have repea­tedly trans­formed the frame­work of national security. Some mecha­nisms of the rule of law have been challenged or over­whelmed by these trans­formations: Risk-manage­ment and prevent­ive measures intend­ed to enable security agen­cies to act as far ahead of the situ­ation as possible also invade areas pro­tected by the Grund­recht (funda­mental rights) and dilute basic prin­ciples such as the presump­tion of inno­cence.

In her disser­tation project, Isa­belle Stephan­blome exa­mines the legis­lative reactions to terrorism in Ger­many within the field of tension bet­ween politics, law and inse­curity. To this end, different strate­gies for controll­ing inse­curity are typolo­gised and argu­ments for their legiti­macy are ana­lysed. The em­pirical basis for this is the legis­lation of the federal govern­ment and selected Bundes­länder (states). The legal texts as well as the docu­ments of their drafting pro­cesses will be exa­mined with an inter­pretative approach in a quali­tative case study. The project is located in political science legal research and aims to contri­bute to opening up law for security studies as a state instru­ment for pro­cessing uncer­tainty.

The dissertation examines how pre­vention hybrids influence practice. Prevention of extremism is usually divided into three areas. In theory, a dis­tinction is made between primary, secondary and tertiary pre­vention. While primary prevention is aimed at the general public, secondary prevention attempts to reach people who are assumed to be at an in­creased risk of radicalization. Finally, tertiary pre­vention is aimed at distancing and deradi­calization. In practice, however, overlaps can be found be­tween the areas, resulting in a mixture of ob­jectives and approaches. For example, primary prevention programs are implemented in the con­text of secondary prevention and vice versa. These prevention hybrids thus combine aspects that by definition are as­cribed to different areas. The project examines how prac­titioners experience and implement these programs in different contexts. The dis­sertation thus explores how opportunities and needs are ne­gotiated in prevention practice. This re­search project, which is part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network VORTEX, provides insights into the con­ception and implementation of pre­vention and thus has theoretical and practical relevance.

During the last decade terro­rist attacks by so-called lone wolf terro­rist have occurred. The attacks by Anders Breivik in Norway and Arid Uka in Germany are just two examples of this growing pheno­menon. Those perpe­trators act alone and allegedly radica­lize alone. Yet, radicalization research high­lights the importance of social ties in radica­lization and mobilization to terrorism. Therefore, one has to pose the question, how lone wolves radica­lize, if social ties are highly relevant in radicali­zation, yet the main feature of lone wolves is supposedly their lone­liness. To date little research has been conducted to address this puzzle systemati­cally on a theore­tical or empirical basis.

In her disser­tation project, Annika von Berg addresses the question how social ties affect radicali­zation processes of lone actors. To answer this question, an identity-theory-based model will be used to examine these radicali­zation processes in single-case-studies via pro­cess-tracing. The case studies will investi­gate incidents in the field of right-wing extremism and Islamism extremism.

Digital gaming culture has long since left its niche status behind. Its expansion is accompanied by exclusionary effects and the influence of socio-cultural conflicts. This means that antisemitism is finding its way into digital gaming culture in a variety of ways. Antisemitic actors create their own game content, use in-game communication channels, gamify antisemitic activities up to terrorist violence and use game references and gaming-related platforms to reach out and network.

The project aims to investigate the spread and manifestations of antisemitism in digital gaming communities. It is designed to identify which actors articulate antisemitic content in which spaces and forms, how these differ and how they are justified. In addition to the analysis of mobilization strategies and the effect of antisemitism in spaces of digital gaming culture, the project explores which projections and de-realizations underlie the articulated antisemitism in the sense of an ideological critique.