Maximilian Tkocz
Maximilian Tkocz is a Doctoral Researcher in PRIF's Research Department International Security. His research focuses on narratives and discourse in German Foreign Policy, as well as knowledge transfer and exchange in arms control and climate governance.
Press photo
CV
| since 2023
Doctoral Researcher at PRIF
| 2023
Research Assistant for Christopher Daase
| 2022–2023
MSc, Crisis and Security Management, Leiden University, Netherlands
| 2021–2022
MPhil, Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| 2018–2021
BA (Hons), International Relations, King’s College London, United Kingdom
| 2020–2021
Project assistant in the InFoEx-Project (International Forum for Expert Exchange on Countering Islamist Extremism) at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
| 2020
Intern at the Security and Defense Program of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
PhD Project
This dissertation analyzes interactions between natural and social scientists and policymakers in the fields of arms control and disarmament as well as climate governance. By drawing on role theory and linking disjointed theoretical perspectives, I study the involvement of scientists and researchers to explore how scientific expertise informs and influences policy. I argue that scientific actors take on and are torn between multiple postures, sometimes oscillating between different – conflicting – roles depending on context, expectations, and objectives. Drawing on a series of historical and contemporary case studies in nuclear diplomacy and climate governance, I call for a nuanced but holistic inquiry into science-policy interactions, as well as for a research agenda which takes into account the interplay of scientific evidence and issue advocacy. Methodologically, I apply a mixed-method approach, combining survey results with qualitative research (interviews, participant observations).
Publications
- Ontological Nuisance in Elite Discourse
| 2026
Tkocz, Maximilian; Herring, Rachel (2026): Ontological Nuisance in Elite Discourse. Foreign Policy and the Populist Radical Right in Germany, Global Studies Quarterly, 6: 1, ksaf124. DOI: 10.1093/isagsq/ksaf124 - Articulating a Delicate Balancing Act: Identity and Ontological Insecurity in Germany’s Narrative Responses to Israel 1993–2023
| 2024
Tkocz, Maximilian; Stritzel, Holger (2024): Articulating a Delicate Balancing Act: Identity and Ontological Insecurity in Germany’s Narrative Responses to Israel 1993–2023, German Politics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2024.2425750 - Articulating Change and Responsibility: Identity, Memory, and the Use of Historical Narratives in German Parliamentary Debates on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
| 2023
Tkocz, Maximilian; Stritzel, Holger (2023): Articulating Change and Responsibility: Identity, Memory, and the Use of Historical Narratives in German Parliamentary Debates on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, German Politics. DOI: 10.1080/09644008.2023.2252765
- Rhetorik, die überzeugt? „Historische Lehren“ in der deutschen Debatte über den Ukrainekrieg
| 2024
Tkocz, Maximilian (2024): Rhetorik, die überzeugt? „Historische Lehren“ in der deutschen Debatte über den Ukrainekrieg, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Die rüstungskontrollpolitischen Initiativen Deutschlands – eine Erfolgsgeschichte?
| 2023
Lurz, Alexander; Baldus, Jana; Daase, Christopher; Ferl, Anna-Katharina; Jakob, Una; Lambach, Daniel; Lehmann, Tobias; Perras, Clara; Hoffberger-Pippan, Elisabeth; Reinhold, Thomas; Schmidt, Hans-Joachim; Schörnig, Niklas; Tkocz, Maximilian; Wisotzki, Simone (2023): Die rüstungskontrollpolitischen Initiativen Deutschlands – eine Erfolgsgeschichte?, Greenpeace-Studie.
Publication