Latest publications within the project:
- A. Thies (2025): Back to the Future. State Transformation and Sentimental Repertoires of Belonging in Saudi Arabia, in: Sentimental State(s). Affective Politics of Order and Belonging, eds. Heike Paul and Sarah M. Pritz, Transcript: Bielefeld.
- T. Demmelhuber (2025): Music and the Politics of Belonging in Revolutionary Episodes. Egypt since 1952 from a Comparative Perspective, in: Sentimental State(s). Affective Politics of Order and Belonging, eds. Heike Paul and Sarah M. Pritz, Transcript: Bielefeld.
- A. Thies (2025): Konstruktion von Wir-Identitäten, in: Die Arabische Halbinsel. Geographie und Politik, eds. Thomas Demmelhuber and Nadine Scharfenort. Springer Nature: Heidelberg.
- T. Demmelhuber and A. Thies (2023): Autocracies and the Temptation of Sentimentality. Repertoires of the past and contemporary meaning-making in the Gulf monarchies, Third World Quarterly 44, no. 5, 1003-1020. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2023.2171392
Website of the Research Training Group
Global autocratic collaboration in times of COVID19: game changer or business as usual in Sino-Gulf relations?
Latest publications within the project:
- A. Thies, T. Zumbrägel and T. Demmelhuber (2025): The Race for Best Friendship in Sino-Gulf Relations: Fractured Cooperation and Conflict in Times of Strategic Uncertainty, in: International Relations, online first, 2025
- J. Gurol (2023): The Authoritarian Narrator. China’s Power Projection and its Reception in the Gulf, International Affairs 99, no. 2, 687-705
- J. Gurol, T. Zumbrägel and T. Demmelhuber (2022): Elite Networks and the Transregional Dimension of Authoritarianism: Sino-Emirati Relations in Times of a Global Pandemic, Journal of Contemporary China, online first, DOI: 10.1080/10670564.2022.2052444
- T. Demmelhuber, J. Gurol and T. Zumbrägel (2022): The Corona Temptation? Autocratic Linkages in Times of a Global Pandemic, in: The MENA Region and COVID-19. Impact, Implications and Prospects, Zeina Hobeika, Lena-Maria Möller und Jan Völkel (eds.). Routledge: London
Decentralization in the Arab World
The following publications present the results of the research project (together with Prof. Dr. Roland Sturm):
- T. Demmelhuber and R. Sturm (2021): Decentralization in the Middle East and North Africa. Informal Politics, Subnational Governance, and the Periphery, Nomos: Baden-Baden 2021
E. Vollmann, M. Bohn, R. Sturm (2020) and T. Demmelhuber: Decentralisation as Authoritarian Upgrading? Evidence from Jordan and Morocco, The Journal of North African Studies, 2020, online first: DOI 0.1080/13629387.2020.1787837 - T. Demmelhuber, R. Sturm and E. Vollmann (2018): Decentralization in the Arab world: Conceptualizing the role of neopatrimonial networks, Mediterranean Politics, 2018, online first, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2018.1559391
- E. Karmel and M. Bohn (2020): Decentralization in Jordan, in: M. Shalaby, C. Weiss, E. Lust, K. Kao, E. Vollmann, S. Bergh, E. Karmel, M. Bohn, I. Kherigi, and Z. Kadirbeyoglu: The Dynamics of Decentralization in the MENA: Processes, Outcomes, and Obstacles. GLD Working Paper No. 31 2020, Gothenburg: GLD, 40-53
- E. Vollmann (2020): Comparative Decentralization in the MENA, in: M. Shalaby, C. Weiss, E. Lust, K. Kao, E. Vollmann, S. Bergh, E. Karmel, M. Bohn, I. Kherigi, and Z. Kadirbeyoglu: The Dynamics of Decentralization in the MENA: Processes, Outcomes, and Obstacles. GLD Working Paper No. 31 2020, Gothenburg: GLD, 9-22
- R. Sturm and E. Vollmann (2020): Dezentralisierung – die pragmatische Alternative zum Föderalismus in Autokratien? Der Fall Marokko, in: Europäisches Zentrum für Föderalismusforschung (Hrsg.), Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2020, Nomos: Baden-Baden, 179-194
- M. Bohn, T. Demmelhuber, R. Sturm, and E. Vollmann (2018): Dezentralisierung in der arabischen Welt: ein konzeptioneller Zugang, in: Europäisches Zentrum für Föderalismusforschung (Hrsg.), Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2018, Nomos: Baden-Baden, 157-171
- T. Demmelhuber (2018): Die politische Ordnung in Tunesien und die Beziehungen mit der EU seit 2011: Dezentralisierung als Blaupause?, IEP Research Paper No. 03/18. Berlin
Authoritarian Gravity Centres
The following publications present the results of the research project (together with Prof. Dr. Marianne Kneuer):
- T. Zumbrägel and T. Demmelhuber (2021): Temptations of Autocracy: How Saudi Arabia Influences and Attracts Its Neighbourhood, Journal of Arabian Studies 10, no. 1, 51-71.
- M. Kneuer and T. Demmelhuber (2020): Authoritarian Gravity Centres: A Cross-Regional Study of Authoritarian Promotion and Diffusion, Routledge: New York
M. Kneuer, T. Demmelhuber, R. Peresson and T. Zumbrägel (2019): “Playing the regional card: why and how authoritarian gravity centres exploit regional organisations.” Third World Quarterly 40, no. 3, 451-470. - T. Zumbrägel and E. Vollmann (2018): „Die Erfindung des Wir: Ideelles Identitätsmanagement als Legitimationsstrategie Saudi-Arabiens.“ Zeitschrift für Politik 65, no. 3, 265-282.
- M. Kneuer (2017): “Legitimation beyond Ideology: Authoritarian Regimes and the Construction of Missions.” Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 11, no. 2, 181-211.
- M. Kneuer and T. Demmelhuber (2016): “Gravity Centres of Authoritarian Rule: A Conceptual Approach.” Democratization 23, no. 5, 775-796.