Dr. Katharina Nicolai

Dr. Katharina Nicolai

Research Assistant

Chair of Middle East Politics and Society

Room: Room 00.015
Kochstraße 4
91054 Erlangen

Office Hours

please contact via e-mail

  • 2024 – PhD on ‘The Emerald Kingdom: Environmental Sustainability, Authoritarian Resilience, and Forteign Policy Dominance in Morocco’
  • since 2023 – Research assistant at the Chair of Middle East Politics and Society (Prof. Dr. Thomas Demmelhuber), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • 2018-2023 – Research assistant at the Erlangen Cntre for Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE) and the Chair of Middle East Politics and Society, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

  • Environmental Politics and Political Ecology in West Asia and North Africa (WANA)
  • Democracy and Autocracy Research
  • Soft Power & Legitimation
  • Comparative Politics (regional focus WANA)
  • Transitional Justice
  • Political Culture and Cultural Politics in the Maghreb Region

  • Nicolai, K., & Vollmann, E. (2025). The king’s speeches: environmental sustainability as a discursive legitimation project in autocracies. Evidence from Morocco. Democratization, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2025.2524855 (peer-reviewed)
  • Nicolai, K. (2025). Monarchien: Nation, Legitimation und Herrschaftssicherung. In: Demmelhuber, T., Scharfenort, P.D.N. (eds) Die Arabische Halbinsel. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-70217-8_7
  • Nicolai, K. u. A. Wüst (2022). Cultural diplomacy and the reconfiguration of soft power: Evidence from Morocco, Mediterranean Politics, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2022.2033513 (peer-reviewed)
  • Nicolai, K., et al. (2021). Germany (country survey). In: Stephanie Müssig, Egdūnas Račius, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibašić, Jørgen S. Nielsen, Oliver Scharbrodt (eds.), Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 13 (2021). Leiden: Brill.
  • Nicolai, K. (2020). A Green Gambit: The Development of Environmental Foreign Policy in Morocco, The Journal of North African Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13629387.2020.1865931 (peer-reviewed)
  • Nicolai, K. (2020). Sustainable development and environmental policy in the Middle East and North Africa. In ORIENT (Vol. 61, pp. 36-44). Berlin: Deutsches Orient-Institut.
  • Nicolai, K., et al. (2019). Germany (country survey). In: Oliver Scharbrodt, Samim Akgönül, Ahmet Alibašić, Jørgen S. Nielsen, Egdūnas Račius (eds.), Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 11. Leiden: Brill.