Research

In my research, I explore the key phenomena of power and power shifts in international relations. 

In particular, I am interested in soft power, its conceptualization, effects, and practice on the global stage. My book Soft Power: The Forces of Attraction in International Relations (Springer International, 2020), winner of the 2021 ifa Research Award on Foreign Cultural Policy, is dedicated to these issues. It traces the origins of soft power, proposes a taxonomy to grasp a notoriously vague concept, and charts a methodological roadmap for its empirical study.

Furthermore, I focus on U.S. foreign affairs, transatlantic relations, and the U.S. presidency. My recent book Soft Power and the Future of US Foreign Policy (Manchester University Press, 2023) connects these two fields of research.

Finally, I am interested in individual agency in history and international affairs. Different books, including most recently my co-edited Der Faktor Persönlichkeit in der internationalen Politik: Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Journalismus (SpringerVS, 2021), are dedicated to this issue.

I have published and taught widely on these issues.

My current primary research project (habilitation treatise) is at the intersection of these topics: It explores the significance of U.S. soft power, including personal diplomacy and charismatic leadership, in the history of German-American relations up to the present day.