Research

In my research, I focus on 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, addresses these issues. The book traces the origins of soft power, proposes a taxonomy to grasp a notoriously vague concept, and charts a methodological roadmap for its empirical study. In this context, I am currently co-PI of a funded project entitled “How Does Soft Power Work? Neural Mechanisms of Attraction-Based Influence,” exploring the neural mechanisms underlying soft power. Currently, I am working first and foremost on what I tentatively call “the post-liberal face of soft power” in an increasingly hard world of global politics.

Furthermore, in a time of major geopolitical upheavals, I focus on German-American and transatlantic relations, U.S. foreign affairs and the U.S. presidency, and role of Germany and Europe in the world. It is the topic of my habilitation treatise, which is currently being prepared for publication. Pursuing a comparative-historical approach across five centuries of transatlantic interaction, the study identifies, traces, and explains in the extraordinarily potent forces of attraction between both sides of the Atlantic. In this context, the relationship is broadly understood – including political, security, economic, cultural, and societal dimensions –, presenting a comprehensive history of German-American relations up to the present day.

Moreover, I am interested in charismatic leadership and individual agency in world politics. Various publications of mine, including the volume Der Faktor Persönlichkeit in der internationalen Politik: Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Journalismus (SpringerVS, 2021), are dedicated to this issue.

Finally, I examine the role of history and historical analogies in international relations: Seeking to draw lessons from the past in order to address contemporary and future challenges, both analysts and decision-makers frequently resort to historical analogies. Based on this observation, the project pursues a two-step approach by (1) providing a conceptually sound understanding of historical analogies, developing a typology of their functional levels, benefits, and pitfalls, and (2) by exploring the significance and applicability of a set of highly efficacious historical analogies frequently drawn upon in decision-making processes (“Master Analogies”). In so doing, the project will provide analysts and practitioners with an analogical roadmap guiding them to draw effectively on the lessons of the past, especially in times of conflict and crisis.