Dr. MARIA J. DEBRE
About Me
I am a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty for Economic and Social Sciences at Potsdam University and an associate researcher in the ERC project "Decline and Death of International Organizations" at Maastricht University.
I hold a PhD in International Relations from Free University Berlin (2018) where I was a research fellow at the KFG Research Group "The Transformative Power of Europe", and have been a Fox International Fellow at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University (2017/2018).
For more information on my research and teaching, please explore my website, download my full CV here, or follow my Twitter account.
Research
In my research, I focus on the role of regime type in global governance and challenges and transformations to multilateral organizations.
I am particularly interested in the effects of regional and international inter-governmental organizations on the domestic survival politics of authoritarian regimes, on consequences of regime type for the design of global governance institutions, as well as survival and death of international organizations.
I work predominantly with quantitative and mix-methods research designs and also specialise in the politics of the the Muslim World. My work has been published in the Review of International Organizations, the European Journal of International Relations, Democratization, and Contemporary Politics. I have also received the Frank Cass Price 2021 for the best Article by a Young Scholar in Democratization.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Are International Organizations in Decline? An Absolute and Relative Perspective on Institutional Change. Global Policy, forthcoming (with Hylke Dijkstra).
The Death of Major International Organizations: When Institutional Stickiness is not Enough. Global Studies Quarterly, 2022: 2(4), 1-13 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Clubs of Autocrats: Regional Organizations and Authoritarian Survival, The Review of International Organizations, 2022: 17(3), 485-511.
Covid-19 policy responses by international organizations: Crisis of liberal international order or window of opportunity. Global Policy, 2021: 12(4), 443-454 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Institutional design for a post-liberal order: Why some International Organizations live longer than others. European Journal of International Relations, 2021: 27(1):311-339 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Winner of the Frank Cass Price 2021 for best Article by a Young Scholar in Democratization.
Die „digitale IO“: Chancen und Risiken von Online-Daten für die Forschung zu Internationalen Organisationen. [The “digital IO“: Chances and Risks of Online Data for Research on International Relations.] ZIB Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 2018: 25(1) (with Sebastian Knecht).
Out of the Shadows: Authoritarian Regimes, Flawed Elections and International Legitimation, Contemporary Politics, 2017: 23(3), 328-247 (with Lee Morgenbesser).
Work in Progress
The Dictators' Club: How Regional Organizations sustain authoritarian rule. Unpublished Book Manuscript.
Weathering the Storm? The Third Wave of Autocratization and International Organizations (with Thomas Sommerer).
Authoritarianism gone Global: How Autocratic Coalitions Undermine Liberal International Norms (with Daniëlle Flonk).
Autocracies as International Lawmakers (with Nina Reiners).
Community norms and crisis: changing role conceptions of regional organizations during the Covid-19 crisis (with Laura von Allwörden).
Governance abhors a vacuum: The afterlives of major international organizations (with Hylke Dijkstra & Tim Heinkelmann-Wild).
Overview of Courses
This undergraduate seminar focuses on theories of emergence, institutional design, and effect of regional integration in a globally comparative perspective to understand variation in integration across issue areas and regions.
Comparative Regionalism
Undergraduate
Now on Sale
This undergraduate seminar looks at the role of International Organizations in democratization processes around the world, covering a variety of activities, from election monitoring, to foreign aid, or sanction politics.
International Organizations & Democratization
Undergraduate
Now on Sale
This seminar offers an introduction to research design in the social sciences, covering the research question, literature review, theory development, and methods. It includes a practical colloquium component, and can be adjusted to undergraduate and graduate students.
Introduction to Research
Design
Undergraduate & Graduate
Now on Sale
This undergraduate seminar explores the strategies and interests of the EU and its major member states in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), addressing political, economic, cultural and security aspects of EU Mediterranean relations.
EU Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Undergraduate
Now on Sale
The course explores variations in gender (in)equality across time and regions, addressing how biology, markets, and politics influence socio-economic status and political power of women.
Sex, Markets, and
Power
Undergraduate
(Teaching Assistant)
Now on Sale
This undergraduate seminar serves as an introduction to basic theories of International Relations and the role of IGOs and NGOs in various issue areas such as migration, environment, and security. The course employs the problem-based teaching method.
International Relations: Contemp. Issues & Actors
Undergraduate
Now on Sale
This graduate seminar introduces students to contemporary research on challenges posed to the liberal international order, ranging from contestation and deligitimation by populist and authoritarian governments, to state withdrawal, or death of International Organizations.
Global Governance
in Crisis
Graduate
This graduate seminar introduces students to contemporary debates around types, legality, employment,
and effectiveness of bi- & multilateral sanctions by
comparatively assessing cases in the fields of democratization, conflict studies, disarmament, and terrorism.
Sanctions in World
Politics
Graduate
This graduate course explores the role, relationships, and modes of influence of global actors in various fields of global public policy making, including an extensive in-class group research project on challenges and reform options of major global conventions.
Global Public Policy
Graduate
Conferences & Workshops
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Are International Organizations in Decline? An Absolute and Relative Perspective on Institutional Change. Global Policy, forthcoming (with Hylke Dijkstra).
The Death of Major International Organizations: When Institutional Stickiness is not Enough. Global Studies Quarterly, 2022: 2(4), 1-13 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Clubs of Autocrats: Regional Organizations and Authoritarian Survival, The Review of International Organizations, 2022: 17(3), 485-511.
Covid-19 policy responses by international organizations: Crisis of liberal international order or window of opportunity. Global Policy, 2021: 12(4), 443-454 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Institutional design for a post-liberal order: Why some International Organizations live longer than others. European Journal of International Relations, 2021: 27(1):311-339 (with Hylke Dijkstra).
Winner of the Frank Cass Price 2021 for best Article by a Young Scholar in Democratization.
Die „digitale IO“: Chancen und Risiken von Online-Daten für die Forschung zu Internationalen Organisationen. [The “digital IO“: Chances and Risks of Online Data for Research on International Relations.] ZIB Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 2018: 25(1) (with Sebastian Knecht).
Out of the Shadows: Authoritarian Regimes, Flawed Elections and International Legitimation, Contemporary Politics, 2017: 23(3), 328-247 (with Lee Morgenbesser).
Book Reviews
„The Closure of the International System: How Institutions Create Political Equalities and Hierarchies, by Lora Anne Viola.“ 2020. H-Diplo Roundtable XXIII-49
Public Affairs Commentary
Diagnosing Threats to Democracy. University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation Forum (June 18, 2022).
Immune to COVID? The Striking Resilience of International Organisations, LSE COVID-19 Blog, (July 13, 2021)
(with Hylke Dijkstra)
Trump's 'America First' Approach has Targeted International Institutions - But they've proved to be resilient. The Loop, (November 25, 2020) (with Hylke Dijkstra)
How Global Efforts to Promote Regional Organizations Can Strengthen Authoritarian Regimes. Scholars Strategy Network, (June 4, 2018).
Fatma gegen Goliath. Frauen erlangen das Wahlrecht in Saudi-Arabien. [Fatma vs Goliath. Women gain the Right to Vote in Saudi Arabia.] Mediterranes 1/2016, 40-41.
Der Club der Monarchien – Saudi-Arabiens Kampf um den Erhalt der sunnitisch-royalen Vormachtstellung im Nahen Osten. [The Club of Monarchies. Saudi Arabia’s Fight for Sunni-Royal Hegemony in the Middle East] Alsharq Blog, (Aug. 22, 2015).
Omans ungewisse Zukunft – dem Sultanat droht eine Nachfolgekrise. [Oman’s Uncertain Future - Is the Sultanate Threatened by a Succession Crisis?] Alsharq Blog, (Nov. 11, 2014).
Work in Progress
The Dictators' Club: How Regional Organizations Sustain Authoritarian Rule. Unpublished Book Manuscript.
Weathering the Storm? The Third Wave of Autocratization and International Organizations (with Thomas Sommerer).
Authoritarianism gone Global: How Autocratic Coalitions Undermine Liberal International Norms (with Daniëlle Flonk).
Autocracies as International Lawmakers (with Nina Reiners).
Community norms and crisis: changing role conceptions of regional organizations during the Covid-19 crisis (with Laura von Allwörden).
Governance abhors a vacuum: The afterlives of major international organizations (with Hylke Dijkstra & Tim Heinkelmann-Wild).
Conferences
American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting, 2021 [virtual]
German Political Science Association (DVPW) 28th Congress, 2021 [virtual]
International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Conventions – 2017-2021 [2020 canceled due to Covid]
ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops – 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022
ECPR General Conference – 2016, 2019-2020 [2020 online], 2022
German Political Science Association (DVPW) International Relations Section Conference, Freiburg University 2020 [online]
Annual Meeting of the Political Science Section of the German Association for American Studies, Heidelberg, 2019
5th Joint Nordic Conference on Development Research, Copenhagen Business School, 2019
Fox International Fellowship Conference, Yale University, 2018
German Political Science Association (DVPW) 3-Länder Tagung, University of Heidelberg, 2016
German Association for the Middle East (DAVO) Annual Congress, University of Bochum, 2015
German Political Science Association (DVPW) Comparative Political Science Section Conference, GIGA Hamburg, 2015
Workshops
ERC Workshop 'International Cooperation in Challenging Times', University of Zurich, 2022.
UC Institute on Global Conflict Workshop ‘The Authoritarian Turn in International Relations: The Institutional Dimension’, University of California San Diego (2022)
ERC Workshop "International Institutions: Backlash and Resilience", University of Zurich, 2021
ECR Workshop ‘The Contestation of Liberal Democracy’, Scripts Cluster & Instituto de Ciencia Política Chile, 2021 [virtual]
Politics and Culter (PCE) Research Cluster Meeting 'Europe and the Crisis of Rule-Based Order', January 2021 [online]
Politicologenetmaal, Workshop “Global Order in Crisis?”, Radboud University, Nijmegen, 2020 (Co-organizer) [workshop canceled due to Covid]
ERC Workshop ‘Decline and Death of International Organizations’, Brussels Campus, Maastricht University, 2020 (Co-organizer)
Maastricht-York Workshop, ‘Europe and the future of global rules and multilateralism’, Maastricht University, 2019
ISA Venture Research Workshop ‘International Organization Dissolution’, University of Zurich, 2019
Authoritarian Politics and International Relations (APIR) Seminar, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), 2019
Author’s Workshop ‘Regional Democracy Protection and Sanctions’, Stockholm University, 2019
7th International Joint Ph.D. Workshop of the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS) and the Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2017
Authoritarianism in a Global Age Project Meeting, University of Amsterdam, 2017