Silvia
Steininger
LL.M., M.A., Research Fellow
steininger@mpil.de
Main Fields of Research:
Interdisciplinary Approaches to International Law | Law of International Organizations | International Courts | Human Rights | Investment Law and Arbitration | Political Theory
Academic Career:
CURRENT POSITIONS
Research Fellow for Armin von Bogdandy at the MPIL (2016 - )
- Dissertation on the topic "Under Pressure. On the Resilience of Regional Human Rights Regimes in an Age of Backlash"
- Project management and coordination of the project on International Public Authority
- Individual research project on the role of human rights in investment law and arbitration
- Founder and co-organizer of the discussion group Theory Talks
- Affiliated researcher at the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" at Goethe University Frankfurt
Lecturer at Karlshochschule International Karlsruhe (2020 - )
Lecturer at Université Catholique de Lille (2019 - )
EDUCATION
PhD student at the Law Faculty of the Goethe University Frankfurt (2019 - )
Master of Laws (LL.M cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam in International and European Law: Public International Law (2015 - 2016)
Master of Arts (M.A.) at the University of Heidelberg: Political Science with a minor in Public Law (2014 - 2017)
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at the University of Heidelberg: Political Science with a minor in Public Law (2011 - 2014)
RESEARCH STAYS
Masaryk University, Judicial Studies Institute, Brno (03 - 05/2023)
Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law, Department for International Dispute Resolution, Luxemburg (2/2023)
Hertie School, Centre for Fundamental Rights, Berlin (06 - 08/2022)
iCourts, The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre of Excellence for International Courts, Copenhagen (08 - 09/2021)
Council of Europe, Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg (10 - 12/2018)
EUI, European University Institute, Florence (07/2016)
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
Graduate Research Assistant for Prof. Deirdre Curtin, Amsterdam Center for European Law and Governance, Amsterdam (2015 - 2016)
Intern at the German Embassy Bulgaria, Political Department, Sofia (02 - 04/2015)
Graduate Research Assistant and Tutor at the Chair for International Relations and Foreign Policy, Prof. Sebastian Harnisch & Prof. Peter Schlotter, University of Heidelberg (2013 - 2015)
Research Assistant for Dr. Matthias Goldmann, Department of Armin von Bogdandy, MPIL, Heidelberg (2012 - 2016)
Intern at the European Parliament, MEP Csaba Sògor, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, Brussels (04 - 06/2011)
Volunteer in Romania in the "kulturweit" program, cultural volunteer service by the German Commission for UNESCO and the Federal Foreign Office, High School for Fine Arts in Miercurea Ciuc/Csikszereda and Goethe Institute Bucharest, Romania (2010 - 2011)
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Recent Publications
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Investment and Human Rights in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Recent Developments in 2020. In: Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2020,
Lisa E. Sachs,
Lise J. Johnson,
Jesse Coleman (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2022,
1-21.
Available online at OUP Investment Claims
-
Against the Masters of War: The Overlooked Functions of Conflict Litigation by International Courts.
In: Law & Contemporary Problems 84, 95-122 (2021) (zusammen mit
Nicole Deitelhoff).
Available at L&CP (Open Access)
-
The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration. State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility and Community Empowerment. In: The Cambridge Companion to Business and Human Rights Law,
Ilias Bantekas,
Michael Ashley Stein (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021,
406-421.
Available at CUP
-
With or Without You: Suspension, Expulsion, and the Limits of Membership Sanctions in Regional Human Rights Regimes.
In: Heidelberg Journal of International Law/Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht 81 (2), 533-566 (2021).
Available at HJIL/ZaöRV (Open Access)
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Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On the Creation of Corporate 'Human' Rights in International Law. In: Contingency in International Law. On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories,
Ingo Venzke,
Kevin Jon Heller (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2021,
281-296 (zusammen mit
Jochen von Bernstorff).
-
Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives.
Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, Bd. 273. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, Bd. 273.
Springer, Heidelberg, 2018, 227 p.
.
Available at Springer
-
Parting ways or lashing back? Withdrawals, backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
In: International Journal of Law in Context 14(2), 237 -257 (2018).
Available at International Journal of Law in Context
-
What's Human Rights Got To Do With It? An Empirical Analysis of Human Rights References in Investment Arbitration.
In: Leiden Journal of International Law 31(1), 33-58 (2018).
Available at LJIL
-
A Discourse Theoretical Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Towards a Democratic Financial Order.
In: German Law Journal 17(5), 709-746 (2016).
Available at GLJ
-
Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives.
In: German Law Journal 17(5), 705-906 (2016).
Available at GLJ
Blogposts
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Favourite Readings 2022 – A Collection of First Academic Books. EJIL:Talk!, 2022 (zusammen mit
Helga Molbæk-Steensig).
Available at EJIL:Talk!
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Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Verfassungsblog, 2022.
Available at Verfassungsblog
-
Travelling Courts and Strategic Visitation. A German Court went to Peru. Verfassungsblog, 2022 (with
Juan Camilo Herrera).
Available at Verfassungsblog
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Deutschland, Russland und „Dazwischen“ (English Version: Germany, Russia and the „In Between“). Verfassungsblog, 2022.
Available at Verfassungsblog
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Swipe up for the German Federal Constitutional Court on Instagram.
Judicial Storytelling in the Era of Social Media. Verfassungsblog, 2021.
Available at Verfassungsblog
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Beyond Shaming. Potentials and Limits of Rewarding in Human Rights. Völkerrechtsblog, 2021.
Available at Völkerrechtsblog
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Once More on Judicial Resilience: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights Responds to the Revictimizing Challenge of Colombia in the Case of Jineth Bedoya Lima and Other. Opinio Juris, 2021 (zusammen mit
Mariela Morales).
Available at Opinio Juris
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From the margins to the center – can social movements save international investment law? A comment to Moshe Hirsch. Völkerrechtsblog, 2021.
Available at Völkerrechtsblog
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Don’t Leave Me This Way: Regulating Treaty Withdrawal in the Inter-American Human Rights System. EJIL:Talk!, 2021.
Available at EJIL:Talk!
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Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore. A Critical Reflection on Zoomification. Verfassungsblog, 2020.
Available at Verfassungsblog
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How to Protect Human Rights in Times of Corona? Lessons from the Inter-American Human Rights System. EJIL:Talk!, 2020 (with
Mariela Morales).
Available at EJIL:Talk!
-
An Internal Safety Net for the Council of Europe?. Verfassungsblog, 2019.
Available at Verfassungsblog
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Managing the Backlash? The PACE and the Question of Participation Rights for Russia. Verfasungsblog, 2018.
Available at Verfassungsblog
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On history, geography, and radical change in international law - An interview with BS Chimni. Völkerrechtsblog, 2018.
Available at Völkerrechtsblog
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The Kosovo Specialist Chambers: A New Chapter for International Criminal Justice in the Balkans. Völkerrechtsblog, 2018.
Available at Völkerrechtsblog
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„Vor săvoteze, lăsați-i săvoteze!“: Über Diaspora und Demokratie. Völkerrechtsblog, 2015.
Available at Völkerrechtsblog
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“Law for the people, not for the judges“ – Reflexionen von und über Luis Moreno Ocampo. JuWiss Blog, 2014.
Available at JuWiss Blog
Working Papers
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Investment and Human Rights in the Shadow of the Pandemic: Recent Developments in 2020. Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper No. 2021-04, 2021.
Available at SSRN
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The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility, and Community Empowerment. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2020-16, 2020.
Available at SSRN
-
Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On the Creation of Corporate “Human” Rights in International Law. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2018-25, 2018 (with
Jochen von Bernstorff).
Available at SSRN
-
Parting Ways or Lashing Back? Withdrawal, Backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. MPIL Research Paper Series No. 2018-01, 2018 (with
Ximena Soley).
Available at SSRN
Media
Further Publications
-
Buchbesprechung:
Aust, Helmut Philipp, Esra Demir-Gürsel:
The European Court of Human Rights. Current Challenges in Historical Perspectives, Cheltenham, 2021.
In: Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie, 42, 110-120, 2022.
Available at Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie
-
Buchbesprechung:
Wiener, Antje:
Contestation and Constitution of Norms in Global International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 2018.
In: International Journal of Constitutional Law, 19 (1), 363-367, 2021.
Available at ICON
-
Buchbesprechung:
Ranjan, Prabash:
India and Bilateral Investment Treaties. Refusal, Acceptance, Backlash, Oxford, 2019.
In: European Yearbook of International Economic Law, 10, 1-6, 2021.
Available at Springer
Presentations
24 Jun 2021
How to Communicate Human Rights in Times of Backlash? Communication Practices of the European and Inter-American Human Rights Regimes
HRRC Annual Conference 2021 "Human Rights and Democracy"
Connecticut/Baden-Württemberg Human Rights Research Consortium
21 Jun 2021
Menschenrechte in der Praxis. Die Arbeit von Amnesty International
Montagskonferenz des Institut für Übersetzen und Dolmetschen
Universität Heidelberg
Available on Youtube
08 Jun 2021
Talking to Strangers ? Outreach and Communication Practices of the ECHR
Conference "The Influence, Legacy and Future of the European Court of Human Rights in the International Legal Order"
ESIL IG on International Courts and Tribunals & ESIL IG on Human Rights
07 Apr 2021
Can Courts Communicate? Communication Practices of the European and Inter-American Human Rights Regimes in an Age of Backlash
Lunch seminar at iCourts, Danish National Research Foundation's Centre of Excellence for International Courts
Copenhagen
15 Feb 2021
IACtHR - Advisory Opinion OC 26/20
Referentenbesprechung
Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
18 Jan 2021
An Overview of Recent Inter-State Cases at the ECtHR
Referentenbesprechung
Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
20 Jul 2020
Backlash against the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights? Withdrawal of the Optional Declaration by Rwanda, Tanzania, Benin, and Cote d'Ivoire
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
20 Jun 2020
We are all in this together? Die Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf die weltweite Situation der Menschenrechte
Regional meeting Südwest
Amnesty International Germany
27 Apr 2020
Derogation von Menschenrechtsverträgen in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
20 Jan 2020
Burning Down the House? An Update on the UNCITRAL ISDS Reform Process
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
03 Dec 2019
Retirada o Expulsión - Una Perspectiva Comparada
Iberoamerican Colloquium "Denuncia de los Tratados Internacionales de Derechos Humanos"
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
27 Sep 2019
Die Verteidigung europäischer Werte durch den Europarat: Herausforderungen und Chancen
Open Science Night Heidelberg
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
22 Jul 2019
Recent Developments at the ECtHR: First Advisory Opinion and Infringement Proceeding
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
02 Jul 2019
Harder, better, faster, stronger: Conceptualizing the institutional resilience of international courts
Presentation at ICON-S Annual Conference 2019
Santiago de Chile
11 Jun 2019
The Iron Bank Will Have Its Due: The Legal Regulation of Sovereign Debt and Foreign Investment in a Game of Thrones
Conference „Power, Law and Justice in a Game of Thrones“
University of Durham
13 May 2019
Was sind Normen? Eine Betrachtung aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive
Masterclass with Professor Christoph Möllers
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
11 May 2019
(I Can’t Live) With or Without You – Sanctioning Defiant State Parties in Regional Human Rights Regimes
Workshop "Loyal Cooperation within the ECHR System"
University of Liverpool
11 Apr 2019
(I Can’t Live) With or Without You: Sanctioning Defiant State Parties in Regional Human Rights Regimes
ECPR Joint Session "Judicial Authority Under Pressure: Politicisation and Backlash against Courts in the Age of Populism"
Universitè Catholique de Louvain
07 Jan 2019
Winter is Coming - The Ruxit and the European Human Rights System
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
22 Nov 2018
Human Rights Courts Under Pressure: Backlash and Resilience in the European and Inter-American Human Rights System
11. Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders"
University of Frankfurt
16 Nov 2018
Teorías Marxistas del Derecho Internacional y el Constitucionalismo Transformador en América Latina
Coloquio Iberoamericano "Constitucionalismo Transformador en Àmerica Latina: Aproximaciones Críticas"
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
02 Nov 2018
Resistencia y Resiliencia en el Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos
Conference "A 40 años de la Corte IDH: Una mirada desde Europa"
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
31 Oct 2018
Human Rights Courts Under Attack: On the Institutional Resilience of Regional Human Rights Regimes
Poster presentation in the context of the meeting of the MPI Board of Trustees
27 Sep 2018
Challenging the Authority of Human Rights Courts: Understanding the Institutional Resilience of the ECtHR
Wissenschaftlicher Kongress der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft
University of Frankfurt
20 Sep 2018
Marxist Approaches to International Law
Theory Talks
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
19 Jul 2018
Regionale Menschenrechtsgerichte als evasive courts?
Workshop "Judicial Conflict Evasion"
University of Tübingen
26 Jun 2018
Challenging the Authority of Human Rights Courts
Presentation at ICON-S Annual Conference 2018
Hong Kong
16 Jun 2018
Who Turned Multinational Corporations into Bearers of Human Rights? On Corporate 'Human' Rights in International Investment Protection
Paper presentation at Conference "Contingency in the Course of International Law: How International Law Could Have Been"
Amsterdam Center for International Law
26 Mar 2018
The Right to a Healthy Environment - International and Regional Perspectives
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
01 Mar 2018
Parting Ways or Lashing Back? Withdrawals, Backlash and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Paper presentation at the ESIL Research Forum 2018 "International Law in Times of Disorder and Contestation"
Hebrew University Jerusalem
08 Jan 2018
Von Mauritius bis Marokko, von Nigeria nach Wien - Aktuelle Entwicklungen im Investitionsschutzrecht
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
06 Nov 2017
The New Kid in Town: The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
21 Sep 2017
Menschenrechte in Investititionsschiedsverfahren: Auf der Suche nach Legitimität?
Workshop "Internationale öffentliche Gewalt"
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
09 Sep 2017
Inter-American Lessons on Backlash
ECPR General Conference, Panel "The Challenging and Challenged Authority of International Courts"
Oslo
20 Mar 2017
What’s Human Rights Got To Do With It? An Empirical Analysis of Human Rights References in Investment Arbitration
Workshop "Authority in International Dispute Settlement"
Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge
20 Feb 2017
Romania: Rule of Law in Crisis?
Referentenbesprechung
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
24 Jun 2016
A Discourse Theoretical Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Towards a Democratic Financial Order
"Ziemlich beste Freunde - Das spannungsreiche Verhältnis von Demokratie und Kapitalismus", Fachtagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW)
Darmstadt
Teaching
winter semester 2021/22
Introduction to Public International Law
Karlshochschule International University Karlsruhe (wöchentlich, 36h insgesamt)
winter semester 2021/22
Die gerichtliche Kommunikation mit der Öffentlichkeit: Potentiale und Risiken
EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, VL Medienverfassungsgericht Dr. Matthias Goldmann (9. Februar 2022)
summer semester 2021
Fundamentals of Human Rights Law
Université Catholique de Lille (24h from January to March 2020)
winter semester 2020/21
Introduction to Public International Law
Karlshochschule International University (36h from September to January)
summer semester 2020
Kamingespräch zum Europarat/EGMR System
Universität Freiburg, Podcast im Rahmen der Vorlesung "Grundrechtsschutz in Europa" von PD Dr. Paulina Starski (21.05.2020)
summer semester 2020
Fundamentals of Human Rights Law
Université Catholique de Lille (24h from January to March 2020)
winter semester 2019/20
Introduction to International Courts and Tribunals
University of Mannheim (27. September 2019
summer semester 2019
Populism and International Law
MPIL Heidelberg, Frankfurt Colloquium (12. Juni 2019)
summer semester 2019
Fundamentals of Human Rights Law
Université Catholique de Lille (Intensive course - 24 hours in March 2019)
winter semester 2018/19
Menschenrechte in der Praxis - die Geschichte von Amnesty International
Universität Heidelberg (16. Januar 2019)
winter semester 2018/19
Introduction to International Courts and Tribunals: Proliferation and Backlash
Universität Mannheim (24. September 2018)
winter semester 2017/18
The Rise and Fall of International Courts and Tribunals: On Authority, Proliferation, and Backlash
MPIL Heidelberg, ITLOS Program (22. November 2017)
winter semester 2017/18
The Rise and Fall of International Courts and Tribunals: On Authority, Proliferation, and Backlash
University of Mannheim (9. October 2017)
summer semester 2015
Realism and Institutionalism as Theories of Conflict and Cooperation: New Research and Case Studies (Graduate Teaching Assistant to Prof. Peter Schlotter)
University of Heidelberg (weekly)
winter semester 2014/15
Introduction to International Relations (Tutorial)
University of Heidelberg (weekly)
winter semester 2013/14
Introduction to International Relations (Tutorial)
University of Heidelberg (weekly)
Honours
Fellowship
Re:constitution Fellowship on Exchange and Analysis on the Rule of Law in Europe, Stiftung Mercator. For an individual research project "Let's Talk About the Rule of Law: Court Communication in the European Rule of Law Crisis", 15.000 Euro granted (2023)
Grant
Proposal for PI-Project Armin von Bogdandy "On the Contestation, Disintegration, and Resilience of international Institution" by the Cluster of Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders", 20.000 Euro granted (2018-2019)
Study scholarship from the Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung in the "Lux like" program for highly gifted students from a non-academic background (2011-2017)
Memberships
Professional memberships:
- Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (DVPW)
- International Society of Public Law (ICON.S)
- European Society of International Law (ESIL)
- European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)
Voluntary service
Miscellaneous
Languages
German (native), English (C2), Spanish (B2), Romanian (A2), Hungarian (A2)
Service
- Member of the library council (2019 - )
- Member of the selection committee for the "Max Planck-Cambridge Prize for International Law" (2020 - )
Organisation of Conferences, Seminars, and Panels
- Workshop "The End of IPA? Contestation, Crisis, and Resilience
in International Institutions" (together with Armin von Bogdandy und
Matthias Goldmann), 28-29. November 2019, MPI Heidelberg
- Panel
"What Doesn't Kill It Makes It Stronger? The Resilience of the
Inter-American Human Rights System in an Age of Backlash" (together with
Ximena Soley) Annual Conference ICON-S 2019, Santiago de Chile
- Panel
"The Authoritarian Pushback and the Resilience of International
Institutions (together with Matthias Goldmann und Pedro Villarreal)
Annual Conference ICON-S 2018, Hongkong
- Workshop
"Internationale öffentliche Gewalt" (together with Armin von Bogdandy und
Matthias Goldmann), 20.-21. September 2017, MPI Heidelberg
- Tagung
"Democracy and Financial Order: Legal Perspectives" (zusammen mit
Matthias Goldmann und Franz Ebert), 02.-03. September 2015, Cluster of
Excellence "The Formation of Normative Orders" Frankfurt
- Max
Planck Masterclass in International Law 2014 with Professor Martti
Koskenniemi (together with Dana Schmalz), 29. April - 02. May 2014, MPI
Heidelberg
Peer Review
- OUP (textbook)
- Brill (monograph)
- Leiden Journal of International Law
- Journal of International Dispute Settlement
- Journal of International Economic Law
- Law & Social Inquiry
- Governance
- Erasmus Law Review
- Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy
- Peace Human Rights Governance
- Göttingen Journal of International Law
Media
- Statement on the role of expropriation in human rights and ISDS, VerfassungsPod #1: Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen, Verfassungsblog Podcast (19. September 2021)
- Media interview "Wenn Investoren auf ihre Menschenrechte pochen", Republik Magazin (1. September 2021)
- Profil on the German scientific temporal employement law, Rhein-Neckar Zeitung (25. Juni 2021)
- TV interview on Human Rights Day 2020, "Amnesty International Rhein-Neckar", RON TV
- Annual Conflict Barometer of HIIK e.V: Regional head of working group for Central Asia (2014 - 2016), regional head of working group for Balkan (2015 - 2016), annual overview of ICJ and ICC activities (2016 - 2018)
- Press interview Deutsche Welle "Konfliktpotential des Balkans bleibt hoch" (06. März 2017) englische Version
- Several national and international radio interviews
Political Education
I am a regular lecturer and working group leader in education events and courses on the topic of human rights, for instance presentations for the general public, in universities, education institutions, and schools.