German Institute for Global and Area Studies - GIGA

07/10/2026

Jemens Regierungstruppen gehen gegen die Huthis in die Offensive. Doch die Erfolge am Bab al-Mandab sind umstritten. GIGA-Forscher Jens Heibach ordnet die jüngste Eskalation für die Deutsche Welle ein.

➡️ Zum Artikel: https://amp.dw.com/de/offensive-gegen-die-huthi-entscheidungsschlacht-um-jemens-zukunft/a-79562855

Jemens Regierungstruppen gehen gegen die Huthi in die Offensive. Doch die Erfolge am Bab al-Mandab sind umstritten. Entscheidend ist, ob die zerstrittenen Gegner der Huthi ihre Kräfte koordinieren können.

05/10/2026

The new issue of Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 2/2026 is out! It explores the Communist Party's involvement in private business in , the state's influence on educational migration, and populist content on social media in , among other topics.

➡️ Have a look: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/press/new-journal-of-current-chinese-affairs-2-2026?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

This issue covers such key topics as elite patronage and firm innovation, romanticising Xinjiang through global media, the 2024 Xianzhong incident, the reception and dissemination of Inamori Kazuo’s ideas in Chinese business circles, state influence in educational migration, and more.

29/09/2026

A decade ago, the arbitral tribunal constituted under UNCLOS delivered its landmark Award in the South China Sea Arbitration between the Philippines and China by ruling against China's claims in the South China Sea. The decision remains one of the most consequential judicial rulings in the law of the sea.

💬 Join us on 13 October 2026 in Berlin for a discussion with Roderich Kiesewetter, Jay Batongbacal, Lizza Bomassi, and Joachim Bertele to examine the ruling’s implications for international law and Germany’s and Europe’s Indo-Pacific engagement.

The event will feature welcome remarks by H.E. Ambassador Maria Teresa Torres Almojuela from the Philippine Embassy in Germany and closing reflections by GIGA Vice President Patrick Köllner. Moderation: Ariel Macaspac Hernandez.

➡️ Register now: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/conferences-and-workshops/south-china-sea-ruling-ten-law-power-europe-s-indo-pacific-stakes?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

On 12 July 2016, the arbitral tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) delivered its landmark Award in the South China Sea Arbitration between the Philippines and China.

28/09/2026

United States' export controls on advanced AI chips and related technologies have created a critical bottleneck in Chinese AI development. In response, the Chinese government and firms have adopted strategies to circumvent, compensate, and counterbalance US restrictions.

As China adapts to technology controls and builds greater technological self-reliance, the global AI landscape may become increasingly bifurcated, with two increasingly distinct technological ecosystems centred around the United States and China.

💬 Join us on Thursday, 8 October 2026, for a talk by expert Guangyu Qiao-Franco, who will examine how China is meeting technology controls to reduce dependencies in AI development. This talk will be moderated by Sebastian Biba and Esther Song.

➡️ Register now: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/conferences-and-workshops/giga-china-series?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

The GIGA China Series aims to foster a community of knowledge seekers interested in unravelling the complexities of China’s politics, society, and global impact. Speakers will present their current research findings on today’s China, ranging from domestic governance and societal trends to geopol...

25/09/2026

🗣️ Over the past two days, the GIGA welcomed international scholars from various disciplines to discuss populist world order narratives.

🌍 What claims do populist actors advance about the structure, crisis, and future of international order? Rather than treating populism as a purely domestic phenomenon, the workshop started from the premise that populist actors also imagine, narrate, legitimise, and contest world order.

💬 Following a call for papers, participants from political science, international relations, history, and sociology presented and discussed their submissions. Cases ranged from Turkey, India, and Ethiopia to Brazil, Japan, and Iran.

The workshop is part of the World Order Narratives of the Global South (WONAGO) project, led by the GIGA and , and was organised by GIGA Expert Hakkı Taş. We thank all participants for an inspiring exchange.

Feyza Akinerdem · Tuğba (Özden) Bayar · Fernando Brancoli · Angelos Chryssogelos · Uğur Derin · Olivia Isabell Glombitza · Lisel Hintz · Erik Isaksson · Sruthi Muraleedharan · Sandhya Nepal · Uri Rosenberg · Semuhi Sinanoğlu, PhD · Digdem Soyaltin Colella (Ph.D.) · Harry Verhoeven · Daniel F. Wajner · Stephanie Christine Winkler, PhD · Melike Ayşe Kocacık Şenol · Eckart Woertz · Cansu Güngör · Ali Arican

📷: GIGA/Nischal Joshi

23/09/2026

🌱 Die BRICS können nicht gleichzeitig Rohstoff-Supermacht bleiben und ihren globalen Emissionsanteil signifikant senken, ohne ihr Wachstumsmodell grundlegend zu ändern. Forderungen an die Industrienationen nach Klimagerechtigkeit, Klimafinanzierung, Technologie-Transfer und Kapazitätsaufbau sind Teil der geopolitischen Strategie der Staatengruppe.

💬 Am Mittwoch, den 7. Oktober 2026, diskutieren Melanie Müller (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) und GIGA-Experte Jan Wilkens über die politischen Strategien der BRICS zwischen Wachstum und Klimaschutz sowie die Chancen einer globalen Bioökonomie. Moderiert wird die Veranstaltung in der Zentralbibliothek der Bücherhallen Hamburg von André Schünke (NDR).

Die Diskussion bildet den Abschluss einer gemeinsamen Veranstaltungsreihe der Landeszentrale für politische Bildung und dem GIGA. Über fünf Termine hinweg haben sich Expert:innen mit der Vielschichtigkeit der BRICS-Staatengruppe beschäftigt.

➡️ Weitere Informationen gibt es auf der Startseite des GIGA.

22/09/2026

🌍 Knapp zwei Jahre nach dem Sturz der Assad-Diktatur steht Syrien vor einer unsicheren Zukunft: Trotz einer lautstarken Zivilgesellschaft ist der politische Übergang, der von Ahmad Sharaas Regierung dominiert wird, durch autoritäre Tendenzen geprägt. Der wirtschaftliche Wiederaufbau nach dem langjährigen Bürgerkrieg kommt nur schleppend voran. Zudem ist Syrien in Konfliktkonstellationen im Nahen Osten verflochten.

💬 Die Leibniz-Gemeinschaft bietet mit dem Format „Book a Scientist” einen Austausch zwischen Zivilgesellschaft und Wissenschaft. Im Rahmen des Speeddating-Formats können die Expert:innen online zu ihrem Forschungsfeld ausgefragt werden.

📅 GIGA-Experte André Bank steht dafür am Dienstag, 29. September 2026, von 10:00 bis 11:30 Uhr und von 16:00 bis 17:30 Uhr zur Verfügung.

➡️ Jetzt anmelden: https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/ueber-uns/neues/veranstaltungen/book-a-scientist/ -topic-467

21/09/2026

🌏 China has emerged as a major AI power, but its ambitions face a critical bottleneck: dependence on imports of advanced semiconductors. Since 2022, United States’ export controls have limited China’s access to advanced AI chips and related technologies. These controls have accelerated a broad transformation in China’s AI strategy, with the country pursuing strategies to circumvent, compensate and counterbalance US restrictions.

As China adapts to technology controls and builds greater technological self-reliance, the global AI landscape may become increasingly bifurcated, with two increasingly distinct technological ecosystems centred around the United States and China.

💬 Join us on Thursday, 8 October 2026, for a talk by expert Guangyu Qiao-Franco, who will examine how China is meeting technology controls to reduce dependencies in AI development. This talk will be moderated by Sebastian Biba and Esther Song.

➡️ Register now: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/conferences-and-workshops/giga-china-series?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

21/09/2026

🌍 Today is the International Day of Peace. Across the globe, millions suffer under international crises, protracted armed conflicts, and many other forms of social and political violence.

✒️ As GIGA President Sabine Kurtenbach emphasises in a recent interview, peace is not simply the absence of war, but a process that has to be built on inclusion, rights, and long-term commitment. „Everyone should start where they can make a difference.“

With „PEACEptions“, a joint project of the GIGA and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, GIGA researchers explored diverse understandings of peace across six countries. The study reveals perceptions of peace ranging from a sense of tranquillity and the absence of conflict to broader socio-political transformations.

Through our GIGA Research Programme, „Peace and Security“, our researchers study the causes of violent conflict and the conditions that foster sustainable peace. They analyse the role of local, national, regional and international actors in creating peace and security, focusing on the perspectives of citizens, civil society and governments in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

➡️ Learn more about peace and security research at the GIGA: LINK IN BIO.

18/09/2026

🌍 African citizens want more trade, more global engagement, and a stronger voice in institutions such as the UN, but they are split on migration and demand accountability on climate change. The latest flagship report by Afrobarometer challenges Western assumptions about alignment in an increasingly multipolar world.

💬 Join us in Berlin on Thursday, 1 October 2026, where Afrobarometer CEO Joseph Asunka will present and discuss the findings of the latest flagship report alongside GIGA expert Matthias Basedau. The event is moderated by Mira Demirdirek and organised by Christian von Soest and Basedau.

➡️ Register now: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/giga-talks-berlin/africa-and-the-world-citizens-views-in-an-age-of-fragmentation&utm_source=facebook?utm_medium=social