Since 03/2022: External Editor for thematic series "Autocracies with Adjectives" at the Loop, ECPR's Political Science Blog
Since 10/2018: Research Fellow / Doctoral Student at GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies and at GIGA Doctoral Programme
Since 09/2010: Freelance Journalist
09/2016 - 01/2018: Student Assistant at the Student Recruitment Office of the Central European University Budapest
12/2014 - 02/2016: Research Assistant at the Faculty of Social Science, Goethe University Frankfurt. Chair of Sociology specializing in Quantitative Analyses of Social Change
08/2015 - 10/2015: Internship at the Leibniz-Institute Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF – HSFK), Frankfurt am Main
Education: M.A. in Political Science, Central European University Budapest; B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Current Research
Civil-Military Relations in the Middle East and North Africa
Military Coups and Civilian Control of Armies
Authoritarian Regimes, Authoritarian Institutions
Regime Stability and Destabilization
Party Systems and Cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa
German Military Deployments in the MENA-Region and Sahel
Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2022
American Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2021
European Research Group on Military and Society, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2021
German Political Science Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2020
New German Media Professionals, Other functions, since 2020
International Studies Association, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2020
European Consortium for Political Research, Member of ECPR Standing Groups: Political Methodology, Political Violence, Comparative Political Institutions, Critical Peace and Conflict Studies, since 2020
German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation, Membership in region-specific association or network, since 2019
International Association for Political Science Students, Membership in discipline-specific association or network, since 2018
Dissertation
Praetorianism in the MENA-Region. Military Governance and Civilian Control across Regime Types
Awards
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop", European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), 2023
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
In Sudan’s protracted war, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces outmanoeuvred Abdelfattah Al-Burhan’s Armed Forces through sabotage, new weapons, and broader networks. But as regional actors and local militia hijack the war’s original power-struggle, frontlines and command chains shattered.
Dissolving former ruling parties and purging institutions breaks with old regimes. But, Hager Ali, building strong political parties to govern after ousting long-time rulers takes far more time than new incumbents have, especially when they face severe crises.
In this article, Hager Ali (GIGA), Salah Ben Hammou, and Jonathan Powell (University of Central Florida) investigate how armies re-entrench their power after thwarting democratic transitions.
The study of regime types, Hager Ali argues, is imbalanced. Theories and concepts of democracy have received attention for decades. But amid the resurgence of autocracies, scholars of authoritarianism still do not have the luxury of nuanced typologies to dissect the broad spectrum of non-democratic regimes.
Award | European Consortium for Political Research | 08/2023
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop"
GIGA Researcher Hager Ali's opening Blog Post "Autocracies with Adjectives" at ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop" was nominated and shortlisted for the Best Blog Post of 2022.
How do the rival Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stack up against each other, and what might happen next? In this guest article for Aljazeera English, Hager Ali analyses the political and military roles of the two parties within Sudan's political system, and how their tactical specializations play out in the fighting in Khartoum today.
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
In Sudan’s protracted war, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces outmanoeuvred Abdelfattah Al-Burhan’s Armed Forces through sabotage, new weapons, and broader networks. But as regional actors and local militia hijack the war’s original power-struggle, frontlines and command chains shattered.
Dissolving former ruling parties and purging institutions breaks with old regimes. But, Hager Ali, building strong political parties to govern after ousting long-time rulers takes far more time than new incumbents have, especially when they face severe crises.
In this article, Hager Ali (GIGA), Salah Ben Hammou, and Jonathan Powell (University of Central Florida) investigate how armies re-entrench their power after thwarting democratic transitions.
The study of regime types, Hager Ali argues, is imbalanced. Theories and concepts of democracy have received attention for decades. But amid the resurgence of autocracies, scholars of authoritarianism still do not have the luxury of nuanced typologies to dissect the broad spectrum of non-democratic regimes.
Award | European Consortium for Political Research | 08/2023
Shortlisted for the Best Blog Award of 2022 by ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop"
GIGA Researcher Hager Ali's opening Blog Post "Autocracies with Adjectives" at ECPR's Political Science Blog "The Loop" was nominated and shortlisted for the Best Blog Post of 2022.
How do the rival Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stack up against each other, and what might happen next? In this guest article for Aljazeera English, Hager Ali analyses the political and military roles of the two parties within Sudan's political system, and how their tactical specializations play out in the fighting in Khartoum today.
GIGA-Forscherin und Sudan-Expertin Hager Ali erklärt außenpolitische Interessen am Sudan, und die taktische Rolle der Russischen Wagner Gruppe im Machtkampf zwischen Al-Burhan und Daglao.
Alongside the fighting in Sudan, there’s a battle of narratives while grassroots are pushing information out. The two generals are pushing their narratives on social media and jostling for command of the state-run airwaves. Interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
In Sudan’s protracted war, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces outmanoeuvred Abdelfattah Al-Burhan’s Armed Forces through sabotage, new weapons, and broader networks. But as regional actors and local militia hijack the war’s original power-struggle, frontlines and command chains shattered.
In this book chapter, Matthijs Bogaards (Central European University) and Hager Ali (GIGA) review the literature on factionalism and factions in political parties as well as other organizations.
Hager Ali explains how Sudan's interim government enabled the violent power struggle between the country’s largest armed forces and how past political systems can still undermine present peace efforts.
In this policy paper, GIGA researcher Hager Ali and SWP researcher Gerrit Kurtz, argue that civilian actors formed a broad anti-war coalition that should set the tone for peace talks from the very beginning.
In Sudan kämpfen die wichtigsten Sicherheitskräfte des Landes gegeneinander. Eine schnelle militärische Entscheidung ist angesichts des relativ ausgeglichenen Kräfteverhältnisses zwischen den Sudanesischen Streitkräften (SAF) und den Rapid Support Forces (RSF) nicht zu erwarten. Durch dieses strategische Patt sind die Chancen auf eine erfolgreiche Vermittlung nicht ausweglos.
A year into the civil war in Sudan, the humanitarian costs have been staggering – but the news coverage has been minimal. A conflict on this scale should top the news agenda but it has been relegated to the back pages – in part – because of what is happening in Gaza and Ukraine. An interview with GIGA researcher Hager Ali.
One year on from the outbreak of another war, Sudan is being torn apart by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in recent memory. More aid has been pledged, but many see no end to the suffering.
Die Berichte und Voraussagen sind katastrophal. Zehn- oder sogar Hunderttausende Menschen in Sudan könnten in den nächsten Monaten an Unterernährung sterben, warnt das Nothilfebüro der Vereinten Nationen. Interview mit GIGA-Forscherin Hager Ali zur Lage im Sudan
Dresden Forum for International Politics 2024, Dresden
Organisers: Development and Peace Foundation
Hager Ali (Speaker)
This panel explores conflict resolution in a multipolar world. GIGA Researcher Hager Ali gave a talk about how the rise of authoritarian governance and military coups impacts peace negotiations in intra-state conflicts.
Organiser: Swiss Study Foundation
Hager Ali (Speaker)
Hager Ali vom German Institute for Global and Area Studies in Hamburg zeichnet die Ursachen für den Machtkampf zwischen den «Sudan Armed Forces» und den «Rapid Support Forces» sowie die Entwicklungen innerhalb der letzten 12 Monate nach.
Guest Lecture by GIGA Researcher Hager Ali on 'Designing Social Inquiry' by King, Keohane, and Verba
Teaching | Universität Hamburg | 2023
Hybrid Regimes and Autocracies since the 1990s
This course covers the emergence, function, and demise of hybrid and authoritarian regimes. The first half covers the emergence and breakdown of autocracies and specific autocratic institutions. The second half deals with current developments in hybrid and autocratic regimes.
Teaching | Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy | 2023
Public Scholarship and Communicating Research
Disseminating academic research to political stakeholders and the general public is an increasingly important skill to have. At the same time, few centralized guidelines or teaching modules exist on how to plan and execute effective research communication for specifically academic writers.
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