In Brief

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach Is the New GIGA President (ad interim)

As of 1 April 2024, our long-time colleague Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach has been appointed President (ad interim) of the GIGA. Together, we will work to ensure that the GIGA remains a place of excellent research for Global and Comparative Area Studies and one where everybody enjoys working.


  • Until the appointment of a new president of the GIGA, the position will initially be held by Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies, from 1 April 2024.

    Her academic work addresses peace and conflict research, with a regional focus on Latin America. For example, regarding the variations of “peace” found in Colombia or on a feminist concept of security sector reform at the interface between state and society. Kurtenbach pursues interdisciplinary approaches and comparative and cross-regional analyses. She has also worked as an expert for various German and international organisations.

    “For me, the GIGA was and is the scientific place that focuses on excellent research on relevant global topics – comparatively across regions. This is our unique selling point that sets us apart from university institutes. Here, the GIGA can make decisive contributions to scientific debates, but also share our research results with political decision-makers, interested stakeholders, and the general public in accordance with the Leibniz motto theoria cum praxi,” said Kurtenbach upon taking office.

    Kurtenbach has been a researcher for many years and was part of the co-leadership team of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies. She has been an Honorary Professor at the Philipps University Marburg since 2018. 

    Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding | 03/2024

    Variations of Peace in Colombia

    Peace and conflict are not the same across territories and scales. Conceptualizing peace as a process based on three core functions of society and related norms allows us to identify variations in peacebuilding needs and perceptions. The entanglement of different scales shapes the diversity of peace and highlights the opportunities and challenges of peacebuilding and related norms, along with their diffusion and contestation.

    Elements in International Relations | Cambridge University Press | 11/2023

    Building Pathways to Peace: State–Society Relations and Security Sector Reform

    Local actors should be involved in peacebuilding processes and security sector reforms (SSR). The book presents a feminist and intersectoral conceptualisation of SSR as well as quantitative and qualitative findings from 42 post-conflict societies as well as from Afghanistan and Colombia. Open Access until 11 December 2023!

    Edited Volume | 10/2023

    Venezuela: de la Pax Malandra a la Paz Ciudadana

    Venezuela is an unusual context for a study on peace and peacebuilding. The book provides an analysis with a “conflict and peace” lens besides the fact that its high levels of violence are not an open war or armed conflict.

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