Facilitation, Analysis & Talks

In addition to my own research I have consulted several state institutions and non-state organizations working on issues in the Arab World, such as corruption, democracy promotion, human rights and political developments.
Amongst my clients and employers are members of the German Parliament (Bundestag), BBAW – the Berlin Brandenburgische Academy of Science, the SWP – German Institute for International and Security Affairs, employees of the German Foreign Office (Auswaertiges Amt), the German Ministry for development cooperation, the WZB – Berlin Social Science Center, Adopt a Revoltion (Leipzig based NGO),  Adopt an Academic initiative by the Free University Berlin, AGYA – the Arab German Young Academy of Science, the Salam to Syria event series, the Saliba and Salibaba Restaurants in Hamburg and several german and international media outlets, such as Open Democracy, Deutsche Welle, Radio Bayern3, Die ZEIT, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Tagesthemen, RTL News, Morgenmagazin, der Tagesspiegel a.o.

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Social Sience Consulting

Consulting NGOs and government institutions with independend, impartial and consice analyses to get a better picture of the issues they are dealing with in their work is a service I have provided in Germany and elsewhere regularly.

I have contributed to reports on corruption for Transparency International, the Mediterranean Yearbook and the yearly country assessment reports of the German development cooperation ministry.

​Darfting surveys and analyzing the results is as much part of my portfolio as analyzing preexisting data. These assements can conclude in presentations, reports or to develop options for future actions and scenarios. I have been part of a team at the WZB supporting the NGO Adopt a Revolution to conduct and analyse the first large-n survey mongst Syrian refugees in Germany. The results can be accessed here.

Meetings & Facilitation

Through regular fieldwork stays in Cairo, Tunis and Rabat I have established a wide range of contacts to civil society organizations, activists, government officials and foreign policy professionals. I also have a wide network into the growing Syrian civil society in Germany through my political activism.

My research activities have allowed me to build an international network amongst knowledgable experts on fields such as civil society, rule of law, democracy and security, as well as human rights issues. In workshops at instiitutions such as the German Federal Foreign Office I have assembled researchers and think tankers and facilitated dialogue with policy makers.

Clients interested in contacting or cooperating with certain actors or simply thinking about realizing a project in Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt for example can build on my network to establish trusted contacts prior to risking any resources. I am happy to help arrange meetings and brief customers for particular cultural or societal contexts that should be taken into account when realizing projects or working with partners from the mentioned countries.

Discussions & Analysis

Interviews (Print, TV & Radio), talks and meetings with journalists, policy professionals and politicians or diplomats dealing with the respective countries or topics that I am conducting research on have become a regular part of my work.

My previous consultations have focussed on the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ministry of development cooperation and parliamentarians in the German Bundestag dealing with foreign, security or human rights policy.

Meetings or phone calls can be set-up spontaniously if a certain issue jumps to the agenda and an informed opinion and exchange of options is needed or also can be scheduled to deal with a certain issue.

Presentations & Moderation

I have given presentations related to the issues of the Tunisian transition process, the Syrian civil war, the political system of Morocco , the role of social media for politics in the Arab World, recent political developments in the MENA region and more broadly prospects for democratization in the Arab World at different occasions and for diverse audiences (from general to academic).
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The presentations can be accompinied by brief analysis, policy papers oder reports of recent developments to provide more background.

I have also been moderating political, academic and art panel discussions and debates at various international and german settings, conferences and institutions. Lately i have co-organized and hosted the art series Salam to Syria in Hamburg. See here for a video of the event in the beautiful Orient room at the Syrian Restaurant Mazza.