Forschungsschwerpunkte

RESEARCH FIELDS

  • Policy Analysis (Public Security, Conflict Resolution/Multilateral Negotiations); Evaluation of policy outcomes; Security Paradox; Assessment of impact and non-intended consequences of emerging technologies;
  • Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI); Ethics, legitimacy, and accountability in policy; Stakeholder engagement in public policy; Non-technological innovation mechanisms
  • Strategic foresight, Horizon-scanning, and Scenario-building methodologies; Decisions under uncertainty; Frame analysis

 

RESEARCH PROJECTS

SecurePART www.securepart.eu  (Increasing the Engagement of Civil Society in Security Research) EU FP7

2014-2016

SecurePART, a EU FP7 project (Security Theme), addresses the issue of broadening societal participation in the sensitive field of security research policy. The need for democratization of publicly funded research in the areas of surveillance, detection, and pattern recognition raises a number of important normative issues as to which actors, and on what grounds, should be actively engaged in order to enhance accountability of procedures, as well as to foster legitimacy and effectiveness of outcomes. SecurePART aims at enhancing the influence of civil society in formulating, monitoring, and implementing current and future EU security research.

 

SiW www.securityculture.org (The Transformation of Security Culture)  BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research)

2010-2013

Western societies are currently experiencing a proliferation of security demands. Security from war and violence. Security from terrorism and crime. Security from environmental catastrophes and financial crises. Security has become a central value in our societies. Yet, the ongoing expansion of security needs poses an enormous challenge to political decision making - from responding to threats to managing risks. There is a sharp contrast between societal expectations for security and the ability of national and international institutions to meet them. At the same time, decisions in security policy often raise heavy criticism and even public resistance. The meaning of security has become a deeply contested issue. In order to sharpen our understanding of the potential and the limits of security policy and in order to advance ongoing debates on actual security problems, we need to look closer at the transformation of security culture. The project traces the semantics, the strategies, and the institutional consequences of security policies:

  • What causes the transformation of security culture? How and why are the demands for security changing? Which actors articulate such demands and what is their agenda? Which structures and events have contributed to this development?
  • What are the effects of a changing security culture? To what extent are the tasks of security policy shifting? Which tensions emerge between societal security demands, state promises and the capacity to meet them?
  • Which strategies are available in the face of a new security culture? What are the political options to meet the various challenges and demands? Which strategies might prove to fit best? What are the likely intended and unintended consequences of such policies?

 

HUMSEC www.humsec.eu (Human Security in the Western Balkan Region) EU FP6

2006-2009

HUMSEC’s purpose has been to contribute to a better understanding of the link between transnational terrorist groups and criminal organisations in the Western Balkans and their role in the peace-building process in the region. Main goal of HUMSEC has been to establish a network of scientists working in the project field and to enhance the dialogue between scientists from the European Union and the Western Balkan region. Particular attention has been paid in the composition of the consortium on the variety and equal distribution of scientific disciplines (the consortium consists of universities and research institutes of criminal law, international law and criminology as well as human rights centres) to allow a truly interdisciplinary scientific dialog. Within the project framework three major issues were identified and each HUMSEC workpackage was dedicated to the report and the implementation of the state of the art on one of this focal issues:

  • The connection between transnational terrorist and criminal organisations in the Western Balkan region;
  • The influence on the state and society;
  • The impact of transnational terrorist and criminal organisations on the peace-building process of the region.

 

ORGANIZED CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS/PANELS

Council of Europe/World Forum for Democracy 2014: Workshop “Young citizens: Unlocking the freedom-vs.-security debate” (http://www.coe.int/en/web/world-forum-democracy/programme-2014), Strasbourg 3-5 November 2014. Moderator: Georgios Kolliarakis

Expert Roundtable: European Civil Security: A New Paradigm for Security Research and Policy? (Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis) WISC Fourth Global International Studies Conference (http://www.wiscnetwork.org/wisc2014.php), 6-9 August 2014, Frankfurt, Germany

Conference Panel: Conceptualizing and criticizing resilience (Chair: Chris Methman; Discussant; Georgios Kolliarakis) WISC Fourth Global International Studies Conference (http://www.wiscnetwork.org/wisc2014.php), 6-9 August 2014, Frankfurt, Germany

Conference Panel: High-Tech (In-)Security: The Rise of International Security Fairs
Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis, University of Frankfurt; Discussant: Claudia Aradau, King's College London. EISA 8th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (http://www.8thpaneuropean.org/schedule.html), 18-21 September 2013, Warsaw, Poland

Final Conference Wandel der Sicherheitskultur als Herausforderung für die Politik (The Transformation of Security Culture as a Challenge for Policy), (http://www.sicherheitskultur.org/de/veranstaltungen/der-wandel-der-sicherheitskultur.html) Project "Sicherheitskultur im Wandel“. (Chairs: Georgios Kolliarakis, Christopher Daase, Stefan Engert) Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 14 May 2013, Berlin, Germany

International Expert Workshop: The Problem of Recognition in Global Politics  (http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/48657289/RecLeg-Workshop-Outline.pdf)  (http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/42867405/Recognition-workshop-programme-final_Guest.pdf ) (Chairs: Georgios Kolliarakis, Anna Geis, Christopher Daase, Caroline Fehl) University of Frankfurt, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, 21-22 June 2012, Frankfurt, Germany

Conference Panel: Who's Afraid of the Wolf? Öffentliche Kommunikation über Sicherheitsbedrohungen im Wandel (http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/45047543/DPVW-Conference) (Public communication on security threats in change). (Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis; Discussant: Christiane Schlötzer) 3. Offene Sektionstagung der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft. 6-7 October 2011, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany

Conference Panel: The Dynamics of Recognition in Foreign Policy (http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/45045782/The-Dynamics-of-Recognition-in-Foreign-Policy) (Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis; Discussant: Alyson Bailes) 6th General Conference, European Consortium for Political Research, 25-27 August 2011, University of Iceland, Reykjavik., Iceland

Conference Section: The Transformation of Security Culture (http://www.sicherheitskultur.org/fileadmin/files/WorkingPapers/Bericht_SGIR_Kolliarakis.pdf ) (Chairs: Georgios Kolliarakis, Christopher Daase) SGIR 7th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, 9-11 September 2010, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.

Expert Roundtable: The Weakness of Strong Security Institutions (http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/45048092/The-Weakness-of-Strong-Security-Institutions) (Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis; Discussants: Peter Burgess, Eyal Benvenisti, Tanja Brühl, Gunther Hellmann, Christopher Daase, Harald Müller) SGIR 7th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, 9-11 September 2010, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.

Conference Panel: Clandestine Violent Groups as a Challenge for Security Governance (Chair: Georgios Kolliarakis) 5th European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference, 10-12 September 2008, Potsdam, Germany.

2nd Annual Conference: The Impact of Criminal and Terrorist Organizations on the State and Society (http://humsec.eu/cms/index.php?id=912) (Chairs: Georgios Kolliarakis, Christopher Daase), EU project “Human Security in the Western Balkan Region”, 4-6 October 2007, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.