Team

Monica Alessi is a Programme Manager at CEPS, where she works in the Energy, Resources and Climate Change Policy Unit. Before that, she was a consultant for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In CEPS, she has researched and co-authored reports on energy, resources and circular economy, climate and international development policies. She works within the management team to set up new projects and initiatives. She is also involved in the coordination of CEPS Network activities, and the flagship event CEPS Ideas Lab. She graduated with a M.Phil in Environmental Policy from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Katja Biedenkopf is a Professor of Sustainability Politics at Leuven International and European Studies (LINES) at KU Leuven. She is also the Chair of LINES and coordinates the Sustainable Futures research group. Her research focuses on the external effects of the European Union’s environmental and climate policy, diplomacy, polycentric carbon pricing policy, as well as chemicals and waste regulation. Katja is also the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council-funded project Polycentric Carbon Pricing Governance (PolyCarbon) and a co-PI of the KU Leuven C1-funded project Connectivity, Contestation and Cooperation in Global Governance (CONNECTIVITY). She has published in journals including the Journal of European Public Policy, Environmental Politics, and International Studies Quarterly.

Steven Blockmans is a Senior Research Fellow, and previously Research Director, at CEPS. He is also Senior Fellow at ICDS, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, and Editor-in-Chief of the European Foreign Affairs Review. He is a frequent commentator on EU affairs at major media outlets and regularly briefs senior policy practitioners from the EU, its member states, and G20 country governments. He was a member of a track 1.5 process between the EU and Russia and several track 2 processes. He is the author of two books and has edited 20 volumes, including The EU’s Role in Global Governance (Oxford University Press 2013).

Tomáš Boukal is a PhD student at Charles University, where he specialises in the tax behaviour of multinational cooperations, bridging public economics and economic geography. His research centres on corporate taxation, profit shifting, and global financial and tax reforms. Currently, he is analysing the economic and policy implications of implementing the global minimum effective tax rate as part of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.

Ha Eun Choi is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Potsdam and a PhD candidate at Michigan State University. Her current research is focused on three areas of interest: the design of trade agreements, the effectiveness of international organisations, and human rights, with a particular focus on women’s rights. In her doctoral dissertation, she examines when and why provisions related to women’s rights are incorporated into trade agreements. Her other works examine the effectiveness of UN diplomacy, such as the impact of the UN Secretary-General’s state visits on human rights and foreign aid allocations.

Christian Dietz is a Researcher in the Energy, Resources, and Climate Change (ERCC) Unit at CEPS, where he works on climate policy. He previously worked as a consultant for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Southern Africa, focusing on project design, monitoring, and policy analysis. He also gained private-sector experience at a sustainability consultancy in Germany, where he advised businesses across various industries on carbon footprint analysis and decarbonisation strategies. He holds an MSc in international economics and public policy from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Hylke Dijkstra is the Project Coordinator of ENSURED. He is also a Full Professor of International Security and Cooperation at Maastricht University. He is interested in how increasing geopolitics and the deteriorating relations between states affect prospects for international cooperation. Dijkstra has also been the Principal Investigator of an ERC project on international organisations and Work-Package Leader in two Horizon projects. At Maastricht University, he serves as the Director of the Research Programme Politics and Culture in Europe. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs.

Paulo Esteve is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and General Coordinator of the Center for Studies and Research – BRICS. In 2004, he organized the book “International Institutions: Security, Trade and Integration” and, in 2010, he published “The Convergence between Humanitarian Practices and International Security”. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the IUPERJ and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Copenhagen.

Óscar Fernández is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Maastricht University. His research sits primarily at the intersection between EU external action and global health governance, but also addresses other policy fields, such as security and defence. Prior to joining Maastricht University, he was a research fellow at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), a teaching fellow at Esade, a senior researcher at the EsadeGeo Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, and a junior researcher at the World Health Organization's Barcelona Office for Health Systems Strengthening.

Andrew Firmin is Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. He co-leads two key research and analysis programmes: CIVICUS Lens and the annual State of Civil Society Report. In earlier work with CIVICUS, Andrew headed the research, convening and communications teams. He previously worked with the Commonwealth Foundation, an intergovernmental civil society agency, in areas including people’s participation in governance, culture and civil society strengthening. He has also worked as a freelance research, editorial and communications consultant, including with Restless Development and UNESCO.

Ettore Greco is Executive Vice President of the IAI and also Head of the Multilateralism and Global Governance programme of the institute. He was also Director of the IAI from 2008 to 2017. He worked as visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution from January 2006 to July 2007. He has taught at the universities of Parma and Bologna, worked as correspondent for the Economist Intelligence Unit, directed the IAI's programme on Central and Eastern Europe, and served as Editor of The International Spectator. He is the author of several publications on the EU's institutions and foreign policy, transatlantic relations and the Balkans.

Mirko Heinzel is an Assistant Professor of International Institutions at the Department of Political Science of Maastricht University. In his research, he aims to understand how international institutions can be more effective at solving global cooperation problems. Most of his research focuses on issues of global health and development and he mainly employs quantitative methods—especially observational and experimental approaches for causal inference.

Stephanie Hofmann holds the Joint Chair in International Relations and is Director of the Europe in the World research area at the Robert Schuman Centre, both at the European University Institute. Her research revolves around organisational expressions of multilateralism, international and transatlantic security, global ordering, and national preference formation processes.

Wade Hoxtell is the Head of Operations and Finance at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where he also focuses on technology-related topics such as automation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity in development, disinformation, and digital channels for participatory democracy. He recently co-authored a study on how think tanks can better measure effectiveness and impact and has also worked on international and German development and humanitarian policy, particularly multi-stakeholder partnerships and the role of the private sector in development and humanitarian assistance. His current projects include a study on combating disinformation within Europe and his work with ENSURED, where he is a researcher for work packages on digitalisation and strengthening EU foreign policy.

Petr Janský is an Professor of Economist at Charles University, where he researches public finance, taxation, tax havens, and international development. With academic degrees from the University of Oxford and Charles University, Petr is currently Associate Professor and Head of the Department of European Economic Integration and Economic Policy at Charles University. Petr publishes in scholarly journals – including World Development and Economic Geography – and has a book published by Oxford University Press. Petr’s research makes an impact through collaborations with international organisations such as the European Parliament and the United Nations.

Jan Karlas is an Associate Professor in International Relations and Head of the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. In his research, he concentrates on international security, economic, and environmental institutions. He is an author of numerous academic publications, including articles in prominent international journals like Cooperation and Conflict, Contemporary Security Policy, Environmental Politics, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, and West European Politics.

Kai Michael Kenkel is Associate Professor in the Institute for International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. He has taught at universities in Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States and has been a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Dickey Center at Dartmouth College. Kai is an Associated Researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg and General Coordinator of the Núcleo Democracia e Forças Armadas at PUC-Rio. Specialising in civil-military relations and small arms proliferation processes, he has also published extensively on peace operations and humanitarian intervention.

Samuel King is a Research Officer at CIVICUS, where he has contributed to the Lens Research and Analysis Programme as well as the annual State of Civil Society Report. He has a degree in International Relations from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, as well as an MA in Transnational Studies from University College London. Before this, he held a policy analysis position with the International Music Council, a civil society organisation linked to UNESCO. This entailed monitoring the implementation of the SDGs and the 2005 Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Ludovica Pagliara works as a Research Project Officer at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS). Prior to joining Maastricht University, Ludovica was a Project Management Officer at the Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center in Maastricht, where she primarily focused on customer journey improvement projects as well as on managing the company’s project portfolio. She was then appointed as Product Manager at the same company, where she was responsible for overseeing the full lifecycle of customer service products destined for the European market, from conception to launch and beyond.

Irina Kustova is a Research Fellow at CEPS with expertise in energy transition and security, and a particular focus on EU energy markets, hydrogen and renewable gases, renewables uptake, and climate diplomacy. Irina provides research and advisory services to EU institutions and international organisations, and is currently leading a Work Package for one Horizon Europe project on offshore wind and contributing to another Horizon project on carbon capture and storage. Irina’s analysis is frequently published in prominent media outlets. She is a published author in refereed journals and a regular speaker at events including those hosted by Euractiv, Istituto Affari Internazionali, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, and the Clean Energy Summit. Irina holds a PhD in International Studies cum laude from the University of Trento and an MA in European Studies from Maastricht University.

Li Siqi is an Associate Professor at the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China. She was also a visiting scholar at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research includes the multilateral trading system, industrial subsidies, and China-EU trade relations. Her work appears in several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of World Trade, China & World Economy, Review of International Economics, and Applied Economics. She also conducts research programmes funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China, as well as Chinese government agencies including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Finance.

Andrea Liese is a Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Potsdam. She has served as a Visiting Professor at the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, the Berlin Social Science Center, and as a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University. She has also previously worked at Humboldt Universität Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and at the University of Bremen. She has published extensively on the role of international organisations and their bureaucracies, non-state actors, and norms in global governance.

Andrey Makarychev is Professor of Regional Political Studies at the University of Tartu’s Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies. He is the author of Popular Biopolitics and Populism at Europe’s Eastern Margins (Brill, 2022), and co-author of four monographs: Celebrating Borderlands in a Wider Europe: Nations and Identities in Ukraine, Georgia and Estonia (Nomos, 2016), Lotman's Cultural Semiotics and the Political (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017), Critical Biopolitics of the Post-Soviet: From Populations to Nations (Lexington Books, 2020) and Practical Biopolitics of COVID-19: Comparing Russian and Indonesian Experiences (Lexington Books, 2023).

Federica Marconi is a Researcher at Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). She holds a Law degree from the University of Roma Tor Vergata and is currently a PhD candidate in Theory of Contracts, Services and Markets at the same university. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Professor at LUMSA, teaching the course 'Digital Diplomacy: New Media and Technologies in International Relations'.

Francesca Maremonti is a Researcher for the IAI’s Multilateralism and Global Governance Programme, where she studies digital governance, international economics, and development. Prior to joining IAI, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Berlin office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). She contributed to the European Security and Defence team and to the China Programme, with research on China’s influence strategies, digital governance, and the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean. Previously, she gained experience in editing and advocacy through positions at NGOs in the field of international development.

Katharina Nachbar is the Head of Communications at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where she oversees the institute’s dissemination and outreach activities, publications, and strategic communications. Prior to joining GPPi, Katharina was a consultant at a global public relations and strategic communications agency, where she focused on corporate and technology as well as crisis communications. Other professional stops include The Hague Institute for Global Justice (as a research fellow), the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, DC, the press and public affairs department at the German Embassy in London, and the Munich-based technology and innovation conference DLD.

Mihaela Papa is the Director of Research and Principal Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies. Previously, she was a Senior Fellow at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Mihaela’s research focuses on negotiating the rise of new powers and the transition to sustainability. She has published over 30 articles on these themes, most recently developing the BRICS Convergence Index in the European Journal of International Relations and examining whether BRICS can de-dollarise the global financial system in Cambridge University Press’s Elements series. She has also analysed BRICS' coalitional behavior and resilience in International Affairs, Global Environmental Change, Global Policy, and other journals. As a practitioner, Mihaela has extensive experience developing international collaborations in the government and non-profit sectors.

Michal Parizek is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Charles University. His research focuses on global governance and on global information flows. In ENSURED, he leads the Trade and Inequality work package. He is also the PI of project GLOWIN, which aims to construct the first systematic map of global political information flows. His research has been published in International Studies Quarterly, The Review of International Organizations, and New Political Economy, among others. He authored a monograph on negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (Routledge). He has studied at Charles University, at the University of Bath, at Princeton University, and at the Free University of Berlin.

Felix Peerboom is a Lecturer and PhD candidate for the Department of European Law at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University (UM). His research is situated in the fields of international refugee and European asylum law, with his ongoing PhD-research focusing on the phenomenon of 'instrumentalised' migration. Felix lectures at the UM's Faculty of Law and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, as well as at the Faculty of Law of the UHasselt (in the role of guest-lecturer). He is a member of the management teams of the Maastricht Centre for European Law (MCEL) and the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Migration Law and Governance, as well as of the Case Law Editorial Team of the International Journal of Refugee Law.

Franziska Petri is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Leuven International and European Studies (LINES) Institute at KU Leuven. She concluded her PhD research on the role of EU Delegations in EU climate and energy diplomacy at KU Leuven in October 2023. Her research focuses on European foreign policy, multilateralism and international organisations, as well as the European Union’s climate diplomacy, sustainability policies, inter-institutional relations, and enlargement policies. Her research has been published in the Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of European Integration, European Foreign Affairs Review, Global Affairs, and Asia-Europe Journal.

Inés M. Pousadela is Senior Research Specialist at CIVICUS, where she co-leads CIVICUS Lens and the State of Civil Society Report. She is Professor of Comparative Politics and Global Civil Society at Universidad ORT Uruguay and Researcher with OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism. Originally from Argentina, she holds a PhD in political science (Universidad de Belgrano), a MA in economic sociology (IDAES-UNSAM), and a BA in political science (Universidad de Buenos Aires). She has published books, chapters, and journal articles on democratisation, representation, social movements, and civil society participation in Latin America, as well as resources for civil society practitioners around the world.

Amanda Pridmore is a Project Manager at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. In addition to her work with ENSURED, she has led GPPi’s outreach efforts, contributed to the Transatlantic Digital Debates, and served on the editorial team for 49security. Amanda has held positions at Global Bridges e.V. and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and was awarded a young professional journalist grant from the US Fulbright Program to Germany. She is pursuing an MA in international relations at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam and holds degrees in political science and philosophy from Clemson University.

Henning Schmidtke is a Research Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. His research focuses on the origins, development, and public legitimacy of international institutions. In recent years, he has concentrated on the (de-)legitimation of international organisations, examining how, why, and with what impact these organizations justify their authority. His work combines both quantitative and qualitative methods to offer a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics.

Thomas Sommerer is Professor of International Organisations at the University of Potsdam. He previously held positions at Stockholm University, University of Konstanz, and the University of Hamburg. His research focuses on the design and performance of international organisations and democracy and legitimacy in global governance. His work has been published in journals such as International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Review of International Organizations, and the Journal of European Public Policy. His books include Global Legitimacy Crises: Decline and Revival in Multilateral Governance (Oxford University Press, 2022) and The Opening Up of International Organizations (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

Jayati Srivastava is a Professor of International Politics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. Her areas of research include legitimacy of global governance, global civil society, global justice, international environmental politics, aesthetics and international politics, and southern perspectives in International Relations. She has been a recipient of the Hermes Fellowship of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris. She was also a Visiting Professor at the Institut d’Études Politiques, Grenoble and Institut d’Études Politiques, a Research Fellow at the South Asia Institute and the University of Heidelberg, and a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, University of Uppsala, Sweden.

Sonya Sugrobova is a communications manager with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where she steers the design and production process for the institute’s outputs and oversees brand identity for GPPi and ENSURED. Before joining the communications team, Sonya worked as a project associate at GPPi, where she coordinated the Global Governance Futures program and contributed to the institute’s work on global order. Sonya holds a MA in international relations and Asian studies from Metropolitan University in Prague.

Evangelia (Lilian) Tsourdi is tenured Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair in EU Migration Law and Governance at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University and the Maastricht Centre for European Law. Lilian is also the coordinator of the Law Faculty’s Master European Law School, a member of the Executive Board of the inter-faculty centre MACIMIDE (Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development), as well as a member of the Maastricht Centre for European Law. Her research interests lie at the intersection of EU Law, Public International Law, and public policy with a focus on human rights, asylum, migration, and governance theories.

TU Xinquan is the Dean and Professor of the China Institute for WTO Studies of University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China. He is currently the Chair Holder of WTO Chairs Program at UIBE. He received his PhD in international trade from the same university in 2004. He has served as a visiting scholar at various institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, the WTO Secretariat, and KIEP. His research and teaching focus is on Chinese trade policy, the WTO, and US-China trade relations. He is a member of the Friends of Multilateralism Group, WEF Trade Action Group, and Trade and Investment Research Network.

Victoria Ubierna is Junior Research Officer at CIVICUS, where she supports the CIVICUS Lens Initiative and contributes to the production of the State of Civil Society Report by collecting data, producing content, and assisting in dissemination efforts. She is Assistant Professor of International Conflicts and Security at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, where she holds a BA and a MA in International Studies. Fluent in Spanish, English and French, Victoria has a diverse professional background across private, public, and non-profit sectors, which has enriched her understanding of multi-stakeholder environments and fuelled her interest in exploring the intersection of human rights, security, and civil society engagement.

Soetkin Verhaegen is Assistant Professor of European Politics at Maastricht University, where she coordinates the research cluster "Political Attitudes and Behaviour in Europe". Soetkin’s research studies (il)legitimacy beliefs in how citizens relate to governing institutions at the global, European, national, regional, and local level. Focusing on attitudes about regional and international government and institutions, her work – which specialises in survey research – is situated at the crossroads of political sociology, comparative politics, and international relations. In the ENSURED project, Soetkin will carry out an expert survey. Her work has appeared in several scholarly journals, and she published a book with Oxford University Press.

Clara Weinhardt is Assistant Professor in International Relations at Maastricht University and Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. Her research focuses on global trade governance and North-South relations in light of global power shifts. Her empirical work examines the WTO’s multilateral trading system and EU external economic relations. Her co-authored open access monograph (with K. Dingwerth, J. Eckl, T. Schöfer, S. Herr) on Differential Treatment of Developing Countries in Times of Global Power Shifts was recently published with Edward Elgar. She serves as board member of the German Political Science Association’s political economy section.