Kai Olaf Striebinger

Email:

kai.striebinger@yale.edu

Academic Year:

2014-15

Direction:

To Yale

Exchange Partners:

Freie University

Research Interest:

Wrestling For Democracy? How and under which Conditions Does the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Contribute to Legitimate Authority in Member States?

Kai Striebinger is a PhD candidate at the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies, where he receives a scholarship from funds associated with The Transformative Power of Europe research group. He has completed a German-French Double Master's Degree program between Sciences Po Paris and the Freie University Berlin in Political Science. He received his BA in Political Science from the Freie University Berlin after a German-French undergraduate program of Sciences Po Paris. In his PhD, he explores the conditions under which international actors, especially regional organizations, influence the decisions by military regimes to relinquish power and to organize elections. On two extensive research stays in Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Niger, and Nigeria, he undertook expert-interviews. He has presented at various conferences, and is chairperson of a German-African Association (GOAL e.V.), where he contributes to several projects aimed at overcoming neo-colonial perceptions between people from Germany and various African countries. He is also interested in comparative regionalism, international organizations, and the study of political regimes.