Thomas Sommerer
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tsommerer.bsky.social
Thomas Sommerer
@tsommerer.bsky.social

Prof @unipotsdam | Political Science and International Organizations

Political science 54%
Economics 23%

We look forward to connecting and collaborating with colleagues exploring similar questions about global governance and autocratization.

Positions on the project will be announced soon — stay tuned!

In APPIO, we will examine how shifts toward autocracy among member states influence IOs’ decision-making. APPIO will develop and expand three core datasets across 72 IOs on the decision output, scientific output by international bureaucracies, and sponsorship of resolutions by autocratizing states.

How does autocratization affect the capacity of IOs to tackle global challenges? @debremaria.bsky.social and I receive funding from @dfg.de for a 3-year project on 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 and 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗢) @unipotsdam.bsky.social & @Zeppelin Uni

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

New publication with @tsommerer.bsky.social looking at changes of IO membership composition as a consequence of autocratization.

Are non-democracies taking over?

Available open access here:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

➡️https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00108367251364170
How do international organizations change as the consequence of autocratization? A new article in @coco-journal.bsky.social
with @debremaria.bsky.social explores how regime transformations affect IO membership composition.

Are non-democracies taking over?

➡️ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

📢 Out now: 5 new ENSURED reports on the state of multilateralism!

Topics include:

💼 Trade-related agendas & the WTO:
🌱 The Paris Agreement at 10:
🌐 The WTO Pandemic Agreement:
🧳 UN Compacts on Migration & Refugees:
🪙 Regulating Digital Currencies:

🔗: www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications
Please join us for the launch of our E&IA Roundtable: 'Global Governance in Hard Times.'

Presentations: Faude+Karlsrud; @yoramhaftel.bsky.social & @stephofmann.bsky.social; @ninareiners.bsky.social; Julia Morse; @mstephen.bsky.social.

Comments: @hbirk.bsky.social; @tsommerer.bsky.social.

Details:

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

How does the EU frame its role in multilateral governance? Where are its narrative strengths&weaknesses?

Join us @ Robert Bosch Stiftung in Berlin, 18:00, Sept 9 for a discussion on this & other questions about strategic communications for multilateralism.

Register: ensuredinberlin.eventbrite.com
New work on legitimacy and IOs by @tsommerer.bsky.social and @jonastallberg.bsky.social published in the @thejop.bsky.social. Full article here: doi.org/10.1086/735474

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

For a more in-depth analysis of the state of democracy in IOs, delve into ENSURED’s latest round of research reports!

📖: www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications
Publications | ENSURED: Shaping Cooperation for a World in Transition
www.ensuredeurope.eu
Hot off the press: ENSURED’s first 5 research reports! 🥳🎉

Multilateralism: What's working, what isn’t & where is room for reform?

A deep dive:
🛠 WTO reform
🌱 UNFCCC decision-making
💉 IP-Public Health nexus
⚖️ UN HRC
💻 Cyberspace governance

Read the reports 👉 www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

My article “Two Questions of Sovereignty: China and the Third World Countries in the United Nations General Assembly (1971–1990)” is now available (open access) with Global Studies Quarterly. Thank you to everyone’s advice throughout the process.
academic.oup.com/isagsq/artic...
Two Questions of Sovereignty: China and the Third World Countries in the United Nations General Assembly (1971–1990)
Abstract. Respect for sovereignty is a hallmark norm for the coalition between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Third World/Global South countr
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Still cannot believe it: the United Nations Security Council Resolution Authors (UNSCRA) dataset is out in the @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social 🥳



Read here why the data is important and use it widely for your research: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

🌐 What is the state of global governance?

@tsommerer.bsky.social sees it as 2 sides of the same coin:
🪙 There is a sense of stagnation. And yet...
🪙 IOs have often proven to be 'sticky'.

This cautious optimism is backed by 2 key data sets — which Thomas & his team will update as part of ENSURED!

A must-read on the role of autocracies in international politics these days: @debremaria.bsky.social shows in her comparative analysis how regional organizations legitimate authoritarian rule and shield dictators from domestic oppositon and sanctions.
The Dictators’ Club: How Regional Organizations Sustain Authoritarian Rule (OUP) is out now! 📚

We live in an age of rising authoritarianism. Many assume that regional organizations (ROs) are key to help protect democracy and human rights - but what if they do the opposite?
The Dictators’ Club: How Regional Organizations Sustain Authoritarian Rule (OUP) is out now! 📚

We live in an age of rising authoritarianism. Many assume that regional organizations (ROs) are key to help protect democracy and human rights - but what if they do the opposite?

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Hi #ISA2025! Please join us today to celebrate and discuss Leah R. Kimber's new book, a sociological analysis highlighting the increased exclusion of civil society despite their apparent inclusion in global governance institutions 🇺🇳

It's available OA: bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/civil-societ...

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Packed room and motivated audience in windowless basement of ISA conference hotel on Sunday 4pm to present our @ensured.bsky.social project on EU support for global governance transformation

And, yes, the sun still in Chicago...

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

With various wonderful ENSURED colleagues @andrealiese.bsky.social @tsommerer.bsky.social @claraweinhardt.bsky.social @liliantsourdi.bsky.social @franziskapetri.bsky.social and others. Concept and case studies on trade, migration, climate 👇
🚨 #Data alert 📣 We just released #ParlLawSpeech – full texts of more than 40k bills, 28k laws, and 3 mio. parliamentary speeches from 7 countries (AT, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HR, HU) and the EU! If you study democracy with #TextAsData / #NLP methods, this is for you! A short 🧵 (1/3) #PoliSkyData #polisky

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Please nominate for awards for the Int'l Collaboration section of APSA! Best article, dissertation, book, and mentor awards!

Deadline is March 3, 2025. Submissions should be sent by email to daniela.donno@ou.edu. You can find the award criteria and info here: apsanet.org/membership/o...
Section48 - American Political Science Association (APSA)
International Collaboration (Section 48) The International Collaboration (IC) Section of the American Political Science Association works to promote and
apsanet.org

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

Reichweite auf Bluesky, aber wie?

Ein Leitfaden für Journalist:innen, die endlich von X weg wollen, aber merken, dass Ihre bisherige Strategie hier nicht funktioniert:

Das Prinzip "nur senden" läuft hier nicht. Interaktion ist key, geht in den Austausch mit Leuten, schafft euch eine Community.
PUBLICATION DAY! Our book "The Survival of International Organizations" is now available online (for free) with Oxford University Press 🎉

academic.oup.com/book/59488
The Survival of International Organizations: Institutional Responses to Existential Challenges
Abstract. While international organizations (IOs) have played a central role in global governance in the post-Cold War period, during the last decade many
academic.oup.com
At #InaugurationDay, there is no doubt that #Trump 2.0 🇺🇸 will fundamentally challenge #Multilateralism.

How can #Europe 🇪🇺 contribute to the resilience of #GlobalGovernance? 🇺🇳

For the @ensured.bsky.social expert blog, I wrote down my answer to this question:
www.ensuredeurope.eu/blog/stronge...
"Stronger Europe, Stronger Multilateralism”: Defending Global Governance Under Trump 2.0 - Expert Blog | ENSURED
Trump 2.0’s ‘America First’ agenda threatens to undermine key multilateral institutions, from NATO to the WTO. Europe face a critical choice: appease US demands or fill the gap to preserve internation...
www.ensuredeurope.eu

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

New call for papers on "Populists in International Organisations" by CEJISS.
Here's a link to our article on types of disengagement by populists that the call refers to in International Affairs: doi.org/10.1093/ia/i...
#Populism #InternationalRelations #Multilateralism

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer

📅 US President Trump's next term may prove even tougher on multilateralism than his 1st.

Join ENSURED's @hdijkstra.bsky.social, @claraweinhardt.bsky.social, Katja Biedenkopf, @stevenblockmans.bsky.social & Olivier Bailly (EEAS)
to discuss how 🇪🇺 can respond.

👉 www.ensuredeurope.eu/news-events/...

Reposted by Thomas Sommerer