Thomas Risse (formerly Risse-Kappen) is a Berlin-based

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

scholar. He currently acts as chair of the Center for Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy at the Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science of

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. Furthermore, he has several engagements in German and international research networks, and heads the PhD program of the

Hertie School of Governance The Hertie School (until 2019 Hertie School of Governance) is a German private, independent graduate school for governance (public policy, international affairs and data science) located in Berlin. Hertie School is accredited to confer master's ...

in Berlin.

Education

Born in 1955, he received his PhD from the University of Frankfurt in 1987. From 1997 to 2001, he was joint chair of international relations at the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral research-intensive university and an intergovernmental organisation with juridical personality, established by its founding member states to contribu ...

's Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Department of Social and Political Sciences in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Work

Risse is usually identified as a constructivist scholar of international relations. In contrast to American constructivists, his work borrows heavily from German social theory and philosophy, and in particular the work of

Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas ( , ; ; born 18 June 1929) is a German philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. His work addresses communicative rationality and the public sphere. Associated with the Frankfurt S ...

. His work suggests that communicative action can reshape actors' understanding of their interests with important consequences for world politics. During the 1980s the main focus of his work laid on

security policy Security policy is a definition of what it means to ''be secure'' for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms ...

, his dissertation “''Die Krise der Sicherheitspolitik''” (The Crisis of Security Policy) dealt with foreign and security policy decision-making processes in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In his thesis he observes the development of a

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...

(opposed to the installation of medium-range rocket on German soil) and theorised their influence on West-German foreign policy. The contribution of his work is crucial to IR theory because it opposes the logic of equality between force and deterrence. With the end of the Cold War, the focus of his work shifted to transnational relations and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. One of his works from this period is the edited volume “Bringing Transnational Relations Back In”. Here he argues that regular interactions between non-state actors, that do not act on behalf of national governments, but try to influence the policies of a state, got out of focus. These organisations could be various NGOs for example, the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

or religious groups among others. In this volume an outlook on methodology and theory of transnational relations and their impact on domestic policy is developed. Another work of reference of this period is “Die Macht der Menschenrechte” (The Power of Human Rights). Based on liberal theory and democratic peace, Risse looks at international norms, speech acts and political change in the South. Whereby the main focus is laid on the realisation of human rights. His core theory is that the key for respect of human rights is the influence on transnational and domestic

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.failed state A failed state is a state that has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Common characteristics of a failed state include a government incapable of ...

s and governance. In his latest publication he focussed on aspects of governance in areas of limited statehood – distinct from failed states.

Other activities

* Fritz Thyssen Foundation, member of the scientific advisory board * Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (HSFK), member of the board of trustees * Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), member of the advisory board * German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), member of the steering committee *

Institute for European Politics The Institute for European Politics (IEP; German: ''Institut für Europäische Politik'') is a German foreign and European policy research centre based in Berlin. It is an independent non-governmental organization focused on the research of Euro ...

(IEP), member of the academic advisory board * Cohesify, member of the advisory board *

Science Europe Science Europe is an association of major research funding organisations (RFOs) and research organisation, research performing organisations (RPOs). It was established in October 2011 and is based in Brussels. The association facilitates co-opera ...

, co-chair of the social sciences committeeSocial Sciences Committee

Recognition

* 2003 – Max Planck Research Prize for International Cooperation

Personal life

Thomas Risse is married to Tanja Börzel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Risse, Thomas German international relations scholars Constructivist international relations scholars Academic staff of the European University Institute Academic staff of Hertie School Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

Education

Work

Other activities

Recognition

Personal life

Further reading

Articles

Books

References