Thomas Risse (formerly Risse-Kappen) is a Berlin-based
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
scholar. He currently acts as chair for “transnational relations, foreign- and security policy” at the
Otto-Suhr Institute for
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at
Freie Universität Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
. Furthermore, he has several engagements in German and international research networks, he also 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's Friedrichstraße. Hertie School is according ...
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 teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contribu ...
's Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Department of Social and Political Sciences in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
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. 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. 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 peac ...
(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 moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
. One of his works out of 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. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...
,
Amnesty International 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 political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly (see also fragile state and state collapse). A state can also fail if the ...]
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 The Fritz Thyssen Foundation (german: Fritz Thyssen Stiftung) is a private nonprofit foundation in Germany, created on 7 July 1959 by Amélie Thyssen and Anita Gräfin Zichy-Thyssen and named in memory of prominent iron and steel manufacturer August ...
, member of the scientific advisory board
*
Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
The Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (acronym: PRIF, German: Leibniz-Institut Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, short HSFK) is a research institute in Frankfurt am Main focused on violent international and internal conflicts ...
(HSFK), member of the board of trustees
*
Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), member of the advisory board
*
German Council on Foreign Relations
The German Council on Foreign Relations (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V. (DGAP)) is Germany's national foreign policy network and policy research institute. As an independent, private, non-partisan and non-profit orga ...
(DGAP), member of the steering committee
*
Institute for European Politics
The Institute for European Politics (IEP; ''Institut für Europäische Politik'' in German) is a German foreign and European policy research centre based in Berlin. It is an independent non-governmental organization.
History
The IEP was founded ...
(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 performing organisations (RPOs). It was established in October 2011 and is based in Brussels.
The association facilitates co-operation among its member ...
, co-chair of the social sciences committee
Social Sciences Committee
Science Europe
Science Europe is an association of major research funding organisations (RFOs) and research performing organisations (RPOs). It was established in October 2011 and is based in Brussels.
The association facilitates co-operation among its member ...
.
Recognition
* 2003 – Max Planck Research Prize for International Cooperation
Personal life
Thomas Risse is married to Tanja Börzel.
Further reading
Articles
*
*
*
Books
*Risse-Kappen, Thomas (ed.) (1995), ''Bringing Transnational Relations Back in'', Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
*
*Risse, Thomas (1988), ''Die Krise der Sicherheitspolitik. Neuorientierungen und Entscheidungsprozesse im politischen System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1977-1984'', (Mainz: Grünewald-Kaiser).
*Risse, Thomas (2002), ''Die Macht der Menschenrechte. Internationale Normen, kommunikatives Handeln und politischer Wandel in den Ländern des Südens'', (Baden-Baden: Nomos).
*Risse, Thomas and Ursula Lehmkuhl (eds.) (2008), ''Regieren ohne Staat?: Governance in Räumen begrenzter Staatlichkeit'', Baden-Baden: Nomos).
*Risse, Ropp & Sikkink (eds) ''The Persistent Power of Human Rights: From Commitment to Compliance'' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risse, Thomas
International relations scholars
Constructivist international relations scholars
European University Institute faculty
Hertie School faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)