Gerald Knaus (born 1970) is an Austrian social scientist. He is a co-founder of the

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

European Stability Initiative The European Stability Initiative (ESI) is a think tank focusing on South East Europe and enlargement of the European Union. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels and Istanbul. History The ESI was founded in June 1999 in Sarajevo. Its founders, mult ...

(ESI).

Early life and education

Knaus was born in

Bramberg am Wildkogel Bramberg am Wildkogel is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg, Austria. The town lies at the south foot of the high Wildkogel mountain. The town's average elevation is . History In ancient time ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1970. He studied philosophy, political science and economics in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Career

In 1999, Knaus co-founded the European Stability Initiative, a liberal think tank known for its migration concepts, in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. Today, the ESI has offices in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Brussels, and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He taught economics at the

Chernivtsi University The Chernivtsi National University (named after Yuriy Fedkovych, full official title Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, ) is a public university in the city of Chernivtsi in Western Ukraine. One of the leading Ukrainian institutio ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and worked for five years for various

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

and international organisations in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He was director of the ''Lessons Learned and Analysis Unit'' (LLA) of the EU department of UNMIK in Kosovo (2001–2004). He is a founding member of the

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

and was an associate fellow at the

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy Carr Center for Human Rights Policy is a research center at Harvard Kennedy School founded in 1999. The center's scholars address issues related to human rights, including human security, global governance and civil society, economic justice, and ...

at the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

of Governance in the US for five years, where he also taught state-building and intervention. Knaus was among the members of the Schengen White List Project in 2009 that signed an open letter requesting that the EU allow visa liberalization for Kosovo. In August 2011, he and co-author

Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, broadcaster, writer, and former diplomat and politician. He has taught at Harvard University and at Yale University. He currently teaches and co-directs the Brady-Jo ...

published the book “Can Intervention Work?”. From September 2018 to June 2019, Knaus was a ''visiting fellow'' at the

Institute for Human Sciences The Institute for Human Sciences (, IWM) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences based in Vienna, Austria. History and core idea The IWM was founded in 1982 by the Polish philosopher Krzysztof Micha ...

and in 2016/2017 a Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow in Istanbul. Knaus is a co-initiator and co-negotiator of the 2016 refugee pact between Turkey and the EU. In 2019, he was appointed by Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

to serve on a commission in charge of drafting recommendations on how to address the causes of displacement and migration. In 2020 he published the book "Welche Grenzen brauchen wir?" ("What Borders Do We Need?") on the future of asylum and migration policy. Knaus has worked for various international organizations and NGOs such as the International Mediator, the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

and the Office of the High Representative. On 28 October 2021, the German Federal Academy for Security Policy awarded Gerald Knaus with the Karl Carstens Award 2021.

Views

In 2024 Knaus argued in favor of externalizing asylum procedures to safe third countries as an alternative to the EU-Libya model while Judith Kohlenberger criticized Knaus's position.

Other activities

* Centre for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), Member of the Advisory Board

Personal life

Gerald Knaus lives in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knaus, Gerald 1971 births living people austrian social scientists