Jens Heibach
Biographic Data
| ID | 1667809 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jens Heibach |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jens |
| FAMILY NAME | Heibach |
| SIGNATURE | HEIBACH J |
| AFFILIATIONS | German Institute for Global and Area Studies |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2166-3228 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The benefits of neutrality
This article assesses Saudi Arabia's ambivalent response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. On the one hand, the Kingdom has publicly condemned Russia's military aggression as contravening international law. Yet, on the other, it has also failed to take serious measures against Moscow, notably by refusing to join in Western attempts to prevent Russia from earning hydrocarbon revenues on the international market. Saudi Arabia has ad…
Beyond the Soft–Hard Power Binary
Once depicted as a flagship case for the soft power—based foreign policy of young democracies, Turkey’s conduct of foreign affairs following its authoritarian backsliding has been increasingly associated with hard power. Using the case of Turkey’s Africa policy under the AKP, this article challenges this reading and its underlying conceptual assumptions. To overcome the spurious democracy—soft power vs. autocracy—hard power dichotomy, it argues f…
Saudi Arabia’s ambivalent stance on the Russia-Ukraine war
This article examines Saudi Arabia's complex positioning in the Russia-Ukraine war, considering its adherence to the norm of equal sovereignty alongside its foreign-policy determinants. While the kingdom outwardly supported Ukraine's right to sovereignty following Russia's invasion in February 2022, its continued cooperation with Russia, notably through OPEC+, paints a different picture. Further complicating matters are Saudi Arabia's historical …
Infrastructural power in foreign policy
This article translates Michael Mann's notion of infrastructural power into the foreign policy realm and develops a conceptual framework that allows for the systematic treatment of states' strategic efforts at mobilising domestic non-state actors. Despite the common rationales underlying such efforts across regime types, the article argues that states' systemic features matter greatly. It generates two ideal types of infrastructural power in fore…
Iran’s foreign policy making
Who maintains authority over Iran’s foreign policy has long been the subject of debate. Ambiguous constitutional provisions, conflicting foreign policy patterns of different administrations, and their impact on multiple global and regional security concerns have intensified such discussion. Existing studies suggest Iran’s foreign policy is either made through institutional consensus or competition; or, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has be…
Coalition Maintenance during Democratization
In light of the oft-cited benefits of power sharing, this paper compares two cases of coalition governments that emerged from domestically initiated transition processes in the Arab world: the Tunisian Troika (2011–2014) and the Yemeni Coalition Government (1993–1994). While the former facilitated Tunisia’s democratization, the latter’s disintegration contributed to the 1994 war and Yemen’s authoritarian backsliding. It asks why coalition coopera…
Public diplomacy and regional leadership struggles
In light of recent Saudi Arabian foreign policy, this article examines the valorization of public diplomacy in regional leadership struggles—a widely neglected topic in discussion on regional powers. Concentrating on regions with distinct power hierarchies, the literature offers nuanced explanations for how already-established regional leaders seek to maintain their position but only limited discussion of how ambitious states seek to assume leade…
Sub‐Saharan Africa
Africa has experienced an unprecedented level of involvement in its regional affairs by Middle Eastern states in the past few years.11 In the following I focus on sub-Saharan Africa, which is here understood as the community of all African states minus Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. These North African Arab states share a long history with the Middle East and can indeed be considered as core members of the Middle Eastern regi…
Opposition dynamism under authoritarianism
In contrast to the empirical conditions in large parts of the authoritarian world, the systematic literature on political opposition under authoritarianism either treats the opposition as a static entity or fails to comprehensively address its dynamic character. On the basis of a critical literature review and an ensuing analysis of the Joint Meeting Parties, a cross-ideological opposition alliance that gradually evolved to become the main compet…
Contesting the Monopoly of Interpretation
Most studies on Sunni Islamism either neglect ulama or portray them as basically diverging from the Islamist movement. Unlike their Islamist counterparts who are contenders for political power in incumbent regimes, the ulama are depicted as loyal quietists. As such, this article problematizes this dichotomy. As is shown by the case of Yemen, the ulama form an integral part of the Islamist Islah party, yet since the position of ulama within the pa…
Saudi Arabia’s ambivalent stance on the Russia-Ukraine war
This article examines Saudi Arabia's complex positioning in the Russia-Ukraine war, considering its adherence to the norm of equal sovereignty alongside its foreign-policy determinants. While the kingdom outwardly supported Ukraine's right to sovereignty following Russia's invasion in February 2022, its continued cooperation with Russia, notably through OPEC+, paints a different picture. Further complicating matters are Saudi Arabia's historical …
Public diplomacy and regional leadership struggles
In light of recent Saudi Arabian foreign policy, this article examines the valorization of public diplomacy in regional leadership struggles—a widely neglected topic in discussion on regional powers. Concentrating on regions with distinct power hierarchies, the literature offers nuanced explanations for how already-established regional leaders seek to maintain their position but only limited discussion of how ambitious states seek to assume leade…
Opposition dynamism under authoritarianism
In contrast to the empirical conditions in large parts of the authoritarian world, the systematic literature on political opposition under authoritarianism either treats the opposition as a static entity or fails to comprehensively address its dynamic character. On the basis of a critical literature review and an ensuing analysis of the Joint Meeting Parties, a cross-ideological opposition alliance that gradually evolved to become the main compet…
Iran’s foreign policy making
Who maintains authority over Iran’s foreign policy has long been the subject of debate. Ambiguous constitutional provisions, conflicting foreign policy patterns of different administrations, and their impact on multiple global and regional security concerns have intensified such discussion. Existing studies suggest Iran’s foreign policy is either made through institutional consensus or competition; or, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has be…
Contesting the Monopoly of Interpretation
Most studies on Sunni Islamism either neglect ulama or portray them as basically diverging from the Islamist movement. Unlike their Islamist counterparts who are contenders for political power in incumbent regimes, the ulama are depicted as loyal quietists. As such, this article problematizes this dichotomy. As is shown by the case of Yemen, the ulama form an integral part of the Islamist Islah party, yet since the position of ulama within the pa…
Opposition dynamism under authoritarianism
In contrast to the empirical conditions in large parts of the authoritarian world, the systematic literature on political opposition under authoritarianism either treats the opposition as a static entity or fails to comprehensively address its dynamic character. On the basis of a critical literature review and an ensuing analysis of the Joint Meeting Parties, a cross-ideological opposition alliance that gradually evolved to become the main compet…
Sub‐Saharan Africa
Africa has experienced an unprecedented level of involvement in its regional affairs by Middle Eastern states in the past few years.11 In the following I focus on sub-Saharan Africa, which is here understood as the community of all African states minus Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. These North African Arab states share a long history with the Middle East and can indeed be considered as core members of the Middle Eastern regi…
Public diplomacy and regional leadership struggles
In light of recent Saudi Arabian foreign policy, this article examines the valorization of public diplomacy in regional leadership struggles—a widely neglected topic in discussion on regional powers. Concentrating on regions with distinct power hierarchies, the literature offers nuanced explanations for how already-established regional leaders seek to maintain their position but only limited discussion of how ambitious states seek to assume leade…
Iran’s foreign policy making
Who maintains authority over Iran’s foreign policy has long been the subject of debate. Ambiguous constitutional provisions, conflicting foreign policy patterns of different administrations, and their impact on multiple global and regional security concerns have intensified such discussion. Existing studies suggest Iran’s foreign policy is either made through institutional consensus or competition; or, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has be…
Coalition Maintenance during Democratization
In light of the oft-cited benefits of power sharing, this paper compares two cases of coalition governments that emerged from domestically initiated transition processes in the Arab world: the Tunisian Troika (2011–2014) and the Yemeni Coalition Government (1993–1994). While the former facilitated Tunisia’s democratization, the latter’s disintegration contributed to the 1994 war and Yemen’s authoritarian backsliding. It asks why coalition coopera…
The benefits of neutrality
This article assesses Saudi Arabia's ambivalent response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. On the one hand, the Kingdom has publicly condemned Russia's military aggression as contravening international law. Yet, on the other, it has also failed to take serious measures against Moscow, notably by refusing to join in Western attempts to prevent Russia from earning hydrocarbon revenues on the international market. Saudi Arabia has ad…
Beyond the Soft–Hard Power Binary
Once depicted as a flagship case for the soft power—based foreign policy of young democracies, Turkey’s conduct of foreign affairs following its authoritarian backsliding has been increasingly associated with hard power. Using the case of Turkey’s Africa policy under the AKP, this article challenges this reading and its underlying conceptual assumptions. To overcome the spurious democracy—soft power vs. autocracy—hard power dichotomy, it argues f…
Saudi Arabia’s ambivalent stance on the Russia-Ukraine war
This article examines Saudi Arabia's complex positioning in the Russia-Ukraine war, considering its adherence to the norm of equal sovereignty alongside its foreign-policy determinants. While the kingdom outwardly supported Ukraine's right to sovereignty following Russia's invasion in February 2022, its continued cooperation with Russia, notably through OPEC+, paints a different picture. Further complicating matters are Saudi Arabia's historical …
Infrastructural power in foreign policy
This article translates Michael Mann's notion of infrastructural power into the foreign policy realm and develops a conceptual framework that allows for the systematic treatment of states' strategic efforts at mobilising domestic non-state actors. Despite the common rationales underlying such efforts across regime types, the article argues that states' systemic features matter greatly. It generates two ideal types of infrastructural power in fore…
Law (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Politics (10 works) · Economics (8 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Foreign policy (7 works) · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Authoritarianism (4 works)