Anja Menzel is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of International Relations, Senior Research Fellow at the SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Fellow of the Bavarian Research Alliance for Peace, Conflict and Security Studies(FoKS).
In her research, she examines how complex international governance structures shape policy outcomes. Her empirical focus is on ocean governance, particularly at the intersection of maritime security, sustainability and the Blue Economy.
| since 08/24 | Senior Research Fellow at the SARChI Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) |
| since 06/2023 | Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of Political Science, especially International Relations, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg |
| 01/2019 – 05/2023 | Research Associate at the Chair of International Politics, FernUniversität in Hagen |
| 04/2014 – 09/2018 | Research Associate at the Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies, University of Greifswald |
| 2014 – 2019 | Doctoral studies at the University of Greifswald Dissertation title: "Sailing the Waters of Institutional Complexity – State-to-State Cooperation on the Combat of Maritime Piracy" |
| 2006 – 2013 | Studies in Political Science, University of Bamberg and Keele University (UK) |
Publications
| Monographs and edited volumes | |
| 2026 | Law and Legality in Pirates of the Caribbean and Contemporary Counter‐Piracy: More Guidelines than Rules?. Ocean and Society 3, 11459. |
| 2026 | Ocean Pop. Marine Imaginaries in the Age of Global Polycrisis. Ocean and Society 3, 12337 (with Charlotte Gehrke) |
2025 | International Institutions.Springer (in German, with Susanne Lütz). |
2024 | Sustainability and the Sea: Global Challenges in Maritime Security. Springer (with Lisa Otto). |
2022 | International Organisations. Springer (in German, with Susanne Lütz). |
2019 | Sailing the Waters of Institutional Complexity – State-to-State Cooperation on the Combat of Maritime Piracy. Dissertation. Greifswald University. |
Journals | |
2026 | Ocean Pop. Marine Imaginaries in the Age of Global Polycrisis. Special Issue of Ocean and Society (with Charlotte Gehrke). |
2022 | Institutional Complexity and the Effectiveness of Regional Maritime Crime Governance: State Cooperation on Piracy in Asia. Politics and Governance 10(3), 80-89. |
2020 | On the Relevance of Polar and Ocean Politics. Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik 13, 89-94 (in German, with Sebastian Knecht and Christoph Humrich). |
2018 | Institutional Adoption and Maritime Crime Governance: the Djibouti Code of Conduct. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region 14(2), 152-169. |
Chapters | |
2025 | Transnational Governance. Insights from Global Finance and Environmental Protection.In: Lütz, Susanne and Anja Menzel (eds.): International Institutions. Springer (in German, with Susanne Lütz). |
2024 | Blue Finance, Sustainability, and Maritime Security: Insights from Seychelles. In: Otto, Lisa and Anja Menzel (eds.): Sustainability and the Sea: Global Challenges in Maritime Security. Springer. |
2024 | Understanding Security and Sustainable Development in the Maritime Domain: A Framework. In: Otto, Lisa and Anja Menzel (eds.): Sustainability and the Sea: Global Challenges in Maritime Security. Springer (with Lisa Otto). |
2022 | Theories of International Organisations. In: Lütz, Susanne and Anja Menzel (eds.): International Organisations. Springer (in German). |
2022 | Maritime Security and the Blue Economy. In: Bosilca, Ruxandra-Laura, Ferreira, Susana and Ryan, Barry (eds.): Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security. Routledge. |
2020 | Connecting the Dots: Implications of the Intertwined Global Challenges to Maritime Security. In: Otto, Lisa (ed.): Global Challenges in Maritime Security. An Introduction. Springer, 229-243 (with Lisa Otto). |