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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 24

Ist das bei Bonanza?

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

www.zdf.de/play/magazin...

Trump trifft Putin: Verhandlungen im Krieg gegen die Ukraine

Um über die Zukunft der Ukraine zu sprechen, empfängt US-Präsident Trump seinen russischen Amtskollegen Putin. Was ist von dem Treffen zu erwarten? ZDFheute live ordnet ein.

www.zdf.de

Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

3️⃣ Ukraine has agency! Friday suggested otherwise, but Ukraine is not powerless. The challenges that Ukraine faces are tremendous, but Ukraine and Europe do have leverage in the conflict. Me must use it!

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

… bringing kidnapped children and people with disabilities back to Ukraine and much more. It won’t be easy to get these concessions, especially not in early negotiation rounds. But we must stay persistent!

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

… to support people in ceased territories. Future negotiations should include discussions on safe evacuation routes for civilians, secure border crossings (with provisions to prevent sexual harassment, as we have seen before), possibilities for people to access Ukrainian media, …

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

2️⃣ Kyiv is interested in a ceasefire, but aware of the humanitarian costs of it. Any ceasefire would de facto cement Russian occupation with all of its negative effects. We might be forced to accept this amid a lack of alternatives, but we MUST also start to think creatively about opportunities …

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

1️⃣ The exclusion of Ukraine on Friday made it look like we are witnessing a proxy war. This is WRONG. Big power competition is one piece of the political puzzle of this conflict, but the decisive one is Russia’s imperial obsession with Ukraine. We must not forget this to understand Russian action!

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 17

The show is over - at least for now. Trump and Putin got what they wanted: the biggest news event of the year. Just as the meeting started, I joined @zdfde.bsky.social Heute Live to discuss the negotiations. We talked about many things, but I would like to highlight the following points:

Picture of TV coverage of Trump and Putin meeting in Alaska

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Aug 13

This is what @anneapplebaum.bsky.social means when she writes about ‘Autocracy Inc’

Reposted by Niklas Balbon

Politics & Gender @politicsgenderj.bsky.social · Jul 29

📣 Out on #FirstView 📣

For our upcoming issue on #feministforeignpolicy, @balnik.bsky.social & Younna Christiansen outline the challenges of implementing a feminist foreign policy in the context of peacebuilding.

polisky gendersky

buff.ly/lyvq1IQ

Notes from the field "Troubled Encounters: Feminist Foreign Policy and Donor-Implementer Relations in Peacebuilding" by Niklas Balbon & Younna Christiansen.
Article begins: As more governments commit to feminist foreign policies (FFPs), this commitment trickles down to a central foreign policy area: peacebuilding. As a field, peacebuilding has historically been dominated by western states and western-dominated institutions performing interventions along the hegemonic liberal peacebuilding paradigm (Lederach 1997; Mac Ginty 2008). This has, in turn, provoked significant feminist criticisms and interventions (Duncanson 2016; Hewitt and True 2021; McLeod 2018). When Germany, the largest peacebuilding funder globally (Rotmann, Li, and Stoffel 2021; UN Peacebuilding 2024), announced their FFP in 2023, this development opened up the prospect for substantial feminist change, but also raised questions about what such change might look like in practice.

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Reposted by Niklas Balbon

Dr. Anne-Kathrin Kreft @annekreft.bsky.social · Jul 14

Coming soon (July 25): The Contemporary Reader of Feminist International Relations, with contributions by many leading scholars in the field... and me
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/1...

The Contemporary Reader of Feminist International Relations | Catherin

The Contemporary Reader of Feminist International Relations is a comprehensive volume for contemporary scholarship on feminist international relations and

www.taylorfrancis.com

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 27

Spannend! Das gibt es dann hoffentlich irgendwo zum Nachlesen?

Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 25

Super Einordnung der aktuellen Proteste von @ljudmylamelnyk.bsky.social!

Ljudmyla Melnyk @ljudmylamelnyk.bsky.social · Jul 25

Proteste in der Ukraine sind nicht – wie manche schreiben – ausschließlich gegen die Korruption gerichtet. Sie richten sich vor allem gegen die Willkür der politischen Elite und Versuche, die Demokratie einzuschränken. Was soll man wissen und worauf achten?🧵

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Reposted by Niklas Balbon

Jennifer Thomson @thomsonjennifer.bsky.social · Jul 21

The first article and Notes from the Field from our Special Issue with @politicsgenderj.bsky.social on #feministforeignpolicy is online now! @tonihaastrup.bsky.social @columbaachilleos.bsky.social

The first Notes looks at how FFP has influenced donor funding on peacebuilding:

Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Feminist foreign policies talk equality, but local feminist peacebuilders still face donor scepticism, unstable funding & political pushback.

Without structural change, FFPs risk perpetuating the problems they claim to solve.

📝 Our new piece in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S174...

doi.org

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 21

Now also available in English: gppi.net/2025/06/26/n...

“No Ideological Luxury”: Calling for an Evaluation of Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy

gppi.net

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Perhaps interesting for you, @christinecheng.bsky.social, @svencho.bsky.social, @frankstengel.bsky.social, @atrwibben.bsky.social, @karolinefaerber.bsky.social @bmittelhammer.bsky.social, @juliafriedrich.bsky.social @stellavoutta.bsky.social, @leoniestamm.bsky.social, @verabenatar.bsky.social

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

👀 The article is a part of a @politicsgenderj.bsky.social special issue on Feminist Foreign Policy curated by Professor @tonihaastrup.bsky.social, @thomsonjennifer.bsky.social and @columbaachilleos.bsky.social. Stay tuned for the whole special issue in autumn.

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

What is needed: a mix of technocratic fixes to existing funding structures and contestation of the knowledge and norms within donor institutions that continue to sideline feminist action for peace.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Troubled Encounters: Feminist Foreign Policy and Donor-Implementer Relations in Peacebuilding | Politics & Gender | Cambridge Core

Troubled Encounters: Feminist Foreign Policy and Donor-Implementer Relations in Peacebuilding

www.cambridge.org

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Some bright spots: feminist intermediaries (e.g., Equality Fund, FRIDA, Innovative Peace Fund) distribute funds to feminist peacebuilders with greater trust & flexibility.

⚠️ However, they can only absorb the burden of a system that resists reform.

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Donor-impelenter relations are challenging for all local peacebuilders, but feminists often face additional difficulties:

🚫 Legal barriers (esp. for LGBTQ+ orgs)
⚔️ Hostile political environments
📋 Rigid donor rules that exclude rather than adapt

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Donors often treat feminist work as “add-ons.” Efforts to transform masculinities or support inclusive peace processes aren’t seen as core to peacebuilding, despite tackling root causes of violence.

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

FFPs promise transformation, but peacebuilding remains Western-led, donor-driven, and structurally resistant to feminist approaches.

⚠️ So far, good intentions haven’t shifted power.

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 20

Feminist foreign policies talk equality, but local feminist peacebuilders still face donor scepticism, unstable funding & political pushback.

Without structural change, FFPs risk perpetuating the problems they claim to solve.

📝 Our new piece in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S174...

doi.org

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Niklas Balbon @balnik.bsky.social · Jul 18

Na immerhin gibt einem die Wissenschaft als Wertschätzung für Flexibilität eine zukunftssichere Karriere! Oh wait…

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Reposted by Niklas Balbon

Jannis J Grimm @jannisgrimm.bsky.social · Jul 17

🎆I'm extremely proud to announce a special @interactfu.bsky.social publication:

TALKING VIOLENCE - a new student-led podcast series dedicated to the many faces of violence, from its visible effects to its hidden structures.

Born out of an undergraduate seminar at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social's

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