Department of Political Science
Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
Georg Forster-Building
Jakob-Welder-Weg 12
55128 Mainz
Room: 04-313
Phone: 0049-6131-39-20030
Email: friedrich.plank@politik.uni-mainz.de
Office Hours: appointment via Email
Current courses
- Simulations and the EU (MA)
- AG Peace and Conflict Studies
Research Interests
- Regionalism
- Interregional relations
- EU foreign policy
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Power-Sharing in post-conflict situations
Curriculum Vitae
- 09/2014: Research fellow and PhD candidate at the Chair of International Politics (Prof. Dr. Arne Niemann) at the Department of Political Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
- 10/2013 – 09/2014: Lecturer at the Chair of Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies (Prof. Dr. Christoph Weller), University of Augsburg
- 10/2010 – 11/2013: Master of Arts (MA) in Conflict Studies at the University of Augsburg
- 01/2013 – 05/2013 and 03/2011 – 05/2011:Research Assistant at the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies (AFK), Augsburg
- 08/2012 – 01/2013: Research Assistant at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg
- 06/2011 – 04/2012: Research Assistant at the Chair of Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies (Prof. Dr. Christoph Weller), University of Augsburg
- 10/2007 – 09/2010: Bakkalaureus Artium (BA) in Political Science and German Studies at the University of Regensburg
PhD Project
"The effectiveness of interregional security cooperation within the framework of the African Peace Facility"
Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Arne Niemann
Project description:
One important feature of the EU´s external policy is the spread of interregional relations with counterparts. While there have been substantial efforts made in assessing interregional relations in the recent years, the literature has so far barely touched security as an important area of cooperation and Europe´s ties with other regions have only in parts been analyzed systematically. Additional research is necessary in particular with regard to the performance of interregional cooperation. However, despite the fact that for instance the EU has supported African capacity building extensively, so far our understanding on the effectiveness of these efforts remains rather limited. Developing an analytical framework for assessing the effectiveness of interregional relations, my PhD-thesis aims to expand knowledge on the conditions of effective interregionalism. Concerning the dependent variable, my conceptualisation of effectiveness includes both internal (goal-attainment) and external (problem-solving) perspectives. The independent variable, the scope of interregional security relations, links two strands of literature that barely speak to each other: interregionalism and inter-organizational literature. It is conceptualized by referring to the quality of interaction. I assume that effectiveness increases through intensive coordination of the partners. The basic premise is: The higher the quality of interregional interaction, for example attained by frequent coordination and interaction, the more there is convergence of the profiles through processes of social learning on both sides of the partnership. This leads to a higher probability of effective action. I apply the framework to EU-Africa relations within the framework of the African Peace Facility by focusing on specific cases such as the joint engagement in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia, and with regard to the EU´s support to African capacity building.
Publications
Articles (anonymously peer-reviewed)
Plank, Friedrich/ Henneberg, Ingo/ Kobusch, Alexander et al. (2018): Standortübergreifende Lehre in der Politikwissenschaft: Nutzen und Beitrag eines innovativen Ringseminars. In: Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS). Online first. Link
Plank, Friedrich (2017): The effectiveness of interregional security cooperation: evaluating the joint engagement of the EU and the AU in response to the 2013 crisis in the Central African Republic. In: European Security. 26:4. pp 485-506. DOI: 10.1080/09662839.2017.1327849. Link
Plank, Friedrich (2017): When peace leads to divorce: The splintering of rebel groups in powersharing agreements. In: Civil Wars. 19:2. pp 176-197. DOI: 10.1080/13698249.2017.1372004. Link
Plank, Friedrich (2015): Not enough pieces of the cake? The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the Mindanao Final Agreement. In: Asian Security. 11:2. pp 154-177. DOI:10.1080/14799855.2015.1071795. Link
Plank, Friedrich/ Henneberg, Ingo (2015): Von der heißen Schlacht zum kalten Buffet – Strategien der Inklusion und Exklusion in Power-Sharing Abkommen und Friedensprozessen. In: Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. 4:1. pp 74-114. DOI: 10.5771/2192-1741-2015-1-74. Link
Bock, Andreas M./ Henneberg, Ingo/ Plank, Friedrich (2014): “If you compress the spring, it will snap back hard” – The Ukrainian Crisis and the Balance of Threat Theory. In: International Journal. 70:1. pp 101-109. DOI: 10.1177/0020702014562593. Link
Contributions to edited volumes:
Plank, Friedrich/ Niemann, Arne (2017): Impact of the agent´s environment on discretion in the field of EU conflict resolution: In: Delreux, Tom/ Adriaensen, Johan (ed.): The Principal Agent Model and the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave. pp 131-155. Link
Plank, Friedrich/ Muno, Wolfgang/ Niemann, Arne (2017): EU-Simulationen im Vergleich: Didaktik und Praxis von aktivem Lernen. In: Muno, Wolfgang/ Niemann, Arne/ Guasti, Petra (ed.): Europa spielerisch lernen. Didaktische Überlegungen und Praxisbeispiele zu EU-Simulationen. Wiesbaden: Springer. pp 205-218. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-17463-7_11. Link
Henneberg, Ingo/ Plank, Friedrich (2015): Conflict Management in the Constitution of South Sudan (2011). In: Marauhn, Thilo/ Elliesie, Hatem (ed.): Legal Transformation in Northern Africa and South Sudan. Den Haag: Eleven International Publishing. pp 117-140. Link
Plank, Friedrich/ Henneberg, Ingo (2014): Die Anwendungspotenziale der strukturierten Konfliktanalyse in den Internationalen Beziehungen. In: Bock, Andreas M./ Henneberg, Ingo (ed.): Iran, die Bombe und das Streben nach Sicherheit. Strukturierte Konfliktanalysen. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag. pp 33-44. DOI: 10.5771/9783845249957_33. Link
Other articles:
Bergmann, Julian/ Plank, Friedrich/ Niemann, Arne (2016): EU-Friedensmediation als Forschungs-gegenstand. Theoretische und empirische Perspektiven. In: Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. 5:1. pp 137-144. Link
Bergmann, Julian/ Plank, Friedrich/ Niemann, Arne (2016): Studying EU Peace Mediation:Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. CEDI Working Paper No. 4. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. Link
Plank, Friedrich (2014): Der Streit – Stütze der Gesellschaft. Konfliktbearbeitung als Kernbestandteil der deutschen Energiewende. In: 3e – Magazin für die Energiewirtschaft in Gewerbe und Industrie. 2-2014.
Plank, Friedrich/ Schnellhammer, Christine (2011): Macht in Konflikten – Macht von Konflikten. Bericht zum AFK-Jahreskolloquium 2011. In: Wissenschaft + Frieden. 4-2011.
Conference papers:
Africa-EU interregionalism beyond the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA): regional groups and the evolving security-development-migration nexus + Evaluating interregional security cooperation: The effectiveness of Africa-EU cooperation in peace operations + European crises and EU foreign affairs: A teaching project of 13 universities; together with Arne Niemann + organized Panel: Innovative Teaching on EU Foreign Affairs 1+2; together with Arne Niemann. The European Union in International Affairs VI (EUIA) 2018. Brussels, 16-18 May 2018.
Evaluating interregional security cooperation: The effectiveness of Africa-EU cooperation in peace operations; 13th IB-Nachwuchstagung of the DVPW. Tutzing, 20-22 April 2018.
An unintended consequence of Africa-EU relations: regional security cooperation beyond the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA); GEM Stones Workshop "Unraveling ties? The unintended consequences of interregionalism. Hamburg, 21 February 2018.
Modeling interregional security cooperation – Inter-organizationalism and the effectiveness of AU-EU capacity building; CEDI Annual Conference “Regionalism in the Global South and the EU in Comparative Perspective: The ambivalent Influence of Intra- and Extra-Regional Actors on Regional Integration Processes”. Mainz, 10 November 2016.
EU-AU in the Central African Republic (CAR) – A case of effective Interregional Security Cooperation? + Panel-Organisation: Frieden und Sicherheit durch Regionalorganisationen? with Ingo Henneberg. Drei-Länder-Tagung: Regionalismus in einer entgrenzten Welt (DVPW, ÖGPW, SVPW). Heidelberg, 29 September -1 October 2016.
The Effectiveness of Interregional Security Cooperation: The Case of EU-AU Engagement in the Central African Republic (CAR) + Impact of the Agent’s Environment on Discretion in the Field of EU Conflict Resolution; ECPR Standing Group/ External 8th Pan-European Conference on the European Union. Trento, 16-17 June 2016.
Increasing the Agent´s Discretion Structurally – A Principal-Agent Perspective on EU Conflict Resolution after the Lisbon Treaty; with Arne Niemann. Workshop "The EU as a Credible Global Actor". Cambridge, 5 April 2016.
How to Broker Sustainable Peace? The Design of Peace Negotiations in Intra-State Conflicts; with Julian Bergmann. Workshop "Economics of Conflicts". Muskat, 1 April 2015.
Security by Proxy or African Solutions to African Problems? Assessing Interregional Security Cooperation between the European Union and the African Union; TConference of the section "Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft" of the DVPW "Weltregionen im Vergleich: Polity, Politics und Policy". Hamburg, 16 February 2015.
Mutual Capacity Building. Interregional Security Cooperation of the European Union; Graduate Conference "The EU in the World". Mainz, 9 January 2015.
In der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen? Inklusion/Exklusion in Power Sharing Abkommen und Friedensprozessen; with Ingo Henneberg. 46th Conference of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (AFK). Villigst, 4 April 2014.
Why threats prevail; with Andreas M. Bock und Ingo Henneberg. 8th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (EISA). Warschau, 21 September 2013.
Conflict resolution in the constitution of South Sudan (2011); with Maik Boldau und Ingo Henneberg. 9th International South Sudan and Sudan Studies Conference. Bonn, 25 July 2012.
Konfliktregelung in der Verfassung des Südsudan; with Ingo Henneberg. 37th Conference of the Arbeitskreis für Überseeische Verfassungsvergleichung. Limburg an der Lahn, 7 July 2012.
You can find some of my work on my researchgate.net account.