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Politics and International Studies

Laura Gelhaus

L.Gelhaus.1@warwick.ac.uk 

My Advice and Feedback Hours for term 1 are:

Monday, 16:00 - 17:00 (online only, MS Teams)

Tuesday, 09:00 - 10:00 (in person only, S1.48a)

Tuesday, 16:00 - 17:00 (in person only, S1.48a).

You can book in via the form linked above.

I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics and International Studies and Director of Personal Development at Warwick PPE. In the Academic Year 2024/2025, I will teach on the following modules:

I previously also taught on the modules PO238 Themes in European Integration, PO206 Politics in the United Kingdom, PO102 Political Research in the 21st Century, QS104 Introduction to Social Analytics, and PO977 Theories and Traditions in Public Policy.

My research interests lie in the realm of EU external action, specifically in the EU's policy towards its Eastern neighbourhood (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine), with a focus on rural development, and food/drinks. I am currently also working on a research project on the UK's foreign policy towards the Eastern neighbourhood post-Brexit.

In 2020, I completed my joint PhD at the University of Warwick and the University of Geneva, with the thesis 'The External Dimension of the Common Agricultural Policy: Shaping Rural Spaces in Georgia'. During my PhD, I was part of the Horizon 2020 GEM-STONES Programme (Globalisation, Europe & Multilateralism - Sophistication of the Transnational Order, Networks, and European Strategies), which received funding under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 722826. During this time, I was also seconded to the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where I worked on various topics surrounding the European Union's internal and external affairs.

In 2021, I was also a Research Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), where I managed the Eastern Partnership Think Tank Network. Since my time as a PhD student, I have worked on projects and publications with a number of think tanks including the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Georgian Institute of Politics, Polis180, and Agora. This includes projects that received support from the European Commission, USAID, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. A list of policy publications can be found below.

A discussion of my research can be found on the UACES Ideas on Europe podcast: https://soundcloud.com/uaces/ideas-on-europe-the-common-agricultural-policy-as-foreign-policy-future-of-eu-external-relations

Supervision

I am happy to supervise dissertations and URSS projects in the broad area of EU Studies. I am also happy to supervise on many topics related to European politics, especially regarding the EU's Eastern neighbourhood, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Western Balkans, as well as many topics in the field of Food Studies. Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss supervision.

Academic Publications

Gelhaus, L. 2024. The EU's External Governance of Agriculture and Rural Development. London: Routledge.

Gelhaus, L., Huan, L., Smith, A. and Venkatram, V. The Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Food: An Introduction to the Special Section. Reinvention, 17 (2), https://reinventionjournal.org/index.php/reinvention/article/view/1697/1375. 

Gelhaus, L. 2021. The EU’s performance in rural Georgia: the common agricultural policy’s relevance, effectiveness, and impact. International Politics. Available from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-022-00380-1.

Gelhaus, L. and D. Leuffen. 2020. Case selection. In: J.-F. Morin, C. Olsson, and E.Ö. Atikcan, eds. Research Methods in Social Sciences: A Conceptual Index. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 32–37.

Gelhaus, L. 2020. The European Union’s external governance in the area of rural development: understanding the consequences of LEADER. In: A. Weyembergh and M. Telò, eds. The Supranational at Stake? The EU’s External Competences caught between Complexity and Fragmentation. London: Routledge, pp. 145-158.

Policy papers and reports

Dinkel, S. and Gelhaus, L. 2021. Geopolitics in Europe’s Neighborhood: New Strategies for the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership. German Council on Foreign Relations. Available from: https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/geopolitics-europes-neighborhood.

Gelhaus, L., P. Havlicek, and S. Meister. 2021. Rule of Law Diplomacy: Why the EU Needs to Become More Vocal in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. German Council on Foreign Relations. Available from: https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/rule-law-diplomacy.

Balfour, R., L. Gelhaus, and M. Matrakova. 2020. The Changing Landscape of Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership [online]. The German Marshall Fund of the United States. Available from: https://www.gmfus.org/publications/changing-landscape-civil-society-eastern-partnership.

Gelhaus, L. 2020. Protecting Geographical Indications for Foods and Drinks: Few Tangible Benefits in Georgia [online]. GEM-STONES. Available from: https://gem-stones.eu/impact/publications/protecting-geographical-indications-for-foods-and-drinks-few-tangible-benefits-in-georg.

Gelhaus, L. 2019. The 2019 European Parliament elections – lessons for the Eastern Partnership? [online]. Georgian Institute of Politics. Available from: http://gip.ge/the-2019-european-parliament-elections-lessons-for-the-eastern-partnership/.

Balfour, R. and L. Gelhaus. 2019. How Influential Will Europe’s Populist Parties Really Be in the Next European Parliament? [online]. German Marshall Fund of the United States. Available from: http://www.gmfus.org/blog/2019/05/21/how-influential-will-europes-populist-parties-really-be-next-european-parliament.

Balfour, R., L. Basagni, A. Flotho-Liersch, P. Fusaro, L. Gelhaus, L. Groenendaal, D. Hegedüs, H. von Homeyer, K. Kausch, T. Kutschka, M. Matrakova, J. Rempala, and K. Tani. 2019. Divide and Obstruct: Populist Parties and EU Foreign Policy [online]. German Marshall Fund of the United States. Available from: http://www.gmfus.org/publications/divide-and-obstruct-populist-parties-and-eu-foreign-policy.

Schiffers, S., D. Hegedüs, S. Minesashvili, T. Bakakuri, L. Tchipashvili, L. Gelhaus, V. Le Grix, and F. Seebass. 2018. Normative Power vs. Democratic Backsliding: European Values in the EU and Georgia [online]. Polis180. Available from: https://polis180.org/blog/2018/11/21/geoeuvalues-policy-paper-normative-power-vs-democratic-backsliding/.