Dr. Samantha Ruppel is a political scientist with a focus on peacebuilding and critical peace research, especially in African countries. Since 2024, she has been Managing Director of the Working Group for Peace and Conflict Research (AFK) and a research associate at the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate, where she oversees the podcast Focus on Peace and is the contact person for development policy issues. She previously worked at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) Frankfurt and the Goethe University Frankfurt, where she also completed her doctorate. In her research and practice, she places particular emphasis on the link between science and practice and on reflecting on power asymmetries in civil conflict transformation.

• Civil conflict transformation
• Peacebuilding
• Partnership in peacebuilding and development cooperation
• Africa, especially West and East Africa
• Critical peace research
• Postcolonial and feminist theories

Since 2025 member of the team of the Podcast Focus on Peace

Since 2020 Country Expert for Varieties of Democracy Project

2025
Lecture "Shaping peace - but how? Focus on Power and Imbalances" at the University of Lübeck as part of the lecture series Peace in Theory?

Keynote speech "Turning point(s) and development cooperation: Classification of the political world situation" for the ELAN annual conference: "Development policy under pressure - between crises, conflicts and solutions"

Keynote "Shaping the Future Together: Pioneering a Brighter Tomorrow" for MainMUN, the Frankfurt Model United Nations

2024
Interview SWR1 Sonntagmorgen: Political scientist Samantha Ruppel in conversation. https://www.swr.de/kultur/gesellschaft/politikwissenschaftlerin-samantha-ruppel-im-gespraech-100.html

2023
Panelists on the panel "Discussion "Conflict Potential Lack of Perspective - On the Nexus of Youth, Employment and Security in West Africa" at the "Ansprenger Symposium 2023: Africa Science Meets Practice" under the patronage of former German President Horst Köhler of the German Africa Foundation

2022
Lecture "Turning point" or "Business as usual"? Partnerships in peacebuilding and development cooperation" at the Gustav Streseman Institute as part of the event "Entwicklungspolitik im Zeichen der Zeitenwende. Seminar for student multipliers, international exchange students, members of diaspora communities and anyone interested in the topic."

Moderation of the World Café at the conference "The Role of Coercion in Peacebuilding. Insights from Africa in an Interregional Perspective", organized by Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) in Accra, Ghana.

2021
Lecture "Sustainable peace for all", World Peace Conference, People's Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka (online)

Opening speech for MainMUN, the Frankfurt Model United Nations

Podcast contribution on the topic "Time to adapt: A new way of addressing power balances to achieve sustainable diplomacy" be idem Podcast "Indiginous language empowerment for sustainable development" podcasts.apple.com/tz/podcast/indiginous-language-empowerment-for-sustainable-development/id1550340153

Ethnographic Designs: Participatory observation, fieldwork and ethics, one-day seminar as part of a BA seminar, summer semester 2023, Leipzig University

Intercultural Competences and conflict mediation, MA seminar, winter semester 2021/2022, Helmut-Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces

Preparation for the National Model United Nations, MA seminar, winter semester 2021/2022, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

United Nations, MA seminar, summer semester 2021, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Preparation for the National Model United Nations, MA seminar, winter semester 2020/2021, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Intercultural Competences and conflict mediation, MA seminar, winter semester 2020/2021, Helmut-Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces

United Nations, MA seminar, summer semester 2020, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Local conflicts, local solutions, MA seminar, summer semester 2020, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Essays; Journal Articles

2023: Hopes and dreams: youth activities in civil society organizations in post-conflict countries, in: Journal of Youth Studies, first published 15.11.2023, doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2023.2279629 (with Lucas Steinbach).

2023: Supporting Local Actors in Times of Conflict: The Civil Peace Service and Its Various Actors, in: InFactisPax, 17(1), 109-132, (with Bernd Rieche, T. Debey Sayndee, Christoph Schlimpert, María Requena López and Daniela Pastoors).

2022: Same but Different: The Role of Local Leaders in the Peace Processes in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in: Peacebuilding, 10 (4), 470-505, DOI: 10.1080/21647259.2022.2027152 (with Julia Leib).

2021: The Dance of Peace and Justice: Local Perceptions of International Peacebuilding in West Africa, in: International Peacekeeping, 28 (5), 783-812, DOI: 10.1080/13533312.2021.1927726 (with Julia Leib).

2021: Power Imbalances and Peace Building: A Participatory Approach between Local and International Actors, in: Africa Amani Journal, 8, 1, https://aaj.ipstc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Power-imbalances-and-peace-building-A-participatory-approach-between-local-and-international-actors.pdf.

2020: The learning effects of United Nations simulations in political science classrooms, in: European Political Science, 19, 336-351, doi: 10.1057/s41304-020-00260-3 (with Julia Leib).

2019: Off to the South. Challenges of Field Research in the Global South, in: Journal of Political Science, 30, 141-160, doi.org/10.1007/s41358-019-00206-2 (with Alena Sander).

2019: Student learning effects in United Nations simulations, in: Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 8(1), 99-111 (with Julia Leib).

2015: Practical experiences with international workcamps in mountain forests, in: Anliegen Natur, 37(1), 102-106 (with Sebastian Klinger and Stephan Philipp).

Books / Editorships

2024: Locally Based Civil Conflict Transformation Between Partnership and Power Imbalance, Contributions to International Relations (CIR), Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-44495-2

2023: Locally Based Civil Conflict Transformation Between Partnership and Power Imbalance, Studies of the Leibniz Institute Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research, Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://link.springer.com/book/9783658416928

Book chapter

2024: Countries up to date: Liberia, in: (ed.): Munzinger Archiv, Internationales Handbuch, 2024

2024: Friedenspolitische Akteure in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, in: Gieler, Wolfgang/ Bowak, Meik (eds.): Deutsche Entwicklungszusammenarbeit im Spannungsfeld der Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, Wiesbaden: Springer VV, 33-45. link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-41970-7_3

2023: Goethe goes UNO: Research-oriented teaching in the field of the United Nations, in: Hof, Christiane/ Boehm, Susanne (eds.): Forschungsorientiert lehren und lernen, Bielefeld: wbv Publikation, 145-156 (with Jula Leib). www.wbv.de/shop/Forschungsorientiert-lehren-und-lernen-I74153

2022: Countries up to date: Liberia, in: (ed.): Munzinger Archiv, Internationales Handbuch, 2022.

2018: Die Vereinten Nationen simulieren: "MainMUN" als fächerübergreifendes Planspiel der Weltpolitik, in: Meßner, Theresa/ Schedelik, Michael/ Engartner, Tim (eds.): Planspiele in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Hochschullehre, Frankfurt am Main: Wochenschau Verlag, 181-191 (with Tanja Brühl, Julia Leib and Anne Peltner).

2011: Vom Afrika-Archiv zum Frobenius-Institut, in: Jebens, Holger (eds.): Herbarium der Kultur: ethnographische Objekte und Bilder aus den Archiven des Frobenius-Instituts, Universität Frankfurt Frobenius-Institut, 27-30 (with Nils Lünser, Lino Weist and Vanesssa Vogel).

Other (Blog/Newspaper)

2024: Coping with power asymmetries in transnational mutual learning and dialogue formats, in: Sven Grimm / Stephan Klingebiel (eds.), Transnational cooperation - anexplorative collection, Bonn: German Institute of Development and Sustainability, 47-51 (with Anna Schwachula).

2023: Youth as peacemakers: A successful role change in Sierra Leone, in: Africa Positive (91), 40-41.

2023: International Youth Day Bonn, IDOS, Die aktuelle Kolumne vom 07.08.2023. Online: www.idos-research.de/die-aktuelle-kolumne/article/internationaler-tag-der-jugend (with Isabelle Eberz and Neringa Tumėnaitė).

2023: Knowledge cooperation and capacity development for transnational cooperation, in: Annual Report 2021-2022 - German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) (IDOS), Bonn, 2023. Online: www.idos-research.de/uploads/media/IDOS_Jahresbericht__2021-22_Web_10.pdf (with Sven Grimm).

2023: Knowledge cooperation and skills development for transnational cooperation in: Annual Report 2021-2022 - German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) (IDOS), Bonn, 2023. Online: www.idos-research.de/uploads/media/IDOS_Jahresbericht__2021-22_Web_10.pdf (with Sven Grimm).

2022: Have the Tables Turned? What to Expect from Kenya's New "Hustler" President William Ruto, PRIF Spotlight 11/2022, Frankfurt/M. www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_publikationen/Spotlight_11_2022_interaktiv_barrierefrei.pdf (with Matthias Schwarz).

2022: Feminist Research Perspectives in Peace and Conflict Studies and Consultancy Work, PRIF Blog, 25.5.2022 blog.prif.org/2022/05/25/feminist-research-perspectives-in-peace-and-conflict-studies/ (with Alena Sander).

2020: Local Peacebuilding and the German Civil Peace Service - Civil Conflict Transformation between Partnership and Power Imbalance, PRIF Report No. 4, Online: www.hsfk.de/fileadmin/HSFK/hsfk_publikationen/2020-11-09_PRIF0420_Web_BARRIEREFREI.pdf.

2020: "The Future is Bright" - A Way Forward for the Tigray Conflict, PRIF Blog, blog.prif.org/2020/12/16/the-future-is-bright-a-way-forward-for-the-tigray-conflict/ (with Yonas Adeto).

2020: #EndSars: How Social Media challenges Governance - the Case of Nigeria, PRIF Blog, blog.prif.org/2020/10/27/endsars-how-social-media-challenges-governance-the-case-of-nigeria (with Olu Arowobusoye).

2020: Good News from Countries around the Global South in Times of COVID-19, KFIBS Blog, kfibs.org/good-news-from-countries-around-the-global-south-in-times-of-covid-19/ (with Alena Sander).

2020: Kenyans Helping Kenyans - Solidarity and Nairobi 's Informal Sector in Times of COVID-19, KFIBS Blog, kfibs.org/kenyans-helping-kenyans-solidarity-and-nairobis-informal-sector-in-times-of-covid-19-part-5/ (with Alena Sander).

2020: When your lab is the world but the world is closed down, Blog Elephantinthelab, elephantinthelab.org/when-your-lab-is-the-world-but-the-world-is-closed-down/ DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3885618.

2018: Review Goetze, Catherine 2017: The Distinction of Peace. A Social Analysis of Peacebuilding. Ann Arbor, in H-Soz-Kult, 30.08.2018. www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-28342