Research Team

Kristina Kausch

Head of The Middle East Programme

Kristina Kausch is Head of The Middle East Programme at FRIDE. She specializes in the EU’s relations with its neighbourhood, in particular the Southern Mediterranean; democracy, human rights and governance; and Mediterranean geopolitics.

Prior to joining FRIDE in 2004, she worked for the German Technical Cooperation agency (GTZ, now GIZ) and for the Bertelsmann Stiftung. Kristina holds a Masters in International Relations (Dipl.-Sow, magna cum laude) from the University of Göttingen, Germany.

She co-edited the books ‘Islamist Radicalisation: The Challenge for Euro-Mediterranean Relations’ (ed. with M. Emerson and R. Youngs, CEPS/FRIDE, 2009) and ‘Europe in the Reshaped Middle East’ (ed. with R. Youngs, FRIDE, 2012). She appears regularly on English-, Spanish- and German-speaking media.

In the academic year 2012/13, she will also be teaching a Masters class in International Relations at the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid.




Spoken languages

English, French, German, Spanish


Written languages

English, German, Spanish


Current projects

European Policies of Democracy Promotion; Assessing Democracy Assistance; Freedom of Association in the Arab World; Political Islam and European Foreign Policy


You can contact Kristina Kausch by writting to kkausch[at]fride.org