Niklas Balbon
Research Fellow
Niklas Balbon is a research fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, where he contributes to the institute’s work on peace and security. His research focuses on Ukraine, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, with particular attention to the societal consequences of war and political violence. His work examines issues of reconstruction, social cohesion, inclusion, and feminist foreign policy (FFP) in conflict-affected settings.
Recently, Niklas authored research on the impact of reconstruction on social cohesion in Ukraine and led a project examining how marginalized groups can be better supported during Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has also conducted research on foreign and malign influence in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, and contributed to GPPi’s work on feminist approaches to crisis prevention, stabilization and peacebuilding as part of the Stabilization Lab project. Previously, he conducted field research on gender relations in post-war Kosovo and co-authored a study on social cohesion in eastern Ukraine prior to the 2022 full-scale invasion. His academic analysis has been featured in Gender & Politics, the Journal of Women, Policy and Politics and the International Feminist Journal of Politics, among others.
Niklas has been a guest commentator on ZDF heute live, Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera. His commentary has also been published, among others, by the Tagesspiegel, Handelsblatt, taz and Frankfurter Rundschau.
Niklas is a PhD candidate in Peace and Conflict Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. He holds a master’s degree in Conflict, Security and Development from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where he received the Director’s Award for Best Student in his program. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin. During his studies, Niklas worked at the Research Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at Freie Universität Berlin and interned at the US Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. His studies were supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung).
