Dr. Tina Zintl
Academic coordinator, M.A. Program CMEPS
and Research Fellow
Academic Background
2013
PhD, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews
Thesis Title: “Syria's authoritarian upgrading 2000-2010: Bashar al-Asad's promotion of foreign-educated returnees as transnational technocrats”; supervisors: Raymond Hinnebusch and Fiona McCallum
2008
M.A. in Political Science (major), Economics & Geography (minors) from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Professional Background
Since 2013
Academic Coordinator for the “Comparative & Middle East Politics and Society” (CMEPS) M.A. Program and Research Fellow, Tuebingen University
Since 2012
Consultancy for German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg
(e.g. updating Syria file for German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); researcher in the project “Authoritarian Regimes and Sanctions” funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation).
2009 to 2013
Research Assistant, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews
2007 to 2008
Student Assistant, Institute for Political Science and Contemporary History of the Middle East, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
2006 to 2007
Intern, Middle East Department, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
2005
Intern, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Islamabad/Pakistan
Research Interests
Authoritarian Rule in the Middle East and North Africa
Legitimacy of Authoritarian Regimes
State-Society Relations
Euro-Mediterranean Relations
Migration and Diaspora Politics
Research Ethics and Methods of Qualitative Research
Country Expertise
Syria
Teaching
Research in Political Science: Methods and Ethics (Winter Term 2014/15)
Authoritarianism, Revolution and State Fragility (Summer Term 2014)
Research in Political Science (Winter Term 2013/14)
Publications
- Raymond Hinnebusch, Omar Imady and Tina Zintl (accepted for publication): “Civil Resistance in the Syrian Uprising: From Democratic Transition to Sectarian Civil War” In: Civil Resistance in the Arab Spring, edited by Adam Roberts, Michael Willis and Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
- Hinnebusch, Raymond and Tina Zintl (2014, eds.): Syria under Bashar al-Asad, 2000-2010: Political-Economy and International Relations. New York, Syracuse University Press. With:
- Hinnebusch, Raymond and Tina Zintl: “Introduction”.
- Zintl, Tina: “The co-optation of foreign-educated Syrians: Between legitimizing strategy and domestic reforms”, p.329-349.
- Ruiz de Elvira, Laura and Tina Zintl (forthcoming, May 2014): “The End of the Baʿthist Social Contract in Bashar al-Asad’s Syria: Reading Sociopolitical Transformations through Charities and Broader Benevolent Activism”, in International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES), Special Issue ‘Politics of Benevolence’, 46(2).
- Zintl, Tina (2013): “Euro-Mediterranean Players Par Excellence? Foreign-Educated Syrians Transnational Logics of Action” In: Jakob Horst, Annette Jünemann and Delf Rothe (eds.): Euro-Mediterranean Relations after the Arab Spring: Persistence in Times of Change. Farnham, Ashgate.
- Zintl, Tina (2013): “Syria’s reforms under Bashar al-Asad: an opportunity for foreign-educated entrepreneurs to move into decision-making?” In: Steffen Hertog, Giacomo Luciani und Marc Valeri (eds.): Business Politics in the Middle East. London, Hurst, p. 159-182.
- Ehteshami, A., R. Hinnebusch, H. Huutanen, P. Raunio, M. Warnaarund T. Zintl (2013): “Authoritarian Resilience and International Linkages in Iran and Syria”. In: Steven Heydemann and Reinoud Leenders (eds.): Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation, and Regime Resilience in Syria and Iran. Stanford University Press, p. 222-242.
- Zintl, Tina (2012): “Modernization Theory II: Western-Educated Syrians and the Authoritarian Upgrading of Civil Society”. In: Laura Ruiz de Elvira and Tina Zintl: Civil Society and the State in Syria: The Outsourcing of Social Responsibility. Including a preface by R. Hinnebusch. St Andrews Papers on Contemporary Syria, Lynne Rienner Publishers.
- Zintl, Tina (2009): “Modernisierungspolitik durch Kompetenztransfer? Syrische Remigranten mit deutschem Hochschulabschluss als Katalysatoren von Brain Gain in Syrien unter Bashar al-Assad”. In: Dieter Weiss and Steffen Wippel (eds.) Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionspapiere Nr. 104, Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag.
Presentations
The Shifting Visibility and Effectiveness of International Sanctions against Syria. Conference paper, 2nd CSS postgraduate conference "The Syrian Uprising: Drivers and Dynamics", St Andrews, June 2013.
Die syrische Staatspropaganda. Assads Imagewandel vom Reformer zum Terroristenjäger (in German). Invited talk, lecture series by "Politik im Vorderen Orient" student society, University of Tübingen, June 2013.
Blaming the 'old guard' or 'terrorist gangs'? How the sudden change of rhetoric undermines and bolsters the Syrian regime's legitimacy. Conference paper, 19th DAVO International Congress, Erlangen, October 2012.
Between authoritarian upgrading and revolution: Two fieldstays in Syria and how to refine results by reflecting on methodological challenges. Conference paper, BRISMES Annual Conference 2012, LSE, March 2012.
Roundtable Discussion: Reflections on the Syrian Uprising. Organization of and participation in panel discussion, MECACS seminar series, St Andrews, March 2012.
The Syrian Crisis: between Revolution and Civil War. Invited talk, St Andrews Foreign Affairs Conference, organized by Foreign Affairs Society, St Andrews, February 2012.
Researching Syria between authoritarian upgrading and revolution: Methodological approaches and constraints in interviews with foreign-educated returnees and Euro-Mediterranean players par excellence? Conceptionalizing transnational Arabs' logics of action. Conference papers, 18th DAVO International Congress, Berlin, October 2011.
Ambassadors abroad, cosmopolitans at home? The role of Syria's expatriates and repatriates for Syria's image campaign. Conference paper, BRISMES Postgraduate Conference, Manchester, January 2011.
The co-optation of foreign-educated Syrians: Between legitimizing strategy and domestic reforms. Conference paper "Bashar al-Asad's First Decade", Lund/ Sweden, October 2010.
International education and the blurring between "us" and "them": A conceptionalization of foreign-educated Arabs' political (inter)actions at home and abroad. Conference paper, WOCMES, Barcelona, July 2010, financed through travel grant by Honeymann Foundation.
Syria’s reforms under Bashar al-Asad: an opportunity for foreign-educated entrepreneurs to move into decision-making? Conference paper, Gulf Research Meeting, Cambridge, July 2010.
The political inclusion of foreign-educated nationals: A way of modernizing and internationalizing authoritarian regimes, illustrated by the Syriancase. Conference paper, ECPR General Conference, Potsdam, September 2009.
Elitenwandel durch Technokratisierung? Conference paper, 30th Orientalistentag, Freiburg/Germany, September 2007.
Elitenwandel durch Technokratisierung? Conference paper, student conference "Migration neudenken!", Mainz/Germany, November 2007.
Memberships
Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient (DAVO) - German Middle East Studies Association