Gisela Hirschmann

Gisela Hirschmann is a Research Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy since 2015. Previously, she was a doctoral fellow at the Free University Berlin (2010–2015), where she completed her PhD in 2015 under the Berlin Graduate School of Transnational Studies. Her research focuses on international organizations' accountability, institutional change dynamics, and human rights protection in UN peace operations. Key case studies include Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kosovo.

Her work bridges international relations theory and practical governance challenges, particularly examining how transnational actors balance legitimacy and effectiveness. She has explored topics such as organizational learning in peacekeeping exit strategies, the role of sanctions policy in human rights advocacy, and institutional reform pathways.

Selected publications include analyses in International Peacekeeping, Cooperation and Conflict, and Politische Vierteljahresschrift. She contributed to the German Research Foundation-funded project 'International Organisations and the Protection of Fundamental Rights of Individuals' alongside Professors Monika Heupel and Michael Zürn.