# Annette Weber

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Annette_Weber
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Annette_Weber.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Weber
> Source revision: 1347167948
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|German political scientist}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Annette Weber
| image               = Annette Weber 1 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Weber in 2024
| office              = [European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa](/source/European_Union_Special_Representative)
| term_start          = 1 July 2021
| term_end            = 
| predecessor         = [Alexander Rondos](/source/Alex_Rontos)
| successor           = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1967|11|1|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = Germany
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
| alma_mater          = [Free University of Berlin](/source/Free_University_of_Berlin)
| occupation          = Political scientist, journalist, novelist
}}

'''Annette Weber''' (born 1 November 1967) is a German [political scientist](/source/Political_science) specialised in Northeast Africa and [gender studies](/source/gender_studies). She has been serving as [European Union Special Representative](/source/European_Union_Special_Representative) (EUSR) for the [Horn of Africa](/source/Horn_of_Africa) since 1 July 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Meier|first=Christian|date=2021-07-05|title=Für das "Große Horn"|url=https://zeitung.faz.net/faz/politik/2021-07-05/b907a0aa14b8159d9d4769213885cc0e|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-23|website=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.)|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110114428/https://zeitung.faz.net/faz/politik/2021-07-05/b907a0aa14b8159d9d4769213885cc0e/ |archive-date=2021-11-10 }}</ref> Weber previously worked as a journalist, a [human rights defender](/source/human_rights_defender) and most recently as the regional expert at the [German Institute for International and Security Affairs](/source/German_Institute_for_International_and_Security_Affairs) (German: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik; SWP).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Splett|first=Candida|date=2021-06-24|title=Annette Weber EU-Sonderbeauftragte für das Horn von Afrika|url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/presse/detail/annette-weber-eu-sonderbeauftragte-fuer-das-horn-von-afrika|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-23|website=Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)|language=de-DE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624144613/https://www.swp-berlin.org/presse/detail/annette-weber-eu-sonderbeauftragte-fuer-das-horn-von-afrika |archive-date=2021-06-24 }}</ref> She is also a novelist.<ref name=":4" />

== Life ==
[[File:AnnetteWeber-ElectionsInSudanEvent_RomanDeckertMiCT-07012010.jpg|thumb|Weber (right) in January 2010 during a panel discussion at the [German federal parliament](/source/Bundestag) about the [2010 Sudanese general election](/source/2010_Sudanese_general_election) and the [2011 South Sudanese independence referendum](/source/2011_South_Sudanese_independence_referendum) next to [MPs](/source/Member_of_the_German_Bundestag) [Kerstin Müller](/source/Kerstin_M%C3%BCller) ([Greens](/source/Alliance_90%2FThe_Greens)) and [Christoph Strässer](/source/Christoph_Str%C3%A4sser) ([SPD](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany))]]
Weber earned her Master of Arts in [Political science](/source/Political_science) from the [Free University of Berlin](/source/Free_University_of_Berlin) (FU).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2021-06-20|title=Curriculum Vitae Dr Annette Weber|url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/50555/cv-annette-weber.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Council of the EU and the European Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627200441/https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/50555/cv-annette-weber.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-27 }}</ref> During the 1990s, she worked as a [freelance](/source/freelancer) [music journalist](/source/Music_journalism) in Los Angeles and Prague.<ref name=":4">{{citation|surname1=Annette Weber|title=Eurythmie der Gewalt|publisher=TEXTEM VERLAG|publication-place=Hamburg|isbn=978-3864851889|date=2018|language=German
}}</ref> Weber wrote articles for German publications, such as the weekly [Jungle World](/source/Jungle_World),<ref>{{cite web|title=Foxy Browns Jetlag|periodical=Jungle.world|publisher=|url=https://jungle.world/artikel/1998/09/foxy-browns-jetlag|url-status=|format=|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=Annette Weber|date=1998-02-26|language=de|pages=|quote=}}</ref> the bi-monthly [Spex magazine](/source/Spex_(magazine)), the daily [Die Tageszeitung](/source/Die_Tageszeitung), the monthly [Visions magazine](/source/Visions_magazine), and the bi-weekly [Zitty magazine](/source/Zitty_magazine). She focused on the [genres](/source/Music_genre) and [subculture](/source/subculture)s of [Hip Hop](/source/Hip_Hop) and [Riot grrrl](/source/Riot_grrrl), an [underground](/source/Underground_music) [feminist](/source/feminist) [punk](/source/Punk_subculture) movement .<ref name=":4" /> An example for her reporting at the time is an interview conducted in 1996 with the US-[rapper](/source/Rapping) [Chuck D](/source/Chuck_D) of [Public Enemy](/source/Public_Enemy) about the political [symbol](/source/symbol)isms of violence in his [lyrics](/source/lyrics) and live appearances.<ref>{{citation|surname1=Annette Weber|periodical=Spex|title=Interview mit Chuck D|volume=12|at=pp.&nbsp;24–27|date=1996|language=German
}}</ref>

In 1999, Weber joined the East Africa team of [Amnesty International](/source/Amnesty_International) at its headquarters in London for about two years as a researcher. From 2003 until 2006, she worked in Berlin as the coordinator of the [Ecumenical Network on Central Africa](/source/Ecumenical_Network_on_Central_Africa) (German: ''Ökumenisches Netzwerk Zentralafrika'' – ÖNZ).<ref name=":0" />

On 23 April 2006, Weber defended her [PhD thesis](/source/Thesis) at the FU Berlin ''[magna cum laude](/source/Latin_honors).'' The English-language study dealt with [gender role](/source/gender_role)s between civilians and [combatant](/source/combatant)s in the [armed conflicts](/source/War) of Northeast and Central Africa with a special focus on what was then [Southern Sudan](/source/South_Sudan). The [peace researcher](/source/Peace_and_conflict_studies) [Ulrich Albrecht](/source/Ulrich_Albrecht) (1941–2016) initially was supervising her research, but the final [supervisor](/source/supervisor) was the political scientist [Marianne Braig](/source/Marianne_Braig), with the [ethnologist](/source/Ethnology) [Ute Luig](/source/Ute_Luig) as the second assessor.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Weber|first=Annette|url=https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/fub188/5157/DISSFINAL.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Barbarian beasts or mothers of invention – relation of gendered fighter and citizen images, with a specific case study on Southern Sudan|publisher=Department of Political and Social Sciences, Free University of Berlin|year=2006|location=Berlin|format=PDF}}</ref>

In 2007, Weber joined the Berlin-based [Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik](/source/German_Institute_for_International_and_Security_Affairs) (SWP), a semi-official [think tank](/source/think_tank) which advises the [Bundestag](/source/Bundestag) (the [German parliament](/source/Politics_of_Germany)) and the [federal government](/source/Cabinet_of_Germany) on [foreign and security policy issues](/source/Foreign_relations_of_Germany). As a member of their Africa and Middle East [research group](/source/research_group), she focused on the Horn of Africa. Following a research stay in [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia) from 2010 until 2012,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Dr. Annette Weber|url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/researcher/annette-weber|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)|language=en-EN}}</ref> Weber chaired the regional SWP research group in 2013 and 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Splett|first=Candida|date=2021-06-24|title=Annette Weber EU-Sonderbeauftragte für das Horn von Afrika|url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/presse/detail/annette-weber-eu-sonderbeauftragte-fuer-das-horn-von-afrika|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)|language=de-DE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624144613/https://www.swp-berlin.org/presse/detail/annette-weber-eu-sonderbeauftragte-fuer-das-horn-von-afrika |archive-date=2021-06-24 }}</ref>

Between 2012 and 2019, Weber was a senior advisor to the [Berghof Foundation](/source/Berghof_Foundation), a German [non-governmental](/source/Non-governmental_organization) and nonprofit organisation working for [sustainable](/source/Sustainability) [peace](/source/peace) through conflict transformation. Her project there, which was funded by the [German Federal Foreign Office](/source/Federal_Foreign_Office), supported the [mediation](/source/mediation) efforts by the [African Union](/source/African_Union) between the [government of Sudan](/source/Politics_of_Sudan) and various [rebel groups](/source/Rebellion) in the country.<ref name=":1" />

In 2018, Weber published her first novel, titled ''Eurythmie der Gewalt'' ("[Eurythmy](/source/Eurythmy) of violence"). The plot is based in present times and combines political and [pop cultural](/source/Popular_culture) themes from Germany, Eastern Africa and California. It features the Russian [occult](/source/occult)ist [Madame Blavatsky](/source/Helena_Blavatsky) and the [Anthroposophical Society](/source/Anthroposophical_Society) as well as white and Black [secret societies](/source/Secret_society), [Charles Manson](/source/Charles_Manson), Rap, the West German far-left militant organization Red Army Faction (RAF), [al-Shabaab](/source/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)), female [Nazi](/source/Nazi_Germany)-aircraft pilots during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) and the [South Sudanese Civil War](/source/South_Sudanese_Civil_War).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Weber|first=Annette|title=Eurythmie der Gewalt|date=2018-11-28|publisher=Textem Verlag|isbn=978-3864851889|location=Hamburg}}</ref> [Literary critics](/source/Literary_criticism) praised both the depth of autobiographical elements and the freshness of the German language.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reul|first=Meinolf|date=2019-10-17|title=Annette Weber Eurythmie der Gewalt|url=https://imdickicht.blog/2019/10/17/annette-weber-eurythmie-der-gewalt/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-01|website=Im Dickicht|language=de-DE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923073712/https://imdickicht.blog/2019/10/17/annette-weber-eurythmie-der-gewalt/ |archive-date=2020-09-23 }}</ref>[[File:-rp17_-_Tag_1_(33728273503).jpg|thumb|At the [re:publica](/source/re%3Apublica)17 on a panel discussing "[Social media](/source/Social_media) and Conflict: How to [mitigate](/source/Mitigation) [online hate speech](/source/online_hate_speech) that fuels violence?"]]From 2019 until 2021, Weber was also a senior advisor at the [Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue](/source/Centre_for_Humanitarian_Dialogue), which is headquartered in [Geneva](/source/Geneva).<ref name=":1" /> In 2020, she became a team member for the United Nations' Independent Assessment on International Support for Security of [Somalia](/source/Somalia).<ref name=":0" />

On 21 June 2021, the [Foreign Affairs Council](/source/Foreign_Affairs_Council) (FAC) of the [Council of the European Union](/source/Council_of_the_European_Union) adopted during its session in [Luxembourg](/source/Luxembourg) the decision to appoint Weber in the context of the [Common Foreign and Security Policy](/source/Common_Foreign_and_Security_Policy) of the European Union to succeed [Alexander Rondos](/source/Alexander_Rondos) and serve from 1 July as EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa. The FAC defines the region as consisting of [Djibouti](/source/Djibouti), [Eritrea](/source/Eritrea), Ethiopia, [Kenya](/source/Kenya), Somalia, South Sudan, [Sudan](/source/Sudan) and [Uganda](/source/Uganda). It also mandates Weber to reach out to neighbouring countries of the [Red Sea](/source/Red_Sea), the [Nile Basin](/source/Nile_Basin), the [Arabian Peninsula](/source/Arabian_Peninsula) and North Africa. The residence of the office is [Nairobi](/source/Nairobi). Weber's mandate runs until 31 August 2022, but may be extended beyond that date. Article 2 (3) of the decision stipulates as the general [objectives](/source/Goal)<blockquote>»to [support](/source/Advocacy) peace and security, democracy, human rights, [rule of law](/source/rule_of_law), [gender equality](/source/gender_equality), [humanitarian principles](/source/humanitarian_principles) and [International humanitarian law](/source/International_humanitarian_law) (IHL), [sustainable development](/source/sustainable_development), economic growth, [climate action](/source/Individual_and_political_action_on_climate_change) and regional cooperation.«</blockquote>Among the specific goals is a negotiated solution on the [Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam](/source/Grand_Ethiopian_Renaissance_Dam) (GERD).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Borrell i Fontelles|first=Josep|date=2021-06-22|title=COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2021/1012 of 21 June 2021 appointing the European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32021D1012&from=EN|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-31|website=[Official Journal of the European Union](/source/Official_Journal_of_the_European_Union)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731090720/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32021D1012&from=EN |archive-date=2021-07-31 }}</ref>

== Selected works ==
* ''Why a Feminist Standpoint Epistemology Is Necessary in Times of Hegemonic Masculinity: Thoughts on Intersectionality and Transrationality,'' in: [Josefina Echavarría Alvarez](/source/Josefina_Echavarr%C3%ADa_Alvarez), [Daniela Ingruber](/source/Daniela_Ingruber) and [Norbert Koppensteiner](/source/Norbert_Koppensteiner) (ed.): ''Echoes to Many Peaces: Transrational Resonances''; [Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan), [Cham](/source/Cham_ZG), 2018; pp.&nbsp;83–108
* ''Profiteers of Migration? Authoritarian States in Africa and European Migration Management'', with [Anne Koch](/source/Anne_Koch) and [Isabelle Werenfels](/source/Isabelle_Werenfels) (eds.), SWP Research Paper 2018/RP 04, 2018
* ''Covid-19 in the Horn of Africa – Gaining Trust in a Crisis'', SWP Comment 2020/C 20, 06.05.2020

A comprehensive list of publications (as of May 2021) by Weber can be downloaded as a [https://www.swp-berlin.org/assets/swp/people/PublikationsLISTEN/Annette_Weber_list_of_publications_ENG.pdf PDF file from Weber's SWP webpage]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* Official Twitter-account: [https://twitter.com/EUSR_Weber @EUSR_Weber]
* [https://www.swp-berlin.org/assets/swp/people/images/Weber_Annette_presse.jpg SWP press photo for download]

{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Germany|Biography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Annette}}
Category:1967 births
Category:Living people
Category:Free University of Berlin alumni
Category:German officials of the European Union
Category:German women political scientists

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Annette Weber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Weber) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Weber?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.