Episode 3.12: Authoritarian Military Careers

In episode 12 of Battle Rhythm's third season, Steve and co-host Thomas Hughes, Assistant Professor at Mt. Allison University, discuss Thomas's trip to Nunavut and the civilian - military relationship implications for Canada's newest Chief of Defence Staff (and former Battle Rhythm guest), Lt. Gen Jennie Carignan. In today's feature interview, Steve speaks with Christian Gläßel, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for International Security and principal investigator of the research project “The Anatomy of the Authoritarian Security Apparatus” (AASAP), funded by the German Research Foundation DFG. Christian obtained his PhD from the Mannheim Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences in 2020. His PhD on subversion, repression, and regime stability was awarded the Lorenz von Stein Prize. Before joining the Hertie School, Christian was a lecturer at the University of Mannheim and researcher in the ERC project "Repression and the Escalation of Violence" and the Collaborative Research Center "Political Economy of Reforms". In 2022, he substituted Nils-Christian Bormann as Professor of International Political Studies at Witten/Herdecke University. In his research, Christian investigates fundamental questions of authoritarian politics and touches new grounds on the inner workings of dictatorial regimes. His findings help us understand when autocracies develop, how they cement their rule, and why they break down. Christian’s work on autocratization processes, repressive organizations, information manipulation, and the death toll behind authoritarian soft power and sportswashing strategies has been published in all leading international political science outlets, including in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, European Journal of International Relations, and Comparative Political Studies, among others.