ABOUT ME

Karin Kneissl

• In September 2020, Karin Kneissl involuntarily left her home country as a result of persistent death threats and a de facto ban on working in Austria. After a long search, she found a small farm in France to make a new start with her animals.
• However, the media agitation from Austria also reached her there and she was forced to move again.
• In June 2022, she moved with her dogs and ponies to Lebanon, where, after a marathon through the administration, she received her residence permit and tax number and, after six months in subletting, found a house in the north of the country.
• In June 2023, Karin Kneissl became a co-founder and head of the G.O.R.K.I center.
• Karin Kneissl had already been doing most of her work at home in Austria since the autumn 1998. In the wake of the pandemic, it has become easier for some professions to work online. For example, Karin Kneissl works with partners in Russia, Turkey, and Switzerland via computer. Power outages are a daily occurrence in Lebanon, but with a lot of improvisation and dedication, a professional and private daily routine can be organized.
• 2019: Since leaving the government, Karin Kneissl has written two books, one on Diplomacy, and one on the transition of mobility. Furthermore, she contributes guest comments on Middle Eastern and energy topics to RT (Russia Today) and several other media outlets, such as Cicero, and has been doing briefings online, mostly for companies outside of Austria. In June 2021 elected as independent director of the board of Rosneft. Karin Kneissl resigned on May 20th, 2022. She had already informed the company in early March that she was not running for a second mandate.
• served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria from Dec. 2017 to June 2019
• She studied law and Arabic at the University of Vienna 1983-1987, was granted a scholarship for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1988, where she accomplished her thesis research, later on studied in Amman and on a grant basis at GU Washington, DC. She is a graduate of ENA.
• Karin joined the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1990, served in Paris and Madrid, as well as in the Legal office. She quitted the diplomatic service in october 1998 and turned into a freelance analyst. She has authored several books on energy, geopolitics and the Middle East.

Download Dr. Karin Kneissl's CV (PDF file)

Dr. Karin Kneissl is the co-founder and head of the G.O.R.K.I Center since June 2023. She arrived in St. Petersburg in September and officially took up her activities.

The Geopolitical Observatory for Russia's Key Issues, or simply G.O.R.K.I, is an integral part of St. Petersburg University. The G.O.R.K.I Center was established on March 30, 2023 with the purpose to analyze geopolitical, foreign economic and socio-economic problems that have a direct impact on the development of Russia. The Center studies Russia's role in global politics and its international ties, as well as migration and demography issues within the country.

In addition, the G.O.R.K.I Center is engaged in the analysis of the development of the Arab-Islamic world from North Africa to West Asia.

The G.O.R.K.I provides six areas of scientific expertise: economics; law; international relations; political science; Asian and African studies; and sociology. Over 20 experts are employed by the Center, all of them being St. Petersburg University lecturers. They carry out continuous monitoring and analysis of these topics. Experts strive to conduct a deep and comprehensive analysis of all changes, study potential ramifications and indicate prospects for overcoming possible difficulties. The teams of G.O.R.K.I consist of two-five members.

Contact the Center via: gorki@spbu.ru

Videos

"Who is Mrs. Karin Kneissl?", Atlas for Development, youtube

Karin Kneissl on the Universal Diplomat for the 21st Century, youtube

Books

• DIE MOBILITÄTSWENDE und ihre Brisanz für Gesellschaft und Weltwirtschaft. Wien. Braumüller Verlag, September 2020. ISBN 978-3-99100-307-6

• DIPLOMATIE MACHT GESCHICHTE: Die Kunst des Dialogs in unsicheren Zeiten.Hildesheim. Olms Verlag, Juni 2020. ISBN 978-3-487-08633 -0
• WACHABLÖSE - Auf dem Weg in eine chinesische Weltordnung. Frank & Frei, September 2017, ISBN 978-3950434842
• PRINZ EUGEN - Vom Außenseiter zum Genie Europas.Belvedere, Wien 2014, ISBN 978-3-902805-58-4
• MEIN NAHER OSTEN. Wien. Braumüller Verlag, März 2014. ISBN 978-3991001126
• DIE ZERSPLITTERTE WELT - Was von der Globalisierung bleibt. Wien. Braumüller Verlag, April 2013. ISBN 978-3991000860
• TESTOSTERON MACHT POLITIK. Wien. Braumüller Verlag, April 2012. ISBN 978-3991000686
• DIE GEWALTSPIRALE - Warum Orient und Okzident nicht miteinander können. Ecowin, Salzburg,  Jänner 2007. ISBN 978-3902404398
• DER ENERGIEPOKER - Wie Erdöl und Erdgas die Weltwirtschaft beeinflussen. FinanzBuch, München, April 2006. ISBN 978-3898791878; 2., überarbeitete Auflage 2008, ISBN 978-3-89879-448-0.
• Der Grenzbegriff der Konfliktparteien im Nahen Osten. Dissertation, Universität Wien, 1991.
• Hizbollah: Libanesische Widerstandsbewegung, islamische Terrorgruppe oder bloß eine politische Partei? Eine Untersuchung der schiitischen Massenbewegung Hizbollah im libanesischen und regionalen Kontext. Landesverteidigungsakademie, Wien 2002, ISBN 3-901328-69-6.

Languages

• In November 2020 Karin Kneissl started an online Russian course at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. For more than 30 years it has been her wish to study this beautiful language. And then the second lockdown provided her with that opportunity since all my other contracts, plans etc had been evaporating. Now in August 2020 she could give her first interview in Russian to the press service of the Pushkin Institute.