Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz

Tobias Lenz
21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C4.004
Fon +49.4131.677-2461, tobias.lenz@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of International Relations
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

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Vita

Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science (IPW) at Leuphana University. His research interests include international organizations and the comparative study of regional integration processes. In his ongoing research, he analyzes factors influencing the institutional design of regional organizations over time, the influence of EU institutions on other regional organizations, and the dynamics of self-legitimation in regional organizations.

Tobias Lenz is currently head of a Leibniz Junior Research Group entitled “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organisations” (LegRO) funded by the Leibniz Association at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg. He has recently completed a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony under its Research Cooperation Lower Saxony-Israel program on the impact of organizational overlap on the authority of international organizations (together with Yoram Haftel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem). He has held fellowships and visiting positions at the European University Institute, the Free University of Amsterdam, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Free University of Berlin. He obtained his doctorate (PhD) in International Relations at Oxford University in 2012. More information about Tobias Lenz can be found here.

  • since 03/2020: Professor of International Relations, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
  • 09/2019 – 02/2020: Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Leibniz Junior Research Group “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organizations” (LegRO), German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 09/2015 – 08/2016: Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
  • 12/2013 – 08/019: Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) of Global Governance and Comparative Regionalism, University of Goettingen and German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 12/2011 – 11/2013: Postdoctoral fellow on the ERC project “Causes and Consequences of Multilevel Governance”, directed by Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks, Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2007 – 2012: Dr.Phil in International Relations, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom (defended in Nov. 2011)
  • 2005 – 2007: M.Phil in Politics: European Politics and Society, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom
  • 2001 – 2004: BA in European Studies, University of Osnabrück, Germany

Projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Interorganizational Diffusion in International Relations: Regional Institutions and the Role of the European Union
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2021 Oxford , 255 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  2. The Rise of International Parliaments: Strategic Legitimation in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Frank Schimmelfennig (Author) , Thomas Winzen (Author) , Jofre Rocabert (Author) , Loriana Crasnic (Author) , Cristina Gherasimov (Author) , Jana Lipps (Author) , Densua Mumford (Author) , 2020 1 ed. Oxford , 368 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Book › Research

  3. A Theory of International Organization
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , 2019 Oxford , 224 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  4. Measuring International Authority: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , Jeanine Bezuijen (Author) , Besir Ceka (Author) , Svet Derderyan (Author) , 2017 Oxford , 928 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  5. From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics: The European Union's Promotion of Regional Integration in Latin America, 1980s - today
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2009 Saarbrücken , 128 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. Comparative Regionalism beyond Europe versus the Rest
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Fredrik Söderbaum (Author) , 01.09.2025 , in: Review of International Studies, 51, 5 , p. 889-905 , 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Expanding or defending legitimacy? Why international organizations intensify self-legitimation
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Henning Schmidtke (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Review of International Organizations, 19, 4 , p. 753-784 , 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Globalising the Study of Diffusion: Multiple Sources and the East African Community
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Mariel Reiss (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Journal of European Public Policy, 31, 11 , p. 3703-3731 , 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. The Legitimation of International Organizations: Introducing a New Dataset
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Henning Schmidtke (Author) , Niklas Krösche (Author) , Swantje Schirmer (Author) , 01.02.2024 , in: International Studies Perspectives, 25, 1 , p. 86-110 , 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. Discovering Cooperation: Endogenous Change in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Besir Ceka (Author) , Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , Alexandr Burilkov (Author) , 01.10.2023 , in: Review of International Organizations, 18, 4 , p. 631-666 , 36 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. The Evolution of Comparative Regionalism: A New Typology
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Fredrik Söderbaum (Author) , 01.03.2026 , p. 345–354 , 10 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  2. Institutional Change
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 01.01.2026 , 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research

  3. Global Theories of Regionalism
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Lynda Chinenye Iroulo (Author) , 07.12.2022 Cheltenham , p. 36-51 , 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  4. EU Entrepreneurship, Norm Diffusion and the Parliamentarization of Regional Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 31.05.2019 Cheltenham , p. 70-87 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  5. Vergleichende Regionalismusforschung
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Kai Striebinger (Author) , 01.01.2017 Wiesbaden , p. 39-56 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

  1. Diskursreihe Ethik im Gespräch
    Thomas Kück (Speaker) , Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public events › Research

  2. How Overlap Interacts with Delegation: Evidence from the Complex of Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  3. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  4. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  5. Discovering Cooperation: A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Press / Media

  1. O-Ton zum Thema Nawalny/ Russland
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Die Europäische Union: Ein Modell unter Druck
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Politikwissenschaftler Lenz über Krisen der EU
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Die Gemeinschaft Südostasiatischer Staaten: Interview mit Tobias Lenz
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Lehrpreis der Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Education

  2. Postdoktoranden-Stipendium
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  3. Max Weber fellowship
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  4. European Union fellow am Colorado European Union Center of Excellence
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  5. Pre-doctoral fellow an der Kolleg-Forschergruppe „The Transformative Power of Europe“
    Tobias Lenz (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

View all prizes

Courses

Introduction to International Relations
Tobias Lenz
⌄
International politics is a key subject of daily news: from the Russian invasion of Ukraine via the strategic rivalry between the United States and China or the international spread of the coronavirus to the diplomatic haggling in large international negotiations, such as regular United Nations climate negotiations. This lecture gives a systematic introduction to the academic study of international politics focusing on three core areas: war and peace, functional international cooperation, and international political economy. Within each area, first we describe key structures and developments, both historical and contemporary, by drawing on core concepts, second we examine how each of these areas is governed at the international level, and third we introduce the most important explanations that have been developed in each of these areas.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-05-04 at 10:15
Room: C HS 3
Qualitative Methods
Tobias Lenz
⌄
This module introduces students to a variety of qualitative methods and seeks to encourage their reflective usage and application. After introducing students to the epistemological and methodological differences between qualitative and quantitative methods and the basic rationales for doing each, the course will start with formulating research questions amenable to using qualitative research methods. Subsequently, the course focuses on acquainting students with a core set of qualitative research methods as well as associated designs. Topics covered include single and comparative case studies, (Baysian) process-tracing, ethnography and participant observation, content and discourse analysis as well as interviewing. The course finishes with a concrete application of a selected research method. The course addresses issues not only of methodological foundations and research praxis, but also of ethics and research transparency.
Next appointment:
Tuesday, 2026-04-28 at 08:15
Room: C 3.120 Seminarraum
Theories of International Relations
Tobias Lenz
⌄
International Relations (IR) is a subfield of political science with a strong theoretical orientation. It includes a wide variety of theoretical approaches that have emerged in response to real-world developments (e.g. the end of the Cold War, 9/11, or the global financial crisis of 2008/09), as well as theoretical and methodological innovations from related fields such as sociology, international law, economics, and political philosophy. Engaging with both “classical” and contemporary theoretical texts is therefore an essential part of a solid education in this field.

This seminar accompanies the English-language lecture “Introduction to International Relations.” While the lecture provides short overviews, we will read and discuss selected theory texts in detail. We will explore key IR concepts, including anarchy and the balance of power, various theoretical perspectives on international politics, and relevant historical developments—especially since World War II—as well as current international issues from a theoretical perspective.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-05-04 at 12:15
Room: C 12.102 Seminarraum