Daniela Marggraff

Daniela Marggraff is a researcher at the Ocean Regions Programme, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria. She is also an assistant lecturer, foreign policy analysis and diplomacy, for second-year students at the University of Pretoria.

As a PhD student, Daniela's research focuses on the foreign policy of small island developing states (SIDS) in the context of major power competition in the Indo-Pacific. The research challenges the common perception of SIDS as passive players in global dynamics. Instead, it argues that these nations are critical actors with a distinct form of power. Rather than being constrained by a power deficit, SIDS wield alternative influences that enable them to actively shape their international environment.

Daniela has published a few op-ed/research briefs here (including but not limited to):
https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/915/breaking-the-surface-exploring-and-illuminating-ocean-regions_5-february-2024.zp252650.pdf
https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/915/6_op-ed_22-july-2024.zp253692.pdf
https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/915/unseen-realities-the-states-that-are-missing-from-our-maps_9-may-2024.zp252655.pdf
https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/915/4_research-brief_21-august-2024.zp254770.pdf