Dr. Julia Schünemann joined the ISS Pretoria office in January 2013 as Senior Researcher and Project Leader for the African Futures Project. Before, Julia worked as an independent consultant and researcher with a focus on peace- and statebuilding, state fragility, security, conflict prevention and early warning. In this context, she provided policy advice to the EU, UNDP, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interamerican Development Bank, the Honduran Truth and Reconciliation Commission, etc. and also delivered training to the Arab League. Until December 2010, Julia worked as a researcher and project coordinator for FRIDE, a Madrid based think tank and in 2007 for the European Commission’s Directorate for External Relations in Brussels. Julia is a member of the Task Force on EU Prevention of Mass Atrocities. She holds a PhD degree in International Relations from Madrid’s Complutense University, Spain and a MA in Communication, Political Science and Economics from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich in Germany.