Two institutions, one discipline

A school in Schwerin and a university in Berlin. Political science supplied a vocabulary for states, institutions and international relations that runs through her later work.

2008Abitur, Gymnasium Fridericianum, SchwerinBundestag biography

2008Starts political science at Freie Universität BerlinFederal Government CV

2013Bachelor of ArtsBundestag biography

2012First professional post, while still studyingGerman Orient Institute

I — School

Gymnasium Fridericianum, Schwerin

The Gymnasium Fridericianum is a long-established grammar school in the centre of Schwerin. She took her Abitur there in 2008. The official sources give no further details, such as subjects, prizes or activities, and none are added here.

II — University

Political science at Freie Universität Berlin

From 2008 to 2013 she studied political science at Freie Universität Berlin and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. FU Berlin's Otto Suhr Institute is one of Germany's largest centres for political science. Its programmes typically cover political theory, comparative politics, international relations, public policy and the political systems of Germany and Europe.

What is not claimedNo regional or thematic specialisation, thesis subject or semester abroad is documented in her official CVs, so none is stated here.

Frontal portrait of Reem Alabali-Radovan with shoulder-length dark hair, dark blazer and red top, in front of a pale backdrop — Fig. 01A contemporary portrait. Date and photographer not stated in the supplied file.

III — Foundations

Why political science mattered later

This is an interpretive reading of how the discipline relates to the offices she later held. It is not a claim about her coursework.

International affairs

Two years after starting her degree she was analysing the Near and Middle East at the Orient Institute and supporting country desks at NUMOV. Both roles draw on the study of states, regions and economic relations.

Integration & migration

Integration policy is a question of institutions: how ministries, municipalities, schools and employers work together. Public policy analysis is the core of a political science degree.

Government

As a state commissioner and then a federal commissioner she worked across ministries without a ministry of her own. That requires knowing how government coordinates.

Migration policy

Federal migration policy combines domestic law, European rules and international refugee protection. These are the levels a comparative and international perspective covers.

Development policy

At the BMZ the questions become global ones: multilateral banks, the UN system, financing for development and partnerships with sovereign states.

Representation

Questions of representation and participation, central to her anti-racism brief, are long-standing themes of democratic theory.

Schematic graphic linking Schwerin (Gymnasium Fridericianum, Abitur 2008) with Berlin (Freie Universität, B.A. 2008–2013), about 180 km apart — Fig. 02The Schwerin–Berlin axis. Schematic graphic: reemalabaliradovan.com.

Sources

German Bundestag, biography: bundestag.de
Federal Government, cabinet CV: bundesregierung.de