Sebastian Sons

GRM 2026 Workshop: GCC-Sub-Saharan Africa Economic Relations: Energy, Mining, Infrastructure, and Food Security

Senior researcher for the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) Served as an advisor for the Regional Programme “Cooperation with Arab Donors” (CAD) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Senior researcher for the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO)

Sebastian Sons works as a senior researcher for the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO). Prior to that, he served as an advisor for the Regional Programme “Cooperation with Arab Donors” (CAD) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. He holds a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University Berlin. His thesis deals with media discourses on labour migration from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. He studied Middle Eastern Studies, Contemporary History and Political Sciences in Berlin and Damascus. Prior to his studies, Sebastian was further trained as journalist in print, TV and radio media at the Berlin School for Journalists (Berliner Journalisten-Schule). He heads the CARPO research project “West Asian and Sub-Sahara African Partnerships in Flux” which explores the multi-dimensional and complex relations between selected Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran) and four Sub-Saharan countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia). Additionally, he engages in Track 2 dialogue projects and initiatives. His fields of interest include foreign assistance policy of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait, sport diplomacy and sports for development concepts, South Asian migration to the countries of the GCC, and political and economic engagement of the Gulf countries in Africa. He has written three books focusing on political, economic, social and cultural developments in the GCC countries.