For decades a worldwide decline of biological diversity has been reported. Landscapes are influenced by several kinds of anthropogenic disturbances. Agricultural land use, application of fertilizers and pesticides and the removal of corridors simplify and homogenize a landscape whereas others like road constructions lead to fragmentation. Both kinds lead to a constraint of habitats, reduce living environment and gene pool, hinder gene flow and change the functional characteristics of species. Furthermore, it facilitates the introduction of alien species. On the other hand, disturbances of different temporal and spatial dimensions lead to a more diverse landscape because they prevent competitive exclusion and create niches where species are able to coexist. This study focuses on the complexity of disturbance regimes and its influence on phytodiversity. It differs from other studies that mostly select one or few disturbance types in including all identifiable disturbances. Data were derived from three study sites in the north of Bavaria and are subject to different land-use intensities. Two landscapes underlie agriculture and forestry, of which one is intensively used and the second one rather moderate and small-scaled. The third dataset was collected on an actively used military training area. The first part of the study deals with the influence of disturbance regimes on phytodiversity, first with the focus on military disturbances, afterwards in comparison with the agricultural landscapes. The second part examines the influence of disturbance regimes on red-listed species, the distribution of neophytes and generalist plant species and the homogenization of the landscape. All analyses were conducted on landscape and local scale. A decisive role was played by the variety of disturbance types, especially in different temporal and spatial dimensions and not by single kinds of disturbances, which significantly was proven in the military training area with its multiple and undirected disturbance regime. Homogeneous disturbance regimes that typically are found in agricultural landscapes led to a reduced species number. On local scale, the abiotic heterogeneity which originated of recent and historical disturbances superimposed the positive effects of disturbance regimes, whereas dry and nutrient-poor sites showed a negative effect. Due to a low tree density and moderate treatment species numbers were significantly higher in forest in the training area than in the two agricultural landscapes. Numbers of red-listed species were positively correlated to the total number of species in all three sites. However, the military training area showed a significantly higher abundance within the area in comparison to the agricultural landscapes where rare species were mostly found on marginal strips. Furthermore, numbers of neophytes and generalist species were lower and consequently homogenization. In conclusion, the military training area is an ideal landscape from a nature conservation point of view. The moderately used agricultural area showed high species numbers and agricultural productivity. However, yield is too low to withstand either abandonment or land-use intensification.

The world wide decline of insects is often associated with loss of natural and semi-natural habitat caused by intensified land-use. Many insects provide important ecosystem services to agriculture, such as pest control or pollination. To efficiently promote insects on remaining semi-natural habitat we need precise knowledge of their requirements to non-crop habitat. This thesis focuses on identifying the most important semi-natural habitats (forest edges, grasslands, and semi-open habitats) for pollinators and natural enemies of crop pests with respect to their food resource requirements. Special attention is given to floral resources and their spatio-temporal distribution in agricultural landscapes. Floral resource maps might get closer at characterizing landscapes the way they are experienced by insects compared to classical habitat maps. Performance of the two map types was compared on the prediction of wild bees and natural enemies that consume nectar and pollen, identifying habitats of special importance in the process. In wild bees, influences of spatio-temporal floral resource availability were analysed as well as habitat preferences of specific groups of bees. Understanding dietary needs of natural enemies of crop pests requires additional knowledge on prey use. To this end, ladybird gut contents have been analysed by means of high-throughput sequencing for insight into aphid prey-use. Results showed, that wild bees were predicted better by floral resource maps compared to classical habitat maps. Forest edge area, as well as floral resources in forest edges had positive effects on abundance and diversity of rare bees and important crop pollinators. Similar patterns were retained for grassland diversity. Especially early floral resources seemed to have positive effects on wild bees. Crops and fruit trees produced a resource pulse in April that exceeded floral resource availability in May and June by tenfold. Most floral resources in forest edges appeared early in the season, with the highest floral density per area. Grasslands provided the lowest amount of floral resources but highest diversity, which was evenly distributed over the season. Despite natural enemies need for floral resources, classical habitat maps performed better at predicting natural enemies of crop pests compared to floral resource maps. Classical habitat maps revealed a positive effect of forest edge habitat on the abundance of pest enemies, which translated into improved aphid control. Results from gut content analysis reveal high portions of pest aphid species and nettle aphids as well as a broader insight into prey spectra retained from ladybirds collected from sticky traps compared to individuals collected by hand. The aphid specific primer designed for this purpose will be helpful for identifying aphid consumption by ladybirds in future studies. Findings of this thesis show the potential of floral resource maps for understanding interactions of wild bees and the landscape but also indicate that natural enemies are limited by other resources. I would like to highlight the positive effects of forest edges for different groups of bees as well as natural enemies and their performance on pest control.

Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit euroskeptischen Äußerungen in der Parteienkommunikation und der Medienberichterstattung im Vorfeld der Europawahl 2014. Die Arbeit verwendet ein akteurszentriertes Forschungsdesign, welches eine differenzierte Betrachtung der öffentlichen Debatte europäischer Themen erlaubt. Die Analyse deckt auf, welche nationalen Parteien euroskeptische Positionen vertreten und inwiefern diese Einzug in die mediale Berichterstattung finden. Auch die Positionierung der Medien selbst wird durch die Untersuchung meinungsbezogener Artikel berücksichtigt. Die den Studien zu Grunde liegende Konzeptualisierung des Euroskeptizismus-Begriff umfasst neben globalen und konkreten negativen Bewertungen der EU auch die Zuschreibung von Problemverantwortung als weitere Spielart euroskeptischer Äußerungen. Die Arbeit nimmt weiterhin eine international vergleichende Perspektive ein, um den Einfluss nationaler Kontextfaktoren auf die Verbreitung euroskeptischer Positionen aufzuzeigen. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse decken zunächst auf, dass das Vorhandensein erstarkender euroskeptischer Oppositionsparteien nicht zwangsläufig zu einer Politisierung der europäischen Debatte führt, da sich die europhilen Mainstream-Parteien verschiedener Strategien zur Vermeidung einer solchen Kontroversen bedienen. Die Analysen ergeben weiterhin, dass europhile Regierungsparteien zwar mehrheitlich vor konkreten negativen Bewertungen der EU zurückschrecken, diese aber in Bezug auf die europäische Finanzkrise vorwiegend als Verursacher von Problemlagen skizzieren. Letztlich verdeutlichen die Ergebnisse, dass die mediale Berichterstattung zu Themen mit EU-Bezug eine starke Synchronizität zwischen Nachrichten- und Meinungsteil aufzeigt. Dies gilt sowohl in Bezug auf die geäußerten Bewertungen zur Europäischen Union als auch hinsichtlich der Darstellung von Verantwortlichkeit.

Over the past few decades, Single-Particle Analysis (SPA), in combination with cryo-transmission electron microscopy, has evolved into one of the leading technologies for structural analysis of biological macromolecules. It allows the investigation of biological structures in a close to native state at the molecular level. Within the last five years the achievable resolution of SPA surpassed 2°A and is now approaching atomic resolution, which so far has only been possible with Xray crystallography in a far from native environment. One remaining problem of Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryo-EM) is the weak image contrast. Since the introduction of cryo-EM in the 1980s phase plates have been investigated as a potential tool to overcome these contrast limitations. Until now, technical problems and instrumental deficiencies have made the use of phase plates difficult; an automated workflow, crucial for the acquisition of 1000s of micrographs needed for SPA, was not possible. In this thesis, a new Zernike-type Phase Plate (PP) was developed and investigated. Freestanding metal films were used as a PP material to overcome the ageing and contamination problems of standard carbon-based PPs. Several experiments, evaluating and testing various metals, ended with iridium as the best-suited material. A thorough investigation of the properties of iridium PP followed in the second part of this thesis. One key outcome is a new operation mode, the rocking PP. By using this rocking-mode, fringing artifacts, another obstacle of Zernike PPs, could be solved. In the last part of this work, acquisition and reconstruction of SPA data of apoferritin was performed using the iridium PP in rocking-mode. A special semi-automated workflow for the acquisition of PP data was developed and tested. The recorded PP data was compared to an additional reference dataset without a PP, acquired following a conventional workflow.

Aquatic hyphomycetes are a polyphyletic group of saprotrophic fungi growing abundantly on submerged leaf litter. In stream ecosystems shaped by allochthonous leaf litter inputs, they play a central functional role as decomposers and food source for other organisms. Fungicides pose a threat to aquatic hyphomycetes and their functions, since these substances are inherently toxic to fungi and contaminate surface waters around the world due to their widespread use in agricultural and urban landscapes. While fungicides’ potential to reduce fungal diversity are discerned, the extent of impacts on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships (B EF) remains unclear. This is partly attributed to methodological constraints in the detection and quantification of single aquatic hyphomycete species within microbial leaf-associated communities. The primary aim of this thesis was, therefore, (1) to assess the ecotoxicological impacts of fungicides on B-EF relationships in aquatic hyphomycete communities. To facilitate this, subordinate aims were to (2) develop DNA-based biomolecular tools (i.e., qPCR assays) to detect and to quantify the biomass of different aquatic hyphomycete species in mixed cultures and (3) to investigate the mechanisms underlying B-EF relationships in the absence of chemical stressors. In the course of this thesis, qPCR assays were developed for detection and species-specific biomass quantification of ten common aquatic hyphomycete species and successfully validated for application in eco( toxico )logical microcosm experiments. Via a systematic manipulation of fungal diversity, these assays allow the examination of B-EF relationships by assessments of deviations between observed and (monoculture-based) predicted activities in fungal mixed cultures. Taking advantage of these tools in a microcosm experiment, it was uncovered that leaf decomposition results from the additive activity of community members, even though functionally distinct species were present. Colonization dynamics are characterized by complex interactions. Colonization success of aquatic hyphomycetes is higher if co-occurring species are genetically and functionally distinct (i.e., complementary interactions). However, the co-occurrence of aquatic hyphomycete species does not necessarily result in a greater colonization success compared to monocultures, unless bacteria are present. Accordingly, the presence of other microbial groups such as bacteria may induce new fungal diversity-based feedback loops, which ultimately enable coexistence of aquatic hyphomycete species in the environment. Exposure to fungicides revealed substantial differences in sensitivities among aquatic hyphomycetes. The most productive species were able to cope with extremely high fungicide concentrations up to the mg/L-range. In assemblages containing these species, leaf decomposition was maintained under fungicide exposure. Yet, already at environmentally relevant fungicide concentrations, tolerant species displaced more sensitive ones, potentially affecting leaves’ nutritional quality for consumers. This thesis thus indicates that fungicide exposure poses a risk to stream food webs rather than the microbial leaf decomposition process per se.

SUMMARY Buildings and infrastructures characterize the appearance of our cultural landscapes and provide essential services for the human society. However, they inevitably impact the natural environment e.g. by the structural change of habitats. Additionally, they potentially cause further negative environmental impacts due to the release of chemical substances from construction materials. Galvanic anodes and organic coatings regularly used for corrosion protection of steel structures are building materials of particular importance for the transport infrastructure. In direct contact with a water body or indirectly via the runoff after rainfall, numerous chemicals can be released into the environment and pose a risk to aquatic organisms. Up to now, there is no uniform investigation and evaluation approach for the assessment of the environmental compatibility of building products. Furthermore, galvanic anodes and organic coatings pose particular challenges for their ecotoxicological characterization due to their composition. Therefore, the objective of the presented thesis was the ecotoxicological assessment of emissions from galvanic anodes and protective coatings as well as the development of standardized assessment procedures for these materials. The possible environmental hazard posed by the use of anodes on offshore installations was investigated on three trophic levels. To ensure a realistic and reliable evaluation, the experiments were carried out in natural seawater and under natural pH conditions. Moreover, the anode material and its main components zinc and aluminum were exposed while simulating a worst-case scenario. The anode material examined caused a weak inhibition of algae growth; no acute toxicity was observed on the luminescent bacteria and amphipods. However, an increase of aluminum and indium levels in the crustacean species was found. On the basis of these results, no direct threat has been identified for marine organisms from the use of galvanic aluminum anodes. However, an accumulation of metals in crustaceans and a resulting entry into the marine food web cannot be excluded. The environmental compatibility of organic coating systems was exemplarily evaluated using a selection of relevant products based on epoxy resins (EP) and polyurethanes. For this purpose, coated test plates were dynamically leached over 64 days. The eluates obtained were systematically analyzed for their ecotoxicological effects (acute toxicity to algae and luminescent bacteria, mutagenic and estrogenic effects) and their chemical composition. In particular, the EP-based coatings caused significant bacterial toxicity and estrogen-like effects. The continuously released 4-tert-butylphenol was identified as a main contributor to these effects and was quantified in concentrations exceeding the predicted no effect concentration for freshwater in all samples. Interestingly, the overall toxicity was not governed by the content of 4-tert-butylphenol in the products but rather by the release mechanism of this compound from the investigated polymers. This finding indicates that an optimization of the composition can result in the reduction of emissions and thus of environmental impacts - possibly due to a better polymerization of the compounds. Coatings for corrosion protection are exposed to rain, changes in temperature and sun light leading to a weathering of the polymer. To determine the influence of light-induced aging on the ecotoxicity of top coatings, the emissions and associated adverse effects of UV-irradiated and untreated EP-based products were compared. To that end, the investigation of static leachates was focused on estrogenicity and bacterial toxicity, which were detected in the classic microtiter plate format and in combination with thin-layer plates. Both materials examined showed a significant decrease of the ecotoxicological effects after irradiation with a simultaneous reduction of the 4-tert-butylphenol emission. However, bisphenol A and various structural analogues were detected as photolytic degradation products of the polymers, which also contributed to the observed effects. In this context, the identification of bioactive compounds was supported by the successful combination of in-vitro bioassays with chemical analysis by means of an effect-directed analysis. The presented findings provide important information to assess the general suitability of top coatings based on epoxy resins. Within the scope of the present study, an investigation concept was developed and successfully applied to a selection of relevant construction materials. The adaptation of single standard methods allowed an individual evaluation of these products. At the same time, the suitability of the ecotoxicological methods used for the investigation of materials of unknown and complex composition was confirmed and the basis for a systematic assessment of the environmental compatibility of corrosion protection products was created. Against the background of the European Construction Products Regulation, the chosen approach can facilitate the selection of environmentally friendly products and contributes to the optimization of individual formulations by the simple comparison of different building materials e.g. within a product group.

Studies have shown that runoff and spray-drift are important sources of nonpoint-source pesticide pollution of surface waters. Owing to this, public concern over the presence of pesticides in surface and ground water has resulted in intensive scientific efforts to find economical, yet environmentally sound solutions to the problem. The primary objective of this research was to assess the effectiveness of vegetated aquatic systems in providing buffering between natural aquatic ecosystems and agricultural landscape following insecticide associated runoff and spray-drift events. The first set of studies were implemented using vegetated agricultural ditches, one in Mississippi, USA, using pyrethroids (bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin) under simulated runoff conditions and the other in the Western Cape, South Africa using the organophosphate insecticide, azinphos-methyl (AZP), under natural runoff and spray-drift conditions. The second set of studies were implemented using constructed wetlands, one in the Western Cape using AZP under natural spray-drift conditions and the other in Mississippi, USA using the organophosphate MeP under simulated runoff conditions. Results from the Mississippi-ditch study indicated that ditch lengths of less than 300 m would be sufficient to mitigate bifenthrin and lambda-cyhalothrin. In addition, data from mass balance calculations determined that the ditch plants were the major sink (generally > 90%) and/or sorption site for the rapid dissipation of the above pyrethroids from the water column. Similarly, results from the ditch study in South Africa showed that a 180 m vegetated system was effective in mitigating AZP after natural spray drift and low flow runoff events. Analytical results from the first wetland study show that the vegetated wetland was more effective than the non-vegetated wetland in reducing loadings of MeP. Mass balance calculations indicated approximately 90% of MeP mass was associated with the plant compartment. Ninety-six hours after the contamination, a significant negative acute effect of contamination on abundances was found in 8 out of the 15 macroinvertebrate species in both wetland systems. Even with these toxic effects, the overall reaction of macroinvertebrates clearly demonstrated that the impact of MeP in the vegetated wetland was considerably lower than in the non-vegetated wetland. Results from the constructed wetland study in South Africa revealed that concentrations of AZP at the inlet of the 134 m wetland system were reduced by 90% at the outlet. Overall, results from all of the studies in this thesis indicate that the presence of the plant compartment was essential for the effective mitigation of insecticide contamination introduced after both simulated and natural runoff or spray-drift events. Finally, both the vegetated agricultural drainage ditch and vegetated constructed wetland systems studied would be effective in mitigating pesticide loadings introduced from either runoff or spray-drift, in turn lowering or eliminating potential pesticide associated toxic effects in receiving aquatic ecosystems. Data produced in this research provide important information to reduce insecticide risk in exposure assessment scenarios. It should be noted that incorporating these types of best management practices (BMPs) will decrease the risk of acute toxicity, but chronic exposure may still be an apparent overall risk.

The transport of pesticides from agricultural land into surface waters via diffuse entry pathways such as runoff is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems and their communities. Although certain risk mitigation measures are currently stipulated during pesticide product authorisation, further approaches might be needed to manage hot spots of pesticide exposure. Such a management is, for example, required by the European Union- directive for the sustainable use pesticides (2009/128/EC). The need for mitigation measures was investigated within the present thesis at stream sites draining an arable and a vineyard region in Germany by characterising pesticide exposure following edge-of-field runoff and (expected) effects on the aquatic macroinvertebrates. The results of these field studies showed, that streams in both regions were exposed to pesticide concentrations suggesting effects on the macroinvertebrate community. In the arable region the observed toxicity was mainly attributed to the insecticides lambda-cyhalothrin (in the water-phase samples) and alpha-cypermethrin (in the suspended particle samples), whereas in the vineyard region fungicides were most important. Furthermore stream water and suspended particles sampled in the vineyard region showed critical copper concentrations, which might cause ecotoxicological effects in the field. In addition to pesticide exposure, in the arable region also the effects on aquatic macroinvertebrates were assessed in the field. Generally, invertebrate fauna was dominated by pesticide-tolerant species, which suggested a high pesticide exposure at almost all sites. The elevated levels of suspended particle contamination in terms of maximum toxic units per sample (logTUMax > -2) reflect also this result. At two sites that received high aqueous-phase entries of the insecticide lambda-cyhalothrin (logTUMax > -0.6), the abundance and number of sensitive species (indicated by the SPEcies At Risk index) decreased during the pesticide application period. In contrast, at sites characterised by low water-phase toxicity (logTUMax < -3.5), no acute significant negative effects on macroinvertebrates were observed. In conclusion these data showed that in both regions the implementation of risk mitigation measures is needed to protect the aquatic communities. To mitigate runoff-related pesticide entries, riparian buffer strips are often recommended. However, the mitigating influence with increasing buffer strip width could not be demonstrated for riparian buffers which were already present in the arable and vineyard region. This result was attributed in the vineyard region to the high number of paved field paths associated with artificial erosion rills, which concentrate and rapidly transport receiving edge-of-field runoff in stream direction. Consequently the pesticide reduction efficiency of buffer strips is considerably reduced. We assumed that a similar process occurred in the arable region, due to a high number of erosion rills, which complicate a laminar sheet flow of edge-of-field runoff through the riparian buffer strip. Additionally also the presence of ephemeral drainage ditches, which led surface runoff from the agricultural fields to the streams may have contributed to observed pesticide entries despite wide buffers. Effective risk mitigation measures should address these identified most important input pathways in the study areas. As possible measures the implementation of grassed field paths and vegetated ditches or wetlands were suggested. In general also the improvement of currently present riparian buffer strips regarding their efficiency to reduce pesticide runoff entries should be taken into account. In conclusion the results of the field studies underline the importance that risk mitigation measures are identified specifically for the respective pollution situation in stream catchments. To facilitate this process, a user guide was developed within the present thesis for identifying appropriate mitigation measures at high-risk sites. Based on a survey of exposure relevant landscape parameter a set of risk mitigation measures is suggested that focus on the specific pollution situation. Currently the guide includes 12 landscape- and six application-related measures and presents an overview of these measures" efficiency to reduce pesticide entries via runoff and spray drift, their feasibility and expected acceptability to farmers. Based on this information the user can finally choose the mitigation measures for implementation. The present guide promotes the practical implementation of appropriate risk mitigation measures in pesticide-polluted streams, and thus the protection of aquatic stream communities against pesticide entries.

Unsere Welt und die technischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse verändern sich aktuell sehr schnell. Dies betrifft auch die naturwissenschaftliche Forschung und erfordert vermehrten Einsatz der Wissenschaftskommunikation und der Bildung. Ein Instrument der Wissenschaftskommunikation und eine Erweiterung des schulischen Unterrichts kann die Beteiligung von Freiwilligen bei wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten sein, welches auch als Citizen Science (CS) bezeichnet wird. CS Projekte erfreuen sich einer wachsenden Beliebtheit, unter anderem von Schulen (Burger, 2016). Dabei werden unter anderem die Förderung des Kontextwissens, der Scientific Literacy, der Umwelteinstellung und des –verhaltens versprochen (Peter et al., 2019). Interventionsstudien zu den Bildungspotentialen kommen jedoch zu unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen (Gommermann & Monroe, 2012; Turrini et al., 2018). Diese inkonsistenten Ergebnisse der Studien können auf die unterschiedliche Gestaltung der einzelnen evaluierten CS Projekte zurückgeführt werden. Es wird angenommen, dass Teilnehmende, die in mehr Schritten des wissenschaftlichen Prozesses eingebunden werden, ein größeres Bildungspotential haben, als Teilnehmende, die nur in wenige Schritte eingebunden werden (Burger, 2016; Shirk & Bonney, 2018). Bonney, Ballard et al. (2009) haben dazu ein dreistufiges Modell entwickelt. Das Modell wird unter anderem auch von Shirk et al. (2012) und Jordan et al. (2015) unterstützt, ist jedoch bezüglich der Lernwirksamkeit nicht empirisch überprüft (Edwards et al., 2018; Jordan et al., 2015). Deswegen schließt die Forschungsfrage dieser Studie hier an: Unter welchem Partizipationsansatz sind die Lerneffekte in einem CS Projekt am größten für Schülerinnen und Schüler? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, wurde ein CS Projekt mit drei Experimentalgruppen geplant und durchgeführt. Insgesamt nahmen 199 Schülerinnen und Schüler an dem Projekt teil. Innerhalb der Interventionsstudie wurden die Schülerinnen und Schüler zu drei Testzeitpunkten zur Umwelteinstellung und -verhalten, Nature of Science, Einstellung zur Wissenschaft und dem Kontextwissen befragt. Die Analysen über die Messzeitpunkte zeigen keine statistisch signifikanten Einflüsse der Experimentalgruppen auf die abhängigen Variablen. Jedoch ist die Teststärke bei allen Tests zu gering, um abschließende Aussagen über die Annahmen zu treffen. Wird jedoch die generelle Wirkung der Intervention betrachtet, zeigen sich signifikante Effekte auf alle Schülerinnen und Schüler, unter anderem steigt das Verständnis über Nature of Science. Diese Ergebnisse stimmen mit früheren Schlussfolgerungen von Phillips (2017), Phillips et al. (2019) und Del Bianco (2018) überein, die ebenfalls Zweifel an dem Modell von Bonney, Ballard et al. (2009) äußerten. Innerhalb dieses CS Projektes konnte sich keiner der drei Partizipationsansätze bezüglich des Bildungspotential für Schülerinnen und Schüler hervorheben lassen. Jedoch ist diese Studie unter anderem durch die geringe Teststärke limitiert und endgültige Aussagen bedürfen weiterer systematischer Forschung.

Introduction: In March 2012 a secessionist-Islamist insurgency gained momentum in Mali and quickly took control of two-thirds of the state territory. Within weeks radical Islamists, drug smugglers and rebels suddenly ruled over a territory bigger than Germany. News of the abuse of the population and the introduction of harsh Sharia law spread soon, and word got out that the Malian Army had simply abandoned the land. The general echo of the IC was surprise, a reaction that was, as this research will show, as unfunded as it was unconstructive*. When Malian state structures collapsed, the world watched in shock, even though the developments couldhave been anticipated –and prevented. Ultimately, the situation had to be resolved by international forces (most notably French troops), who are still in Mali at the time of writing (Arieff 2013a: 5; Lohmann 2012: 3; Walther and Christopoulos 2015: 514f.; Shaw 2013: 204; Qantara, Interview, 2012;L’Express, Mali, 2015; Deutscher Bundestag, MINUSMA und EUTM Mali, 2016; UN, MUNISMA, 2016; Boeke and Schuurmann 2015: 801; Chivvis 2016: 93f.). This research will show that the developments in Mali in 2012 have been developing for a long time and could have been avoided. In doing so, it will also show why state security can never be analyzed or consolidated in an isolated manner. Instead, it is necessary to take into account regional dynamics and developments in order to find a comprehensive approach to security in individual states. Once state failure occurs, not only does the state itself fail, but the surrounding region equally failed to prevent the failure. Weak states are a growing concern in many world regions, particularly in Africa. As international intervention often proves unsustainable for various reasons*, the author believes that states which cannot stabilize themselves need a regional agent to support them. This regional agent should be a Regional Security Complex (RSC) asdefined by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever (Buzan and Waever 2003). As the following analysis will show, Mali is a case in point. The hope is that this study will help avoid similar failures in the future by making a strong case for the establishment of RSC’s. …