Cord Schmelzle is a Research Associate at the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700 “Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood” for the project “Contributions to Theory Building.” He holds a Diploma degree and PhD in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin and has been a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on normative theories of international relations, political authority and legitimacy, and just war theory. His first book “Politische Legitimität und zerfallene Staatlichkeit (Campus 2015)” (“Political Legitimacy and Collapsed Statehood”)  addresses conceptual questions of legitimacy and statehood as well as the justification of political authority by external actors in failed states. It won the German Political Science Association's (DVPW) Best First Book Award 2016. For further information please visit his personal website cordschmelzle.net.