Peace & Security
We seek to understand atrocities and the politics of the use of force at all levels, from the local to the global. We investigate how to better anticipate, prevent and stop organized violence, and how outsiders might help rebuild order and peace. We work closely with practitioners in governments and international and civil society organizations, in Germany and beyond. We promote important debates and facilitate learning to improve policymaking and, ultimately, help save lives.
Evaluating P/CVE: Institutional Structures in International Comparison
Preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) is an emerging field with a wealth of experience but few proven recipes for success. Do we know if existing measures are effective?
Follow the Money: Investing in Crisis Prevention
Who spends what to prevent which crisis? And do these investments happen early enough? Open-source data and country case studies help us map the landscape of civilian investment in crisis prevention.
The Long Shadow of Donbas
In Ukraine, over 400,000 soldiers have fought in Donbas since 2014. Reintegrating these veterans is vital to the country’s stability. How is the process going? And where are improvements needed?
The Last Straw: How Chemical Weapons Impact Women and Break Communities
Chemical weapons are an integral part of the Syrian military campaign – a strategy that has disproportionately affected women. What are the gendered impacts of chemical weapons? And how do chemical attacks affect community resilience?
Militias or Partners? Local, Hybrid and Sub-State Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq
Community or regional forces, militias, and other forms of sub-state or local security actors have long existed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and continue to proliferate. Recently, local, hybrid and sub-state forces have often proved to be a critical stopgap against anti-government forces in both countries. But how do these security gains balance against other potential side effects for governance, rule of law, or civilian protection? How do repeated cycles of militarizing local spaces affect local community dynamics and prospects for a sustainable peace?
Select Projects
Stabilization Lab: Improving Key Instruments for Crisis Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
Preventing crises, resolving conflicts and building peace are noble endeavors – but they are also fraught with challenges and dilemmas. In this project, we look at different dimensions of stabilization to better understand these dilemmas and suggest targeted ways of addressing them.
The Scale and Logic of Chemical Weapons Use in Syria
Based on the most comprehensive dataset of confirmed chemical weapons attacks in Syria compiled to date, we investigate the scale, pervasiveness and strategic logic that underpins the use of these banned weapons in the Syrian conflict.
Perspectives on Peace in Eastern Ukraine
Those most affected by the ongoing conflict in Donbas have a large stake in its resolution. However, their perspectives are not always included in peace efforts. In this project, we investigate the attitude of these stakeholders toward the future of Donbas.
PrEval: Evaluation Designs for the Prevention of Violent Extremism
Together with the PrEval consortium, we are developing evaluation designs to assess Germany’s needs and capacities in preventing violent extremism.
Experts
Thorsten Benner
Sarah Bressan
Julia Friedrich
Melissa Li
Tobias Schneider
Sofie Lilli Stoffel
Sarah Brockmeier
Inji El Bakry
Erica Gaston
Philipp Rotmann
Karam Shoumali
Marie Wagner
Funding & Contact
Our current work on global peace and security is generously supported by the European Commission’s Horizon2020 research funding scheme, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the Jeyroudi Foundation. For previous projects, we received grants and support by the German Foundation for Peace Research, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation in cooperation with Compagnia di San Paolo and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, the UN Secretariat’s Department for Peacekeeping Operations, the Friedrich Ebert and Heinrich Böll Foundations, as well as Humanity United.
For more information, please contact Philipp Rotmann.
