Peace & Security

How and why do leaders systematically use violence for political ends? How to better anticipate, prevent and stop organized violence, and help rebuild order and peace? We work closely with practitioners in governments, international organizations and civil society, in Germany and beyond. We promote important debates and facilitate learning to improve policymaking and, ultimately, help save lives. 

Study

Building Peace, the Feminist Foreign Policy Way: Good Practices

How can a feminist foreign policy translate into a more feminist way of peacebuilding? An overview of good practices and real-world examples that implement principles of an ambitious feminist foreign policy in practice.

Study

Supporting Civil Society in Acute Crises

Support to civil society is a main tool policymakers use to prevent confilict. How can donors do it better?

Study

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.

Study

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?

Understanding the Syrian Chemical Weapons Complex

Based on the most comprehensive dataset of chemical attacks in Syria compiled to date, we have developed an interactive map and analysis that show the scale and pervasiveness of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict. The site allows users to explore more than 340 confirmed incidents, details our methodology, and offers access to the full dataset for further research and reporting.


Learn more about the project and visit the website.

Select Projects

Projects

Stabilization Lab

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.

Projects

Strategic Foresight and Anticipatory Action

Governments and organizations are increasingly adopting foresight methods to anticipate and mitigate crises. Which methods help prevent crises? And how can they be used to develop methodological innovations to avert crises in Europe and beyond?

Project

PrEval: Improving Violent Extremism Prevention Through Evaluation

Together with the PrEval consortium, we are developing evaluation designs to assess Germany’s needs and capacities in preventing violent extremism.

Projects

Protest Movements and Civil Society

The number of protests have grown over the last decade – on both sides of the isle. How should international actors address these protest movements? What could a more nuanced discussion on civil society support look like?

Experts

Henry Baker

Research Assistant

Thorsten Benner

Director

Sarah Bressan

Research Fellow

Gelila Enbaye

Research Associate

Fennet Habte

Research Associate

Jakob Hensing

Research Fellow

Philipp Rotmann

Director

Sofie Lilli Stoffel

Non-Resident Fellow

Niklas Balbon

Research Associate

Sarah Brockmeier

Non-Resident Fellow

Sophie Ebbecke

Research Associate

Erica Gaston

Non-Resident Fellow

Julian Heiss

Non-Resident Fellow

Melissa Li

Research Fellow

Tobias Schneider

Research Fellow

Abi Watson

Research Fellow

Funding & Contact

Our current work on global peace and security is generously supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Federal Ministry for the Interior, IABG, GIZ as well as the Friedrich Ebert and Heinrich Böll Foundations. For previous projects, we also received grants and tenders from the German Foundation for Peace Research, Global Affairs Canada, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the European Commission’s Horizon2020 research funding scheme, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation in cooperation with Compagnia di San Paolo and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, the Jeyroudi Foundation, the UN Secretariat’s Department for Peacekeeping Operations, as well as Humanity United.


For more information, please contact Philipp Rotmann.


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?

Find out more about our three-year project

Recent Publications