Guests from academia, civic education and the public discussed current transnational conflict dynamics at the PRIF Annual Conference from October 10 to 11, 2024. The conference entitled “Far away and yet so close: Armed conflicts in the transnational constellation” offered a regionally diverse program with international experts.
The conference, which was conceived by Claudia Baumgart-Ochse, Hanna Pfeifer, Regine Schwab and Hendrik Simon, focused on the question of how current armed conflicts are not only fought within limited geographical areas and determined by international political dynamics, but are also embedded in complex transnational constellations. The current war between Israel and Hamas was analyzed as an example of a transnational constellation, which has long since led to sometimes massive armed conflicts in and with neighboring states beyond the Gaza Strip. Hybrid actors such as Hamas have their leadership in various countries closely linked with other rebel and terrorist groups and global propaganda networks.
The conference also addressed the effects on societies that do not appear to be directly affected by the conflicts, leading to political polarization there: Following the Hamas massacres on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Gaza war, in Germany and other European countries for example, both anti-Semitism from various milieus and anti-Muslim sentiments had intensified.
PRIF Annual Conference 2024 aimed to develop a comprehensive and systematic understanding of transnational armed conflict constellations: In addition to the Gaza war as a current and relevant example, the dynamics described were discussed as general characteristics of contemporary armed conflicts. A dialog panel moderated by Stefan Kroll, which concluded the first day of the conference, was explicitly aimed at a broad public.