It is generally assumed that sovereign states in the 19th century were “entitled” to use war as a political instru­ment whenever they deemed it necessary. It was only with the founding of the League of Nations, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the UN Charter that this “right” was gradually outlawed, according to the general inter­pretation of historical develop­ments. The “century of anarchy” in the decision for war was thus followed by a radical trans­formation of inter­national law and inter­national politics towards a general prohibition of the use of force in inter­national relations in accordance with Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter. 

In his book, Simon deconstructs the dictum of a “free right to war” and the associated narrative of progress as a myth in the History of Inter­national Relations and Inter­national Law. Part I of the book outlines a genealogy of modern justi­fications for war that encompasses both political and theoretical discourses since the French Revolution. Here it becomes clear that inter­national violence has been in need of legiti­mization throughout modernity.  

In Part II, Hendrik Simon shows that the “liberum ius ad bellum” was an invention of realist legal scholars in the German Empire who wrote against the main­stream of liberal inter­national legal scholars. In the inter­national historio­graphies between and after the world wars, how­ever, this radical minority opinion was univer­salized as supposedly correct – paradoxically both by “realist” authors such as the Nazi consti­tutional lawyer Carl Schmitt and by liberals such as Hans Wehberg. Liberals wanted to portray inter­national law since 1920 as particularly progressive. With great success: The narrative of the “anarchic” 19th century there­fore served as a contrast to the new inter­national legal order. This black and white thinking on the “old” order before 1920 and the “new” order after 1920 still dominates inter­national historio­graphy today.  

“A Century of Anarchy?” offers a ground­breaking study and a fact-filled read for historians, lawyers and researchers in the fields of Political Theory, Peace and Conflict Studies and Inter­national Relations, as well as for anyone interested in the history of war and the modern inter­national order. Simon not only artfully deconstructs the myth of “liberum ius ad bellum”, but also traces the political and theo­retical roots of the modern prohi­bition of war back to the early 19th century. According to Hendrik Simon, the 19th century was not a “century of anarchy” – it was the era in which the modern inter­national order was born.

Further infor­mation can be found on the website of Oxford University Press.

His habilitation thesis tiled “Peace Survival after Civil War” was accepted at Goethe University in February 2024. Using a multi-method approach, Thorsten Gromes in­vestigates the stability of peace after civil wars. As such, he analyzes the post-war orders and the develop­ment of 48 civil wars that occurred between 1990 and 2009. The habilitation thesis was written in the context of the project “One-Sided or Balanced: Which Post-Civil War Order Secures the Intrastate Peace?” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

We congratulate him on his successful habilitation!

Dimpho Deleglise's report aims to close this gap. In doing so, she syste­matizes existing research and identifies existing gaps based on a comprehensive reconstruc­tion of previous activities of African Special Envoys. Against this background, she highlights the need for a practice-oriented research approach that takes into account the com­plexity of perspectives in the deployment of African special envoys.

Dr. Dimpho Deleglise is a Senior Researcher at PRIF’s “Glocal Junctions” research depart­ment as well as in PRIF’s Research Group “African Intervention Politics”. Her research focuses on the African peace and security archi­tecture and the deployment of special envoys by the African Union and regional orga­nizations in the Horn of Africa region. Her re­search is part of the competence network “African Non-military Conflict Intervention Practices (ANCIP)”, fun­ded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Re­search (BMBF) as part of the funding line “Strengthening and further develop­ment of peace and conflict research”.

Download (pdf): Deleglise, Dimpho (2024): African Special Envoys In Practice: A Research Agenda For Studying Complex Diplomatic Interventions, PRIF Report 3/2024, Frankfurt/M.

In her doctoral project, Jana Baldus analyses the normative con­flicts in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the associated emergence of the Treaty on the Prohi­bition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Starting from the puzzle of why the TPNW was (and could only be) ne­gotiated now, she examines how contestation and resistance from various actors in the nuclear order became in­creasingly radicalised and thus created a space for the e­mergence of the TPNW.

The dissertation was written as part of the re­search project "Perspectives of Arms Control". Initiated by the Foreign Office and PRIF, four doctoral re­searchers analyze current and future problems of arms control and out­line possibilities for co­operation in this field with the aim of supporting political de­cision-makers with expertise on arms con­trol and other security-related topics. Further doctoral theses in the project will examine how the Nuclear Non-Proliferation re­gime reproduces a post-colonial order, how know­ledge and practice of arms control can have a pre­ventive effect on the develop­ment of new weapons systems and which struc­tural con­ditions facilitate in­transparency and corruption in arms trade.

Congratulations on the success­ful dissertation.

After brief introductions by Nicole Deitelhoff, Rainer Forst and Christopher Daase and a welcoming address by the Minister, the students formulated their views on current political processes in Germany. They commented on the crisis of representative democracy, instruments of participation, the lack of spaces for productive debate and the shift of political communication to the digital space. Mona Klöckner, research associate at PRIF, recalled the recent civil society protests against the right and emphasized that these must be taken up at the level of institutional politics and should not remain without consequences. Nicole Deitelhoff, who moderated the meeting, emphasized the importance of discursive spaces, productive debate and civil society dialogue at the end of the discussion.

"Democracy thrives on constructive debate and cooperation. That is why I am very pleased about the great interest shown by the students and the lively exchange," said the Minister of Science, summing up the meeting in the subsequent press release. He had taken the current action program "11+1 for Hesse" launched by the Hessian state government as an opportunity for the exchange with the democracy researchers in Frankfurt. The HMWK dedicates its program section to the topic of democracy research.

Since its foundation in 1958, the Forschungsstätte Evangelische Studien­gemeinschaft has aimed to link scientific research with the principles of the Gospel and to assist the Protes­tant Church in addressing current challenges and issues. In four de­partments and cross-sectional projects, the research institute combines interdisciplinary re­search perspectives on religion, law and culture, sustainable develop­ment, peace and natural science. More informa­tion on FEST's research and Christopher Daase's role can be found on the website of the Research Institute.

Thorsten Gromes is a Senior Researcher and project manager in the research depart­ment “Intra­state Conflict”. He con­ducts research on humani­tarian military inter­ventions, peace­building, and the causes of civil wars.

Download (pdf): Gromes, Thorsten (2024): Ausstieg verpasst? Der Bundestag und die UN-Mission in Mali, PRIF Report 2/2024, Frankfurt/M.

Hendrik Simon is a re­searcher at PRIF in the Research Depart­ment “Trans­national Politics” as well as in the Re­search Alliances ConTrust and TraCe.

The confe­rence brought together national and interna­tional resear­chers to discuss the role of journa­lism and media in armed conflicts and deeply divided socie­ties. The confe­rence program provi­ded space for the exchange of research fin­dings and prac­tical expe­riences through various formats such as a film screening, lectures, panels and partici­patory methods such as a World Café. A focus was put on media edu­cation approa­ches, particu­larly in the Colom­bian transi­tional justice process. The con­ference also high­lighted the successes and challen­ges of the work of media and jour­nalists, and empha­sized the impor­tance of journa­listic initia­tives and research. The poten­tial of memory work by the media in the context of challen­ges such as oppo­sitional social behavior in Colombia was clearly empha­sized. The impor­tance of quality, engage­ment and inno­vation in journa­listic repor­ting and communi­cation was also deemed necessary to better explore underre­presented topics and make them more accessible.

The conference was organized within the framework of and with funding from the research center Transformations of Political Violence (TraCe) and the Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” by PRIF together with the German-Colombian Peace Institute CAPAZ and the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) at the Universidad de los Andes.

The conference report (pdf) in Spanish with an English-language summary is available for download.

Download (pdf): Abay Gaspar, Hande / Junk, Julian / Sold, Manjana / Süß, Clara-Auguste (2024): Co-escalation in Contentious Politics and Radicalization, PRIF Working Papers No. 62, Frankfurt/M.

The work­shop was based on a scenario analysis of the inter­play between the dynamics of violence and poli­tical develop­ment in Ecuador, which Jonas Wolff and Elena Dressler had prepared in consultation with BMZ and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). On this basis, the back­ground, in­fluencing factors, im­plications and re­commendations for action for German develop­ment cooperation with Ecuador were discussed at the work­shop.

From April 1, 2024, the three Leibniz Labs will each receive three million euros from the Association over a period of three years. PRIF is involved in the following Leibniz Labs: "Pandemic Prepared­ness - Preparing for future pandemics by networking inter- and transdisciplinary research: One Health, One Future", in "Systemic Sustainability - Biodiversity, Climate, Agriculture and Nutrition within Planetary Boundaries" and in "Up­heavals and Transformations". Stefan Kroll, Head of Knowledge Transfer Depart­ment, coordinated the application process and is over­seeing PRIF's further participation.

The Leibniz Senate has selected three Leibniz Labs from a total of five ap­plications submitted. The aim of Leibniz Labs is to make the best possible use of the Leibniz Association's inter­disciplinary and trans­disciplinary experience, expertise and potential in order to make a strong con­tribution to solving pressing social issues. Leibniz Labs primarily rely on the inte­gration of the diverse existing know­ledge of all Leibniz institutions. Leibniz Labs develop formats that support problem solving across disciplinary boun­daries and by in­corporating knowledge and per­spectives from politics, business and society.

Presse release Leibniz Assoziation (in German)

Part of the stay was a research trip to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Museum on March 5 and 6, 2024. On March 11, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation invited Flamm to Tokyo to give a talk followed by a dis­cussion at the Ocean Policy Research Institute on the political risks and governance of glacial geo­engineering in the Antarctic.

Two central questions of the publication are: Why are right-wing and far-right movements so successful in times of crisis? And what are the processes in the so-called center of the society that make right-wing narratives and evaluations connectable? As part of his DFG project, he conducted inter­views with residents of peripheral neighbor­hoods in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main, where the AfD has been strong in recent years. "What makes the far right attractive is the offer of not having to change despite all the crises and the need for ecological trans­formation," says Daniel Mullis, summarizing his findings. At the same time, he goes beyond a description of the current situation and asks what role indivi­dualization and the neo­liberalization of society play and how pro­gressive politics can succeed in un­certain times.

Numerous readings are planned to mark the publi­cation of the book: Daniel Mullis will present the publi­cation during the Leipzig Book Fair on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 6 p.m. at Leipzig City Library. On March 22, 2024, he will discuss his research findings at a public recording of the Deutschlandfunk podcast "Systemfragen" at the Leipzig Book Fair. Further events and readings are planned including the Karl Marx book­shop in Frankfurt am Main. On March 15, 2024, the Frankfurter Rundschau published an interview with Daniel Mullis in which he talks with Pit von Bebenburg about his book (in German). 

The discussion on research design and metho­dology was rounded off by a keynote give by Lorne L. Dawson from the University of Waterloo, who spoke about the matrix of metho­dological issues in the study of violent extremism. The consortium furthermore welcomed Garth Davies from Simon Fraser University.

On February 29, the entire consortium was hosted at Philipps University Marburg. The extensive program included a lecture by Julia Schulte-Cloos on right-wing autho­ritarian attitudes, fast-paced decision-making, and the spread of misinfor­mation about COVID-19 vaccines. The stay in Marburg also included a city tour.

Finally, the meeting provided an oppor­tunity to discuss joint research possi­bilities and exchange ideas. The next virtual meeting will take place in August 2024.

The EU-financed Marie Skłodowska Curie Promotion Network VORTEX includes eight partners and supports ten doctoral researchers.

In 2022, Antonia Witt and other authors were com­missioned by the Advisory Board to write the study “Policy Cohe­­rence for Peace in German Govern­­ment Action: Lessons from Mali and Niger”. This study focused on the questions of how coherent German govern­­ment action in Mali and Niger is with its peace policy guide­­lines and how civil society actors in the two coun­tries perceive this (in)­coherence. The study provided im­portant insights for im­­proving structures and the use of re­sources in Germany’s peace policy engage­­ment, and not only in the Sahel.

The Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Preven­tion and Peace­building brings together civil society and aca­demic expertise on crisis prevention and peace­building and advises the German Govern­ment on these topics. The twenty mem­bers of the Advisory Boards come from the fields of inter­national cooperation, academia, foundations and non-govern­mental organizations and are appointed for four years. The Advisory Board accompanies the imple­mentation of the guide­lines “Preventing Crises, Resol­ving Conflicts, Building Peace” adopted by the German Govern­ment in 2017. Further infor­mation on Antonia Witt's work on the Advi­sory Board can be found on the web­­site of the Advi­­sory Board for Civilian Crisis Pre­ven­tion and Peace­­building.