Under the motto “Reconnecting International Studies”, the 66th annual convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) takes place in Chicago from March 2–5, 2025.
In the run-up to the annual convention, researchers from all over the world came together for workshops to discuss current issues in peace and conflict research. Among them were researchers from PRIF: Antonia Witt and Sophia Birchinger took part in the pre-ISA workshop “Global South Perspectives on International Organizations”. As part of the event, they reported on current findings from the DFG project “Local Perceptions of Regional Interventions: AU and ECOWAS in Burkina Faso and The Gambia”. Furthermore, Sophia Birchinger and Antonia Witt organized a roundtable out of the “Coercion and Peacebuilding” project. The results of the roundtable will be summarized in an edited volume, co-edited with Emma Birikorang (KAIPTC Accra) and Fana Gebresenbet (IPSS Addis Ababa).
Juan Albarracín Dierolf and Jonas Wolff organized a workshop on “Violence Against Public Figures in Contemporary Democracies”. The workshop brought together experts from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss key challenges facing democracies in the Americas, Europe and beyond.
The program of the ISA annual convention includes a series of events in which PRIF researchers are involved. Una Jakob, Liska Suckau, Maximilian Tkocz, Simone Wisotzki, Anna-Katharina Ferl and Tobias Wille from the Research Department International Security participate in the conference. They speak on topics including warfare and arms control, terrorism and violence, and gender equality in peacebuilding.
The Research Department International Institutions is represented by Mikhail Polianskii, Mina Trpkovic, Felix S. Bethke, Ben Christian, Anton Peez, Johanna Speyer and Lisbeth Zimmermann. They deal with concepts and crises of international order, Russia's foreign policy, global governance and other topics.
Claudia Baumgart-Ochse, Head of the Transnational Politics Research Department, speaks on the role of religion in diasporic perspectives on conflicts.
The Research Department Intrastate Conflict is represented by Jonas Wolff, Laura Camila Barrios Sabogal and Regine Schwab. They are involved in the topics of democracy and authoritarianism, civil wars and intrastate conflicts and political violence.
Sophia Birchinger, Antonia Witt and Jonas Schaaf from the Research Department Glocal Junctions are taking part in the annual conference. Their topics include coercion and peacebuilding, international relations from the perspective of post-colonial regions and African non-military conflict interventions. The ANCIP network organized a panel on “Studying Practices in African Non-military Interventions” with Antonia Witt as chair, at which Jonas Schaaf presented his paper “Integrating local and international conflict intervention arenas: The micro-meso-macro practice framework”. In addition, Antonia Witt organized a panel on “Governing violent extremism in West Africa: Anticipation and improvisation” and gave the presentation “Anticipating violent extremism: Insights from Ghana”.
Further information on this year's ISA annual convention can be found on the ISA website.
