International Security
The Research Department studies the classic field of international security policy: States seek security, their own, that of their citizens, and of political, economic, and environmental relationships. How states pursue this goal is crucial for the maintenance of peace and the risk of violent conflict. The department’s empirical work focuses on those practices and strategies of states that are associated with military violence or that seek to prevent or limit its application. Highest priority is given to the latest developments and dynamics in warfare, the transformation of norms and rules regarding the legitimate use of force, and arms control. Besides conducting basic theoretical research, the Research Department has a long-standing expertise in policy consultation and an ongoing interest in the policy issues of arms control, disarmament and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Photo: Martin Frey, flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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Projects
PhD Projects
Future nuclear disarmament treaties will likely include the verification of complete and correct declarations of items related to nuclear weapons programs. Nuclear archaeology is a field of research aiming at reconstructing the operational history of facilities producing fissile material which is an integral component of nuclear weapons. The methods of nuclear archaeology can provide estimates for past fissile material production making them a useful asset for assessing the completeness of fissile material declarations.
This research project, located within the Research Group Science for Nuclear Diplomacy of the Cluster for Natural and Technical Science Arms Control Research (CNTR), intends to advance existing techniques by including novel data sources as well as sophisticated statistical data analysis tools. It is planned to improve forensic measurement analysis, which is an important tool in nuclear archaeology, by systematically focusing on the most important information as well as complementing the measurements with data from archives documenting the historical operation of nuclear reactors. A particular focus of the project lays on implementing machine learning techniques, including recently established methods in the field of deep learning, for proper analysis of large data sets and reliable statistical statements. Finally, the integration of statistical results in a political verification regime is addressed.
Samuel Forsythe's dissertation project examines the relationship and development of political conflict, information and communication technology (ICT) and strategic practice. It focuses on the development of theories, practices and discourses that instrumentalize knowledge, cognition and communication as political and military means. The motivation for the study is the question: How have new media and technologies enabled and transformed conflicts in the communicative and cognitive spheres?
The working hypothesis is that ICT promotes the intensification of types of conflict that stress stratagem, deception and manipulation as essential instruments for political actors and at the same time enable the dissemination of these instruments among non-state actors. Furthermore, the "hybrid" character of today's society - in which technology externalizes our cognitive and communicative processes - creates a situation in which attacks on information processing systems can constitute a form of violence.
Empirically, the research project includes an analysis of the new forms of strategic rationality developed through the discourse and practices of statesmanship, intelligence and information warfare, cyber and information security, and their interactions with the broader field of social communication and collective epistemic practice.
It is commonly assumed that nuclear arms control pursues the goal of strategic stability. In recent years, however, newly declassified historical sources have shown that the concept of strategic stability played at best a minor role for US decision-makers in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) that took place between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1969 and 1979. This dissertation project builds on the recent scholarship and uses historical sources to examine the relevance of strategic stability in US arms control policy during the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) between 1981 and 1989. It also analyzes what other factors were decisive for the negotiations. In particular, the project aims to identify new approaches for future arms control negotiations and a restart of nuclear arms control.
Recent events in the Middle East, Ukraine, and North Korea show that the risk of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons is still high. While existing international security regimes related to these weapons are robust, they are in crisis. Violations and contestation of regimes create shocks and junctures that would either strengthen or weaken them. Compliance and enforcement are the normative practices to address such violations. The robustness of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons regimes correlates to the effectiveness of existing enforcement norms and procedures. Having all three regimes at a turning point makes analyzing the evolution of enforcement practices across the three regimes timely. The project involves a cross-regime analysis of enforcement norms and procedures to study the differences and offer an understanding of the implications for the regimes.
This dissertation speaks to the recent scholarship in political science which has once again become interested in “bridging the gap” between academics and practitioners, discussing the opportunities and challenges of science-policy knowledge transfer in addressing pressing issues. In the field of arms control and disarmament, there are many such pressing issues in need of solutions: Transnational shifts and changes continue to challenge the arms control pillars of the Cold War, many of which have already eroded. At the same time, emerging technologies and advancements will have an impact on the future of arms control even if there is a great deal of uncertainty on how exactly. As a result of these complexities, policymakers require technical and field-specific knowledge, while scientists’ work is influenced by political processes and dynamics. However, little contemporary, comparative research exists about science-policy interactions in arms control which take place in various formal and informal settings. Linking theory-building on “epistemic communities” to interdisciplinary research on knowledge transfer and exchange, this dissertation seeks to conceptualise and understand the agency of social and natural scientists in arms control policy processes in Germany. Specifically, it investigates the interplay of values, activism and scientific evidence in science-policy interactions. Empirically focusing on the German arms control community, I use a mixed-methods approach, by combining quantitative data (survey) and qualitative research (in-depth case studies, interviews, participant observations).
Completed Projects
This project investigated the conditions that enable norms to successfully be established and implemented in the context of clashing justice and sovereignty claims made by states. The key question addressed how states’ convergent and/or differing morals and conceptions of justice affect the establishment and implementation of global norms through the United Nations. We assessed whether differing ideas of justice give rise to conflict among interacting states. Do divergent conceptions of justice hinder normative agreement between the negotiation partners, or even the realization of global forms of governance?
Multilateral negotiations have shown that demands for the legal codification of global human rights norms – particularly in the policy area of security – is met with resistance from states which refuse such a conditioning of their national sovereignty. Negotiations for the international Arms Trade Treaty only granted marginal attention to calls for greater consideration of human rights issues in the area of evaluating weapons exports. In two rounds of bargaining, negotiations likewise failed on account of justice issues. Unresolved conflicts over justice often reemerge in the implementation and application phases for a given norm – as evidenced in the example of the international Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
This project analyzed debates present in the UN Security Council the UN General Assembly; it used a content analysis and compared three policy areas:
- Humanitarian intervention: The “Responsibility to Protect” represents a new norm aimed at defending human rights. It justifies actions spanning from conditioning sovereignty to the use of military force, even without prior consent of the affected state’s government. However, efforts to establish a doctrine for humanitarian intervention that would have made such intrusions possible without consent from the UN Security Council proved unsuccessful.
- Humanitarian arms control: the areas of small arms control and the international Arms Trade Treaty are both host to divergent moral convictions and perceptions of justice that pursue the establishment and implementation of norms. At the same time, the protection of national sovereignty – such as the right to self-defense according to article 51 of the UN Charter – limits efforts to establish international regulations.
- Violence towards women: gender-specific human rights permeate the security sector and appear in norms such as UNSC Resolution 1325 “Women, Peace and Security”. Conflicts related to perceptions of justice arise over issues such as the reach of the norms in question, selectivity in their implementation, and their encroachment into domestic jurisdiction.
The findings from this research area provided both theoretical and practical contributions. As such, the project developed a theory of empirical universalism that demonstrates the scope and limits of conceptions of justice in relation to the conditioning of state sovereignty. The project also identified practical strategies that can be applied to negotiations involving the definition and implementation of contested norms.
Project duration: May 2014 – January 2018
Publications
- The International Implementation of R2P: Norm Contestation and Its Consequences
| 2023
Hofmann; Gregor P. (2023): The International Implementation of R2P: Norm Contestation and Its Consequences, in: Reichwein, Alexander; Hansel, Mischa (eds), Rethinking the Responsibility to Protect, Cham: Springer, 23–51. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27412-1_2
Publication - Bilanz nach fünfzehn Jahren Schutzverantwortung
| 2020
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2020): Bilanz nach fünfzehn Jahren Schutzverantwortung. Früher handeln statt später bedauern, Neue Gesellschaft / Frankfurter Hefte, 5, 37–41.
Publication - Die Schutzverantwortung - umstritten und doch anerkannt?
| 2020
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2020): Die Schutzverantwortung - umstritten und doch anerkannt?, in: Hansel, Mischa/Reichwein, Alexander (eds), Die Internationale Schutzverantwortung: Etabliert. Herausgefordert. Gescheitert?, Münster: LIT Verlag, 25–52.
Publication - Gender Justice in Multilateral Negotiations
| 2019
Wisotzki, Simone (2019): Gender Justice in Multilateral Negotiations. The Case of SGBV in the Rome Statute and the ICC, in: Fehl, Caroline/Peters, Dirk/Wisotzki, Simone/Wolff, Jonas (eds), Justice and Peace. The role of justice claims in international cooperation and conflict, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 115-135. - Idlib: Humanitäre Katastrophe aufgeschoben, nicht durchgestanden – Ein Debattenbeitrag
| 2018
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2018): Idlib: Humanitäre Katastrophe aufgeschoben, nicht durchgestanden – Ein Debattenbeitrag, genocide-alert.de.
Publication - Gerechtigkeitskonflikte und Normentwicklung
| 2019
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2019): Gerechtigkeitskonflikte und Normentwicklung. Die internationale Umstrittenheit der Responsibility to Protect, Studien des Leibniz-Instituts Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Wiesbaden: Springer VS. - Vom Verhandlungstisch in die Konfliktzonen: Die Menschenrechte von Überlebenden sexueller Gewalt stärken
| 2019
Wisotzki, Simone (2019): Vom Verhandlungstisch in die Konfliktzonen: Die Menschenrechte von Überlebenden sexueller Gewalt stärken, in: Christian, Ben/Coni-Zimmer, Melanie (eds), Deutschland im UN-Sicherheitsrat 2019–2020. Eine Halbzeitbilanz, Frankfurt/M, 20–22. - Ten Years R2P – What Doesn‘t Kill a Norm Only Makes It Stronger?
| 2015
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2015): Ten Years R2P – What Doesn‘t Kill a Norm Only Makes It Stronger?. Contestation, Application and Institutionalization of International Atrocity Prevention and Response, PRIF Report, 133, Frankfurt/M. - R2P Ten Years on
| 2015
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2015): R2P Ten Years on. Unresolved Justice Conflicts and Contestation, Global Responsibility to Protect, 7, 275–299. - Global Governance Efforts in Tension between Humanitarian Concerns and Statist Sovereignty Rights
| 2014
Hofmann, Gregor P.; Wisotzki, Simone (2014): Global Governance Efforts in Tension between Humanitarian Concerns and Statist Sovereignty Rights, International Negotiation, 19: 3, 487–517. - Im Streit gestärkt oder umstrittener als behauptet?
| 2014
Hofmann, Gregor P. (2014): Im Streit gestärkt oder umstrittener als behauptet?. Zehn Jahre diplomatische Kontroversen über die Schutzverantwortung, HSFK-Report, 9, Frankfurt/M. - Notfalls mit Gewalt?
| 2013
Wisotzki, Simone (2013): Notfalls mit Gewalt?. Globale Gerechtigkeit und die Rechtfertigung militärischer Intervention, Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 2: 1, 98-129.
Publication
Like many other disarmament agreements, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is in crisis. This limits the scope for action for member states and reduces the effectiveness of treaty-based biological weapons control. To maintain and strengthen biological disarmament, it is therefore necessary to identify options also beyond the BWC and international treaty law. The project aimed to contribute to such research by analyzing whether customary international law holds opportunities to strengthen biological weapons control – or, more precisely: whether a customary norm exists against the possession of biological weapons.
To achieve this, the existing state practice regarding biological weapons possession was systematically analyzed and documented. Using inter alia computer-based qualitative content analysis, it was also be explored whether a pertinent opinio juris can be identified. By addressing the prohibition of biological weapons from a customary law perspective, the project added a new angle to biological disarmament research. It could also contribute empirical findings to the international legal discourse on the determination of customary rules and to the debate about the political relevance of customary international law. The project was expected to yield insights regarding the following questions: whether there exists a customary norm regarding the possession of biological weapons, whether such a norm could contribute to strengthening biological weapons control and, more generally, whether customary international law provides opportunities to strengthen multilateral arms control.
Project duration: October 2018 – January 2023
Since NATO celebrated its 70th birthday in 2019, discussions about the future of the alliance have intensified in its member states. Underlying this debate was not only the sharp criticism of the alliance articulated by then-US president Donald Trump. French president Emmanuel Macron’s diagnosis of NATO’s “brain death” is also indicative of deep fissures, such as the increasingly divisive role played by Turkey in the Atlantic alliance.
The inauguration of Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, marked a potentially important turning point in the debate. On the one hand, observers expected the US to adopt a more positive stance toward multilateralism and alliances, opening a window of opportunity for the further development of NATO; on the other, important problems and challenges remain. One key issue was Biden’s project of a Global Summit for Democracy, which could push NATO – as an alliance of democracies – toward an increasingly global role.
Against this background, and based on the assumption that the alliance will remain the central frame of reference for the joint organization of military security and defence, the PRIF study undertook a comprehensive mapping of the key strands of discussion and diverging political positions on these issues taken within NATO member states.
Project duration: December 2020 – March 2021
Publications
- Der kanadische Diskurs über die Zukunft der NATO
| 2021
Peters, Dirk (2021): Der kanadische Diskurs über die Zukunft der NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Atlantische Zukünfte. Eine vergleichende Analyse nationaler Debatten über die Reform der NATO, Bonn: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 32–38.
Publication - Der britische Diskurs über die Zukunft der NATO
| 2021
Peters, Dirk (2021): Der britische Diskurs über die Zukunft der NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Atlantische Zukünfte. Eine vergleichende Analyse nationaler Debatten über die Reform der NATO, Bonn: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 88–93.
Publication - Three Visions for NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias; Fehl, Caroline (2021): Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Publication - On the Road to NATO 2030: How the Organization Views the Future of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias; Fehl, Caroline (2021): On the Road to NATO 2030: How the Organization Views the Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 8–15.
Publication - The United States Debates the Future of NATO
| 2021
Fehl, Caroline (2021): The United States Debates the Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 16–28.
Publication - The Canadian Discourse on NATO's Future
| 2021
Peters, Dirk (2021): The Canadian Discourse on NATO's Future, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 29–35.
Publication - Germany's View of the Future of NATO: Neccessary but in Need of Repair
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias (2021): Germany's View of the Future of NATO: Neccessary but in Need of Repair, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO: Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 43-48.
Publication - Italy Debates the Future of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias (2021): Italy Debates the Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 49–53.
Publication - The Netherlands and Future of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias (2021): The Netherlands and Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 54–58.
Publication - Poland: Strengthening the Eastern Flank
| 2021
Spanger, Hans-Joachim (2021): Poland: Strengthening the Eastern Flank, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 59–63.
Publication - The Romanian Debate on the Future of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias (2021): The Romanian Debate on the Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 64–67.
Publication - Spain and the Future of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias (2021): Spain and the Future of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 68–71.
Publication - Turkey Discusses its Complex Relationship with NATO
| 2021
Göğüş, Sezer İdil (2021): Turkey Discusses its Complex Relationship with NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 72–79.
Publication - The UK Discourse on NATO's Future
| 2021
Peters, Dirk (2021): The UK Discourse on NATO's Future, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO: Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 80–85.
Publication - Russia and the Divisive Discourse on NATO
| 2021
Spanger, Hans-Joachim (2021): Russia and the Divisive Discourse on NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 87–92.
Publication - Ukraine Debates the Future of Nato
| 2021
Polianskii, Mikhail (2021): Ukraine Debates the Future of Nato, in: Dembinski, Mathias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 93–97.
Publication - Through the Kaleidoscope: Comparing Visions of NATO
| 2021
Dembinski, Matthias; Fehl, Caroline (2021): Through the Kaleidoscope: Comparing Visions of NATO, in: Dembinski, Matthias/Fehl, Caroline (eds), Three Visions for NATO. Mapping National Debates on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 99–106.
Publication
UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on “Women, Peace and Security” and its successor resolutions strive for the equal participation of women in political processes and institutions in the management and prevention of conflicts as well as the special protection of women and girls in war zones. However, there are major differences in the implementation of national multilateral foreign, development and security policies, and a number of various “best practices” in that regard.
The project, which was funded by the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), prepared and implemented a planning staff workshop on gender-sensitive policies and the implementation of UNSCR 1325. The workshop targeted the planning staffs of those foreign ministries that were particularly successful in implementing gender-sensitive security and peace policy and that systematically implemented UNSCR 1325 as a cross-cutting issue in their ministry/organization. The aim of the planning staff workshop was to develop practical ideas for a systematic and sustainable implementation of the agenda on women, peace and security.
The project was carried out by PRIF in cooperation with GAIC Gender Associations International Consulting GmbH.
Project duration: November 2020 – October 2023
Publications
- Here, There, and Everywhere: Feminist Resistance beyond the “Women, Peace and Security” Agenda in Post-Coup Myanmar
| 2022
Xie, Peixuan (2022): Here, There, and Everywhere: Feminist Resistance beyond the “Women, Peace and Security” Agenda in Post-Coup Myanmar, PRIF Blog.
Publication