German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

Institutions for Peace

To overcome war and violent conflict, building and strengthening institutions for peace is crucial. This includes ones helping to support power-sharing in government, security sector reform, and other key processes. We investigate all these phenomena in our research, while paying equal attention to institutions and processes that may be an impediment to peace too.

DER SPIEGEL | Interview | 25/07/2024

Eskalation im Jemen: »Die Huthis haben Blut geleckt«

Eine tödliche Drohnenattacke in Tel Aviv, Bomben auf Ziele im Jemen als Vergeltung: Nahostexperte Dr. Jens Heibach erklärt was die Huthi-Milizen wollen, welche Rolle Iran spielt und wie sich die Situation entwickeln könnte.

Dr. Jens Heibach

Research Fellow

GIGA Focus Middle East | 4/2024

Couscous, Kaftans, and Culture Wars: Algeria and Morocco at UNESCO

Within UNESCO, Algeria and Morocco have been battling over the origin of different cultural objects. Cultural heritage, envisaged as a tool for cooperation and conflict resolution in the MENA region, has increased tension between the two neighbours and threatens to embroil other countries as well.

Dr. Idriss Jebari

Associate

GIGA Focus Asia | 5/2024

Development, Peacebuilding, and Women’s Agency in Northeast India

Peace and development in Northeast India are crucial for India’s grand vision for political, social, and economic ties with the Asian region. Durable peace can be achieved by including local actors in formal peace processes, especially women, who have been active agents for peace at the grassroots.

Dr. Amrita Saikia

Visiting Fellow

The National | Quote | 11/03/2024

Hunger threat for 40 million across Middle East this Ramadan, says UN

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Deutsche Welle | Quote | 14/03/2024

Nach gemeinsamer Erklärung: Neue Hoffnung für Libyen?

Die Konfliktparteien in Libyen beteuern, gemeinsam einen Weg aus der Dauerkrise des Landes finden zu wollen. Es soll auch Wahlen geben. Ob aber den Absichtsbekundungen bald Taten folgen werden, ist fraglich.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

NDR | Interview | 24/03/2024

Historiker über Baerbock in Nahost: Deutscher Einfluss ist beschränkt

GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz im Interview über Baerbock in Nahost

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding | 03/2024

Variations of Peace in Colombia

Peace and conflict are not the same across territories and scales. Conceptualizing peace as a process based on three core functions of society and related norms allows us to identify variations in peacebuilding needs and perceptions. The entanglement of different scales shapes the diversity of peace and highlights the opportunities and challenges of peacebuilding and related norms, along with their diffusion and contestation.

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

President (ad interim)

Conference | 14/02/2024 - 16/02/2024

Violent Legacies, Social Movements, Uncertain Futures

Violent Legacies, Social Movements, Uncertain Futures, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José Désirée Reder (Organiser), Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach (Organiser), Alina Ripplinger (Panelist)

In Central America, democracy and peacebuilding processes are currently threatened. Researchers and civil society representatives discussed potential pathways out of the crisis in a three-day workshop at the University of Costa Rica in San José, organised by GIGA.

Désirée Reder

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Alina Ripplinger

Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau

Director of the GIGA Institute for African Affairs / Editor GIGA Focus Africa

T. +49 40 42825-517 matthias.basedau@giga-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

President (ad interim)

T. +49 40 42825-570 sabine.kurtenbach@giga-hamburg.de

Dr. André Bank

Senior Research Fellow

T. +49 40 42825-584 andre.bank@giga-hamburg.de

Research Project | 01/01/2021 - 31/12/2024

PEACEptions

Providing a conceptual framework in which different ideas of peace can be highlighted and their differences analysed in order to be able to formulate concrete proposals for peacebuilding is at the heart of this project. The concept is based on three elements whose meaning crosses historical and cultural boundaries: physical integrity, individual and collective human rights, and constructive conflict transformation.
FES, 2021-2023

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Kristina Birke Daniels

Katharina Wegner

Nina Netzer

Dr. Anna Reuß

GIGA Focus Middle East | 4/2024

Couscous, Kaftans, and Culture Wars: Algeria and Morocco at UNESCO

Dr. Idriss Jebari

Associate

Middle East Journal | 07/2024

Special Issue Introduction: Iraq since 2003

Today, the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003 is widely regarded as a strategic failure that caused tremendous humanitarian suffering, especially in its aftermath. Two decades later there is a shift in memory culture toward the inclusion of more Iraqi voices and alternative approaches.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Dr. Achim Rohde

Academy in Exile

Middle East Journal | 07/2024

The Iraq War as a War over the Meaning of Europe

The Iraq War of 2003 has been described as a conflict over the meaning of Europe between a transatlantic and a more independent, “Carolingian” vision of the continent. As such, it highlighted the continued importance of a US-led NATO for defining such meaning.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Dr. Manon-Nour Tannous

Dr. Achim Rohde

GIGA Focus Asia | 5/2024

Development, Peacebuilding, and Women’s Agency in Northeast India

Dr. Amrita Saikia

Visiting Fellow

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding | 03/2024

Variations of Peace in Colombia

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

President (ad interim)

Online Cooperation Event | 06/09/2021

After Afghanistan: What Is the Way Forward for German Participation in Peace Missions and State-Building?

In the face of the failed Bundeswehr engagement in Afghanistan, peace missions are in need of re-evaluation. Experts from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and from the GIGA discussed the future of German deployments abroad.

GIGA Global Transitions Conference | 07/12/2017 - 08/12/2017

Envisioning Peace | Transforming Conflict

Scholars and practitioners will address questions such as: What is our understanding of peace and conflict transformation? What are the advantages and disadvantages of narrow and broad concepts? Is peace a utopia, a continuum, or an incremental process? Is there an overlap between peace and other concepts such as harmony, justice, equality, development?

India Week 2023 | 21/11/2023

India’s G20 Presidency: Reviving Multilateralism through Responsible Leadership

The expert panel will analyse the contributions that India’s G20 Presidency has made to the revival and reform of multilateralism and explore how these ideas can be developed further under the Indo-German partnership. This event is part of the G20-T20 outreach process, Task Force 3 LiFE, and the GIGA’s T4T project.

Panel Discussion | 04/10/2023

Strategische Partner Deutschland und Mongolei? Anspruch, Realität und Initiativen

Im Jahr 2024 feiern die Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die Mongolei das 50-jährige Jubiläum der Aufnahme diplomatischer Beziehungen. Wir nehmen dies zum Anlass, hochrangige offizielle Vertreter:innen sowie ausgewiesene Expert:innen nach Stand und Perspektiven dieser Partnerschaft zu fragen.

Video GIGA Forum Feminist Foreign Policy

GIGA Forum | 13/09/2023

Can Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy Work in Afghanistan, Iran, and Ukraine?

This GIGA Forum investigates the newly launched German “Feminist Foreign Policy” guidelines and their implications for Germany’s foreign policy-making, with particular reference to developments in Afghanistan, Iran, and Ukraine. Video now online.

Conference | 06/07/2023 - 07/07/2023

Radical Lefts of the South: Cross-Regional Dialogues and Research Trends in the MENA and Latin America

Focused on Latin American and MENA radical leftist movements post World War II, this conference encourages a cross-regional, interdisciplinary perspective. It explores shared worldviews, unique trajectories, and their interplay with their respective contexts, while addressing the methodological challenges in studying these movements.

GIGA Event | 01/06/2023

Criminal Governance and Questioned Legitimacy: Territorial Orders and Armed Actors in Caracas?

Verónica Zubillaga, PhD, will give a lecture based on the analysis of ethnographic data. She will discuss the concepts of collaborative governance and criminal governance to understand how social control functions locally in an authoritarian context where a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis has restricted the resources and scope of government.

Online Cooperation Event | 06/09/2021

After Afghanistan: What Is the Way Forward for German Participation in Peace Missions and State-Building?

GIGA Global Transitions Conference | 07/12/2017 - 08/12/2017

Envisioning Peace | Transforming Conflict

India Week 2023 | 21/11/2023

India’s G20 Presidency: Reviving Multilateralism through Responsible Leadership

Panel Discussion | 04/10/2023

Strategische Partner Deutschland und Mongolei? Anspruch, Realität und Initiativen

GIGA Forum | 13/09/2023

Can Germany’s Feminist Foreign Policy Work in Afghanistan, Iran, and Ukraine?

Conference | 06/07/2023 - 07/07/2023

Radical Lefts of the South: Cross-Regional Dialogues and Research Trends in the MENA and Latin America

GIGA Event | 01/06/2023

Criminal Governance and Questioned Legitimacy: Territorial Orders and Armed Actors in Caracas?

Online Cooperation Event | 06/09/2021

After Afghanistan: What Is the Way Forward for German Participation in Peace Missions and State-Building?

GIGA Global Transitions Conference | 07/12/2017 - 08/12/2017

Envisioning Peace | Transforming Conflict

rbb 24 inforadio | Interview | 24/07/2024

Nahost-Experte: Chinas Engagement überraschend

China hat vermittelt: Die zerstrittenen palästinensischen Gruppierungen Fatah und Hamas sollen sich versöhnt haben und wollen eine gemeinsame Regierung bilden, sobald der Krieg in Gaza vorbei ist. Das habe Israel bisher immer verhindern wollen, sagt GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Podcast "This week in the Middle East" | Interview | 23/07/2024

The reality for Gaza is perpetual occupation that is a disastrous recipe for continuous conflict

GIGA expert Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz is a guest on the podcast "This Week in the Middle East" to talk about the current situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the German perspective on the conflict.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Deutsche Welle | Interview | 19/06/2024

Sudan siege bears hallmarks of brutal Darfur war

DW spoke to Sudanese civilians under siege in El Fasher amid attacks by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces. Is this a repeat of the "scorched earth" tactics used in the Darfur genocide?

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

University of Duisburg-Essen | 04/06/2024

Von der Gewalteskalation zur Friedensregelung? Nachkriegsperspektiven im Israel-Gaza-Krieg

Organiser: University of Duisburg-Essen Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz (Speaker)

Online Podiumsdiskussion

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

Director of the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies / Editor GIGA Focus Middle East

Conference | 27/05/2024 - 29/05/2024

Die Sahelzone. Konfliktherde und ihre regionalen Auswirkungen

Die MENA-Region im Fokus. Aktuelle Entwicklungen, regionale Zusammenhänge und Perspektiven, Akademie für Politische Bildung, Tutzing Organisers: Akademie für Politische Bildung Hager Ali (Consultant)

Im Nahen und Mittleren Osten finden derzeit bedeutende politische Verschiebungen statt, die von einem wachsenden Selbstbewusstsein einzelner staatlicher Akteure geprägt sind. China und Indien verstärken ihre Präsenz in der Region, was die geopolitische Landschaft weiter verändert. Auch die destabilisierenden Konflikte in der Sahelzone wirken sich zunehmend auf den Nahen und Mittleren Osten aus und stellen eine weitere Herausforderung dar. GIGA Wissenschaftlerin Hager Ali spricht über den Krieg im Sudan, und zeichnet nach, wie sich innenpolitische Konflikte in regionale Krisenherde ausweiten können.
Ein Event in Kooperation mit der Jungen Gesellschaft für Sicherheitspolitik (GSP) und Middle East Minds.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

Conference | 18/04/2024

States as Peace Brokers - Between Geopolitical Tensions and the Claim to Neutrality

Dresden Forum for International Politics 2024, Dresden Organisers: Development and Peace Foundation Hager Ali (Speaker)

This panel explores conflict resolution in a multipolar world. GIGA Researcher Hager Ali gave a talk about how the rise of authoritarian governance and military coups impacts peace negotiations in intra-state conflicts.