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

Institutions for Peace

To overcome war and violent conflicts, building and strengthening institutions for peace is crucial. This includes power-sharing governments, security sector reform and other processes. We investigate these and pay equal attention to institutions and processes that may obstruct peace.

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

Die Welt | Interview | 09/02/2024

Kampf gegen Russland: Wenn der ukrainische Geheimdienst plötzlich mitten in Afrika auftaucht

Ein Video heizt die Spekulationen über ukrainische Aktivitäten in Afrika an: Es soll die Gefangennahme von Wagner-Söldnern im Sudan zeigen.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

GIGA Focus Middle East | 2/2024

The War in Sudan: How Weapons and Networks Shattered a Power Struggle

In Sudan’s protracted war, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces outmanoeuvred Abdelfattah Al-Burhan’s Armed Forces through sabotage, new weapons, and broader networks. But as regional actors and local militia hijack the war’s original power-struggle, frontlines and command chains shattered.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

GIGA Forum | 06/03/2024

Violence against Women – A Global Crisis

In this GIGA Forum, experts tackle the pervasive issue of gender-based violence. Across the world, women suffer discrimination, domestic abuse, and disappearances daily. We shed light on the threats faced by women in their home countries and in exile, examining what Europe can do to better ensure women’s safety.

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

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding | 03/2024

Variations of Peace in Colombia

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

President (ad interim)

GIGA Focus Middle East | 2/2024

The War in Sudan: How Weapons and Networks Shattered a Power Struggle

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

GIGA Focus Middle East | 1/2024

Ten Things to Watch in the Middle East and North Africa in 2024

From the Gaza War to other regional conflicts and the lasting importance of oil, the Middle East and North Africa region remains pivotal for Europe. We present ten issues that will play a central role in the relationship between both regions in the year ahead.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

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

Olena Osypenkova

Doctoral Researcher

GIGA Focus Africa | 1/2024

Ten Things to Watch in Africa in 2024

Democracy will remain strained in Africa, with crucial elections in 2024. Conflict risks may arise alongside the further waning of Western influence. Economic growth will continue, but also structural socio-economic challenges too. Western policymakers should address migration and decarbonisation.

Dr. Martin Acheampong

Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau

Dr. Julia Grauvogel

Edited Volume | 10/2023

Venezuela: de la Pax Malandra a la Paz Ciudadana

Venezuela is an unusual context for a study on peace and peacebuilding. The book provides an analysis with a “conflict and peace” lens besides the fact that its high levels of violence are not an open war or armed conflict.

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

President (ad interim)

Anais López Caldera

ILDIS FES Venezuela

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.

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

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

Deutschlandfunk | Interview | 22/04/2024

Nahostkonflikt: Mittelfristige Gefahr einer Eskalation

Der Nahostexperte Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz befürchtet, dass sich der Iran mit verbündeten Milizen gegen Israel und auch andere arabische Staaten stellt. Der Westen müsse beiden Regierungen mit Härte begegnen, gleichzeitig aber politische Auswege aufzeigen.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

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

Deutsche Welle | Quote | 21/04/2024

Sudanese refugees in Germany decry forgotten war

One year on from the outbreak of another war, Sudan is being torn apart by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in recent memory. More aid has been pledged, but many see no end to the suffering.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

ntv | Interview | 16/04/2024

Deutschland wird in einer Art Mittäterschaft gesehen

Nach dem Angriff des Iran hoffen viele Staaten, dass eine militärische Reaktion Israels und eine möglicherweise weitere Eskalation ausbleiben. GIGA-Experte Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz spricht über die militärischen Verbindungen zwischen Israel und Deutschland und erklärt, warum die Unterstützung nicht überall auf Verständnis trifft.

Prof. Dr. Eckart Woertz

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

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.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

Swiss Study Foundation | 09/04/2024

Ein Jahr Krieg im Sudan – eine Lagebeurteilung

Organiser: Swiss Study Foundation Hager Ali (Speaker)

Hager Ali vom German Institute for Global and Area Studies in Hamburg zeichnet die Ursachen für den Machtkampf zwischen den «Sudan Armed Forces» und den «Rapid Support Forces» sowie die Entwicklungen innerhalb der letzten 12 Monate nach.

Hager Ali

Doctoral Researcher

Workshop | 28/02/2024

The War in Sudan: How Weapons and Networks Shattered a Power Struggle

Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) Webinar on the War in Sudan, Online Event Organisers: Media in Conflict and Transition Hager Ali (Speaker)

GIGA Researcher Hager Ali discussed her newly published study paper about "The War in Sudan: How Weapons and Networks Shattered a Power Struggle" with a particular focus on RSF- and SAF-dynamics.