Peace Report
In cooperation with three other peace research institutes (BICC/HSFK/IFSH), INEF publishes the annual Peace Report. In the report, scholars from various disciplines examine international conflicts from a peace-oriented perspective and offer strategic recommendations for policymakers. Thanks to its presentation at the Federal Press Conference in Berlin and its discussion in ministries, the Chancellery, Bundestag committees, parliamentary groups, and numerous media appearances, the Peace Report has received widespread attention in the political and public sphere.
Peace Report 2022: Capable of Peace in Times of War
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has caused the European security architecture to collapse. The Peace Report 2022 analyzes the escalation, highlights consequences for Ukraine and the region, and focuses on the reorientation of German and European security and defense policy. In addition to the global implications of the war, the report also outlines the conditions for success and limits of sanctions and analyzes the crisis of the global nuclear order. Furthermore, the research on global conflict shows that internationalized conflicts, jihadist violent actors, and violence and discrimination against women and LGBTQI* minorities require new peace policy emphases. And the steadily expanding competencies of security institutions within democracies due to the threat of terrorism, pandemics and extremism also require stronger democratic control.
Peace Report 2022: Capable of Peace in Times of War
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has political, economic and social consequences worldwide. Rising commodity and food prices threaten African countries in particular with food crises and political unrest. Possible geostrategic implications include the emergence of a Russian-Chinese coalition of interests, but also the risk of nuclear escalation. The Peace Report presents recommendations to the German government for the planned National Security Strategy and a new European peace order. The central message of the report is that the balancing act between defense capability on the one hand and peace capability on the other must now be tackled and achieved.
New strategies for foreign and security policy
The EU responded quickly, comprehensively, and with great unity to the Russian war of aggression. However, sanctions do not solve crises and, at worst, can exacerbate emergencies. Therefore, it is important to monitor their (mis)success, according to the peace researchers. Moreover, the EU must now develop strategies for a new European peace order. It must become more agile and capable of acting quickly and decisively in foreign and security policy and accelerate decision-making procedures within the EU, the Peace Report demands.
New diplomatic approaches to conflict management are needed. There has been an increase in conflicts worldwide, most of which have taken place on the African continent. Internationalized and jihadist conflicts have played a large part in this. Regional actors must be given sustained support in their efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully, say the peace researchers in a chapter on "Violent Conflicts", which has been coordinated by INEF. Restrictive arms export policies, targeted diplomatic initiatives and strengthening regional organizations can help contain conflicts. The INEF-coordinated chapter on "Sustainable Peace" illustrates that feminist foreign policy casts new perspectives on conflict causes and dynmics by exposing power inequalities and imperial claims grounded in a dangerous understanding of masculinity. With its operational focus on violence prevention, it urges the imperative of "peacemaking" and a German and European foreign and defense policy that goes beyond the renaissance of deterrence, armament, and sanctioning.