PeaceRep

Global Fragmentation and Peacemaking: Lessons from Non-Western Powers and their Conflict Management
2022-06-07 16:00 - 17:30 UTC | University of Edinburgh
Tuesday 7 June
16:00 – 17:30 BST
MacClaren Stuart Room, Old College, The University of Edinburgh
Register to attend
Hosted by the the PeaceRep consortium and the Scottish Council of Global Affairs (SCGA), this panel will present findings of a multi-partner PeaceRep project on global fragmentations of peace approaches, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The Global Transitions project – spearheaded by Edinburgh and St Andrews universities, both partners in SCGA – is exploring motivations and approaches of non-Western interveners and how their approaches ‘land’ on the ground in select countries. A growing selection of findings from the project is published under a new series Global Transitions.
The event will feature regional and thematic experts working on the Global Transitions project. They will share key findings and policy recommendations from their ongoing work, with plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions.
This panel event will be followed by a drinks reception.
More about the Global Transitions project:
The management of conflict and political transitions today is starkly different from what existed a decade or two ago. We are seeing dramatic changes in conflict dynamics and an infusion of new approaches by a more diverse set of actors.

In Syria, the Geneva peace talks conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, have been supplemented by Astana talks, sponsored by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
In Sudan, the influence of the Troika – Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States – which played pivotal roles in the Darfur conflict since 2003 and in the 2005 peace agreement leading to the independence of South Sudan, has waned. The two neighbours – Egypt and Ethiopia – and the Gulf states are emerging as the main actors in Sudan’s current transition.
In April 2022, President Macron announced the withdrawal of French troops supporting political transition in Mali. French priorities were deemed incompatible with those of the Mali military government in place since 2020. Soon after, Mali authorities invited the Russian company Wagner to help in their fight against the jihadist groups. A couple of years earlier, a similar story unfolded in the Central African Republic.
In Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is the main mediator, and China’s influence in conflict management is central.
Who will emerge as the dominant mediator in Ukraine remains to be seen, but several non-Western powers, including Turkey, are seen as pivotal in ensuring a successful process.

The era of liberal dominance in peace and transition management is unequivocally over. A new tapestry of international interveners mean that peace and transition processes have fractured forms of intervention that reflect a fracturing of the global order. These changes raise important questions about how approaches to peace and the nature of the global order are changing in the present, and how they might look in the future.

How are we seeing the tapestry of international actors involved in peacemaking and peacebuilding change?
Are new actors proposing new models of peacemaking and peacebuilding? How do these models fit with the prevailing liberal one?
How is the fractured nature of interventions in peace processes changing the prospects for peace and the peace settlements that emerge?
What motivates non-Western interveners in their peacemaking activities?
What differences can we see between regional and global interveners?
How are local actors navigating this new landscape, and how is this shaping conflict outcomes and post-conflict governance?
What influence do these developments have on the global international institutions and liberal norms that have underpinned the post-Cold War order?

Read the full Global Transitions publications series.

Peace Talks Webinar - Chinese approaches to conflict management: Lessons for ongoing conflicts in near and far abroad
2022-06-14 12:30 - 13:30 UTC
Tuesday 14 June 2022
12:30 – 13:30 BST
Register to attend via Zoom
China’s vision of addressing violent conflicts and security challenges differs substantially from those of Western countries. China seeks stability, rather than peace; and China’s economic development, and connectivity and trade needs drive their engagement in conflict and post-conflict settings.
What lessons does this approach hold for contemporary conflicts, from Myanmar to the Horn of Africa and Ukraine? Speakers will present findings from recent PeaceRep reports on Chinese approaches to conflict management and what lessons these hold for contemporary conflicts, from Myanmar to the Horn of Africa and Ukraine. Followed by Q&A.
Confirmed presenters include Bernardo Mariani (independent consultant) and Monalisa Adhikari (PeaceRep research).
The speakers will discuss findings from recent Global Transitions reports:
• China’s Engagement in Conflict and Post-Conflict Settings: The Quest for Stability (Bernardo Mariani)
• “Asian” Approaches to Peacebuilding?: Modalities, Convergences, and Differences in India, Japan and China’s Approach to Supporting Peace Processes (Monalisa Adhikari)
About the Global Transitions Series:
PeaceRep’s Global Transitions Series looks at fragmentations in the global order and how these impact peace and transition settlements. It explores why and how different third-party actors – state, intergovernmental, and non-governmental – intervene in conflicts, and how they see themselves contributing to reduction of conflict and risks of conflict relapse. The series critically assesses the growth and diversification of global and regional responses to contemporary conflicts. It also asks how local actors are navigating this multiplicity of mediators and peacebuilders and how this is shaping conflict outcomes and post-conflict governance.

Carnall Peace Award Lecture: Global Peace and Security after Ukraine
2022-09-21 18:30 - 20:00 UTC
Hosted by Peace & Justice (Scotland). Take part in the event either online or in-person.
REGISTER TO ATTEND
Wednesday 21 September is United Nations International Peace Day, marked this year by a lecture from the recipient of the Carnall Peace Award for 2022, Professor Paul Rogers.
Professor Rogers is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies and International Relations at Bradford University and is a regular commentator on global security issues in both the national and international media.
He will present his lecture, “Global Peace and Security After Ukraine”, at 18:30 at the Augustine United Church in Edinburgh.
The lecture will be followed at 19:15 by a panel discussion and Q and A with Professor Rogers, who will be joined by:
Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and Board member of World Beyond War (on zoom from Kyiv) and
Vijay Prashad, Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, Editor of Leftworld Books and a fellow at Renmin University of China. (on zoom from Chile).
The Q and A will be moderated by Professor Christine Bell, co-director of the Global Justice Academy and director of PeaceRep at the University of Edinburgh.
The discussion will focus on the geopolitical implications of the crisis in Ukraine.
“In a world where war in Europe creates hunger in Africa, where a pandemic can circle the globe in days and reverberate for years, where emissions anywhere mean rising sea levels everywhere, the threat to our collective prosperity from a breakdown in global cooperation cannot be overstated. … The root cause of what we face today is the war. And it is the war that must end.”
– Kristaline Georgieva, International Monetary Fund Managing Director, April 2022
Image Credit: Drazen Nesic on Pixnio.

GMU Carter School's Method Mondays: PA-X Peace Agreements Database and PeaceRep
2022-10-31 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax)
Event time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)
Method Mondays: PA-X Peace Agreements Database and PeaceRep

RSVP via Eventbrite

Featuring guest speaker Dr Sanja Badanjak, Chancellor’s Fellow in Global Challenges at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Law and Data Manager for PA-X Peace Agreements Database and Dataset.
Join online to learn about PA-X Peace Agreements Database and PeaceRep’s approaches to studying peace processes.
The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep) consortium is working on a variety of research projects related to better understanding the key features and prospects of contemporary peace and transition processes. At the heart of the programme is the PA-X Peace Agreement Database and Dataset, the largest fully digitised and searchable English-language database of peace agreements, which also features a human-coded dataset of peace agreement provisions and a corpus of agreement texts. This talk will present PA-X and related data resources, discussing the PeaceRep approach to data collection, and the text-as-data methodologies we rely on to better understand how processes of post-war political and institutional change can take place.
The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (George Mason University) host Method Mondays online via Zoom.

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: The Future of China-Russia Relations
2022-11-01 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
Register to attend via Zoom
This panel discussion welcomes experts to discuss the evolving relationship between China and Russia. Panelists will discuss the status of China-Russia diplomatic relations, economic and diplomatic lessons learned from the war, and impacts on the People’s Liberation Army’s military strategy.
Speakers:
Lukas Fiala is a PhD International Relations candidate at LSE, researching China’s defence industry, military strategy and emerging security relationships with countries in the Global South. He is also the Project Coordinator of China Foresight, the China-focused research programme at LSE IDEAS.
Dr Björn Alexander Düben is an Assistant Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University. He analyses China’s reaction to, and motivation in implicitly supporting, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, even as Putin’s strategic blunder becomes increasingly difficult to deal with.
Dr Yu Jie is senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, focusing on the decision-making process of Chinese foreign policy as well as China’s economic diplomacy. She frequently comments in major media outlets such as BBC News and the Financial Times; and regularly briefs senior policy practitioners from the G7 member governments, the Silk Road Fund in Beijing. Yu Jie was previously head of China Foresight at LSE IDEAS and remains as an associate fellow with LSE IDEAS.
Chair: Leon Hartwell is the Senior Advisor for the Central and South Eastern European Programme at LSE IDEAS and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington DC. His research interests include conflict resolution, genocide, transitional justice, diplomacy, democracy, and the Western Balkans.

This event is part of the Russia-Ukraine Dialogues series. Given the recent escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war (24 February 2022), the conflict continues to be fluid and requires cross-disciplinary analysis. Weekly panels on Tuesdays bring together in-house and external experts to report on and discuss the war’s impacts on various global issues.
From the 1st of November 2022, the LSE IDEAS Russia-Ukraine Dialogues is part-funded by PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform), an international research project rethinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics led by the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Non-aligned Perspectives
2022-11-15 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
Register to attend via Zoom
In the midst of the G20 Bali summit, LSE IDEAS’ Russia-Ukraine Dialogues will discuss the views of three key non-aligned states, namely Indonesia, India and Turkey. Speakers will explore the following with regards to each state: political and economic strategies and responses to the Russia-Ukraine war; foreign policy strategies; successes and failures of the transatlantic alliance (NATO) to unite the world against the Kremlin.
Speakers:
Dr Desra Percaya was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and IMO in October 2020. Throughout his career, he has helped shape Indonesia’s policies, particularly regarding international peace and security, disarmament, human rights, economic development, as well as social and humanitarian affairs. Dr Desra was previously Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Tanvi Madan is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program and Director of the India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Madan’s work explores India’s role in the world and its foreign policy, focusing in particular on India’s relations with China and the United States. She also researches the U.S. and India’s approaches in the Indo-Pacific, as well as the development of interest-based coalitions, especially the Australia-India-Japan-US Quad.
Mustafa Kutlay is a senior lecturer in the Department of International Politics at City, University of London. His research concentrates on comparative politics, political risk analysis, political economy, Turkish political economy, and politics of development in the Global South. His articles appeared in International Affairs, Government & Opposition, Third World Quarterly, and The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, among others.
Chair: Leon Hartwell is the Senior Advisor for the Central and South Eastern European Programme at LSE IDEAS and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington DC. His research interests include conflict resolution, genocide, transitional justice, diplomacy, democracy, and the Western Balkans.

This event is part of the Russia-Ukraine Dialogues series. Given the recent escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war (24 February 2022), the conflict continues to be fluid and requires cross-disciplinary analysis. Weekly panels on Tuesdays bring together in-house and external experts to report on and discuss the war’s impacts on various global issues.
From the 1st of November 2022, the LSE IDEAS Russia-Ukraine Dialogues is part-funded by PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform), an international research project rethinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics led by the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Striking a Balance: Lessons from the Pandemic on Civil Liberties and Social Justice (Future Global Shocks Series)
2022-11-21 18:00 - 19:30 UTC
Register to attend via Eventbrite
Monday 21 November, 18:00 – 19:30 GMT
HYBRID EVENT – In-person venue: Seminar Room 237, Advanced Research Centre, University of Glasgow

Lockdowns and other restrictions imposed as the result of the pandemic eroded individual and collective civil liberties in an unprecedented way. In Scotland there were two emergency bills passed within the first month of the pandemic, as well as legislative consent being given to a similar bill from Westminster. These covered a wide range of issues including freedom of information, travel, working from home, suspension of courts, limits on numbers at weddings and funerals, closure of shops, offices and places of worship, registration of births and deaths and many other normal activities.
These laws were followed by a wide range of regulatory instruments that dealt with the detail of restrictions ranging from shutting cinemas to , later in the pandemic, closing hours for pubs.
Such restrictions were not unusual – during the pandemic virtually every country curtailed established freedoms for its citizens and some are still doing so. That has led to considerable unrest in certain places and movements to overturn the rules, such as the “Truckers Protest” in Canada.
The action of Governments world wide, and reactions to them, have raised important questions about the preservation of human rights during times of crisis. In partnership with the Campaign for Social Sciences and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs, the fourth event in this series will consider questions such as:

Did governments restrict first and think about the implications later?
Did some governments use the pandemic as an excuse for the introduction of more permanent controls, changing the balance between the citizen and the state?
In the event of another global shock, will governments take the same approach, or find other ways to ensure societal compliance with public health and other imperatives?

Speakers:
Professor Peter Jackson, Chair in Global Security (History); Executive Director of the Scottish Council on Global Affairs
Dr Kathryn Nash, Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Edinburgh Law School
Professor Adam Tomkins, John Millar Chair of Public Law , University of Glasgow
Dr Sally Witcher OBE, Consultant in equality and inclusion; former Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Scotland
Professor Graeme Roy, Dean of External Engagement, University of Glasgow
Professor Michael Russell, former Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations of Scotland in the Scottish Government

The University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre hosts the Future Global Shocks series, in partnership with the Scottish Council on Global Affairs, which considers what more we must do as a society to prepare our systems and networks, as well as policy and system relationships, to respond to the major global challenges we face.
Learn more about the Future Global Shocks series in this short video (YouTube)
Image credit: Martin Sanchez via Unsplash

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: The Future of Energy
2022-11-29 15:00 - 16:00 UTC | Online
Watch the event recording via YouTube
This panel discussion welcomes experts to discuss the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on regional and global energy. Panelist will discuss:

Short-term impacts of the war on the energy market.
Strategies on mitigating the energy crises, including moves towards self-sufficiency, bilateral and multilateral deals.
Long-term impacts of the war on the transition to green energy and Russian economy.

Speakers:
Benjamin L. Schmitt is a Non-resident Senior Fellow with the Democratic Resilience program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), where he focuses on Transatlantic energy and national security analysis, as well as emerging space security challenges to the Transatlantic community. He is a Research Associate and Project Development Scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and is an associate of the Harvard-Ukrainian Research Institute.
Guy Monson, Chief Market Strategist and Senior Partner of Sarasin & Partners LLP, has over 35 years of investment experience having joined the company in 1984. In 1988, he became manager of Sarasin’s flagship GlobalSar (now Multi Asset) family of balanced investment funds, winning awards for investment performance and risk profile. He is also a member of the LSE IDEAS Advisory Board and a Foundation Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.
Jadwiga Emilewicz is a Member of the Polish Parliament. She is the president of the Parliamentary Team on the Zero-Emission Economy and the European Green Deal. She belongs to the Economy Committee and the Health Committee Former Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology, and former Minister of Economic Development.
Chair: Leon Hartwell is the Senior Advisor for the Central and South Eastern European Programme at LSE IDEAS and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington DC. His research interests include conflict resolution, genocide, transitional justice, diplomacy, democracy, and the Western Balkans.

This event is part of the Russia-Ukraine Dialogues series. Given the recent escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war (24 February 2022), the conflict continues to be fluid and requires cross-disciplinary analysis. Weekly panels on Tuesdays bring together in-house and external experts to report on and discuss the war’s impacts on various global issues.

From the 1st of November 2022, the LSE IDEAS Russia-Ukraine Dialogues is part-funded by PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform), an international research project rethinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics led by the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: The war's intimate connection to Belarus
2023-02-07 15:00 - 16:00 UTC | Online
The fate of Ukraine and Belarus are intimately connected to one another. As argued by the leader of free Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, freedom and democracy in Belarus and Ukraine cannot be separated from one another. Moreover, Belarus has already played an important role in providing a launchpad for Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Yet, Belarus’s involvement in Ukraine could escalate further.
This week’s panel will discuss:

Linking Belarus and Ukraine’s struggle for freedom
Alyaksandr Lukashenka military support for Russia
and Future scenarios

RSVP to attend the webinar
Panelists:
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader of Belarusian democratic movement
LTG (Ret.) Mark Hertling, Former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe
Katia Glod, Russia-West Policy Fellow, European Leadership Network
Chair:
Dr Leon Hartwell, Sotirov Fellow, LSE IDEAS

This event is part of the Russia-Ukraine Dialogues series. Given the recent escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war (24 February 2022), the conflict continues to be fluid and requires cross-disciplinary analysis. Weekly panels on Tuesdays bring together in-house and external experts to report on and discuss the war’s impacts on various global issues.

From the 1st of November 2022, the LSE IDEAS Russia-Ukraine Dialogues is part-funded by PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform), an international research project rethinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics led by the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in South Africa: The National Peace Accord, 1991-1994
2023-02-17 13:30 - 15:00 UTC | Old College, Edinburgh Law School, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
Book launch with the author, Rev Dr Liz Carmichael

RSVP here via Eventbrite
PeaceRep: The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform is pleased to host Reverend Dr Liz Carmichael at the University of Edinburgh, to present her new book:
Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in South Africa: The National Peace Accord, 1991-1994
Carmichael’s book examines the creation and implementation of South Africa’s National Peace Accord and this key transitional phase in the country’s history, and its implications for peace mediation and conflict resolution.
Liz will be joined by discussant Dr Barbara Bompani, Reader (Associate Professor) in Africa & International Development – Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh.
Chair: Tim Epple, PeaceRep’s Managing Director
Lunch will be provided for attendees. Please provide details of any dietary requirements when booking.

About the book
“This book tells the story of Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in South Africa, a stage in South Africa’s journey to freedom and democracy. It was facilitated by churches and business, negotiated by the politicians, and supported by the international community, but the people accomplished it.”
– The late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
It is now 30 years since the National Peace Accord (NPA) was signed in South Africa, bringing to an end the violent struggle of the Apartheid era and signalling the transition to democracy. Signed by the ANC Alliance, the Government, the Inkatha Freedom Party and a wide range of other political and labour organizations on 14 September 1991, the parties agreed in the NPA on the common goal of a united, non-racial democratic South Africa, and provided practical means for moving towards this end: codes of conduct for political organizations and for the police, the creation of national, regional and local peace structures for conflict resolution, the investigation and prevention of violence, peace monitoring, socio-economic reconstruction and peacebuilding.
This book, written by one of those involved in the process that evolved, provides for the first time an assessment and in-depth account of this key phase of South Africa’s history. The National Peace Campaign set up under the NPA mobilized the ‘silent majority’ and gave peace an unprecedented grassroots identity and legitimacy. The author describes the formulation of the NPA by political representatives, with Church and business facilitators, which ended the political impasse, constituted South Africa’s first experience of multi-party negotiations, and made it possible for the constitutional talks (Codesa) to start. She examines the work of the Goldstone Commission, which prefigured the TRC, as well as the role of international observers from the UN, EU, Commonwealth and OAU.
Exploring the work of the peace structures set up to implement the Accord – the National Peace Committee and Secretariat, the 11 Regional Peace Committees and 263 Local Peace Committees, and over 18,000 peace monitors – Carmichael provides a uniquely detailed assessment of the NPA, the on-the-ground peacebuilding work and the essential involvement of the people at its heart. Filling a significant gap in modern history, this book will be essential reading for scholars, students and others interested in South Africa’s post-Apartheid history, as well as government agencies and NGOs involved in peacemaking globally.
Attendees can purchase a hardcover copy of the book at the event for £15.00 (40% off). Please note that cash only can be accepted for purchases as the event.
Attendees will also receive a promotional code at the event for a 40% discount* on the book when purchased via the publisher’s website.
*This offer is valid until 31 March 2023.

About the Author
Revd Dr Liz Carmichael MBE is an Emeritus Research Fellow at St John’s College, Oxford, where she convenes OxPeace, the peace studies network of Oxford University. She worked as a medical doctor in Soweto 1975-1981, and in the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg 1991-1996 while also serving on the local and regional peace structures.
RSVP here via Eventbrite

Russia-Ukraine Dialogues: Ukraine, One Year On
2023-02-21 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
This week’s Russia-Ukraine Dialogues panel will focus on Ukraine, the primary victim of the war, in a discussion of the following issues:

An overview of the past year
Recent winter time developments (battlefield dynamics, and economic and humanitarian impacts of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure)
Ukraine’s needs (military, economic reconstruction, and humanitarian)
Possible scenarios for 2023

RSVP to attend the webinar

Panelists:
Andrii Yarmolskyi, is the Deputy Head of the Service for Foreign Policy Security and International Cooperation, Ukraine
Oleksandr Hryban, Deputy Minister of Economy, Ukraine
Olga Tokariuk, independent journalist, fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford, non-resident fellow at CEPA (Center for European Policy Analysis)
Chair: Dr Leon Hartwell, Sotirov Fellow, LSE IDEAS

This event is part of the Russia-Ukraine Dialogues series. Given the recent escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war (24 February 2022), the conflict continues to be fluid and requires cross-disciplinary analysis. Weekly panels on Tuesdays bring together in-house and external experts to report on and discuss the war’s impacts on various global issues.

From the 1st of November 2022, the LSE IDEAS Russia-Ukraine Dialogues is part-funded by PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform), an international research project rethinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics led by the University of Edinburgh Law School.

RSVP to attend the webinar

The Politics of the Turkey/Syria Earthquake: Responses & Aftermath
2023-03-02 18:00 - 19:30 UTC | London
Panel discussion hosted by LSE Human Rights, LSE IDEAS and LSE Middle East Centre
When: Thursday 2 March 2023, 18:00 – 19:30 GMT
Where: Sheikh Zayed Lecture Theatre, New Academic Building, LSE, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3LJ

RSVP via Eventbrite

—
The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have had catastrophic impacts across a large area. More than 44,000 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been left homeless, with key infrastructure heavily damaged. Many of those affected are refugee communities already traumatised by conflict. The magnitude and urgency of the humanitarian challenge requires critical reflection and discussion on the responses to the earthquakes from states, international organisations and NGOs. To what extent have emergency agencies been able to access and deliver relief to those most in need? What are the conditions, and prospects for, recovery and reconstruction? The panel at this event will consider these and other questions.
Chair: Dr Ayça Çubukçu – Associate Professor in Human Rights and Co-Director of LSE Human Rights at LSE
Speakers:
Dr Karabekir Akkoyunlu – Lecturer in the Politics of the Middle East, Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS
Dr Hişyar Özsoy – Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
Dr Rim Turkmani – Research Director of the Syria Research Programme, Conflict & Civicness Research Group, LSE IDEAS
Amberin Zaman – Senior Correspondent for Al-Monitor
—
The event is free but those attending are invited to donate to fundraisers:

Disasters Emergency Committee
Syrian British Consortium

—
RSVP via Eventbrite

Research Seminar: The peace process as a quantitative unit of analysis
2023-03-08 10:00 - 11:00 UTC | University of Edinburgh
Visiting researcher Yoav Kapshuk (Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee) presents findings from a recent paper co-authored with Yuval Haitman (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev):
The peace process as a quantitative unit of analysis
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend
Paper Abstract:
Previous quantitative research has examined both the design of peace agreements and assessed which provisions characterize stable ones. However, research on peace agreements as a single unit of analysis misses the connections forged between multiple agreements within a peace process.
Therefore, while recognizing the difficulties in operationally defining the concept of peace process, this project restructures the data from PA-X peace agreements database (version 5) such that the unit of analysis is the peace process instead of the peace agreement. In doing so, we obtain insight into the principles at work when designing peace processes. To this end, we use machine learning methods to assess at what stage and in what order within a negotiation is it desirable to engage in any given principle.
A preliminary examination was conducted on the principles of transitional justice (TJ), an area known to be significant for societies transitioning from conflict to peace. We examined which principles of TJ in partial agreements predict the achievement of a comprehensive agreement and found that out of 10 variables of TJ from the PA-X database, the presence of 1) reconciliation, 2) release of prisoners and 3) mechanisms to deal with the past in intermediate stages of peace processes (i.e., in partial agreements) have the greatest contribution to achieving comprehensive agreements. In contrast, provisions such as vetting, missing, and courts in intermediate stages of peace processes have the lowest contribution to achieving comprehensive agreements; provisions such as amnesty and reparation have medium contribution.
These findings advance our understanding of what key TJ provisions to focus on during negotiations. Future research will use observations of peace processes to examine the importance of other principles: inclusion of groups (such as minorities, women, refugees), provisions for security, provisions for power-sharing, and more.
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend

Conference - Rethinking Sovereignty at the Radical Frontier: Pirates, Proxies and Post-State Philosophies
2023-03-30 - 2023-03-31
Rethinking Sovereignty at the Radical Frontier: Pirates, Proxies and Post-State Philosophies
Conference hosted by the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University
Location: Coventry University, Cheetah Rd, Coventry CV1 2TL
Deadline for abstracts and registrations: 25 January 2023
Complete this form to submit and abstract, or to register to attend
The war of aggression raging in Eastern Europe is a stark reminder of the fragility of sovereignty itself, and the real threats faced by many nations. Threats to the sanctity of state sovereignty, and the global liberal order of international relations which sits precariously upon it, come from all directions and domains, whether by land, air, sea, cyberspace, urban concrete space, or the vacuum of outer space. The system of international relations, based upon the Westphalian and later UN concept of sovereign equality between states is tenuous and fragile, and recent international relations have shown that its very foundations can be threatened at any time. The reality of the postliberal international order increasingly appears as an enduring radical frontier, where pirates, hackers and criminals roam, proxy wars and enduring transitions in fragmented contexts challenge and muddy the black and white ideals that liberal internationalism was based upon. Everywhere citizens and states increasingly seem to operate by a post-state philosophy based more on the exception than the rule.
This conference seeks to examine these challenges to sovereignty at the frontiers of the state, in three directions:
1. Threats from the radical fringe of pirates, proxies, hackers, and terrorists who openly challenge and threaten state security; and
2. Perspectives of enduring transitions evolving in increasingly ‘ungoverned’, non-closed and permanently changing modalities.
3. On the other side of the spectrum,squatters, activists and alternative movements offer radically alternate visions of ‘a good life’, and new embodiments of the idea of sovereignty that allows it.
By opening this conversation, we can re-examine the foundations of sovereignty itself, and ask a raft of pressing questions: what is sovereignty? Where did it come from? How can it be claimed or asserted? And, perhaps most important of all, are there any viable alternatives to the current, deeply flawed system, be it at the extra-national, international, the national or the local level. In approaching this daunting task – a deep reappraisal of the Westphalian foundations of global order – we may seek guidance from philosophers past and present, from Kant to Nietzsche to Foucault, and other contemporary thinkers, and ask what relief and direction they can offer in deeply troubling times.
We are seeking papers willing to engage in a ‘festival of dangerous ideas’ – a deep critique of lip-service sovereignty, a willingness to ‘stare into the abyss’ and call out the contemporary realities of sovereignty, as well as a brave offering of alternate visions and ideas of how real existing sovereignty could and might be conceptualised.
Potential Panels
• Emerging and future threats to sovereignty in the era of cyberwarfare, artificial intelligence and security in the new online frontier
• Maritime security and encroaching threats to the living ecosystems existing within sovereign maritime territorial spaces
• Alternative approaches to sovereignty: Micro-Sovereignties (example: seasteads, squatted buildings, autonomous zones, safe spaces, etc.,) and pragmatic approaches, such as civic-ness
• Proxy wars, state-sponsored aggression and the role of non-state actors
• Transitional arrangements in fragment states, (aka states that have never existed as a sovereign entity with unified governance)
• Decolonialism and indigenous sovereignty
• Structures of international relations, the United Nations as an institution, the UN Security Council, and ideas for reform
• Philosophical approaches to sovereignty more broadly
Applications for other panels or papers are also encouraged. Organisers plan to submit a special edition of a leading journal on the theme of Sovereignty at the Radical Frontier.
We seek submissions in two formats:
1. Written abstracts of up to 500 words
2. Artistic interventions that address this theme, which might include original artworks, graphic novels and comics, or poster presentations.
Traditional academic panels are planned alongside an artistic ‘gallery of dangerous ideas’, and will take place in person at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations in Coventry.
Deadline for abstracts and registrations: 25 January 2023
Complete this form to submit and abstract, or to register to attend
Funded Travel
Please advise at time of application if you would like to be considered for funding. Instructions on how to book funded travel via CTPSR will be sent separately.
Keynote
Prof Mary Kaldor, Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics
Cities at War: Global Insecurity and Urban Resistance (Edited volume, 2020)
This project has received funding from:

The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101029232, and
The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep), funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Women, Peace and Security in the Digital Age
2023-05-09 16:00 - 18:00 UTC
Join us for a celebration of the PeaceFem mediation app, and a discussion on the challenges faced by the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the Digital Age.

When: Tuesday 9 May, 16:00 – 18:00
Where: InSpace, University of Edinburgh
Register to attend via Eventbrite
In 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), which sets an agenda for all peace and conflict transition processes to include women’s meaningful participation, and gender perspectives in any resultant peace agreements. Over two decades later, the world of peace mediation has dramatically changed with the spread of Information Community Technologies (ICTs), and the widespread use of data to understand the progress and trajectory of women’s inclusion in peace processes. Meanwhile, the global conflict landscape is increasingly fragmented and complex, and presents new challenges for mediation approaches to resolving violent armed conflict.
The PeaceFem mobile app is a contribution to the growing field of PeaceTech, which uses technology to support peacebuilding. Designed for women’s rights advocates, mediation and negotiation teams, and other peace and security actors, PeaceFem contains strategies for influencing peace processes, as well as the resulting gender-sensitive provisions in peace agreements and data on their implementation. Launched in July 2020, the app is now in use in 60 countries around the globe and is available in five languages: Arabic, English, French, Indonesian, and Burmese. PeaceFem is available for download via Google Play and the App Store.
At this event, join co-creators of the PeaceFem app, and experts on Women, Peace and Security, peace and conflict, and PeaceTech, to discuss the opportunities and challenges that the Digital Age offers women’s equality advocates trying to influence conflict transitions. We will reflect on how women peacebuilders utilise PeaceTech to leverage inclusion, how technology can also restrict women’s meaningful participation, and why Women, Peace and Security advocates are increasingly using peace and conflict data to support their work.

Schedule
16:00: Welcome – Prof Christine Bell, Assistant Principal (Global Justice), University of Edinburgh School of Law, Executive Director of PeaceRep
16:05-16:15: PeaceFem introduction with Ms. Fiona Knäussel (Associate Researcher, University of Oxford)
16:15-16:45: Panel discussion – ‘Women, Peace and Security in the Digital Age’
Chair:
Ms. Laura Wise – Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Speakers:
• Dr Monalisa Adhikari – Lecturer in International Politics, University of Stirling
• Dr Sanja Badanjak – Chancellor’s Fellow in Global Challenges, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Claire Duncanson – Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Edinburgh
16:45-17:15: Open discussion
17:15-18:00: Drinks reception
This event is hosted by PeaceRep: The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform. PeaceRep is a seven-year research consortium re-thinking peace and transition processes in light of changing conflict dynamics, led by the University of Edinburgh Law School. PeaceRep is funded by UK Aid from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UK.
Register to attend via Eventbrite

About the speakers
Dr Monalisa Adhikari is a Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling. Monalisa obtained her PhD in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh in 2020, and was a Research Fellow with the Political Settlements Research Programme. Her primary research interests include peace processes, international interventions in fragile and conflict-affected states, rising powers engagement in the global governance of peace and security, and foreign policies of India and China. She has conducted research in China, India, Myanmar and Nepal.
Dr Sanja Badanjak is a Chancellor’s Fellow in Global Challenges at the University of Edinburgh School of Law, PeaceRep’s Data Director, and Data Manager for the PA-X Peace Agreements Database and Dataset. Her research interests include the applications of quantitative and text-as-data methods in the study of institutions, elections, and peace processes. She completed her PhD in political science at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and holds and MA in political science from the Central European University.
Prof Christine Bell is Assistant Principal (Global Justice) and Professor of Constitutional Law at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh, and is PeaceRep’s Executive Director. She is a co-creator of the PeaceFem app. Christine’s research interests lie in the interface between constitutional and international law, gender and conflict, and legal theory, with a particular interest in peace processes and their agreements.
Dr Claire Duncanson is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the School of Social and Political Science. Claire’s research interests lie at the intersection of international security, IR theory and gender politics. Her work applies new theoretical insights about feminism, gender, and masculinities to international issues such as peacebuilding, military interventions, and nuclear proliferation. Her current project, with Carol Cohn at the Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Right, is focused on creating a Feminist Roadmap for Sustainable Peace and Planet. Prior to her academic career, she worked for a variety of human rights and international development NGOs, including Amnesty International, Jubilee 2000 and Global Perspective.
Ms. Fiona Knäussel is an Associate Researcher with PeaceRep based at the Oxford Internet Institute, and a co-creator of the PeaceFem mediation app. Her research focuses on the development and study of PeaceTech and peace data applications, and the ethical implications of the use of technologies in the context of conflict and peacebuilding. She also has a strong interest in women’s rights in conflict, and gender-specific and intersectional human rights issues. Fiona holds an LLM in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and an LLB (Hons) in Law and International Relations from the University of Edinburgh. She’s also currently reading for a MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the University of Oxford.
Ms. Laura Wise is a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh School of Law, PeaceRep gender lead, and a co-creator of the PeaceFem app. Laura’s research explores the margins of peace processes and their intersections with the politics of inclusion, with a particular focused on local peace processes, non-dominant minorities, and gender. Her work on gender perspectives in peace agreements regularly informs United Nations women, peace and security policy, and she has previously worked with UN Women to support women engaged in peace processes in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Libya. Laura holds an MA in Comparative Ethnic Conflict from Queen’s University Belfast and a BSc Econ in International Politics from Aberystwyth University.

About PeaceFem
PeaceFem is a collaboration between UN Women, Inclusive Peace, the Monash University Centre for Gender, Peace and Security, and the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep) at
the University of Edinburgh. The project has been financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with Deustche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. PeaceRep/University of Edinburgh data was supported by UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and Monash data was supported by Australian Research Council Linkage Project, ‘Toward Inclusive Peace: Mapping the Gender Provisions of Peace Agreements’. Inclusive Peace data was supported by Inclusive Security, UN Women, and the Governments of Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, and Turkey.
Learn more about PeaceFem

Book Talk: Redefining Ceasefires
2023-09-14 14:30 - 16:00 UTC | Old College, Edinburgh Law School, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
Join PeaceRep and Marika Sosnowski for a talk on her new book, Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria.
“Boys playing tug of war” (2020) by Shadi Abousada
When: Thursday 14 September, 2:30 – 4:00pm
Where: Moot Court Room, Edinburgh Law School, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL
Register now on Eventbrite.
Since 2012, ceasefires have been used in Syria to halt violence and facilitate peace agreements. However, in a new book, Marika Sosnowski argues that a ceasefire is rarely ever just a “cease fire”. Instead, she demonstrates that ceasefires are not only military tactics but are also tools of wartime order and statebuilding.
Drawing from the PA-X dataset, rare primary documents and first-hand interviews with over eighty Syrians and other experts, in this talk, Marika draws from the book’s findings to present an innovative typology of ceasefires as a way to think through a range of heretofore underexamined impacts ceasefires can have on areas like rebel/local governance, citizenship and property rights, humanitarian access and economic networks. The categories of the typology will be illustrated with examples of ceasefires from arguably the most critical conflict of our time, the Syrian civil war.
Read more about the book: Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria
Speakers

Laura Wise, PeaceRep Research Fellow and Programme Coordinator
Kasia Houghton, ESRC Doctoral Researcher, University of St Andrews
Mohamad Alashmar, Doctoral Researcher & Fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews

About the Author
Marika Sosnowski is an Australian-qualified lawyer, a Research Associate at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Melbourne Law School. Her research is firmly interdisciplinary straddling international law, socio-legal studies and politics. Her primary interests are in the fields of governance and legal systems with a geographical focus on Syria.
About PeaceRep
PeaceRep is a research consortium based at The University of Edinburgh Law School. Our research is re-thinking peace and transition processes in the light of changing conflict dynamics, changing demands of inclusion, and changes in patterns of global intervention in conflict and peace/mediation/transition management processes.
RSVP
Register now on Eventbrite. Contact peacerep@ed.ac.uk with any questions.

MEDRC Webinar: In Theory and Practice - Exploring Legal Perspectives in Environmental Peacebuilding Initiatives
2023-09-27 12:00 - 13:00 UTC
Join MEDRC for the latest webinar in their Stabilization Mechanism Series, featuring PeaceRep’s Managing Director, Tim Epple.
Image: Anand Purohit, Getty Images
When: Wednesday 27 September, 12:00pm
Where: Zoom
Register to attend.
Legal frameworks are pivotal to using the environment in service of peacebuilding. International legal mechanisms play a crucial role in mitigating risks and preventing the recurrence of armed conflict. Additionally, they provide avenues for engagement, dialogue, environmental conservation, and the equitable sharing of benefits. The effective application of legal mechanisms in environmental peacebuilding is a challenging and complex process. Join MEDRC in discussion as a panel of expert speakers share insights from theory and practice.
Speakers:

Dr Britta Sjöstedt, Senior Lecturer in Environment Law at Lund University
Tim Epple, Managing Director at University of Edinburgh Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep)
Mauran El-Krekshi, Head of MENA at CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation

About:
In the Stabilization Mechanism Webinar Series, the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) invites expert speakers to help unpack and look critically at a few themes that have emerged within the environmental diplomacy field. MEDRC seeks informed practical insights for mechanisms operating in transboundary environmental cooperation and diplomacy.
Register to attend on Zoom.

Peace Analytics: Peace and Transition Process Tracker
2023-10-16 21:30 - 22:00 UTC
Join Christine Bell, PeaceRep’s Executive Director, at the 2023 Data for Peace Conference for her session on Peace Analytics.
When: 16 October 2023, 21:30 – 22:00 BST / 16:30 – 17:00 ET
Where: Online
Register to attend virtually (In-person registrations now at capacity)
PeaceRep Executive Director, Christine Bell, will host a hybrid Breakout Session at the 2023 Data for Peace Conference on Peace Analytics and PeaceRep’s new Peace and Transition Process Tracker.
Real-time tracking and mapping of peace processes, the conditions around them, and their impact on levels of peace within a country is challenging for many reasons, but can help identify trends and inform policymakers and the general public.
At the hybrid event next week, Christine will introduce plans for PeaceRep’s new peace and transition process tracker. The tracker is designed to support adaptive implementation of peace and transition agreements and builds on expansive PA-X data.
Join Christine Bell at Breakout #2 Session 3.2 for a deep dive into the challenges of tracking peace processes, what this means for ‘Peace Analytics,’ and insights into PeaceRep’s ‘PA-X Tracker’ ahead of its launch in 2024.
About Christine Bell:
Professor Christine Bell is Assistant Principal (Global Justice) and Professor of Constitutional Law at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh, and is PeaceRep’s Executive Director.
Christine’s research interests lie in the interface between constitutional and international law, gender and conflict, and legal theory, with a particular interest in peace processes and their agreements.
About the 2023 Data for Peace Conference:
This fall, the NYU Center on International Cooperation, with support from the Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF’d) and its partners, will host a five-day hybrid conference with national and international experts in the data for peacebuilding and prevention ecosystem to facilitate peer-to-peer exchange and leverage emerging technologies and data science methods to tackle the growing challenges across the humanitarian-development-peace and climate nexus globally.
Peacebuilding and prevention practitioners are searching for novel approaches to tackle the growing challenges. Emerging technologies and data science methods have been recognized as potential tools to better understand and tackle some of these challenges across the humanitarian-development-peace and climate nexus. GIS, advanced analytics, machine learning, natural language processing and image processing, are some of potential “game changers” recognized by many and already utilized by some of our partners. As a power engine of all these approaches stands data, generated, and collected at unprecedented rates. And yet, there are still many gaps and problems in data availability, quality, and usability that make this work challenging.
Register to attend virtually

Book Launch: Regionalized Governance in the Global South
2023-11-01 16:00 - 17:00 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Book Launch: Regionalized Governance in the Global South with Brooke Coe and Kathryn Nash
When: Wednesday 01 November, 16:00 – 17:00
Where: Moot Court Room, Old College
Register to attend in person
Register to attend online
In their new Element, Dr Brooke Coe and Dr Kathryn Nash question division of labour and concentration of authority among intergovernmental organizations by examining multilevel governance in the Global South. Their work focuses on the policy domains of peace and security and human rights in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and their central finding is that the extent of governance regionalization varies across regions and issue areas. In the domain of peace and security, governance is most regionalized in Africa. In the domain of human rights protection, governance is most regionalized in the LAC region. Given the phenomenon of regional specialization, the Element makes the case for the greater explanatory power of regional drivers of regional institutional development.
At this event to launch their minibook, Dr Coe and Dr Nash will present their research and answer questions. They’ll also discuss their plans to make their dataset public and the need for further research on divisions of governance in a multi-level international system. The Element is available open access at https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/regionalized-governance-in-the-global-south/27ACE026649675E3A40E37989F9ACD10.

Research Seminar: Reparations and reproductive violence - The case of children born of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia
2023-11-22 16:00 - 17:30 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Researcher Dr Tatiana Sanchez Parra (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Fellow, University of Edinburgh Politics and International Relations) shares her work on reproductive justice from a chapter of her upcoming book, ‘Born of War in Colombia: Reproductive Violence and Memories of Absence’.
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend
Tatiana’s work:
Tatiana Sanchez Parra works on issues related to feminist peacebuilding, reproductive justice, and reproductive violence in contexts of war and political transitions. Her research is situated at the intersection of feminist studies, socio-legal studies, and Latin American studies.
Her current project, ‘Advancing Gender Justice, Tackling Reproductive Violence: Forced Parenthood in Contexts of War’, focuses on the experiences of cisgender women and transgender men who are parenting children born of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia. Through a collaborative, ethnographic, and arts-based approach, the project seeks to: (1) offer a comprehensive understanding of diverse experiences of these forms of parenthood; (2) advance knowledge regarding justice and redress for these cases; (3) facilitate knowledge exchange to render visible and address these experiences of parenthood.
About Tatiana:
Tatiana is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.
Tatiana holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Essex, where she also obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights. Prior to her studies in the UK, Tatiana completed a Master’s in Social Anthropology at the Universidad de Los Andes, where she also studied her undergraduate degree in Social Anthropology. Before starting her current position at the University of Edinburgh, Tatiana worked as an Assistant Professor at Instituto de Estudios Sociales y Culturales Pensar of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia) and as a consultant for the Global Survivors Fund (Switzerland).
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend

Peace Talks Webinar - Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism: An Actor-Centric Approach
2023-12-07 11:00 - 12:30 UTC | Online
Register to attend via Zoom
Join us for the launch of ‘Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism: An Actor-Centric Approach’ and explore the intricate web of societal dynamics surrounding violent extremism.
Adopting an actor-centric approach, this volume examines the roles of state representatives, religious institutions and civil society actors. The analysis builds on empirical evidence collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Tunisia.
Learn why vulnerability and resilience to violent extremism can be considered two sides of the same coin.
After hearing from the authors, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and participate in a discussion of the book’s key themes.
Speakers:
Dr. Juline Beaujouan
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
PeaceRep | University of Edinburgh
Dr. Véronique Dudouet
Senior Research Advisor
Conflict Transformation Research Programme | Berghof Foundation
Dr. Maja Halilovic-Pastuovic
Assistant Research Professor
Trinity College Dublin | The University of Dublin
Dr. Amjed Rasheed
Lecturer of Defence Studies
Department of Security Studies | King’s College London
Who Should Attend?
This book launch will be of interest to students and scholars interested in countering violent extremism, terrorism, political violence, and the fields of security studies and International Relations.
Please register to attend on Zoom. Attendees will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the webinar.
About the book:
‘Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism’ is available Open-Access at www.taylorfrancis.com.
The volume is co-edited by Juline Beaujouan, Véronique Dudouet, Maja Halilovic-Pastuovic, Johanna-Maria Hülzer, Marie Kortam, and Amjed Rasheed.

Register to attend via Zoom

What role for youth in peace agreements?: Introducing a new dataset
2023-12-13 11:00 - 12:30 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Asli Ozcelik Olcay (University of Glasgow School of Law) introduces a new dataset on references to youth in peace agreements from 1990-2022 and discusses key findings on the relationship between youth and armed conflict.
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend
What role for youth in peace agreements?: Introducing a new dataset
Today’s youth population is the largest in history, representing 24% of the global population, A significant part of the youth population globally is estimated to be affected by armed conflict. Marginalisation of youth in different avenues of life is among the root causes of some conflicts. Armed conflict also has significant adverse consequences for young people, from impeding their access to education, health, and livelihoods to leading to displacement. While some young people join the armed forces of conflict parties, many remain unarmed and play other roles in conflict situations, delivering humanitarian aid, acting as local mediators, and building peace. Where peace agreements refer to youth, they provide valuable insights into the multifaceted relationship between youth and armed conflict. Where this is not the case, it may be an indication of youth’s marginalisation in a peace process.
The aim of this talk is to introduce the first peace agreement dataset that adopts a youth lens, “References to Youth in Peace Agreements, 1990-2022 (YPAD)”, which draws on the PA-X Peace Agreements Database. YPAD contains 208 peace agreements that refer to youth, young people, or similar, concluded between the years of 1990-2022 to bring an end to conflicts of inter-state, intra-state, or local nature. The data demonstrates that referencing youth in peace agreements remains a marginal practice, with only 12% of the peace agreements concluded in the said timeframe referring to youth. Yet, it also reveals a wide variety of practices to be learned from in relation to youth inclusion in the negotiation process, content, and implementation of peace agreements, which to date were not systemically analysed. In addition to introducing the data, Asli Ozcelik Olcay will discuss some of the key findings and offer a thematic analysis of the references to youth.
Please RSVP via Eventbrite to attend

Full-day Workshop: Race, Empire and Legal and Constitutional Theory
2024-04-18 09:00 - 17:00 UTC | University of Edinburgh
What are the relationships between critiques of race and empire, and legal-theoretical approaches to the constitutionalisation of power? This workshop foregrounds this encounter, with an emphasis on the methodological challenges and innovations it generates. The workshop brings together scholars from different disciplinary methodologies and practices, spanning law (human rights, constitutional law, international law), the humanities (performance studies), and social and political theory (critical race theory, gender studies, cultural studies). Together, they will explore the methods of and relationships between these different critical approaches, and their consequences for legal and constitutional theory.
Please register to attend on Eventbrite.
Location: Seminar Room 1, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, Edinburgh
Agenda
9.15am – Tea and coffee
9.30am – Welcome and introductions
9.45am-11.15am – Panel 1: Land, Nature and the Racial Logic of Rights
‘In themselves a hazard’: The racial capitalist logic of amenity value
Sarah Keenan, Birkbeck College, University of London
Granting rights to protect nature: possibilities and limitations
Helena Alviar García, SciencesPo
Discussant: Tsampika Taralli, University of Edinburgh
11.15am – Comfort break
11.30am-1pm – Panel 2: Silence and Silencing
We Who Must Fight in the Shade
Tommy J Curry, University of Edinburgh
Constitutionalizing racial aphasia
Christopher Gevers, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Discussant: Mihaela Mihai, University of Edinburgh
1pm-2pm – Lunch
2pm-3.30pm – Panel 3: State-building and Colonial Orders
The rule of law and racial difference in the British Empire
Kanika Sharma, SOAS, University of London
Constituting digital infrastructure in Latin America
Rene Urueña, Universidad de Los Andes
Discussant: Kathryn Nash, University of Edinburgh
3.30pm – Comfort break
3.45pm-4.45pm – General discussion
4.45pm – Closing comments
This event is organised by Peacerep, in conjunction with the Centre for Legal Theory and Race.Ed.
This event is in person only.

Seeing Conflict through Data: Visualising Peace Process Trajectories
2024-04-25 18:00 - 19:30 UTC
Conflict seems ever-present at the moment. In too many places, wars and disputes flare up and rumble on, and peace-making efforts follow in their wake. But all too often, the vital evidence about what is happening can be hard to find and interpret.
Edinburgh DataVis Community is back with a talk from two researchers from the Peacerep programme, a peace and conflict resolution evidence platform which seeks to collate and visualise this critical information.
Tomas Vancisin and Niamh Henry will talk about the aims of the multi-institution project, and give us a glimpse into how they display and make use of the wide variety of data they gather.
WHEN: 6 pm, Thursday 25 April 2024
WHERE: Inspace, 1 Crichton Street
For further details and to register, please visit MeetUp.
The Edinburgh DataVis Meetup is an informal community event open to all, that has been bringing together practitioners, designers, academics and the just plain curious in this highly active field since 2018.
This is a joint event with Newcastle University, and a hybrid event.
A zoom link will be shared a couple days before the event date.
Doors open at 18:00; talk starts at 18:15. Non-alcoholic refreshments provided.
Description of the talk:
PeaceRep is building PeaceTech innovation focused on better data for supporting adaptive management of peace and transition processes. We are producing a state of the art method for measuring change across a portfolio of indicators, to support analysis of peace processes and implementation. As the cornerstone of our PeaceTech work, the PA-X Peace Agreements Database contains more than 2,000 peace agreements from peace processes between 1990 and 2022. PA-X data underpins a range of digital tools to support policy and practice, including visualisations, trackers, interactive timelines, infographics, and a mobile app.
In this event Tomas Vancisin and Niamh Henry will talk through the design and development of key PeaceRep visualisations that have had impact in the field of peace building to better understand trajectories of peace processes. This includes temporal, network, geospatial and combined visualisations.

Book Talk with Miranda Melcher: Securing Peace in Angola and Mozambique
2024-05-09 10:30 - 11:30 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Photo by PASCAL PAVANI/AFP via Getty Images
Does it really matter what’s written on page 36, protocol V, section III, point 5 of a UN-endorsed peace treaty?
Join us as Dr Miranda Ruwart Melcher presents her new book, Securing Peace in Angola and Mozambique: The Importance of Specificity in Peace Treaties.
This book helps explain how and why there are such diverging outcomes of UN peace negotiations and treaties through a detailed examination of peace processes in the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Dr Melcher shows that seemingly small details – such as who wears suits, who has toothbrushes, and how specific words are translated between French and English – can and have delayed peace or contributed to restarting wars.
Following a presentation of the book, there will be time for a discussion of its key themes.
WHEN: 10:30 am – 11:30 am, Thursday 09 May 2024
WHERE: Teaching Room 07, Old College, Edinburgh University Law School
Please register to attend on Eventbrite.
About the book:
Securing Peace in Mozambique and Angola presents a detailed qualitative analysis of the peace treaties of the civil wars in Angola and Mozambique, analysing the text in comparative detail while also investigating and making arguments about the processes through which the treaties were negotiated, and how this impacted their implementation. In addition to using the treaties themselves, the book draws on previously unopened UN archives about peacekeeping missions in Angola and Mozambique, giving unique insight in on-the-ground peacekeeping in the 1990s and the evolution of what UN peacekeeping meant and means.
The book also:

Combines UN archival material with interviews from key figures involved in negotiations, going behind closed doors to illuminate how peace treaties are actually negotiated
Explains divergent outcomes for two long civil wars that have important similarities to many civil wars currently underway
Traces how the end of the Cold War played out in proxy conflicts and explains why the end of the Cold War made some conflicts worse
Offers an alternative option to the oft-implemented Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) which has mixed outcomes and logic

Please register to attend on Eventbrite.
This event is organised by Peacerep.
This event is in person only.

IGO Engagement in Peace Agreements: Building a Dataset with PA-X
2024-05-22 16:00 - 17:30 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Join us as Kathryn Nash and Brooke Coe discuss their research methods for building a new dataset using the PA-X Peace Agreements Database.
Their dataset on IGO engagement in peace agreements informed their minibook, ‘Regionalized Governance in the Global South’. A year on from its publication, Nash and Coe have released a new policy brief, which summarises the book’s findings for a broad audience, and their dataset and codebook, which underpins their research findings.
This event is hybrid. Those who are able to attend in person are invited to join us for a drinks reception following the panel discussion to celebrate the release of the dataset and policy brief.
WHERE: Online/Moot Court Room, Old College, University of Edinburgh Law School
WHEN: 4 pm – 5:30 pm GMT, Wednesday 22 May 2024.
AGENDA:

4 pm: Panel discussion
5 pm: Q&A
5:30 pm: Wine reception

Register to attend in person via Eventbrite.
OR
Register to attend online via Zoom.
This event is organised by PeaceRep in conjunction with the Global Justice Academy.

About ‘Regionalized Governance in the Global South’:
This minibook explores the division of labour and concentration of authority amongst inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) in Latin America and Africa. It focuses on multilevel governance across global and regional IGOs in the domains of peace and security and human rights.

Regional Peace Co-construction in Colombia: Innovations and Challenges
2024-10-30 15:00 - 16:00 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
With Andrei Gómez-Suárez, Delegate of the Colombian government to the negotiations with guerrilla group Comuneros del Sur.

Location:
Teaching Room 03, Old College, University of Edinburgh Law School
Date/time:
Wednesday 30 October 2024
15:00–16:00 GMT
About this event:
PeaceRep and the Global Justice Academy are delighted to host visiting academic, Andrei Gómez-Suárez, for a discussion on the ongoing peace process negotiations in Colombia.
Following over a half a century of conflict, the Colombian government is now pursuing a “Total Peace” strategy, which involves negotiating with all armed and political rebel groups including the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissent groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Peace negotiations have also involved efforts towards reconciliation, including assistance and reparation for victims of conflict.
In this seminar, Andrei will share his first-hand experience of negotiating as part of the Colombian government’s delegation in Nariño with guerrilla group Comuneros del Sur.
Andrei will discuss the innovative approaches he and his colleagues are taking to build lasting peace, while also sharing the challenges inherent in fostering inclusive dialogue and navigating complex regional dynamics.
Following the presentation, there will be an opportunity for attendees to participate in a Q&A.
This event is in-person only. Refreshments will be provided.
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/regional-peace-co-construction-in-colombia-innovations-and-challenges-tickets-1037680108137
About the speaker
Andrei Gómez-Suárez (PhD University of Sussex) is part of the Colombian government’s delegation in a peace process in Nariño, living in Edinburgh but spending part of each year in Colombia. He is visiting academic at the University of Edinburgh and co-founder of peacebuilding organisation Rodeemos el Diálogo (ReD, or Embrace Dialogue). He has lectured at the Universities of Bristol, Oxford, Sussex, and Winchester and has done consultancies for Conciliation Resources, the International Organisation for Migrations, and in Colombia for the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the National Centre for Historical Memory, and the Ombudsman’s Office. His books include Genocide, Geopolitics and Transnational Networks: a Con-textualisation of the Destruction of the Patriotic Union in Colombia (Routledge, 2015), El Triunfo del No: la Paradoja Emocional detrás del Plebiscito (Icono, Colombia, 2016), and We are not made of sugar: a childhood memoir from Colombia (forthcoming, Fuller Vigil 2025).

The end of the Assad regime: what happens now?
2024-12-10 15:00 - 16:30 UTC
Location:
Zoom
Date/time:
Tuesday 10 December 2024
15.00 – 16.30 London / 10.00 – 11.30 New York / 16.00 – 17.30 Paris / 18.00 – 19.30 Damascus
Register to attend on Zoom.
About this event:
Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown. The surprise offensive of the rebel groups, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian National Army (SNA), in the end met little resistance, sparking a broader uprising that brought down the regime. A new chapter in the Syrian crisis has opened with enormous regional and global implications. A regime that committed mass slaughter to cling to power is no more.
The LSE Syria team, based at LSE IDEAS/Conflict and Civicness Research Group, have been researching the conflict at every stage of its development as part of their work for PeaceRep (the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform). Through the Mapping Syria project, they run local teams of researchers that feed real-time data on conditions on the ground.
This rapid response webinar will draw on this experience and local research network to analyse this extraordinary moment of change for Syria and its people. The briefing will address:

Who are the forces/factors behind this offensive?
How do they interface with international actors?
How will it shape international and regional dynamics?
What are the risks and scenarios going forward?
What are the potential pathways for peace and justice based outcomes?

Speakers

Dr Munzer Alkhalil (LSE)
Mazen Gharibah (LSE)
Zaki Mehchy (LSE)
Dr Rim Turkmani (LSE)

Discussant
Mary Kaldor (LSE)
Chair
Dr Luke Cooper (LSE)
Format
In-conversation with audience Q&A
How do I participate?
Sign up to the Zoom registration page here:
https://lse.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0YiI_d6WRJGuUDPf9FmJpg#/registration
Is this event private/public?
This is a public on the record webinar. Please forward it to colleagues who might be interested.
This event is supported by the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep), funded by UK International Development from the UK government. However, the views expressed are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.

Transformative Indicators for Women, Peace and Security | PeaceRep research seminar with Dr Laura McLeod
2025-01-09 14:00 - 15:30 UTC | Edinburgh School of Law, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
Location:
Teaching Room 07, Old College, University of Edinburgh Law School
Date/time:
Thursday 09 January 2025
14:00–15:30 GMT
Register to attend on Eventbrite.
About this event:
Join us for a research seminar with Dr Laura McLeod, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Manchester. Laura will present her recent article, Transformative indicators? Gender expertise and technocratic peace, followed by a response from Senior Research Fellow Laura Wise and an open discussion.
Presented in collaboration with PeaceRep, Edinburgh Law School, the International Relations Research Group, and GENDER.ED.
The seminar will be held in person. Refreshments will be provided.
Format:

Research presentation (Laura McLeod) – 20 mins
Response (Laura Wise) – 10 mins
Discussion (all) – 30 mins

Article abstract:
In the last decade, the use of indicators to track implementation of international peacebuilding and peacekeeping programmes, policies and practices has proliferated. Indicators are criticised by many scholars for their technocratic, standardised and colonialising effects. This article follows a different line of inquiry. Can indicators be transformative? Contemporary critiques place indicators as bureaucratic artefacts in a vacuum, detached and decontextualised from the nuances of human agency developing, utilising and subverting them. I conceptualise indicators as powerful gendered technologies of knowledge creation developed, used and subverted by institutional actors. Using interviews with institutional actors and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Reports, I trace institutional stories of one indicator (out of 26) developed to capture implementation of the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. The indicator investigated tracks the number of senior gender experts employed within UN Peacekeeping and Special Political Missions. Stories of progress, skill, and location in the reporting of this indicator between 2010 and 2020 highlight strategies deployed and opportunities taken by feminist-change advocates within the UN to prompt a deeper implementation of the WPS agenda. While indicators hold the danger of reinforcing neoliberal norms, the failure to conceptualise the potential for developing, utilising and/or subverting the indicators smacks of hubris, limiting opportunities for meaningful transformation.
About the speaker:
Dr Laura McLeod is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Manchester. She works broadly in the areas of gender, feminism, security and peacebuilding in post-conflict contexts. Much of her focus has been on the United Nations Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security agenda, activities around it and its implementation within the United Nations and former Yugoslavia, in particular Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The Future of Power-Sharing in Iraq: Youth Perspectives
2025-02-24 17:30 - 19:00 UTC
Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
This event will be a panel discussion exploring the future of power-sharing in Iraq with Iraqi researchers both within Iraq and in the diaspora.
Register to attend in person or online
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of Iraq’s new constitution, a milestone that coincides with a significant generational shift—nearly 50% of the population has been born since this transformative period. These demographic changes have brought new perspectives, challenges, and opportunities to the forefront of political discourse.
As part of the PeaceRep Iraq Programme at LSE Middle East Centre, this event will bring together Iraqi researchers to examine how younger generations perceive the power-sharing system in Iraq. The discussion will address the Iraqi political system’s effectiveness in meeting societal needs and explore the aspirations of a new generation poised to shape Iraq’s political and social future.
Speakers:

Oula Kadhum – SOAS
Khogir Mohammed – Middle East Research Institute
Muhaned Seloom – Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Chair:

Kamaran Palani – LSE Middle East Centre

Learn more about the speakers and register to attend: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/events/2025/future-of-power-sharing-iraq-youth
