‘Preventing Crises, Resolving Conflicts, Building Peace’ are key challenges for Germany’s and Europe’s evolving international role. Berlin is investing in the field, both financially and conceptually. Between 2016 and June 2021, we discussed how to target these investments towards better crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding on this blog. Many contributions are in German, but occasionally international experts shared their views in this English-language section. Editorial responsibility for this blog was with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin until June 2021. The German Federal Foreign Office plans to continue the PeaceLab platform and will inform you in due course.
Artikel Shaping the Future of Civilian Crisis Management Almost unnoticed by the wider public, the EU has taken a landmark decision to make its civilian crisis management more capable, flexible and responsive. However, important commitments in the “Civilian CSDP Compact” remain vague. As a strong supporter of civilian CSDP, Germany should push for further ambitious steps to be made concrete. Carina Böttcher, Marie Wolf • 28 November 2018
Artikel Supporting Transitional Justice in Fragile Environments: Lessons from Iraq Post-ISIS The Iraqi case demonstrates the impediments to transitional justice efforts in fragile, post-conflict environments. To support these efforts, Germany should provide technical assistance; seek out reliable, influential government partners; strike a balance between the sometimes divergent outcomes of state-building, democratization and transitional justice processes; and find effective pathways that harness traditional justice mechanisms. Osama Gharizi • 22 November 2018
Artikel There Are More Than Victims and Former Combatants In transitional justice contexts, court verdicts often do not enjoy universal acceptance. Thus, Germany should promote the interplay between judicial and non-judicial mechanisms to increase trust in the judgements. Also, the German approach has to overcome the binary of victims and perpetrators and foster the public participation of a much broader spectrum of actors in transitional justice processes. Ljubinka Petrovic-Ziemer • 21 November 2018
Artikel Adopt a Stance, Not Just Mechanisms The rapid success of transitional justice led to blue-printing mechanisms without adequate consideration of context. The German government should think of transitional justice not only as a set of mechanisms, but also as a stance to any activity in any field it supports in transitional societies. Thus, the government should ensure past-sensitivity in all interventions it pursues in post-conflict or post-authoritarian contexts. Alexander Mayer-Rieckh • 15 November 2018
Artikel Choose your partner wisely: regional actors in crisis management Crisis management can only succeed with regional partners: so far, so true – but insufficient. Regional hegemons rarely deliver official German hopes to be “anchors of stability”, and regional organizations are rarely neutral, legitimate and effective at the same time. Still, regional cooperation has great peacekeeping potential if pursued more strategically. Ingo Henneberg • 09 November 2018
Artikel A Europeanized German Security Council Seat: How Berlin’s Actions Can Live Up to Its Words Merkel and Maas announced ambitious goals for “Europeanizing” the German seat on the UN Security Council. To avoid disappointing its closest partners, Berlin needs to find more inclusive ways of leading on both thematic and crisis-specific issues – and possibly sacrifice some of its own priorities. Noémi Blome, Theresa Lütkefend • 01 November 2018
Artikel Plural Justice: A Holistic Approach to Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding Transitional justice processes often are too narrow and technocratic. Restorative and retributive justice alone may not lead to a stable peace, because it does not resolve underlying grievances that led to violent conflict. Therefore, transitional justice should incorporate conflict resolution, civil rights and participation, as well as socioeconomic and redistributive justice to address historical marginalization. Lisa Laplante • 31 October 2018
Artikel It’s the Economic and Social Rights, Stupid! Transitional justice cannot prevent the recurrence of human rights violations if it does not address economic and social rights violations. For Germany’s transitional justice strategy this means: first, do not privilege criminal prosecution; second, provide technical assistance to local actors; third, become a voice for exploring and implementing remedies for economic and social rights violations. Ruben Carranza • 24 October 2018
Artikel Letter from Warsaw: How Germany Can Gain Security Credibility in New York In Polish eyes, Germany lacks credibility when it comes to security matters. In the UN Security Council, Germany could gain such credibility if it steps out of its comfort zone by focusing on selected partners to get things done, taking everyone’s priorities into account, and formulating real strategies. Adam Traczyk • 18 October 2018
Artikel Include Displacement Issues within Transitional Justice Mandates Displacement crises can create fertile ground for future conflict and extremism if they remain unaddressed. Thus, for international donors such as Germany, it is critical to support transitional justice processes that include large-scale displacement and the justice claims of victims within their mandates. Measures can be taken even while violent conflicts are ongoing. Roger Duthie • 16 October 2018
Artikel Elevating Global Health to the UN Security Council Focusing on global health in the Security Council could unite its members and support Germany’s aim to reform its “two-class” structure. To ensure that this goes beyond political maneuvering and has an impact, Germany should increase funding to health systems and broaden the discussion to include other issues such as non-communicable diseases and human rights at the Security Council. Katherine Polin, Roopa Dhatt • 11 October 2018
Artikel Justice for Syria: Lessons from Innovative Tools for Accountability Justice remains elusive in the case of Syria. With the UN Security Council blocked, the hope of securing justice rests with national prosecutors. The IIIM was established to organise the largely uncoordinated documentation effort, necessary to support prosecutors. But for states seeking accountability, two questions loom: what could have been done better? And what more can, and should, they do? Sareta Ashraph • 09 October 2018
Artikel One Process: Tackling the Past and Reckoning With the Future In post-war societies, ex-combatants and victims associations – from all sides of the conflict – enjoy high credibility. Instead of regarding them as potential spoilers of the peacebuilding process, the German government should support cooperation with these groups to bridge the gap between opposing war legacies, search for joint ways to face the violent past, and prevent the recurrence of war. Nenad Vukosavljević • 04 October 2018
Artikel Thinking Big About Transitional Justice With its expertise on SSR, rule of law and development, Germany is in an ideal position to strengthen the transitional justice agenda. For its new strategy, the key will be to enable effective links between these fields and to help articulate an effective prevention framework. Pablo de Greiff • 18 September 2018
Artikel Global Peace Needs an Updated UN Charter The worldwide increase in armed intra-state conflicts will make it necessary to expand the mandate of the UN Charter. Although this would be the first substantive revision of the UN Charter since its adoption almost 75 years ago, this may be less utopian than it seems. In fact, Germany is well placed to take the lead revitalizing the UN as the core collective security instrument for maintaining global peace. Michael von der Schulenburg • 11 September 2018
Artikel Make Security Council Diplomacy Great Again The dynamics of the UN Security Council have drastically changed over the past years, fragmenting the Council, but also empowering influential non-permanent members such as Germany. Berlin should seize this as an opportunity in building on a successful Franco-German cooperation record. However, the Security Council seat is not a tool for European integration but for building and securing peace. Manuel Lafont Rapnouil • 29 August 2018
Artikel Conflict Management: Go Big or Go Home If Germany wants to address current conflicts around the world, half-hearted efforts will not do. After all, effective crisis management requires both civilian and military means. Germany should therefore increase its budget for diplomacy, defence and development assistance to three percent of its gross domestic product and transform the Federal Security Council into a comprehensive coordinating body for foreign and security policy. Wolfgang Ischinger • 31 July 2018
Artikel A New German SSR Strategy: The View from New York In developing its new SSR strategy, the German government could emphasize (1) security sector governance initiatives that demonstrably respond to people’s security needs; (2) making immediate security efforts coherent with long-term security governance strategies; (3) coordination of international assistance and (4) sustained funding and operational support. Alexandre Zouev • 31 July 2018
Artikel The Importance of Non-Core Actors in SSR The German government should work with a broad and inclusive definition of SSR/G that encompasses both “core-” and “non-core actors” and places SSR programs in the context of broader political and institutional development. To guide its activities, the German government should employ a “theory of change” and oblige implementing agencies of German public funds to take a multi-stakeholder approach to SSR interventions. Stefan Buchmayer, Maxime Poulin • 23 July 2018
Artikel Security Assistance and Reform: Bringing the Politics Back In Whether the goal is “just” to professionalize or “even” to reform security institutions, security assistance and security sector reform are both about the allocation of power over the instruments of violence. External supporters can only succeed if they can integrate their projects into a broader strategy for political engagement with partner countries. Philipp Rotmann • 20 July 2018
Artikel Integrating Preventive Stress Management into SSR Processes For soldiers to be able to limit their own potential for violence to the necessary level when under extreme strain, psychological stability and, to use the Bundeswehr’s term, "mental fitness" are indispensable. Thus, the Federal Government’s SSR strategy should incorporate capacity building for preventive stress management. Ulrike Schmid • 17 July 2018
