Bilateral and multilateral donors are increasingly focusing on strengthening social cohesion in efforts to build and sustain peace in conflict-affected societies. What does promoting social cohesion mean with respect to international engagement? This policy brief provides an overview of the...

Can local elections introduced in a post-conflict context help to foster societal peace, or do they create new potential for conflict? The value of post-conflict elections has been the matter of controversial academic debates. However, this literature largely neglects to take into account the...

This article provides new evidence on how the international community can effectively foster peace after civil war. It adopts a disaggregated, yet comprehensive view on international peacebuilding efforts, expanding the current literature’s narrow focus on peacekeeping or aggregated aid flows....

Social cohesion is key for sustainable development. While social cohesion has suffered in many societies from the consequences of the Covid- 19 pandemic, high levels of social cohesion have helped to overcome critical situations during the pandemic in other societies. As a consequence,...

Societies that have experienced violent conflict face considerable challenges in building sustainable peace. One crucial question they need to address is how to deal with their violent past and atrocities that were committed - for example, whether perpetrators should be held accountable by...

Wie können internationale Akteure Friedensprozesse nach Bürgerkriegen erfolgreich unterstützen? Bisherige Untersuchungen zeigen, dass Friedenstruppen ein effektives Instrument zur Vermeidung eines Wiederausbruchs sind. Kaum erforscht ist, welche Rolle andere Formen der Friedensförderung...

Gesellschaften, die Gewaltkonflikte erfahren haben, stehen vor der großen Herausforderung nachhaltigen Frieden aufzubauen. Dabei ist eine entscheidende Frage, wie mit der gewaltsamen Vergangenheit umgegangen wird - sollen die Täter vor Gericht zur Verantwortung gezogen werden, oder der...

This study analyses how strengths and weaknesses of economic, societal, political and environmental structures played out during the Covid-19 crisis in Africa since March 2020. Its main aim is to improve evidence on the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on African countries and, based...

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected armed conflict and political violence within countries? Focusing on Africa, a continent with a particularly high number of ongoing conflicts, this policy brief analyses the immediate and long-term implications of the pandemic on conflict and reflects on its...

Social cohesion is key for sustainable development. While social cohesion has suffered in many societies from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, high levels of social cohesion have helped to overcome critical situations during the pandemic in other societies. As a consequence, protecting...