02/2012 – Miscellaneous
As of 2012 the former Berghof Conflict Research, Berghof Peace Support and Institute for Peace Education Tübingen (ift) have merged together as part of the Berghof Foundation. The Berghof Foundation has been given a new structure and organisational setting – merging our manifold operational competences in conflict research, peace support and peace education, being complemented with targeted grant-making that draws upon the traditional philanthropic funding provided by the Zundel family to further nurture peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
Currently we are working hard to develop our new joint website. Within the coming weeks and months the content from our old websites (Berghof Foundation.de, Conflict Research, Peace Support, Friedenspaedagogik.de and Berghof Handbook) will be transferred to our new one Berghof Foundation.org. The existing websites will remain available during this transition period, until all the information has been made accessible on the new site. Please be informed that some information and content on the old websites may already have become outmoded, since those will not be updated anymore. We apologize for any inconvenience.
01/2012 –
We are happy to announce the release of the policy report “From Combatants to Peacebuilders: A case for inclusive, participatory and holistic security transitions”. Authored by staff members Véronique Dudouet, Hans J. Giessmann and Katrin Planta, it presents key lessons learnt and policy recommendations based on findings from the participatory research project “Non-state armed groups and security transition processes” (2009-2012).
The purpose of this project was to identify the conditions under which armed resistance/liberation movements (RLMs) generate and maintain the political will to restore the state’s monopoly over the use of force and participate in post-war governance. It does so by investigating the timing, sequencing and components of post-war security and political transitions, from the perspective and self-analysis of conflict stakeholders who have made the shift from state challengers to peace- and state-building agents in South Africa, Colombia, El Salvador, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Burundi, Southern Sudan, Nepal and Aceh. The empirical findings are indeed based on thematic case studies written by local teams made up of researchers and former combatants.
This report is complemented by a more comprehensive volume edited by the same authors and published by Routledge, to be released later this month.
Watch out also for the next issue of our Berghof Transitions Series (also part of our programme on resistance/liberation movements in transition) on the CNDD-FDD in Burundi, which will be available online in the coming days.
11/2011 – New Publications
We are pleased to announce that the second Berghof Policy Brief, ‘Anti-terrorism Legislation: Impediments to Conflict Transformation’ is now available online. Authored by our senior researcher Dr Veronique Dudouet, the paper reviews the ambivalent impact of terrorist ‘blacklisting’ regimes on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and argues that when applied unwisely, they might interfere with efforts to find a political solution to asymmetric intra-state conflicts. Indeed, the political nature and inconsistent application of terrorist proscription tends to blur the distinction between legal and unlawful political activism, encourage state repression of unarmed dissidents, and fuel radicalism. Anti-terrorist policies also shrink the space for international peace facilitation in intra-state conflicts by criminalising third-party mediation and negotiation support, and impeding confidence-building with listed actors and ‘insider mediators’. The paper concludes by offering a range of reform options to improve the capacity of anti-terrorist policies to foster armed groups’ shifts from violent to non-violent strategies.
To access the series, see here .
11/2011 – Miscellaneous
With great sadness we announce that Prof. Dr. Volker Rittberger (1941-2011) has passed away. He was one of the most important representatives for Peace Research in Germany. He has contributed substantially to establishing Peace Research programmes at Tübingen University in the past decades and was co-founder of the Institute for Peace Education. He inspired the dialogue between politics and peace research and at the same time enhanced its international reputation, in particular in his function as President of the German Foundation for Peace Research (2003-2010). The Peace Research community has lost an important teacher and promotor.
11/2011 – Miscellaneous
Martina Fischer was elected to join the board of the “German Protestant Kirchentag” (Präsidium Evangelischer Kirchentag), an eminent 60-year-old institution and important civil society forum that creates space for inter-religious dialogue and exchange on ethical, religious and political questions, including panels on global justice, environmental issues, development and peace and conflict related issues. The last event took place in Dresden 2011 (120.000 visitors), the next one is planned in Hamburg 2013. The board is composed by 25 persons active in politics, influential institutions and CSO’s. It supports the process, taking decisions on design and content of the events that usually attract people of many diverse backgrounds and professions.
10/2011 – New Publications
We are pleased to announce that all articles from our book The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation, edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann, are now available online. To order a hardcopy, please visit the publisher’s website or, for example, Amazon.
free pdf-downloads
10/2011 – New Publications
We are happy to report that all articles of the second print volume of our Handbook on Conflict Transformation are now available also online (Handbook downloads ). Berghof Handbook II brings you 20 new or revised articles not previously available.
For further information on the print version and order options see here.
10/2011 – Miscellaneous
As part of its peace support activities in the Basque Country, the Berghof Foundation has co-sponsored the convening of an international conference to promote the resolution of the Basque conflict in San Sebastian on 17 October 2011, organised by the local peacebuilding NGO Lokarri. The conference, attended by other peacebuilding organisations and prominent world leaders including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, represents a major milestone in the search for lasting peace in the Basque Country, by demonstrating the readiness of all citizens to end violence and move forward through peaceful and democratic means.
Berghof Peace Support senior programme manager Luxshi Vimalarajah attended the event on behalf of the Berghof Foundation. Berghof’s past involvement in the resolution of the conflict in the Basque Country also included the publication of a study written by prominent analysts of the Basque Abertzale Left on the history of the conflict and the arduous path to its resolution.
08/2011 – New Publications
We are pleased to announce the publication of our book The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann.
This is the first comprehensive volume analysing the value added by integrating systemic thinking into peacebuilding theory and practice. The aim of this book is to link the most recent debates in the peacebuilding field, e.g. on liberal peace, on the non-linearity of conflict dynamics and on bridging the attribution gap, with various systemic discourses, discussing the extent to which systemic thinking and methods are helpful to further develop existing approaches to conflict transformation.
Against the background of different case studies, practitioners and scholars frame their various understandings of systemic thinking and present a great variety of systemic concepts, such as systems theory, systemic action research and constellation work.
Details: The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes – Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation, edited by Daniela Körppen, Norbert Ropers and Hans J. Giessmann,
Barbara Budrich Publishers, Opladen / Farmington Hill, 2011, 273 pp.
Pb. 33,00 € (D), 34,00 € (A), 45,50 SFr,US$47.95, GBP 29.95, ISBN 978-3-86649-406-0
To order, please visit the publisher’s website or, for example,
Amazon.
07/2011 – Miscellaneous
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (1964 in Wajir – 14 July 2011 in Nairobi).
With great sadness we announce that our dear friend and member of the Advisory Board of Berghof Peace Support, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, has died following severe injuries sustained in a car accident in Kenya, in which her husband and their driver were immediately killed. Our heartfelt condolences go to the couple’s four children and family, and the many colleagues who are left behind.
We mourn the loss of an outstanding woman who enriched and inspired the peacebuilding field for over two decades with her ideas, initiative, wisdom, creativity and persistence. Born into a Muslim Somali family in the Northeast of Kenya, she encountered early on the challenges of ethnic and religious conflicts. She became a key leader of the Wajir peace initiative and ensured its future viability by helping to establish the Wajir Peace Committee. This model of a sustained, inclusive and comprehensive effort to transform the dangers of unleashed tribalism became the starting point for many similar initiatives, in Africa and beyond. Dekha herself became an inspiring model of an “Insider Mediator”, combining the wisdom of African conflict resolution with her knowledge and insights from many peacebuilding engagements around the world. To learn more about her work you may read her contribution to the Berghof Handbook Dialogue.
What inspired many of us particularly in peace research as well as in the peacebuilding community was her soft, humble, imaginative and nonetheless determined approach to take our field of work forward. We will miss her dearly.
07/2011 – New Publications
The new volume of our Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation is fresh off the press. “Advancing Conflict Transformation. The Berghof Handbook II” (ed. by B. Austin, M. Fischer and H.J. Giessmann; 2011, Barbara Budrich Publishers) collects new insights into nonviolent ways of managing inter-group conflict and what is needed for consolidating positive peace. It brings you 20 new or revised articles not previously available in print and continues our tradition of gathering scholars and practitioners in one conversation. Topics include, among others: global trends in organised violence, the role of gender relations and asymmetries in conflict, third-party intervention and insider approaches, human rights, transitional justice and reconciliation in post-war societies.
For more information, please visit the Handbook website (including pdf downloads of the introduction and table of contents) and check out the flyer. Orders can be placed with the publisher or your (online) bookseller.
07/2011 – Events
Berghof Conflict Research hosted the Steering Committee Meeting and a Thematic Workshop of the EU-funded project Cultures of Governance and Conflict Resolution in Europe and India (CORE) on June 27 and 28, 2011 respectively. Participants included representatives from all ten project partners in the consortium. For more information on the project please visit the project’s website.
In the Steering Committee Meeting, the project basics were revisited, progress and project timeline were visualized, and general management issues were discussed. The different work-package activities were then further updated and clarified.
In the Thematic Workshop titled “The Socio-Cultural and Political Premises of European and Indian Initiatives in Areas of Conflict Transition/Resolution”, the partner institutes/universities gave presentations on different sub topics/questions that emanated from the workshop theme:
• What are the premises of European and Indian initiatives in the areas of conflict transition/resolution, and how do these initiatives resonate with – or are informed/determined by – the socio-cultural background of either Europe or India?
• How, if at all, are specific socio-cultural and political premises reflected/ incorporated or neglected/ ignored in those peacebuilding and conflict transition/resolution initiatives in Europe and India?
• If and to what extent do societal or elite discourses of socio-cultural and political issues underpin the principles, goals and strategies conceptualized and applied for peacebuilding in each context?
• How do internal and external governance initiatives interact and how do conceptualized norms of peacebuilding either merge with or compete with one another against the background of political conflict and socio-economic diversity?
• What are the methodological and theoretical challenges for analyzing and assessing the socio-cultural sensitivity and political appropriateness of governance initiatives in peacebuilding and conflict transition/resolution, and the results thereof?
The presentations, followed by inspiring and energetic brainstorming sessions, produced food for thought for the formulation of further refined research questions and for the case studies that are soon to start off.
A publicly accessible report on the workshop will be available in October 2011 on this website and later as a print version of the Berghof Occasional Papers series.
07/2011 – Miscellaneous
Prof. Hans J. Giessmann has been appointed to chair the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Terrorism for the next one-year term since 1 July 2011. The Global Agenda Councils (GAC), comprised of 10 to 12 distinguished experts and policy makers from all across the world, serve as informal advisory groups to the World Economic Forum by providing insights and recommendations and contributing to a number of Forum activities. In addition, they also provide input to international bodies such as the G20 and other international organizations.
The Chair plays a critical role in helping shape the Council’s composition and agenda. For the BCR director it is the third term of service in a row, having already been a member of the GAC on “Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction” in 2009 and the Deputy Chair of the GAC on “Terrorism” in 2010.
05/2011 – Miscellaneous
We are pleased to announce that Martina Fischer has been appointed to the scientific advisory council of the German Foundation for Peace Research (Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung). Following ten years of board membership and five years as deputy chair of the foundation, her statutory term came to an end in March 2011. Her new appointment was decided by the foundation’s board, which convened on 23rd May 2011.
05/2011 – Miscellaneous
Prof. Gießmann has been reappointed until 2013 to the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention, as confirmed by minister of state Dr. Werner Hoyer on 11th May 2011. The board, comprising 19 different civil society stakeholders, was set up by the German government in 2005 as part of its action plan on “Civilian Crisis Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Peace-Building”. Its main aim is to provide specialist advice to the steering group that coordinates the federal government’s crisis prevention efforts, which span several ministries.
03/2011 – New Publications
The German-language “Handbuch Frieden”, edited by BCR Director Prof. Hans J. Giessmann and Dr. Bernhard Rinke from Osnabrück University, is finally available. Comprising 640 pages, it gives the most comprehensive account to date of the concept of “peace”. Contributions by 51 researchers address a range of political, economic and cultural issues strongly connected to peace (e.g. peace policy, “peace dividends” or “power of peace”), study the etymological history of the word and also take look at peace in various historical and contemporary contexts (e.g. war and peace, peace and religion, peace and music). The handbook is aimed at a wide audience of specialists, but can also be seen as a manual for both academic and practical peacebuilding training. The publication of this book was funded be the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF).
order
further information and electronic access
02/2011 – New Projects
The EU-funded project Cultures of Governance and Conflict Resolution in Europe and India (CORE) held its kick-off meeting on Friday, February 11 in Brussels. Participants included representatives from all ten project partners in the consortium, as well as the five members of the advisory board, the scientific project officer Angela Liberatore from the European Commission, and a representative from the newly established European Union External Actions Service (EEAS). Attending the meeting from Berghof Conflict Research were Hans J. Giessmann, Ulrike Petri and Janel B. Galvanek.
The CORE project was officially launched in January 2011. It will analyse the premises and operation of governance initiatives in conflict transformation processes through a combination of fieldwork, qualitative analysis and theory development. The project aims to fill the gap in knowledge about the impact that governance agendas have on local conflict dynamics, especially in the cases where identity mobilisation is a prominent factor. Research concerning recent governance practices will be carried out within case studies in Bihar, Bosnia, Cyprus, Georgia, North East India and Kashmir.
More information can be found under the project’s website.
02/2011 – New Publications
We are pleased to announce the release of the workshop report “Mediating Peace with Proscribed Armed Groups”, which summarises discussions and recommendations from a policy workshop held in Brussels in October 2010. Co-organised by Berghof Peace Support and Conciliation Resources with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the aim of this workshop was to initiate a debate about the direct and indirect implications of EU counter-terrorism legislation on peace processes with non-state armed groups, and to identify possible steps forward in order to mitigate the counter-productive impact of blacklisting on conflict resolution and to enhance the EU’s mediation capacity. The workshop was attended by high-level EU officials, mediators and civil society experts. BCR was represented by Véronique Dudouet who compiled this report together with a team from Conciliation Resources.
12/2010 – New Projects
Starting in February 2011, Berghof Conflict Research will participate in an international research project funded by the European Union (7th Framework Programme). The project is entitled “The Role of Governance in the Resolution of Socioeconomic and Political Conflict in India and Europe” (CORE). It aims at providing a substantial theory-related and empirical assessment of the impact of governance agendas on local conflict dynamics, particularly within conflicts in which identity mobilisation is prominent. The 2-year project is coordinated by the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway (PRIO). The research team is comprised of researchers from Europe and India. Berghof Conflict Research will contribute to the project with a study on the methodology of impact research and will also take part in two case studies (Kashmir and Bosnia). Furthermore, one of the major project conferences will take place in Berlin in 2012. The project director for BCR is
Dr. Hans J. Giessmann.
11/2010 – Events
On November, 25-26, 2010, the project “From War to Politics: Non-State Armed Groups and Security Transition Processes” held its mid-term advisory committee meeting at the Berghof premises in Berlin. Five committee members, scholars and practitioners from the UK, Switzerland, Ireland and Malaysia, were invited to discuss the project’s findings with the team, give advice on ongoing activities and brainstorm future research avenues. The intense two-day workshop was chaired by BCR’s Director Hans Joachim Giessmann.
11/2010 – New Publications
The ninth issue of the Berghof Series on “Resistance/Liberation Movements and Transition to Politics”, entitled “From Revolutionary War to Democratic Revolution: The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in El Salvador”, is now available online. This report was written by Dr Alberto Martin Alvarez from Colima University (Mexico), based on thirty-five in-depth interviews with former commanders and negotiators from the FMLN. It analyses the emergence, dynamics and political transformation of the El Salvadoran guerrilla organisations, paying more particular attention to the causes that led to the armed struggle as well as the intra-party and external factors that led in turn to a negotiated settlement. It also identifies important elements of the post-war development of the FMLN as a successful political party, right until its victory in the 2009 presidential elections.
A printed version of the study will be available shortly.
We are also pleased to announce that the previous issue (The KLA and the Kosovo War) is now available in print and can be ordered for 5 € (plus postage)
via email at the Berghof Centre or check out our publications website.
11/2010 – News Archive
The new Berghof Transition Series paper “The KLA and the Kosovo War: From Intra-State Conflict to Independent Country“ was publicly presented in Pristina by its author Armend Bekaj on November 6th. The event, which took place in the Dit e Nat bookshop, was well received and attracted a wide audience ranging from former KLA members, civil society experts, members of the government, media representatives and international diplomats. A media report in Albanian about the event can be accessed here.
The report itself as well as other contributions to this series (in English) can be accessed here.
11/2010 –
BCR Director Hans J. Giessmann was one of the experts to advise the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag on the new NATO strategy. A video stream of the public hearing on 6 october 2010 can be accessed on the homepage of the Bundestag:
video stream (German language)
transcript of the public hearing on 6 october 2010 (German language)
statement by Prof Hans J. Giessmann (German language)
10/2010 – New Publications
We are pleased to announce the new occasional paper: “Empowering Diasporas: The Dynamics of Post-war Transnational Tamil Politics”, this time published by our colleagues from Berghof Peace Support.
Luxshi Vimalarajah and R. Cheran offer an in-depth analysis of the current trends in Tamil Diaspora politics and provide policy recommendations to the Tamil Diaspora activists and to the policy circles in the host countries.
09/2010 – New Publications
We are happy to announce the online release of a new study in our Publication Series on “Resistance/Liberation Movements and Transition to Politics” edited by Véronique Dudouet and Hans J. Giessmann. This eighth issue, entitled “The KLA and the Kosovo War: From Intra-State Conflict to Independent Country”, was written by our Kosovar research partner Armend Bekaj, based on extensive interviews with leading KLA founders and veterans as well as local bibliographical sources. As with the other papers in this series, it analyses the origins, development and post-war transformation of the Kosovo Liberation Army from the specific perspective of its members, who made the transition from opposing an oppressive state regime to participating in the construction of a new, more democratic system. In particular, it looks at commonalities between the KLA and other resistance/liberation movements across the globe, while also reflecting on distinct historical traits which makes Kosovo’s transition to statehood quite unique and arguably unprecedented.
We hope that you will enjoy reading it and welcome your feedback. You can also consult past issues on our website.
A printed version of the study will be available shortly.
07/2010 – News Archive
On July 1, 2010 the chairman of the World Economic Forum, Prof. Klaus Schwab, informed BCR’s Prof. Gießmann of his appointment to the forum’s new Global Agenda Council (GAC) on Terrorism. The GACs comprise 15 to 20 members from all over the world and serve as an informal advisory board to the World Economic Forum and, through the forum, to the international community. As mentioned in their mission statement, the councils represent “the world’s foremost integrated ‘intelligence’ network of innovative thinking and idea exchange on global issues”. This is Prof. Gießmann’s second term to serve as a GAC member.
07/2010 – New Publications
Handbook Dialogue No 9 – Human Rights and Conflict Transformation. The Challenges of Just Peace – can now be ordered in hard copy for 7,50 € (+postage) via email at the Berghof Center.
06/2010 –
On June 18-19, 2010 Berghof Conflict Research hosted an expert workshop generously supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation on the topic “’Subsidiarity’ in Peacebuilding in Afghanistan”. Numerous researchers, practitioners and other experts on Afghanistan were welcomed to the institute for the 2-day workshop, in order to participate in a brainstorming session on how to use local capacities more effectively for the peacebuilding and statebuilding processes in Afghanistan. The workshop was presided over by Prof. Dr. Hans J. Giessmann, Director of Berghof Conflict Research. Also in attendance were Johannes Zundel, CEO of the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies, and Dr. Michael Hanssler, CEO of the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
The main discussion themes of the workshop were local governance; security and policing; potential for conflict transformation within religion, culture and gender; and civil society involvement and the interaction of state and non-state actors on the local level. Furthermore, the workshop was an excellent opportunity for an exchange of knowledge and practical experience among the participants as well as a welcome chance to discuss future potential collaboration.
06/2010 – News Archive
The first public hearing of the newly-established Sub-Committee “Civil Crisis Prevention and Cross-Linked Security” of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) was held on June 14, 2010 in Berlin. The new Sub-Committee had been invited to this hearing in order to become informed about the challenges and current tasks of civil crisis prevention. BCR Director Dr. Hans J. Gießmann was one of the six invited experts who testified.
06/2010 – New Publications
We are very pleased to announce the release of Berghof Handbook Dialogue No 9: “Human Rights and Conflict Transformation: The Challenges of Just Peace”. Berghof Handbook Dialogues aim to address topics of particular relevance for societies in conflict and the practice of conflict transformation. In each Dialogue, practitioners and scholars debate and critically engage in light of their experience. At the centre of the latest Dialogue is the relationship between human rights protection and conflict transformation, which seems straightforward, but is not an easy one. Over and over again, the question has been asked whether the two share a common agenda or actually pursue competing goals. Contributors to this Dialogue aim to go beyond the divide and polarising language of “peace versus justice” in order to gain a clearer understanding of the potential – and limits – of bringing together human rights and conflict transformation in specific contexts. Drawing evidence from contexts such as Nepal, South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Uganda and Colombia, they argue that a more thorough emphasis on human rights – as causes and manifestation of conflicts, but also as normative and practical intervention tools – contributes to bringing conflict transformation closer to its aim of tackling conflicts at their deepest roots. The lead author and her respondents engage in a rich dialogue on areas of tensions as well as complementarity between the two sets of practices: they encourage mutual learning and joint work, and stress the importance of locally-designed, timely and context-specific initiatives, as well as of hard-nosed analysis of the political context and use of human rights and conflict transformation discourses.
05/2010 – New Publications
The Basque Country – the Long Walk to a Democratic Scenario.
The Transition Series compiles case studies produced by participants in the Berghof programme “Resistance/Liberation Movements in Transition”. The aim of these publications is to learn from the experience of movements around the world who have used political violence in their struggle but have also engaged in negotiation processes and democratic politics, in order to better understand their dynamics and role in waging conflicts and making peace. The authors have been consciously asked to reflect on the experience of these movements from their own unique point of view. What we publish in this series is not presented as neutral or exclusively accurate commentary; we are conscious that there is no single truth in conflict transformation, and we believe that these case studies reflect important voices which are usually excluded or devalued in the analysis of conflict.
This study “The Basque Country – the Long Walk to a Democratic Scenario“ was written by Urko Aiartza, a Basque human rights lawyer, and Dr Julien Zabalo, Professor at the University of the Basque Country, in close consultation with leading representatives of the pro-independence movement. It analyses the evolution of the conflict between the Spanish state and the Basque Country, from the creation of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in 1958 to the present, with a strong emphasis on the various attempts to search for a solution to the conflict through dialogue and negotiation.
We hope that you will enjoy reading it and welcome your feedback. Two further issues of this Series will be published in the coming few months. You can also consult past issues on our website: http://www.berghof-conflictresearch.org/en/publications/transitions-series/.
A printed version of the study can be also ordered by following this link (6.00 € + postage).
05/2010 – Events
On May 6, 2010 Berghof Conflict Research welcomed to the institute Mr. Mohammad Gulab Mangal, Governor of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, and Ms. Nasima Neyazi, a Member of the Afghan Parliament, as well as Mr. Najib Roshan and other colleagues of the Aachen Institute for Afghan Studies. The discussion with the delegation was attended by Prof. Dr. Hans J. Giessmann, Director of Berghof Conflict Research, and Johannes Zundel, CEO of the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies, as well as other colleagues of Berghof Conflict Research and Berghof Peace Support.
The main focus of the discussion was on peacebuilding activities for youth, public education programs and the current development situation in Afghanistan, which has recently undergone many positive developments and can be regarded as improving, despite the critical security situation. The discussion also addressed the effects and limitations of the new military strategy in the province and the importance of involving the Afghan population in the peacebuilding process. Military operations should not be allowed to have priority over civilian peacebuilding. In a concluding bilateral conversation, concrete options for collaborative research and peace support project work between BCR and Afghan partners were discussed.
05/2010 – Miscellaneous
The Director of Berghof Conflict Research, Prof. Hans J. Giessmann, was one of two selected resource persons for the first Security Briefing webinar meeting in the “Security – Balancing Travel Efficiency with Security Needs” series, organized by the World Economic Forum, which took place on May 5th, 2010. Together with the EU representative to the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP), Jean-Louis Bruguiére, he informed leading representatives from global companies about recent trends in terrorist activities and challenges for curbing risks and threats. Prof. Giessmann became a member of the Forum’s Council on Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2009.
05/2010 – Events
In collaboration with the Colombian organisations Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (CINEP) and Observatorio para la Paz, Berghof Conflict Research organised a conference on April 29 – May 1 2010 in Bogota, Colombia. It brought together local researchers and “insider experts” (former peace negotiators or commanders representing resistance/liberation movements) from El Salvador, South Africa, (South) Sudan, Burundi, (Northern) Ireland, Kosovo, Aceh, and Colombia, in order to discuss an innovative approach to post-war peacebuilding, provisionally labelled “security transition processes”. This workshop represented the first major event in the project “From War to Politics: Non-State Armed Groups and Security Transition Processes” (2009-2011).
Participants discussed various lessons learnt from their own research and practical experience on the linkages between security sector reform and political, socio-economic and judicial transformations, as well as the various reconversion paths and peacebuilding roles of former combatants in the aftermath of violent conflicts.
The conference was sponsored by a grant from the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada.
04/2010 – News Archive
Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies funds qualified individuals, organisations and institutions doing cutting-edge research and reflective practice in conflict studies.
The three thematic interests below permit us to take a more concentrated approach to what we see as key strategic issues emerging in the field of conflict transformation. By focusing on these areas, we wish to support action research and reflective practice that identifies and elaborates fresh, creative paradigms for inclusive and integrated approaches that can enhance this field.
These three themes are integral to structural peacebuilding processes, particularly the continued need to extend and develop multi-track approaches to conflict transformation. All are inter-related and mutually reinforcing, thus lending greater coherence to our philanthropic interests.
1. Peacebuilding and reconciliation in post-war societies
2. Transformation processes of non-state armed groups into political actors
3. Interactions between state and non-state actors in conflict transformation processes
For more information about these thematic interests and the application procedures for a grant, please visit the Berghof Foundation’s website.
04/2010 – Events
Together with our sister organization, Berghof Peace Support (BPS), Berghof Conflict Research facilitated a Brainstorming Workshop on “indigenous” and “traditional” methods of conflict transformation in Southeast Asia. The workshop was held on April 19, 2010 in the premises of BCR in Berlin. It brought together a small group of distinguished scholars and practitioners in order to discuss the applicability of selected “indigenous” and “traditional” methods to the transformation of identity-based/self-determination type conflicts. Southeast Asia served as the primary empirical reference for this undertaking. As a starting point, BCR Senior Visiting Fellow Dr Kamarulzaman Askandar gave a presentation, which provided an overview on current conflicts and indigenous and traditional methods of conflict management as implemented in the region. In the following discussion the participants reflected on critical aspects of terminology, concepts, and research methodology. Key questions for further research were identified and articulated. An advisory board for working on the Framework Concept was established, with Dr Kamrulzaman Askandar (USM, Malaysia), Dr Alexander Horstmann (MPI, Göttingen), Ms. Antje Missbach (Free University), Dr Peter Kreuzer (HSFK, Frankfurt) as external members. The Workshop was sponsored by a grant from the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies.
03/2010 – New Publications
A German translation of the textbook “Learning each other’s historical narrative“ of the Peace Research Institute in the Middle-East (PRIME) has been published by Berghof Conflict Research and PRIME (German translation).
For more information on Dan Bar-On’s work you may read the obituary on Dan Bar-On or our report on a Workshop with Dan Bar-On at the Berghof Center.
03/2010 – New Projects
Funded by the German Foundation for Peace Research, this new project looks at the interaction of International and Local Initiatives for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia.
details
02/2010 – New Projects
The “Gerda Henkel Foundation” has awarded a grant to BCR for an Expert Workshop on “Subsidiarity in Peacebuilding”. The rationale of this workshop is to discuss options for bottom-up peacebuilding in societies in transition with particular emphasis on Afghanistan. By bringing together a group of top experts on local governance and conflict transformation, this workshop will elaborate on how local governance can contribute to bringing about culturally-tailored, sustained peace structures in societal communities.
details
02/2010 – News Archive
We have a new website, launched on 3 February 2010. Several new features have been added, with updates on our work in German and English. We have also re-launched the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation website in a new design format.
01/2010 – News Archive
Timed to fit in with the re-launch of our website, we are introducing our new, more compact name of “Berghof Conflict Research” (BCR). Together with our sister organisation – now “Berghof Peace Support” (BPS) – we will continue working under the Berghof umbrella to combine practical peacebuilding with innovative conflict research.
01/2010 – Vacancies
Regrettably there are no job openings available at BCR as of now.
For internship opportunities at BCR please contact
Ulrike Petri.
01/2010 – News Archive
Mediating Identity Conflicts – Potential and Challenges of Engaging with Hamas, a new issue in the Berghof Occasional Paper series by Carolin Goerzig is now available online.
This paper offers some astute insights into the dynamics of one of the most protracted conflicts of the past century, namely the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from the specific perspective of its most controversial party, whose voice is very often excluded or demonised: that of the Hamas movement. Through her so-called “scenario interviews” with several Hamas members in Syria, the author convincingly demonstrates that identity-based conflicts cannot be transformed without the direct participation of their key stakeholders, and that lending such actors a voice with which they can express their grievances, but also their hopes and visions for a constructive path to “just peace”, might generate creative peacemaking options – in this case, opportunities for a mediated settlement.
Hard copies can also be ordered (5.00€ + postage).
10/2009 – News Archive
Helena Rill and Ivana Franovic (eds.): „I cannot feel good if my neighbor does not“. Beograd: Centar za nenasilnu akciju, 2009.
“I cannot feel well if my neighbour does not” is a collection of interviews with people from the region of the former Yugoslavia, discussing how they relate to the wartime past, issues of blame and reconciliation, and their hopes for a peaceful future.
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