Created as a public foundation with full academic freedom by the State of Hesse, PRIF is the largest peace research institute in Germany. “PRIF´s work is directed towards identifying the causes of violent international and internal conflicts, carrying out research into the conditions necessary for peace, understood as a process of decreasing violence and increasing justice, and spreading the concepts of peace.” It places a regional focus on the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia. Each research department engages in a variety of projects, all of which publish reports downloadable from the website.
Programs:
- International Security – Studies “the classic field of international security policy: States seek security, their own, that of their citizens, and of political, economic, and environmental relationships.”
- International Institutions – Concentrates “on the development, design, impact, possible change and disintegration of the international institutions that are charged with facilitating and preserving peace.”
- Transnational Politics – Focuses on “the transnational dimension of conflict and peace, focusing on activities of transnational actors and how transnational phenomena (e.g. migration flows, environmental destruction and terrorism) impact peace and security.”
- Intrastate Conflict – Concerned “with the relationship between the organization and transformation of political rule, on the one hand, and the violent escalation or peaceful resolution of intrastate conflicts, on the other.”
- Glocal Junctions – Examines “peace and conflict at the intrastate level. Its particular concern is with the relationship between the organization and transformation of political rule, on the one hand, and the violent escalation or peaceful resolution of intrastate conflicts, on the other.”
- Public International Law – Analyzes ‘the causes, the course and the consequences of international and intrastate conflicts and uses this basis to develop approaches for dealing with such conflicts.”
- Radicalization – Investigates “the causes and dynamics of radicalization processes as well as their effects on societies.”
Publications:
- An extensive online library of 5000+ studies, reports, spotlights, working papers etc.
- Taking Intervention Politics Seriously (2020, 18p) – Investigate how the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) is contested and negotiated in practice. Yet little knowledge exists on the politics African regional interventions provoke in the societies affected by such interventions.
- The Spatial Dimension of Insurgent-Civilian Relations: Routinised Insurgent Space (2019, 36p) – Develops the concept of Routinised Insurgent Space (RIS) as a means to systematically assess the way that movements spatially order interactions with existing and potential supporters.