Institute for Conflict Management

On 28 June, the European University Viadrina participated in the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften in Berlin for the first time. In her interactive lecture "Goal conflicts and dilemmas in German peace engagement", Dr Anne Holper discussed with the audience uncomfortable questions such as: How can we effectively protect the civilian population in Gaza and at the same time commit to Germany's unwavering solidarity with Israel? Must we allow Ukraine to pay the predictably immense price to persuade Russia to cease hostilities, or can we shoulder the enormous costs and risks necessary to enable Ukraine to negotiate with Russia on acceptable terms?

Such foreign policy dilemmas are not theoretical games, but the daily work of decision-makers in the German government, diplomats, and international actors who have to struggle hard to find any solution that is even remotely acceptable. Holper, who researches politics in practice, made it clear: "A dilemma only becomes solvable when it is recognised in all its horror and insolubility, including the fact that there will probably be no way around sacrifices. Only when you let go of the expectation that you can solve it completely can you think of new options".

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Tetiana Kyselova as a Fellow at the Institute for Conflict Management (IKM).

Tetiana Kyselova has been working closely with the IKM and the Centre for Peace Mediation (CPM) on various projects since 2014, including the Track-III-Dialogues in Ukraine. She was already active as a Visiting Fellow at the IKM after the Russian invasion.

With the MSCA4Ukraine Fellowship, the long-standing cooperation in the field of peace mediation is now being intensified. Her expertise, particularly on Ukraine, "will allow us to finally bring together our many efforts into a meaningful and long-term synergy", says Kyselova.

In addition, she will contribute her in-depth knowledge of Ukraine and the topic of the impact of peace work (impact analyses) to the Impact Hub project. She herself says: "This will also give me a chance to dive into the professional diplomatic world and to get access to a direct transfer of my research findings into policy and practice."

We look forward to continuing our collaboration and wish her an inspiring and productive time at the IKM.

How can German integrated peace engagement leverage its full potential with greater impact – both in principle and in light of a fundamentally shifting global conflict landscape?

This question and many others on the topic of peace engagement and stabilisation are at the heart of the Impact Hub that has recently begun its work. Together with consortium partners from IFSH, SCRIPTS FU Berlin and the Federal Foreign Office, the ICM is working in the areas of conflict mediation, democracy and resilience promotion and security sector reform (SSR). Particularly relevant regions such as the Western Balkans, West Africa, Ukraine and the Middle East will be worked with and analysed in the project until 2026.

Anne Holper has published an article in the Forum for International Culture Relations that is dedicated to dilemmatic basic patterns of international relations in the context of value heterogeneity and systems competition. No Rotten Compromises - Dilemma routines for dialogue in the context of systemic competition offers a concrete methodological approach to avoid unacceptable costs in compromise-making.

Simply teaching better - with minimum effort for maximum impact

In the summer semester 2025, Viadrina lecturers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas on various topics relating to their role as lecturers within the framework of so-called Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs).

Mario Clemens from the Institute for Conflict Management offers an FLC in which lecturers learn about and discuss didactic interventions based on findings from teaching and learning research. A noticeable improvement in teaching can be achieved with minimal effort.

Where are the limits of what can be said at universities and how can these spaces be used as a place of exchange beyond academia? Political scientist Dr Anja Hennig and historian and mediator Dr Christian Hochmuth discuss this in an interview in the Viadrina Logbuch.

Anne Holper and Lars Kirchhoff describe how the “Peace Summit” in Switzerland can contribute to a genuine peace process and what is needed to avoid further social polarization in their German guest article for Focus Online, published on 13 June 2024.

How to make decisions in seemingly intractable conflicts? The recently published Viadrina Logbook article provides insights into the Viadrina Applied Peace and Conflict Studies (ViAPACS) certificate programme. The application deadline for the 3rd year ended on 30 November 2024.