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What are peace mediation and mediation support? What role can Germany play in this area? These questions were the focus of the 2014 Peace Mediation Conference, which brought together 200 policy-makers, staff from relevant ministries, Members of Parliament and representatives of organisations engaged in peace mediation. The aim was to increase Germany’s visibility and sharpen its profile as a conflict mediator in the foreign policy arena.

• Year 2015

Was ist Friedensmediation und Mediation Support? Welche Rolle kann Deutschland in diesem Bereich spielen? Diese Fragen standen im Mittelpunkt der Konferenz Friedensmediation 2014. 200 politische Entscheidungsträger, Mitarbeiter relevanter Ministerien sowie Parlamentarier und Vertreter der im Bereich Friedensmediation tätigen Organisationen tauschten sich darüber aus. Ziel der Konferenz war es, das außenpolitische Profil Deutschlands als Konfliktvermittler sichtbar zu machen und weiter zu schärfen. Auf Basis einer gemeinsamen Bestandsaufnahme zum deutschen Engagement im Bereich der Friedensmediation erarbeiteten die deutschen und internationalen Experten Vorschläge, wie enger zusammengearbeitet und besser voneinander gelernt werden kann.

• Year 2015

Esta sistematización presenta los aprendizajes obtenidos en el proyecto piloto de la Gobernación de Antioquia (Colombia), acompañado por la Berghof Foundation y desarrollado con comunidades rurales fuertemente victimizadas por el conflicto armado interno. Planteó responder a la pregunta “Cómo pueden los departamentos, teniendo en cuenta experiencias previas y estrategias gubernamentales, impulsar procesos de construcción de paz en las comunidades rurales?” Las experiencias aquí expuestas están dirigidas a gobiernos locales y regionales, aliados, así como a entidades del orden nacional y otras organizaciones de construcción de paz, como aporte al diseño y ejecución de programas similares.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) Isabel Cristina Correa Tamayo, Carlos Hernán Fernández Niño, Iván Marulanda Gómez

This annual report focuses on the topic of youth and features highlights of our work in 2014.

• Year 2015

Das SIPRI Yearbook 2015 ist eine Zusammenstellung von Originaldaten aus den Bereichen globale Militärausgaben, internationale Rüstungstransfers, Rüstungsproduktion, Atomstreitkräfte, bewaffnete Konflikte und multilaterale Friedenseinsätze sowie von neuesten Analysen wichtiger Aspekte der Rüstungskontrolle, des Friedens und der internationalen Sicherheit.

Diese Broschüre fasst die Inhalte des SIPRI Yearbook 2015 zusammen.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Berghof Foundation

I remember well the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). I had come to South Africa a few months before the start of the first hearing, as a “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” twenty-something enthusiastic about witnessing and partaking in this time of transformation in the country. At that time I only knew South Africa from my youthful times of rebellion in the German anti-apartheid movement. I loved the sincerity and courage with which South Africans approached the task, even though it was clear from the start that this would be a tremendously painful exercise. I recall going to one of the first hearings of the TRC and being warmly welcomed when I shared my interest in memory work based on my experience of having led youth exchange visits to concentration camps in Poland and inter-generational dialogue projects in Germany.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) Undine Whande

In his scholarly article, “Dealing with painful memories and violent pasts”, Brandon Hamber explains and reflects on “the relationship between how individual (largely victim) processes of coming to terms with mass atrocity (a micro perspective) relate to the collective or political process of finding ways of dealing with the past (a macro perspective)” (Hamber 2015, 2). In any discussion of war, mass atrocities, political repression and their impact, one is unavoidably forced to think about this relationship and deal with it – to confront the challenge of having to talk about both perspectives without being able to fully integrate them or grasp their linkage in all its complexity. Hamber does a masterful job in confronting this inherent problem but inevitably succumbs, at least in part, to the impossibility of the task. The reason for this might be what I call “the psychosocial gap”, and I believe this needs closer examination.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) David Becker

As I cannot do justice in this short paper to every point Hamber makes in his engaging and thoughtful article I have chosen to discuss a few points, drawing on my personal experiences of war in my homeland Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). First, I will provide an overview of the war in BiH and its nexus with trauma. I will question the transition process, reflecting on the blurred line between “conflict” and so-called “postconflict”, and argue that war in BiH is not over yet; it is just being fought with other means. In the second part of the paper, I will discuss competing victimhood(s), ethnic identities and the parallel narratives that are a feature of the BiH transitional processes and that present obstacles to any attempts at reconciliation. Finally, I will suggest that in order to build a shared narrative of war it is important to intertwine the experiences of all victims and to draw on positive stories of courage and sacrifice in the midst of war, to restore the faith of Bosnian people in humanity and coexistence.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) Olivera Simić

Brandon Hamber’s essay addresses two important questions: “What is the role of different approaches for dealing with painful memories and violent pasts?” and “How do the different dimensions – interpersonal and intergroup relations, memories, and identities at the individual and collective level – relate to one another?” (Hamber 2015, 2). These questions open up a universe of additional topics related to the cultural context, societal preconditions and obstacles to dealing with the past in post-war societies. I read his remarks against the background of my field of work in the South Caucasus. Here I engage as a historian, having specialised in Soviet and post-Soviet war memory, and as a dialogue practitioner striving to make use of scientific concepts and findings for establishing a sound and resilient peacebuilding system in the region.

• Year 2015
• Author(s) Andrea Zemskov-Zuege

The book presents empirical studies, theoretical discussions, and practical experience from initiatives for dealing with the past in the region of former Yugoslavia. It engages scholars and practitioners from the region, as well as international experts, to reflect on the achievements in transitional justice and obstacles that characterise efforts to deal with the past. Drawing variously on empirical studies, theoretical discussions, and practical experience, their contributions offer invaluable insights into the complex relationship between transitional justice and conflict transformation.

• Year 2016