Peace and conflict research ultimately contributes to peace, prevention of violence and crises as well as the resolution of conflicts. In times of serious domestic and foreign security challenges the expertise offered by academia provides an important basis for public opinion formation and decision making in government, parliament and society.

To increase, inter alia, the visibility of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) as a research institution near the pulse of German politics PRIF opened its Berlin office.

With the symposium “Foreign and Security Policy for the Next Four Years: Answers from Peace Research” PRIF’s Berlin office was officially opened on 27th of November. After the welcoming address by Matthias Kleiner, President of the Leibniz Association, the symposium started with a keynote by Christopher Daase on the characteristics of peace and conflict research and its implications for political practice.

Franziska Brantner (Member of the German Bundestag, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Sebastian Groth (Deputy Head of Policy Planning Staff of the Federal Foreign Office), Thomas Risse (Freie Universität Berlin) and Nicole Deitelhoff (PRIF) discussed the potentials of peace and conflict research and the opportunities and challenges for the new legislative period.