Dr Claudia Baumgart-Ochse and Professor Dr Klaus Dieter Wolf (both Research Department III) examine in their project Religious NGOs in the United Nations: Mediators or Polarizers? the de-privatization of religion and its role in the transnational civil society. The research focuses on the increased involvement of religious NGOs in global governance institutions, which may produce an ambiguous effect in certain policy areas. It will be investigated how religious NGOs position themselves in controversial issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the debate about women's reproductive rights. The project, applied as comparative qualitative study, is supported by the DFG with a grant of 411,000 Euros for the term of three years.
Another project, also funded by the DFG for three years with an amount of 285,000 Euros, is the one promoted by Dr Thorsten Gromes and Professor Dr Lothar Brock (both Research Department IV): One-sided or balanced: Which post-civil war order secures the intrastate peace? The project deals with the anew outbreak of all civil wars that have ended since 1990. It investigates to what extent the chances of lasting peace depend on the balance of power and the extent of compromise between the parties at the end of the civil war. The multi-method project is carried out in cooperation with Professor Dr Margit Bussmann of the University of Greifswald. The findings of the study are relevant especially for peace policy since post-civil war conditions are parameters which can be actively influenced.