PRIO Events

As the global balance of power shifts, Southeast Asia finds itself at the crossroads of economic transformation, technological advancement, and strategic realignments. One key element in this evolving landscape is China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), a crucial component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aimed at positioning China as the global technological superpower. This initiative promises to...

There has been a steep increase in the reliance on AI tools for warfighting. This is unsurprising as AI allows for increased speed on the battlefield, better surveillance, tracking, target identification and validation, as well as more data-driven decision support both for identifying capabilities and for target selection. The increased reliance on AI has fueled a push for more weapons’ autonomy o...

2025 marks a turning point for the global aid sector. While many donors are pulling back, Norway is charting a different course - reaffirming its commitment to flexible, principled funding and the strategic use of aid as soft power. In this episode, recorded live at PRIO, a panel of leading scholars and practitioners explore how the current crisis in global aid might serve as an opportunity for tr...

Listen to this inspiring seminar with Professor Halleh Ghorashi, a leading scholar in diversity and inclusion at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). She shared how her understanding of engaged scholarship has evolved throughout her academic journey, highlighting its impact on academia, society, and refugee communities. Drawing from her work with the 'research within expertise' lab: Refugee Academy...

PRIO was pleased to invite to a seminar with  Francesca Albanese , the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In this seminar, Albanese shared her firsthand experiences and insights from her work, focusing on the significant legal and political challenges facing the UN in Palestine. The seminar addressed several key issues, including the challenges surrounding the UN’s...

Once the war in Gaza ends, the narrow strip of land will require a massive reconstruction effort of unimaginable proportions. Large questions remain, such as who will pay? What political conditions can the reconstruction happen under? To help us understand some of these questions, with reflections from the Arab Gulf, PRIO hosted  Ghassan Elkahlout , Palestinian scholar and Director of the Cen...

As war and humanitarian crises unfold in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon, a new Middle East is emerging. How can local humanitarian actors rise to the challenge? What role do they play in addressing urgent needs, fostering long-term solutions and promoting reconciliation amidst turmoil? And how can they navigate the complexities introduced by the recent UNRWA ban? Speakers Karam Abi Yazbeck , Regional Coo...

In light of the shifting geopolitical landscape, the long-standing theory of democratic peace - asserting that democracies rarely wage war against each other - is facing critical scrutiny. This panel will discuss whether this principle still holds true in an era marked by shifting power dynamics, rising authoritarianism, and the erosion of liberal democratic norms. With conflicts increasingly shap...

AI shapes war, humanitarian emergencies and the roads to peace. Ongoing conflicts are also experimental laboratories, creating a boom in AI weapons systems. Before and during the Gaza war, AI-generated imagery and text has contributed to diametrically opposed versions of a ‘truth’ about violence, the plight of civilians and the intentions of humanitarian actors. While responding to hurricanes...

The recent U.S. election has dominated the political discourse for months, but now the world’s attention is shifting to the potential implications of next year’s leadership transition. A diminished U.S. presence at the global scene could elevate China and various regional powers as primary initiators and guarantors in the mediation processes in the Global South. The ideals of inclusive, transparen...

As conflicts and crises escalate worldwide, higher education is often caught in a crossfire, depriving many of their fundamental right to learn and freely express, in a safe environment. In Palestine, we are witnessing the systematic and intentional obliteration of the wider education system by Israel, also referred to as ‘scholasticide’. In Myanmar, students and scholars remain severely at risk u...

What is the state of refugee rights in Pakistan? What role do civil society groups play to support refugees and advocate for their rights? What are the key challenges? On the 2nd of September PRIO hosted a discussion co-organised by  DEGLOBAL  and supported by the  BEYOND  project. This discussion forum brought together human rights activists and academics from Pakistan and the...

What insights can a life dedicated to international relations and diplomacy in the Korean Peninsula offer? On 7 August 2024 , Dr. Stein Tønnesson  (PRIO) delved into this question as he interviewed  Dr. Moon Chung-in  (Yonsei University, Seoul), a prominent expert who has served as an advisor to several South Korean presidents. The conversation explored Dr. Moon's personal journey,...

On 18 June 2024, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini joined PRIO to share his insights on what he has experienced in Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the main humanitarian aid provider in the Gaza Strip. It is also responsible for running schools and healthcare for millions of Palestinian refugees in Palest...

Over the past few years we have seen a number of violent conflicts erupt: The Russian invasion in Ukraine, the civil war in Ethiopia, the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The past three years have been the most violent period since the end of the Cold War. Is the world becoming a more violent place, or is this an unfortunate coincidence of several violent wars occurring at the same time? The...

Developments in Palestine between 1905 and 1948 can be analysed with reference to increasing tensions between two different colonial pacts emerging in the same territory. One was between Britain and the Palestinians, the other was between Britain and the Zionist movement. In this seminar, the dual process of state formation in the Levant is compared with other processes of state formation in the r...

The long awaited New Pact on Migration and Asylum was recently approved. It was promoted as a milestone achievement in the EUs long search for a common and more coherent migration policy, and as striking a balance between efficiency and solidarity. But, what is behind these buzzwords:  policy coherence, efficiency  and  solidarity  and what do they mean in practice? In thi...

Asian cities, like Metro Manila, are witnessing a rise in middle class populations amid rapid urbanization. But what do residents think about being and becoming middle class in Metro Manila, and does migration matter? In this seminar, participants heard about the findings of PRIO’s  Migration Rhythms in Trajectories of Upward Social Mobility in Asia  project , from researc...

In prolonged humanitarian crises, individuals, groups, organizations, and diaspora communities play pivotal roles as humanitarian actors. They are often the first responders in emergencies and remain actively involved throughout the ensuing complex crises. The AidAccount project has delved into how accountability is conceptualized and practiced at the intersection of civic and professional humanit...

On 13 May, we had hosted a conversation between  Dr. Danesh Jayatilaka , Chairman of the Centre for Migration Research and Development and  Dr. Mohideen Mohamed Alikhan , Senior Lecturer, University of Peradeniya, Tamina Sheriffdeen Rauf, Oslo City Council, and  Cathrine Brun , Professor and Deputy Director of the Center for Lebanese Studies (CLS). The conversation was mod...

On 22 April, as part of the final conference of the  INSPIRE project,  academics and artists discussed art and activism in Myanmar. Speakers: Chuu Wai, Visual Artist Zun May Oo, Visual Artist Ida Fagervold, Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Oslo Sara Wong, PhD Candidate, London School of Economics Marte Nilsen, Senior Researcher, PRIO Please visit https://www.prio.org/events/9133 f...

On Thursday 29 February senior researcher Kristin Bergtora Sandvik launched her new book "Humanitarian Extractivism - The Digital Transformation of Aid". In this book Sandvik focuses on how practices of data extraction shift power towards states, the private sector and humanitarians. Morten Tønnessen-Krokan from the Norwegian Red Cross and Anand Nair from the Norwegian Refugee Council joined Sand...

On 22 January we brought together scholars and practitioners to discuss how we can better understand civilian agency and identify new ways of protecting civilians in conflict settings. The discussion was based on the newly published book "Civilian Protective Agency in Violent Settings" (Oxford University Press, 2023) edited by Jana Krause et. al. Speakers: Jana Krause , Professor, University of Os...

Both Russia and Ukraine appear set for continuing with war even if the prospects for a full military victory seem increasingly unlikely. In this seminar, experts on the topic examined what would be required for a credible peace process to gain traction. Speakers: Tetiana Kyselova , Professor and Senior Fellow at Swisspeace Pavel Baev , Research Professor, PRIO Laurie Nathan , Professor of the Prac...

On 11 December PRIO had the pleasure of hosting Dr Gillian Howell from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr Howell is a musician and researcher whose work investigates the social contributions of music-making in contexts affected by war, displacement, and colonial violence. She engaged in conversation with Chiara Ayad, Member of  Masahat , to explore the ways that creative arts can brin...