PRIO's Peace in a Pod

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has extended his rule into a third decade, beating his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a bitter presidential race. The run-off victory caps an extraordinary campaign for Erdoğan who had hoped for a swift win. However, sky-rocketing inflation, a devastating earthquake and a united opposition left him vulnerable at the ballot box. For two decades, Erdoğa...

On April 15th, explosions and gunfire began to rock the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, with the paramilitaries and army accusing each other of attacking their respective bases. With two heavily armed groups squaring off in one of the most populated cities on the African continent, the United Nations has now issued a stark warning that the humanitarian situation on the ground is reaching a “bre...

On April 25th, Israel marks 75 years of existence, commemorating the Declaration of Independence of 1948. But this year, amid the fireworks, military parades and flag-waving, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu will be on the lookout for disruptions and more protests. Recent proposals by Netanyahu's government - the most far-right in the history of the country - to weaken the Supreme Court h...

Disarmament, i.e. the collection of arms and ammunitions following civil wars, is aimed at preventing conflict recurrence and paving the way for peace. However, comprehensive disarmament of non-state actors is challenging and rare. In this episode, we look at the following questions: What is the relationship between disarmament of rebel groups and peace? What is 'criminalized peace' and how can we...

Research is only valid and useful so long as the people doing it are honest. However, there many incentives for researchers to lie. This discussion looks at the following questions: What is academic fraud? How prevalent is it? What can be done to prevent fraud? It features a prominent investigator of academic fraud (Nick Brown), a researcher who has studied academic publishing (Lynn Parker Nygaard...

On 28 February, the IPCC, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, launched the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report. This part assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adap...

The last few months in Bosnia have been marked by moves towards secession and a flare-up of ethnic tensions emanating from Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina established by the Dayton Peace Agreement which put an end to the 3 ½-year-long Bosnian War. Commentators are describing the last few months as the worst political and security crisis since the war ended in 1...

Every year, PRIO holds its Annual Peace Address, inviting distinguished guests to reflect on how to contribute to the creation of a world in which violence is the exception and peace is the norm. In 2021 the peace address was given by Jeffrey D. Sachs with the title “Why we must avoid a new cold war and how to do it”. Sachs is a world-leading expert in economics and sustainable development, Univer...

Scrambles for natural resources and struggles for power when such resources come to light are a frequent cause of international conflict and tension around the world. In the Eastern Mediterranean, recent discovery of hydrocarbon has only exacerbated existing tensions. This is a region that includes Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel. Today we’re going to hear from...

What is the transformative potential of visual storytelling in conflict research? In the project Societal Transformation in Conflict Contexts or (TRANSFORM), animations and comics were created in collaboration between researchers, activists, artists, writers, and many others. These pieces of art not only serve to inspire possible change, but also to illustrate and highlight stories of societal tra...

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, many academics found themselves in a desperate scramble. For female academics in particular, the threat of retaliation and loss of freedoms was ominous. Meanwhile, their colleagues and counterparts in other countries struggled to help them. Professor Jacqui True at Monash University managed to successfully help bring several female academics f...

In the 1980s, in what was then Northern Somalia, doctors, teachers, and other professionals lived out their ethics and ideals by restoring a hospital and responding to the needs of people in their community. Their actions were rewarded with arrests and imprisonment. This is the story of the Uffo group. In today’s podcast Mohamed Aden Hassan and Ebba Tellander discuss Uffo and how this story can in...

In 2020, 1.6 billion children were living in a conflict-ridden country. Approximately 452 million children – more than one in six – were living less than 50 km from where the actual fighting took place. For the last few years PRIO and Save the Children have collaborated on the Children in Conflict project which illuminates the number of children affected by violent conflict around the world. Updat...

Hyper-masculine leaders have grabbed headlines in the last few years: Putin, Trump, Bolsonaro, Erdogan. All of them employ the rhetoric of masculinity in public discourse and ultimately, often, policy. It’s worth asking: is this a new trend, and what does it mean for the ones living in these countries, especially women and LGBTQ individuals? Johanne Rokke Elvebakken, Gender, Peace and Security Cen...

Before the Taliban regained control of the country this year, before they were the target and adversary of US military force, the Taliban were the governing force in Afghanistan. And before that, they were a transnational group of religious students. To give context to modern-day Afghanistan and the political developments there, PRIO researcher Kristian Berg Harpviken provides a brief history of t...

For some immigrants, acquiring citizenship in a new country is the final goal in a long journey of various residence statuses and times of uncertainty. But getting citizenship is not always the end of the story. From alienation through documentation, to having citizenship taken away, there can be other twists and turns even then. For immigrants with for example refugee status similar difficulties...

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 has been awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, with the committee highlighting these journalists' efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. Maria Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist who has revealed abuse of power, violence, and authoritarianism in the Philippines. Dmitry Muratov is editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, the most independent Russian newspaper....

With just one week left before the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, we take a look at PRIO Director Henrik Urdal's shortlist of possible candidates . Thank you to the many guests on this episode: Henrik Urdal, PRIO Director Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Research Director and Senior Researcher Carina Strøm Smith, Research Assistant Jonas Vestby, Senior Researcher Jørgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher Am...

What is the transformative potential of visual storytelling in conflict research? In the project Societal Transformation in Conflict Contexts or (TRANSFORM), animations and comics were created in collaboration between researchers, activists, artists, writers, and many others. These pieces of art not only serve to inspire possible change, but also to illustrate and highlight stories of societal tra...

On September 5th, 2021, the military in Guinea pulled off a coup against president alpha conde. The coup was led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, and since then the situation has been unclear, though the military remains in power. Many in Guinea welcomed the power change, while others condemn it – and the international community largely falls in the second camp. What will happen next? Related material...

Scrambles for natural resources and struggles for power when such resources come to light are a frequent cause of international conflict and tension around the world. In the Eastern Mediterranean, recent discovery of hydrocarbon has only exacerbated existing tensions. This is a region that includes Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel. Today we’re going to hear from...

Today marks 20 years since 9/11. In this episode four researchers share their reflections on what the effects of this event have been on global politics, security, and war. Related material Hva vi snakker om når vi snakker om digitaliseringens politikk  – Mareile Kaufmann i samtale med Jan Grue in Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (in Norwegian) Predictive Policing and the Politics of Patterns in The Bri...

In the last few years, technology has played a huge role in Myanmar’s politics and life in the last few years. Research Professor Stein Tønnesson explains how Facebook and Telenor in particular went wrong – and right – in the country, and what lasting effects those companies have had. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just over seven months ago, on February 1st, 2021, the world witnessed a shockingly audacious military coup in Myanmar, in which the democratically elected National League for Democracy was deposed. Shortly after, PRIO researchers Marte Nilsen, Trude Stapnes, and Stein Tønnesson appeared in a podcast episode devoted to the coup. Today I’m talking again to these three researchers, getting their imp...

The past week has been a shock for Afghanistan and the world watching. In a matter of days, the Taliban took over regional capitals one by one, entering Kabul on Sunday, August 15. How could this have happened? Was it foreseeable – and preventable? Research Professor Kristian Berg Harpviken shares some initial thoughts on today’s episode. Related material Kristian's PRIO Blog post "What happened t...