Research Department IV deals with those aspects of peace which are related to the domestic realm. One concerns the relationship between domestic and foreign policy including, inter alia, research on the domestic causes of international conflicts. Another field of research deals with domestic conflict and violence and studies their socioeconomic and cultural determinants. In addition to conducting basic research, the Research Department sets out to prepare innovative blueprints for pursuing the twofold aim of decreasing violence and increasing social justice and political freedom in the respective society as preconditions for peaceful conflict resolution.  

The members of the Research Department were pursuing two lines of research within the framework of the research programme “Antinomies of Democratic Peace”. On the one hand, they were dealing with the “Globalization of Democratic Peace”. The focus here was on determinants and inconsistencies in externally induced democratization: How do Germany and the United States of America as two outstanding proponents of democracy promotion deal with problems arising from the implementation of their democratization agendas, unintended side-effects and conflicting interests? On the other hand, research was focused on the correlation between democratization and internal violence: To what extent do specific social formations and cultural dispositions shape informal violent systems? How can civil wars be overcome by means of democratization?  

Conferences

Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process, 2012