Bundeswehr meets Peace Research: As part of their training, prospective staff officers regularly visit the IFSH. This time, the future leaders of the armed forces learnt about the main topic „War in Ukraine“. Dr Regina Heller and Dr Christian Fröhlich presented their new project „Spaces of Peace“ that aims to open up new perspectives on the war, its consequences and how to cope with it. The new IFSH research project, funded by the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), analyses the role of Ukrainian and Russian diaspora(s) in conflicts such as the war in Ukraine and their potential for conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Regina Heller and Christian Fröhlich presented the different attitudes of the two population groups towards the war in Ukraine, based on the most recent empirical data. What do Russians and Ukrainians think about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What do they think about mobilization and peace talks? During the meeting, the two peace researchers discussed the role of foreign communities in conflicts, the extent to which they may have a conflict exacerbating influence, the extent to which the influence of the Russian regime extends into the Russian community in Germany, and the role that expatriates might have in in peace-building processes.
Visiting group of the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College at IFSH
After a brief welcome by IFSH liaison officer Dr Martin Böhm (4th from left), Dr Regina Heller presented her new research project to the prospective staff officers. Team colleague Dr Christian Fröhlich was digitally connected from Berlin. (c) IFSH