The project analyzes the conditions under which German peacebuilding instruments – such as the establishment and reform of security institutions, the strengthening of democratic structures, or mediation in conflicts – can achieve a more sustainable impact. Its aim is to develop politically realistic strategies and to improve the interplay between these measures with a special regional focus on Ukraine, the Western Balkans, West Africa, and the Middle East. To this end, researchers at the Impact Hub plan to work closely with Germany’s Federal Foreign Office to identify key challenges and develop actionable recommendations – to optimize both the specific activities in the focus regions and, where possible, Germany’s integrated peace engagement more broadly.

Their work addresses critical questions such as: Where do tensions between political interests, security concerns, and development approaches hinder effective interdepartmental cooperation – for instance, in relations with autocratic regimes or non-state armed groups in conflict contexts? To what extent are the instruments currently employed strategically aligned and interlinked? And are these approaches adapted to local conditions, needs, and constraints?  

“SCRIPTS is pleased to contribute to the Impact Hub and bring in our expertise in the areas of democracy and resilience promotion in contexts of fragile and limited statehood,” emphasizes Thomas Risse, senior professor at SCRIPTS. The unique contribution of the Cluster’s researchers to the project is their expertise on the promotion of democracy and societal resilience, especially within the context of conflict regions.

“The Impact Hub’s contribution will be to take the next essential step in developing an increase in the impact of integrated peace engagement. We hope that this will enable us to better align goals and strategies with the impact requirements of concrete political realities and to make better balanced decisions,” says Ambassador Anka Feldhusen, Commissioner for Civilian Crisis Prevention and Stabilization at the Federal Foreign Office and former German ambassador to Ukraine. A key component of the project will be close exchange with political decision-makers: findings will be directly fed into the political process, for instance, through workshops or concrete policy recommendations. In doing so, the Impact Hub supports the German government’s goal of making peace engagement more adaptive and learning-oriented.

The participating research institutions are working together as equal consortium partners. The European University Viadrina is managing the joint project.

About SCRIPTS

“Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” is a multidisciplinary Cluster of Excellence that has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2019. It examines why the liberal model, despite its political, economic, and social achievements, has fallen into crisis and what consequences this has for the global challenges of our time. Interdisciplinary research teams further investigate why alternative concepts of social order are on the rise and how these contestations differ from earlier ones. SCRIPTS is hosted by Freie Universität Berlin and unites eight major Berlin-based research institutions.