Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen Institute of Political Science
Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen Institute of Political Science
The Peace Research Group (Arbeitsgruppe
Friedensforschung/AGFF) in the
Institute of Political Science at the University of
Tübingen was founded
in the late 1960s. Peace and conflict research became a
central component of
the curriculum at the Institute of Political Science with the
establishment of a Chair in International Relations/Peace and
Conflict
Studies in 1972. A permanent staff position was added in
In 1991, the Center for International Relations/Peace and
Conflict Studies was established, strengthening the
institutionalization of these fields of study at the
University of Tübingen. The Center is headed by Professor
Volker Rittberger, Ph.D. Since its establishment, regular
staff members have included: Dr. Joachim Betz (until 1981),
Henning Boekle, Andreas Hasenclever, Dr. Hartwig Hummel (until
1991), Dr. Gabriele Kittel (until 1997), Dr. Wolfgang
Kralewski (until 1993), Peter Mayer, Dr. Thomas Nielebock, Dr.
Frank Schimmelfennig, Dr. Gudrun Schwarzer (until 1994), Prof.
Dr. Klaus Dieter Wolf (until 1991), and Prof. Dr. Michael
Zürn (until 1993). The Center has been able to carry out
several research projects, giving young scholars the
opportunity to work as research associates. In addition, Ph.D.
candidates as well as advanced students concentrating on
International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies actively
participate in the work of the Center. The Center is equipped
with a specialized library, an archive and a documentation
center with a focus on documents of international
organizations (in particular, the United Nations) and of
non-governmental organizations. The Center for International
Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies is unique in Southern
Germany.
The members of the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies regard peace and conflict research as the core topic of research in the study of international politics. Social reality - in particular the reality of international relations - is essentially shaped by conflicts. As these conflicts always contain the possibility of the use of force, they present a permanent challenge for social scientists whose work is oriented towards the normative goal of peace. Hence, the main research interest of peace and conflict studies is the identification of the conditions of peaceful behavior among conflict parties and non-violent conflict management or resolution in order to support the political practice of peace.
The particular danger of the use of force which characterizes international politics is caused by the absence of an overarching authority possessing a monopoly of the legitimate use of force. This often induces states to consider military self-help as an admissible strategy of conflict behavior. Therefore, the production of weapons, especially of weapons of mass destruction appears rational and tolerable, even though they put the existence of humankind at risk. By the same token, the absence of a legitimate and powerful authority also presents difficulties for stable international cooperation, particularly in light of growing global problems such as poverty, migration and environmental degradation.
In recognition of these challenges, the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies has made the following tasks its top priorities:
Through these tasks the Center aims at describing, explaining, and evaluating the use of force in international as well as in intra-societal relations. Additionally, the Center strives to gain a deeper understanding of the conditions and strategies of cooperative conflict management in order to open up new perspectives for more peaceful policies and their implementation. In this respect, the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies seeks to communicate the results of its research not only to the scientific community, but also to the public. Of course, the primary objectives of the Center as an academic institution remain basic research, teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the training of young scholars within this field.
Since the early 1970s, the Peace Research Group and, later, the Center has carried out a number of research projects for which it has received funds amounting to several million Deutsche Mark. External funding has come originally from the German Society for Peace and Conflict Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung/DGFK), later primarily from the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/DFG) and the Volkswagen Foundation (Volkswagen-Stiftung). Over the last years, research has concentrated on the study of international regimes and organizations, comparative and especially German foreign policy, problems of arms control and disarmament, questions of European security, and the development of international relations theory with a special emphasis on the conditions for peace.
Work on the project "German Foreign Policy After Unification. A Re-Examination of Realist Prognoses" has begun in April 1997. The purpose of this project, which is directed by V. Rittberger and funded by the German Research Association, is to analyze and to explain the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany after unification. Has the end of the East-West conflict and of the German division effected a significant change in German foreign policy? And more specifically: is the prediction, offered by the realist theory of international relations, that Germany would pursue a more power-oriented foreign policy born out by the facts? To answer these questions, the project members will examine and compare five areas of German foreign policy both before and after the turning point of 1990:
The complete research design is also available.
Since 1986, research on international regimes has been a main area of the Center's activities. The first project focused on "The Role of International Regimes as Institutions for the Non-Violent Management of the East-West Conflict" . The goal of this project was to identify the opportunities and conditions for cooperative conflict management in Europe. The project, sponsored by the German Research Association as part of a general program devoted to "Institutions and Methods of the Peaceful Treatment of International Conflicts", was concluded in 1992. Using a comparative approach, nine case studies regarding conflicts beween East and West and four regarding conflicts among Western states were carried out. V. Rittberger supervised the project and was aided by M. Efinger, M. List, P. Mayer, M. Mendler, K.U. Schrogl, G. Schwarzer, and M. Zürn. At the beginning of 1993, the Center, again with the support of the German Research Association, started a new project on " The Effects of International Regimes - the Impact of Distributive Effects on the Robustness of Non-Violent Conflict Regulations" . A. Hasenclever and P. Mayer are currently working on this project. Moreover, regime research in Tübingen has resulted in the publication of two books on East-West regimes as well as in an extensive review essay and two books on the state of the art of regime analysis and theory.
In 1996, the Center was selected by the United Nations University to participate in a five-year project about "The United Nations System in the 21st Century" . The goal of this project is to analyze which functions the United Nations will be able to perform in the future with a view to emerging global challenges in the fields of international peace and security, development, environment, human dignity and global governance. Five research groups have been formed to consider the following actor categories: states, multi-national corporations, regional arrangements, international organizations, and "global citizenship" through non-governmental organizations (NGOs). V. Rittberger has been chosen to direct the research group on "global citizenship". The group will conduct research on the roles non-state actors have played in the past, how these roles can be analyzed scientifically, and what are the prospects for their future involvement in United Nations politics. An analysis on the activity of non-state actors in the field of international security has been completed in 1996.
From 1991 to 1995, the Center carried out a research project on "The Policy of Industrial States Toward UNESCO (1978-1986)" . The aim was to identify the factors determining the behavior of states in the area of foreign cultural policy which has so far been neglected in international relations research. Using a comparative approach, the project analyzed the policies of the U.S., France, West Germany and the Soviet Union in the controversy about the 'New World Information and Communication Order', also known as the "UNESCO crisis" of the 1970s and 1980s. Various theories of international relations and foreign policy were tested using empirical data, and three questions were posed for the comparative investigation within the research project:
The comparative analysis showed that the differences between the policies of the four states during the crisis can best be explained by the differences between their respective domestic media systems and by their corresponding preferences regarding the global order of communication and information. P. Billing, G. Kittel, F. Schimmelfennig, H.P. Schmitz and M. Urban have been involved, at various times, in this project under the direction of V. Rittberger.
From 1989 to 1994, an interdisciplinary cooperation between members of the faculties of political science, law, and history on "History and Theory of International Relations in the 19th and 20th Century" was institutionalized, based on a state-funded research program. The central theme of this cooperative effort was to consider the interrelationship between "Constitution, Democracy, and Foreign Policy". Within this framework, the Center examined the question of domestic and systemic conditions for the transformation of international relations from anarchy to non-hierarchical governance. In addition to the various research projects, the participants of the program organized lectures, seminars, and conferences with an interdisciplinary focus.
As a result of the Center's research on "The United Nations System and Its Predecessors" , a collection of over 200 documents from the United Nations, the United Nations specialized agencies, the League of Nations and its 19th century predecessors were published in a three-volume set in both German translations and English (respectively French) original texts. This publication was supported by the German Foreign Office.
Since 1974 the study of disarmanent has been one of the major research concentrations of the Center. During the years 1974 and 1975 V. Rittberger and D. S. Lutz collaborated in a research project focusing on the "Constitutional Preconditions of a German Disarmanent Policy" . This project was sponsored by the German Society for Peace and Conflict Research (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung - DGFK). The findings of the study demonstrate that the German constitution strongly supports an active disarmament policy.
From 1978 to 1980 an inter-university study group dealt with the institutional conditions of disarmament policy-making within the political-administrative system of the Federal Republic of Germany. This research was conducted within the framework of a project on "Possibilities of the Strengthening of Planning Capacities for Disarmament Policies in the Federal Republic of Germany" Members of the research group included V. Rittberger (co-ordinator), E. Müller (Peace Research Group; now at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, Hamburg), U. Albrecht (Free University Berlin), H.G. Brauch (University of Heidelberg), W.D. Eberwein (WZB Berlin) and E. Rosenkranz (Bonn/Kiel).
Another study dealing with the problem of disarmament entitled "Possibilities and Limits of the International Administration of Disarmament and Arms Control - the Organization for the Prevention of Nuclear Arms in Latin America" was conducted by H. Mirek between 1983 and 1985. Its aim was to analyze the ways in which an arms control agency works, how effective it has been, and under what conditions the Latin American nuclear-free zone came into being. This project which was funded by the German Society for Peace and Conflict Research and the German Research Association was integrated into the research area of "Alternative Security Concepts, especially Nuclear-Free Zones" which had existed since 1981.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Peace Research Group became involved in several projects dealing with peace education inside as well as outside of schools and universities. In 1983/84 M. Mendler and W. Schwegler-Rohmeis carried out a project on the "Development and Testing of a Curriculum for Peace and Conflict Studies at Colleges and Universities" . Its aim was to develop a curriculum for the teaching of basic questions of peace research and peace strategies.
Between 1972 and 1977, the projects on "Functions of Teaching Models for Peace Education" and "Research on Strategies of Peace Education" were funded by the German Society for Peace and Conflict Studies (DGFK). They aimed at the advancement of peace through education and mediation processes inside and outside schools. Results of these projects are documented in the series "Tübingen Contributions to Peace Research and Peace Education" ("Tübinger Beiträge zur Friedensforschung und Friedenserziehung", published by Waldkircher Verlagsgesellschaft).
In order to carry on these activities directed toward practical peace education, the Association for Peace Education Tübingen (Verein für Friedenspädagogik Tübingen e.V.) was founded in 1976. It has been closely associated with the Peace Research Group and the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Research, respectively. Courses on social conditions for peaceful behavior conducted by members of the association are an integral part of the Center's academic curriculum.
By way of allocation of a permanent staff member, the Center was enabled to carry out a number of projects which were not supported by outside funding.
A core area at the present is the analysis of international organizations . Beyond the theory and history of international organizations, the processes of policy formation inside international organizations and their activities in various policy areas have found scientific interest. Specific consideration therein has been given to the United Nations . The contribution which the United Nations may make to a process of civilization of international relations has been assessed. In this context, the most important proposals for institutional reform which were made on the occasion of the world organization's 50th anniversary were taken up for a critical evaluation. Research on these issues brought about publication of a number of articles and two books. Besides, the question of democratization of international organizations has been systematically investigated in the scope of this independent project. The point of departure for research on this problem has been the democratic deficit and the lack of legitimacy resulting from it which characterize international organizations.
Since the late 1980s, another focus of research has been the identification of domestic factors which are conducive to peaceful external behavior of states . Special attention is directed at the causes of the permanent mutual abstention from the use of force among democratically constituted states. In that, the debate on theory-guided approaches to the explanation of international relations, which was started by the publication of the volume on "Theories of International Relations" in 1990, is carried on. A particular challenge for scientific research is the development of theoretical models which link foreign policy and international relations together and make statements about the development of international relations possible which proceed from the characteristics of actors in the international system. First results of this research are documented in journal articles and book chapters.
Proceeding from the main areas of its research activities, the Peace Research Group, later the Center, has organized several symposia. In 1980, researchers as well as practitioners from different countries (including the USSR, USA, France) participated in a two-part symposium on "Possibilities and Problems of Reforming the Planning of Disarmament in the FRG", and "Security, Disarmament, and Expectations Concerning the Future".
A second conference, held in 1984, dealt with "Fear and Risks of War as a Problem of the Peace Movement: Social Experience and Individual Ways to Cope with Them". The aim of the conference was to promote a constructive dialogue between peace research and the peace movement on the inherent dangers of current security policy and on the fears generated by it among the general population.
Together with the Society for the Humanities (Gesellschaft für Humanwissenschaften, Erlangen) and the Austrian Institute for Peace Research and Peace Education, the Peace Research Group organized two symposia on problems and prospects of European security in Spring 1984 and Summer 1985, respectively, in Burg Schlaining (Austria). The results of these conferences whose participants came from the academic disciplines of political science, economics, psychology and philosophy, as well as from practical foreign and security policy, were published in the book "Europäische Sicherheit" ("European Security") edited by W.P. Pahr, V. Rittberger and H. Werbik.
In Summer 1989, a conference on "Theories of International Relations" was organized by the Center. The German-speaking community's theoretical achievements within the discipline of International Relations were critically evaluated by German and European scholars. Papers prepared for this conference were published as a special issue of "Politische Vierteljahresschrift" in 1990.
In July 1991, another international conference was held in connection with the project on "East-West regimes" and with a focus on "The Study of International Regimes in International Relations: State of the Art and Perspectives." It was one of the first conferences that brought together members of the European and the American scientific communities working on the analysis of international regimes. The results of this conference are published in the volume "Regime Theory and International Relations" (ed. Volker Rittberger with the assistance of Peter Mayer).
In July 1993, the Center organized a symposium on developments in Europe after the end of the East-West conflict. The new challenges for the politics of peace in Europe were considered by different perspectives drawn from the disciplines of International Relations, political theory and peace education, and perspectives for action promoting an effective policy of peace were evaluated. This conference was organized in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Association for Peace Education in Tübingen, and was funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg.
In June 1995, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995, the Center organized an international symposium. The conference pursued two main themes: to discuss the UN within the context of various theoretical approaches to the internationalization of governance, and to focus on UN activities within the issue-areas of peace-keeping, arms control, development, environmental protection, human rights and the protection of minorities.
In June 1996, the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies organized a symposium on "Constructive Conflict Management" in Tübingen on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Research and the 20th anniversary of the Association for Peace Education Tübingen. The symposium served to critically discuss the state of the art and also to work up theoretical knowledge for governmental as well as non-governmental work for peace. In this context, concepts of federal conflict management, the question of the influence of third parties, the establishment of a national peace network as well as the tasks and prospects of conflict-oriented peace education were examined. (The conference's most important papers are published in the journal "Die Friedens-Warte" No. 4/1996).
The Center's academic teaching program includes a wide range of introductory and advanced lectures and seminars. Regularly offered courses include: "Introduction to International Relations", "History of International Relations Theory", "Scope and Methods of the study of International Relations", "Germany in International Politics", "International Politics in Europe", "The Politics of International Organizations", "Causes of War and Conditions for Peace", "Comparative Foreign Policy Analysis", and "International Policy Analysis".
In 1995, a new Master's Degree Program leading to a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Political Science with a Concentration in International Relations was established, offering specialized seminars and lectures for those advanced students who wish to concentrate on International Relations. The introduction of this new program seeks to account for the increasing differentiation within the discipline of Political Science and for the practice in other countries. The concentration is only available to those students whose major subject of study is Political Science.
In addition to these courses, the Center has helped to organize several intensive seminars for exchange students participating in the European Union's ERASMUS program. In 1989, students from Groningen, Oxford and Tübingen gathered to participate in one-week program on "Peace and Security in Europe: Different National and Intellectual Approaches". Lectures were given by visiting professors from the universities of Oxford, Groningen and Leuven. In Summer 1991, a similar intensive seminar was held at the University of Leuven (Belgium) to consider questions of European security. Recent changes in the international system and their implications for cooperation among states were the topics of an intensive seminar held in June 1995 in Tübingen in which students and lecturers from Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA and Germany participated.
Since October 1995, the Center has been involved in the European Union's SOCRATES program (in cooperation with the universities of Groningen, Leuven, Geneva, Helsinki and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris) to develop a curriculum with a concentration on "European Security".
In co-operation with the International Center of Tübingen University, the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies ran a two-week intensive seminar on "Institutions in Global Politics" in July 1996. Academics from Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia participated in this seminar which was partly funded by the Federal Ministery for Education, Science, Research and Technology. Its aim was an exchange of experience and knowledge as well as the co-ordination of teaching on international institutions.
The Center is engaged in regular exchange and cooperation activities with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy Hamburg (Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik), the Peace Reserach Institute Frankfurt (Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung), the Institute for Overseas Studies (Institut für Allgemeine Überseeforschung), the Center for Transatlantic Foreign and Security Policy at the Free University Berlin (Arbeitsstelle Transatlantische Aussen- und Sicherheitspolitik), the Association for Peace Education Tübingen (Verein für Friedenspädagogik Tübingen e.V.), as well as several university departments dedicated to the field of peace and conflict studies, including those at the University of Uppsala (Sweden), Dartmouth College (U.S.), the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University (U.S.), the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (Denmark), and the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (Russia).
The Students of the Center also benefit from the bilateral student exchange programs through the Institute for Political Science (e.g. SOCRATES/ERASMUS, DAAD-IAS). The exchanges have drawn students from the Department of Political Science of the University of Groningen (Netherlands), the Department of International Relations of the Catholic University in Leuven (Belgium), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the University of Helsinki (Finland), the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Paris (France), the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (Russia), and the University of Minnesota (U.S.). Additional exchange relations exist with the universities in LiΦge (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Fribourg (Switzerland), Perugia (Italy), and Leicester (U.K.)..
The Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies possesses a publicly accessible archive which includes a specialized library (with a focus on "grey literature") and a collection of documents. These sources are generally open to the public upon request. Advice may be sought from staff members of the Center.
By the procurement of speakers and consultants, the Center makes a contribution to the debate on peace and security policy. Members of the Center for International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies have frequently served as advisers and speakers on questions of international concern. In this capacity they have communicated the results of academic research both to political decision-makers (including the Federal government) and to the public through lectures, seminars and written expertise in various public settings such as institutes for adult education, community colleges, schools, unions, churches, and political parties. Members of the Center have also organized and chaired scientific and vocational training conferences.
Since 1985 the Center has been publishing the "Tübingen Working Papers on International Politics and Peace Research" to document its current research activities. A main purpose of the Working Papers is to facilitate quick and uncomplicated participation in current academic debates and discussions, but they also attract attention from outside the scientific community and are available in bookstores. Single issues may be obtained for a modest fee. Some of the more recent publications are available in full text from this server. See the list of the "Tübingen Working Papers on International Politics and Peace Research" for more information!