International Institute for Peace - IIP

👉 YESTERDAY AT IIP: Waiting for Europe – EU Enlargement in an Era of Uncertainty

💭 Together with the Karl-Renner-Institut and Österreichisches Institut für internationale Politik - oiip, and as part of our Western Balkans Initiative, we hosted a closed-door discussion followed by a public panel on the future of EU enlargement.

🌍 The closed-door discussion brought together civil society perspectives from Montenegro, examining the country’s accession trajectory and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Participants also reflected on recent protest movements in Albania, Serbia, and Georgia, exploring their implications for democratic development and EU integration processes.

🇪🇺 The public panel tackled the EU’s enlargement dilemma, asking what is holding the Union back, why political and institutional hesitation persists, and how the EU should move forward with frontrunner candidates as accession chapters gradually open. Contributions from Ulrike Hartmann, Johannes Swoboda, Donika Emini, Olga Pindyuk, and Vedran Dzihic highlighted both the challenges facing the EU internally and the expectations of candidate countries, raising questions about credibility, political will, democratic reform, and the Union’s long-term strategic vision.

🙏 Thank you to all speakers and participants for their insightful contributions and engaging discussions, and to everyone who joined us for this timely conversation!

👉 NEW PEACE BLOG: “HAS TIVAT BROUGHT PROGRESS FOR EU ENLARGEMENT?”

💭 “ The only way to prevent other countries from interfering in common European interests is by binding all the candidate countries already now by an association with the EU and its main policies.” Johannes Swoboda

📅 Join us for this conversation on Tuesday, June 16, at the IIP. Register here: https://www.iipvienna.com/event-calendar/2026/06/16/waiting-for-europe-eu-enlargement-in-an-era-of-uncertainty

📰 READ MORE:

HAS TIVAT BROUGHT PROGRESS FOR EU ENLARGEMENT? — IIP Recently a Western Balkans EU summit was held in the Montenegrin town of Tivat at the Bay of Kotor. The summit was deliberately held in Tivat as Montenegro is the country which has achieved good progress in the accession negotiations with the EU - although the country has a strong political anti-EU

👉 NEXT WEEK AT THE IIP: Join us for a timely discussion on the future of EU enlargement amid shifting dynamics in the Western Balkans, and growing geopolitical challenges across Europe.

🗣️ H.E. Ulrike Hartmann, Johannes Swoboda, Donika Emini, Olga Pindyuk & Vedran Džihić

⚠️ Register here: https://www.iipvienna.com/event-calendar/2026/06/16/waiting-for-europe-eu-enlargement-in-an-era-of-uncertainty

🤝 Karl-Renner-Institut & Österreichisches Institut für internationale Politik - oiip

👉 NEUER PEACE BLOG:

Südafrika 2026: Zwischen Fortschritt und strukturellen Defiziten

💭 Drei Jahrzehnte nach dem Ende der Apartheid zeigt sich ein widersprüchliches Bild: Erfolgreiche Bildungsinitiativen und individuelle Aufstiegsgeschichten stehen fortbestehender Ungleichheit, hoher Armut und institutionellen Schwächen gegenüber. Der Beitrag analysiert die unvollständige Transformation, politische Fehlentwicklungen sowie Südafrikas Rolle im internationalen System und fragt, unter welchen Bedingungen nachhaltiger Fortschritt möglich ist.

Autor: Johannes Swoboda

📰 MEHR LESEN:

Südafrika 2026 — IIP Vor 30 Jahren hatte ich die Chance im Township Orange Farm/Johannesburg mit dem „Lehrmeister“ von Nelson Mandela, Walter Susulu, den Grundstein für eine Schule von „Education Africa“ zu legen. Die Stadt Wien wollte mit einer finanziellen Unterstützung dieser Schulgründung den Transformati...

🌍🕊️Our Global Peace Perspectives Roadmap, developed through our project, explores how young people can drive positive change through tourism, intercultural dialogue, and community engagement.

At a time when division often dominates headlines, this roadmap highlights the power of connection, understanding, and shared experiences to bring people together across cultures and communities.

Whether you’re a young changemaker, educator, policymaker, or tourism professional, you’ll find practical insights and ideas for turning travel into a force for peace.

📖 READ MORE HERE: https://pathstopeace.eu/roadmap-and-case-studies-collection/

👉 TOMORROW: UPCOMING ONLINE WEBINAR

🎥 “Creating Security Beyond the Military: What Else?”

Part of the “Rethinking Security in Europe” webinar series, organised in collaboration with CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs) and ICIP (Institut Català Internacional per la Pau).

💭 As European security debates increasingly prioritise military responses, this session shifts the focus toward alternative approaches. Against a backdrop of rising defence spending, geopolitical fragmentation, and ongoing conflicts from Ukraine to the Middle East, the discussion examines whether security can be redefined beyond deterrence and force.

The webinar explores the tension between militarisation and Europe’s normative commitments to diplomacy, multilateralism, and human security, asking what sustainable and democratic security frameworks could look like in practice.

🎙️ With Johannes Swoboda (President, IIP), Maria Mekri (SaferGlobe), and Andrew de Sousa (Director, Quaker Council for European Affairs)

🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/dPShVmAy

🎥 NOW ONLINE: “Behind Closed Borders: The Domestic Consequences of Russia’s War”

International Institute for Peace (IIP) in cooperation with Dialogbüro Vienna

💬 This panel discussion with Kirill Rogov, Vasily Astrov, Angelina Davydova, and Nuria Fatykhova examined how four years of war against Ukraine have reshaped Russia’s internal dynamics, focusing on political control, economic transformation, and everyday life under growing militarization.

💭 At the core was the argument that sustained war has reinforced state dependence, weakened civil society, and reoriented the economy, while fundamentally altering the relationship between the state and its citizens.

🎤 Moderation: Marylia Hushcha

👋 Welcome: Hannes Swoboda, Stefan Melle

🔗 Watch now:

Behind Closed Borders: The Domestic Consequences of Russia’s War Recorded May 26th, 2026 at the International Institute for Peace (I...

👉 NEUER PEACE BLOG:

(Politischer) Widerstand mit Verantwortung

💭 Widerstand ist ein zentraler Bestandteil politischer und gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung, entfaltet seine Wirkung jedoch nur in Verbindung mit Verantwortung. Der Beitrag zeigt, dass Widerstand sowohl gegen autoritäre Machtstrukturen als auch gegen demokratische Fehlentwicklungen notwendig sein kann, zugleich aber an Dialog, Wahrheit und die Würde des Menschen gebunden bleibt. Anhand historischer und aktueller Beispiele wird deutlich, dass nachhaltiger Fortschritt weder durch blinde Konfrontation noch durch bloße Anpassung entsteht, sondern durch das Zusammenspiel von Widerstand und politischer Verantwortung im Inneren wie im internationalen System.

Autor: Johannes Swoboda

📰 MEHR LESEN:

(Politischer) Widerstand mit Verantwortung — IIP Kürzlich fanden in Fresach in Kärnten die 12. Europäischen Toleranzgespräche statt. Wenige Wochen vor dem 100. Geburtstag der – allerdings schon mit 47 Jahren verstorbenen – großen österreichischen Schriftstellerin Ingeborg Bachmann fanden die Diskussionen unter dem Titel „Widerstand und...

👉 TODAY AT IIP: In today’s background talk, moderated by Mirjana Tomic, Prof. Monica Hirst provided an in depth briefing on Latin American perspectives on current geopolitical developments, with a particular focus on Brazil’s international positioning. The discussion explored regional views on Europe, the U.S., and China, as well as perceptions of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. It also drew on findings from the 2026 FES study "AMLAT Radar: Navegar la incertidumbre: miradas latinoamericanas sobre Europa y el mundo", which informed parts of the exchange.

🙏 We would like to thank Prof. Monica Hirst, as well as our partners fjum - forum journalismus und medien and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Vienna for their cooperation and for contributing to this insightful exchange.

Read more about the survey: https://amlatradar.org/en

👉 TODAY AT IIP IN COOPERATION WITH Dialogbüro Vienna: Panel Discussion “Behind Closed Borders: The Domestic Consequences of Russia’s War”

💭 The discussion examined the internal impact of Russia’s war, focusing on political, economic, and societal developments across different phases of Vladimir Putin’s rule. Particular attention was given to shifting forms of civil society engagement, increasing pressure on dissent, and the broader trajectory of domestic governance.

🌍 The panel addressed the economic dimension, including the effects of sanctions on Russia’s economy, structural adjustments, and long term sustainability. It also explored targeted attacks on critical infrastructure and their implications for state capacity.

🇷🇺 Social consequences were highlighted, including the impact on minorities, patterns of military mobilization, and the evolving dynamics of domestic dissent under heightened political control.

🗣️ Panelists:
• Kirill Rogov (Re:Russia)
• Vasily Astrov (WIIW)
• Angelina Davydova (Institute for Global Reconstitution; Dialogue for Understanding e.V; UNFCCC Observer)
• Nuria Fatykhova (Dialogue Office for Civil Society Cooperation)

🎤 Moderation: Marylia Hushcha (IIP)

🙏 Thank you to our panelists and audience for a highly substantive and nuanced discussion.