The idea of publicly staged trials may appear grotesque or outdated to citizens of modern, functioning states. Yet, for non-state armed actors in contested environments, the power of judicial procedures may lie precisely in their visibility. By staging justice in open spaces and circulating images widely, ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in northern Myanmar turn punishment into a public…

Hezbollah has been severely weakened since 2024, having lost its longest-serving Secretary General and numerous founding-generation commanders. Now, faced with escalating war against its main backer Iran and potential disarmament by the Lebanese government, Hezbollah’s prospects are bleak. However, the organization is not defeated and can still cause havoc. Though weak, Hezbollah’s strategy of…

European leaders should clearly oppose the American and Israeli attacks on Iran. Yet for the most part they have called for more negotiations and condemned Iran. While European leaders may appear to have several good reasons for failing to clearly oppose the attacks – such as recent mass repression carried out by the Iranian government and a desire to avoid antagonizing the Americans – these do…

In a global context characterized by escalating conflicts, hybrid warfare, violations of international law, and rising military spending, existing security logics not only fail to prevent violence but actively reproduce an unequal and hierarchical world order. We argue that reclaiming the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda as a transformative feminist peace project is urgently needed to…

When Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies swept into Damascus in December 2024, many observers feared a replication of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. After all, HTS was a group with roots in Al-Qaeda and IS, ideologically committed to establishing an Islamic state. Yet a year into their rule, the most striking feature of Syria’s political transition is not revolutionary zeal but…

Amid renewed violence and shifting power dynamics in northeastern Syria, recent mass breakouts from detention facilities holding Islamic State (IS) detainees show that Islamist terrorism thrives where security institutions have fragmented and governance vacuums emerge. Detainee escapes, precariously managed internment camps for IS-affiliated families, and the transfer of detainees to Iraq all…

Die jüngste Taktik der “Schattenflotte”, ohne gültige Nationalflagge zu fahren, bietet den europäischen Staaten eine seltene Gelegenheit, im Rahmen des Völkerrechts entschlossen gegen sie vorzugehen. Dabei würde die Schattenflotte nicht nur bekämpft und die Finanzierung des russischen Krieges geschwächt, sondern auch die derzeit neu entstehende globale Ordnung zugunsten von Transparenz,…

Die Welt wäre weit friedlicher, würden sich viele bereits beendete Bürgerkriege nicht ein weiteres Mal entzünden. Seit geraumer Zeit machen Bürgerkriege einen Großteil des Konfliktgeschehens aus, und bei vielen von ihnen handelt es sich um wiederausgebrochene Kriege. Das wirft die Frage auf, welche Faktoren den Frieden stabilisieren oder eine erneute Eskalation begünstigen. Dem ging ein…