Research Interests
Kristoffer Lidén is a Senior researcher at PRIO and coordinator of the UiO-NTNU-PRIO Research School on Peace and Conflict and the PRIO Research Group on Law and Ethics. His research and publications centre on the ethics of international affairs, with a focus on the fields of security, humanitarianism and peacebuilding. Lidén has co-initiated, coordinated and worked on several NRC, Nordforsk and EU funded projects, including Liberal Peace and the Ethics of Peacebuilding; Protection of Civilians: from principle to practice; and CORE: Cultures of governance and conflict resolution in Europe and India. He is currently responsible for work packages on ethics, law and human rights in SOURCE: Virtual Centre of Excellence on Societal Security in Europe and NordSTEVA: Nordic Centre of Excellence on Security Technology and Societal Values. Lidén holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oslo with a dissertation on 'the ethics of liberal peacebuilding and the philosophy of global governance'. He has also studied Sociology and Anthropology, and a MA in Peace and Conflict Studies.
Topics:
- Global governance
- Peacebuilding
- Humanitarian action
- Societal Security
- Security technology
- Peace in international law
Disciplines:
- Social and Political Philosophy
- Ethics
- International Relations
- Sociology
- Social Anthropology
- Peace and Conflict Studies
Background
Working Experience:
2011-: Coordinator, Research School on Peace and Conflict, PRIO.
2007-: Researcher, PRIO.
2006-07: Coordinator and lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies in Puducherry, India.
2006: Young Researcher at the Universities of Saarbrücken, Germany and Tilburg, Holland, as part of the EU funded project Applied Global Justice.
2004-05: MA stipend at PRIO.
2002-03: CO as research assistant at PRIO, Ethics, Norms and Identities programme.
Education:
2014: PhD in Philosophy, University of Oslo. Member of the Reserach School of The Ethics Programme, University of Oslo.
2006: European Research Training Network, Applied Global Justice, University of Saarbrücken, Germany, and University of Tilburg, Netherlands.
2005: MA in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Oslo. Philosophy specialisation.
2003: Major module in Philosophy, graduate level, University of Oslo. Thesis on 'Spinoza's Ethics of War and Peace.'
2002 Cand. mag. with the subjects Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology at the universities of Oslo and Bergen.
Blog Posts
Posted by Kristoffer Lidén on Wednesday, 8 June 2016
In the recent World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul 23-24 May, the interconnections between humanitarianism, development and security were highlighted. Recognising that humanitarian assistance alone cannot address ‘the needs of over 130 million of the world’s most vulnerable people’, the conference chair’s summary report states: ‘A new and coherent approach is required based on addressing root causes, increasing political diplomacy for prevention and conflict resolution, and bringing humanitarian, development and peace-building efforts together’ (page 2). Similarly, the background report of the UN Secretary General – One Humanity: shared responsibility – prescribes the merger of humanitarian policies with peace and development agendas. ...
The Protection of Civilians (PoC) expands the responsibility of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for international peace and security to the internal affairs of conflict-ridden countries. As such, it bolsters the authority of the five permanent members (the P5) in world politics and presents them with a flexible tool for exercising this authority. In reply to the question “what’s in it for them”, in this blog post we argue that in addition to shaping their responses to situations like Syria and Libya, the principle of PoC shapes the very dynamics of the Council itself, and ultimately the decisions of conflict ...
Posted by Kristoffer Lidén on Friday, 10 April 2015
The tragedy in Syria bears witness to the deep crisis afflicting the international commitment to the “protection of civilians”. But there is a way out. Against the background of a politically divided Security Council, there is a need for a new international strategy to protect civilians caught up in armed conflicts. The international system for crisis management that emerged after the Cold War assumed a degree of political consensus that has now evaporated. As a result we are left with peace policies that do not work. From worse to a true hell This is the clear message of a recent ...
Posted by Kristoffer Lidén on Monday, 8 December 2014
It was not until the advances of IS in Syria and Iraq turned into an international security threat that a military intervention was launched in September 2014. A horrendous civil war had then killed tens of thousands Syrian civilians and displaced millions without provoking any similar reaction. In this blog post I reflect on what this tells us about the commitment of major powers to the principle of protecting civilians across borders. Do they really care? And do they agree on its meaning and implications? A report of the UN Human Rights Commission from 13 August this year describes the ...