How norms and rules contribute to peaceful relations and justice
How norms and rules contribute to peaceful relations and justice
What is the relationship between norms and the realm of international affairs? Can it ever be morally defensible to engage in armed struggle? If so, what rules and parameters should guide the use of armed force? How are current rules grounded, and how can we critique and change them so that they contribute to peaceful relations and further the cause of justice? And, not least, how can we use ethics and law to build trustful, stable, and peaceful relations in a multicultural world? These and similar overarching questions form the foundations of the Law and Ethics research group at PRIO.
The work of the Law and Ethics research group is primarily focused on three overarching themes, each encompassing a number of related research areas:
PRIO’s work on Law and Ethics encompasses the academic fields of law, moral philosophy, political theory, religious studies, theology, history, and sociology. Although quantitative approaches will oftentimes be utilized or relied upon, the researchers within this research group mainly employ qualitative, hermeneutic approaches, both historical and sociological. Law and Ethics includes both normative and descriptive projects.
In the research project Red Lines and Grey Zones: Exploring the Ethics of Humanitarian Negotiation (RedLines) two papers and a new podcast episode have recently been published in collaboration with the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS).
A new podcast series on ethics in peace negotiations is now available on Spotify.
This new case brief under the On Fair Terms: The Ethics of Peace Negotiations and Mediation (FAIR) project written by Kristian Berg Harpviken focuses on how the US-Taliban agreement paved the way for the Taliban’s takeover, an outcome that was not given yet seemed highly likely, whether seen from the vantage point of 2018 (when talks started) or 2020 (when they were concluded).
A 'Do No Harm' project blogpost looks into how biometric data collection has caused harm in the context of humanitarian interventions and where the future risks lie.
Lea K Matthaei has successfully defended her MA thesis under the On Fair Terms: The Ethics of Peace Negotiations and Mediation (FAIR) project.
PRIO Researchers Greg Reichberg and Samar Abbas Nawaz attended a recent summit on Responsible AI in the Military domain.
Both the Ethics of Humanitarian Neutrality in Syria and the Red Lines for Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan webinars were recorded and can be streamed via the seminar webpages.
This FAIR Case Brief examines the role of threats and sanctions between the key parties and how they impacted on trust between the various sides as well as on perceptions of fairness in the negotiations.
More than 40 peace practitioners, researchers and representatives from international organizations came together on 2 November 2022 in Geneva to discuss how various ethics perspectives could help in the planning, implemention, and evaluation of digital peacebuilding interventions.
The PRIO project “On Fair Terms: The Ethics of Peace Negotiations and Mediation” (FAIR) organized a workshop in Cyprus in partnership with the PRIO Cyprus Centre, PRIO Middle East Centre, and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security, 19-21 October.
NCHS Paper
Journal Article in Information, Communication & Society
NCHS Paper
The World Risk Report
Journal Article in Frontiers in Big Data
Journal Article in International Affairs
Book chapter in Handbook on Peacekeeping and International Relations
Kristoffer Lidén
Research Director