PRIO Blogs
How Should Europe Respond to the Demonstrations in Turkey?
All across Turkey, a battle is being waged over the country’s future. For more than a decade, the country’s democratic institutions have steadily deteriorated and now thousands have taken to the streets in an attempt to save the remains of its dem...
PRIO Blogs
What Now for Humanitarian Studies?
Humanitarianism has long been in crisis, but since early 2025 the sector has been experiencing an unprecedented organizational, institutional, normative, and political collapse. As scholars active in the broad, inter-, and multidisciplinary field ...
PRIO Blogs
There’s a Path Forward for Turkey-Greece Cooperation — but It Requires a Dose of Realism
In the Eastern Mediterranean, tensions are largely the norm rather than the exception. Greece and Turkey, two stable states and NATO allies, enjoy largely peaceful unneighborly relations, despite occasional tension between them.
Popular Article
Triumphalism in Moscow about setback in peace-making for Ukraine could be short-lived
Popular article in Eurasia Daily Monitor
PRIO Blogs
Triumphalism in Moscow About Setback in Peace-Making for Ukraine Could be Short-Lived
Moscow’s mouthpieces competed to celebrate and ridicule the individuals involved in the February 28 talks in Washington, D.C. between Ukraine and the United States. To the surprise of many, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White Ho...
PRIO Blogs
American Democracy is in Danger, but Not Dead
Trump and his supporters are undermining American democracy, posing a real threat of democratic breakdown. The consequences would be dramatic, extending far beyond the United States. However, there is still a good chance that democracy, in the end...
Monday, 24 Feb 2025
Afghan Women’s Struggle for Healthcare: PRIO Highlights Key Barriers and the Role of International Support
After the Taliban’s return, Afghan women face severe restrictions but remain vital in society, especially in the healthcare sector. As the humanitarian crisis deepens, experts discuss concrete steps to support women’s rights and healthcare access.
PRIO Blogs
Moscow Changes War Rhetoric but Stays War Course
The whirlwind of U.S.-initiated diplomatic activity in the last two weeks has compelled the Kremlin to alter the tone of its messaging on confrontation with the West and even the substance of its far-reaching propaganda campaign. The cliché of “An...
PRIO Blogs
Contesting the AI-Cybersecurity Nexus: Lessons Learned from the United Kingdom
In an age where so-called artificial intelligence (AI) seems to revolutionise every corner of our lives, it’s no surprise that its intersection with cybersecurity has become a major focus for governments worldwide. Where cybersecurity and AI were ...
PRIO Blogs
How Colombia’s Disarmament Process Transformed Weapons Into Symbols of Peace
In 2016, the Colombian government and the guerrilla group FARC-EP ended their five decade-long war. As part of the peace agreement, FARC-EP’s weapons had to be collected, a process known as disarmament. By 2017, UN observers had received and remov...
Tuesday, 28 Jan 2025
PRIO Director's 2025 Nobel Peace Prize List
The Director of PRIO, Henrik Urdal, announced his list today for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, with Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms topping the list.
Journal Article
Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in peace agreements (1975–2021): Introducing the DDR dataset
Journal article in Journal of Peace Research
Security Dialogue
Migrant deaths in the name of law
Image byJim BlackfromPixabay In international political sociology, a variety of scholars following Agamben and the so-called state of exception emphasize the routes of violence against migrants in the light of their privation of rights or “suspend...
Security Dialogue
Can Videogames Shape Public Understandings of Weaponized Artificial Intelligence?
Image byLukasfromPixabay Millions of consumers play videogames like Call of Duty and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon. The battlefields these series portray increasingly feature drones, tanks, and robots that select and engage targets on their own, thanks...
Wednesday, 22 Jan 2025
New Study Reveals Human Impact of UNRWA Ban: Lifelines to Millions at Risk
New report outlines the on-the-ground consequences of Israel’s ban on UNRWA which comes into effect next week.
PRIO Blogs
Greenland Is Not for Sale
President Donald Trump has provoked strong reactions with his proposition to buy Greenland, not the least because the right to self-determination is a fundamental principle in international law, allowing peoples to freely determine their political...
PRIO Blogs
Russian Counter-Offensive in the International Arena Has Lost Momentum
One of the key goals for 2024 that President Vladimir Putin had apparently set at the end of the second year of the Ukraine war was to execute a sustained foreign policy counter-offensive to reduce Russia’s international isolation to irrelevance. ...
Monday, 9 Dec 2024
PRIO secures funding for four new innovative projects
PRIO has successfully secured funding for four new projects to support research addressing today’s critical societal challenges, including two focused on Norwegian security and defence.
PRIO Blogs
An Untested Refugee Theory
From late January 2025, the Israeli ban on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will come into effect. What does this mean for the rights of the Palestinian refugees, and who will then take responsibility for h...
Report – Other
The Elephant in the Room: How Saudi Arabia’s Multiple Roles in Yemen Influence Mediation Efforts
Friday, 29 Nov 2024
Thomas Hylland Eriksen: Words of Gratitude
On 27 November, PRIO received the sad news that Professor of social anthropology Thomas Hylland Eriksen passed away.
PRIO Blogs
Putin’s ‘Three Escalations’ Affect Prospect of Peace in Ukraine
Russia’s strategy in executing its aggressive war against Ukraine, passing the 1,000-day mark last week, puts the country’s economy, society, and armed forces under enormous pressure that Moscow’s militaristic propaganda cannot quite cover. As Rus...
PRIO Blogs
Protection of Civilians in Crisis: Geneva Conventions at 75
With the devastating news from Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan among other wars, we witness a crisis of the international regime for protecting civilians in armed conflict. However, this is not a total collapse but a return to the troubling world that the...
PRIO Blogs
Israel Has Escalated Its Shadow War Against UNRWA. What Happens Now?
On 4 November, the Israeli Foreign Ministry cancelled the agreement the country signed with UNRWA in 1967. A week earlier, the Knesset had passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Why is I...
Book Chapter
Ansar Allah (Houthi Rebels)
Book chapter in Handbook of Terrorist and Insurgent Groups: A Global Survey of Threats, Tactics, and Characteristics
PRIO Blogs
Putin’s Much Ado About the BRICS Summit
The BRICS summit on October 22–24, held in Kazan, Russia, was met with great fanfare in Russian propaganda, which hailed it for its “epochal” significance. The BRICS summit, held in Kazan, was met with great fanfare in Russian propaganda. Propagan...
PRIO Blogs
473 million Children Live in Conflict Zones
The world is suffering from escalating levels of conflict. The Civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the bombing of Gaza have all significantly contributed to dramatic increase in battle deaths in recent years...
Popular Article
Time to Push for Next Step on Women, Peace and Security: Ensuring Positive Impact for Women in Conflict
Popular article in The Global Observatory
PRIO Blogs
Civil Society Participation in International Criminal Justice
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is in trouble. To commentators and observers of the Court, one crisis seems to lead on to the next, so that the field of international criminal justice has been described as being in ‘perpetual crisis’. Follo...
Friday, 11 Oct 2024
Statement on Nobel Peace Prize Announcement by PRIO Director Henrik Urdal
“Today’s Nobel Peace Prize award to Nihon Hidankyo comes at a crucial time when countries are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and threats of use by traditional and emerging nuclear powers are alarmingly on the rise."