By Christoph Picker and Christoph Weller, January 28, 2026 - Christoph Picker, Director of the Protestant Academy of the Palatinate, and Christoph Weller, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Augsburg, take up the invitation of the Peace Memorandum to examine positions and formulate questions. In the following, they focus on twelve topics that require further discussion and in which the recognition of dissent could make a valuable contribution to peace. The questions are intended to stimulate and structure the debate. They open a blog series of the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate and invite you to participate.

By Dr Samantha Ruppel, 12 September 2025 – Concepts of peace are often shaped by normative assumptions – with a liberal understanding and a focus on institutions, democracy and the market. However, this model ignores the frictions that can arise when universal norms encounter local contexts. Power imbalances between global and local actors, between forms of knowledge and political structures, shape peace processes and influence which perspectives are heard and which are marginalised. A hybrid approach to peace that integrates both top-down and bottom-up dynamics can reflect these frictions in order not only to implement peace, but also to take into account different ideas of peace. This article discusses the need for critical reflection on these power relations and shows how local actors shape spaces for peace despite structural inequalities.