Four leading German peace and conflict research institutes have released their annual Peace Report (Friedensgutachten) for 2026, warning of the resurgence of 'warlords' and the erosion of international law. The report's authors, including Conrad Schetter from the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies (bicc), name Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as prime examples.
The researchers accuse these leaders of disregarding international law and using military violence as their preferred method to advance their interests. Ursula Schröder from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH) stated: 'We don't want to equate anything, but we do see patterns.' The pattern involves re-establishing violence as a 'normal instrument of politics' and attempting to curtail the political sovereignty of other countries.
The report also criticizes several Gulf monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, for their involvement in numerous civil wars from Libya to Somalia, driven by geopolitical, strategic, or economic interests. This fuels the collapse of the international order, according to Nicole Deitelhoff from the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF).
Deitelhoff calls on Germany and Europe to find partners to sustain a system of rules. She considers financial cuts to development cooperation and humanitarian aid as the wrong choice, warning that such withdrawal strengthens crisis dynamics: more food crises, famines, the spread of deadly infections like Ebola, and a drastic increase in armed conflicts in Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.
The researchers recommend Germany reverse its cuts to development cooperation. However, they caution: 'Where development cooperation merely serves to deter migration or secure sources of raw materials, it loses its meaning as a peace policy.' Instead, the focus should be on inclusivity, human rights, and peacebuilding.
The report views Germany's failed bid for a UN Security Council seat as symptomatic. Deitelhoff suggests this is because Germany has often dodged defending international law in recent years. She cites Chancellor Friedrich Merz's failure to definitively describe the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by US forces as a breach of international law, and his equivocation after the US and Israel's attack on Iran.
Peace researchers advise Germany to focus on arms control and confidence-building measures. 'They are, as confidence-building measures, essential requirements for peacebuilding,' the report states.
Source: www.dw.com