Volume 99, Issue 5, September 2023

This introduction explores knowledge production in the field of peace research. It explains how, through topics like mediation and transitional justice, the special section addresses three questions: what knowledge is produced on peace, whose knowledge is prioritized, and what influence it has on policy.

By reviewing existing literature on mediation, this article argues that this research can become more practice-relevant by increasing the diversity of perspectives, adding interpretive and qualitative approaches and producing more critical research.

This article analyses the research methods used in transitional justice (TJ) literature. It shows how the methods of TJ surveys and large N-impact studies confine their findings and policy relevance within the normative bounds of the liberal peace and human rights agendas.

This article argues that gender in intersection with other axes of differentiation can be a cause of conflict. It develops the concept of ‘intersectionally-gendered mechanisms’ and identifies three processes driving conflict.

The state and academia have neglected experiences of common people in producing social knowledges. Through the case of the Kashmir conflict in India in the early 1990s, this article demonstrates new ways to listen to the subalterns and decolonize peace studies.

Through an analysis of the UN Sanctions App and the Security Assistance Monitor database, this article unpacks how digital tools increasingly function as experts in international peace and security policy.

How does peace research translate into practice? A study of peace researchers in Nordic countries shows that while research influences policy by asking difficult questions of war and peace, there is a need for deepened engagement between researchers and practitioners.

This article argues that policymakers in the UN and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development actively use research on international mediation to shape policies. It illustrates how mediation research can be influential if it meets policymakers' preferences.

Using the concept of ‘communities of practice’, this article analyses when and how technical knowledge inhibits the performance of international organizations. This is illustrated through a study of peace mediation and the under-deployment of mediation support structures in Africa.

Why have Russian authorities received domestic support for the war in Ukraine despite largely relying on fabricated information? By analysing Russian manipulation of information, this article highlights how the Russian media has mobilized the emotions of the public in support of the war.

By introducing the concept of self-deception into classical realism, this article presents a novel concept called ‘hubris balancing’: an irrationally aggressive form of overbalancing that exceeds what is achievable in practice. This is illustrated through Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

This article addresses gaps in the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework on the persecution of people with non-normative gender and/or sexuality. It outlines the relevance of a queer lens for the R2P framework through the case-studies of Hungary and the United Kingdom.

To understand China's world-view, this article traces how Chinese officials build national identity through depictions of foreigners' noses. It looks at medieval Chinese art, Maoist posters and plastic surgery to see continuities in Chinese images of foreigners and how they have changed to focus on westerners.

This article examines Chinese maritime actors in the South China Sea to argue that Xi Jinping's consolidation of personal power encouraged them to act aggressively. This contributes to China's increasingly confrontational stance at the international level.

This article argues that the impact of population ageing on national security depends on the interplay of various demographic factors and how countries adapt to them. This is illustrated through a study of China, Japan, US and Russia.