Even tough the elections didn’t happen yet, it is clear who is going to be the future president. Putin won’t have much difficulties becoming the head of state, for the simple reason that there are no serious competitors to defeat. Therefore, it’s not right to speak about an election victory of Wladimir Putin on the18th of March, the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. Putin is no longer only admired for his personality, but ascended to a state symbol for Russia. A sacral embodiment of the Russian state. Voting for him is voting for Russia. Voting for the opposition would mean loosing this guarantee of the Russian state which Putin embodies. Throughout his presidential term he was able to convince the population of being the maintainer of the Russian state. The opposition is now trying to undermine this legitimacy. In this election Putin needs a high turnout. Moreover the relation between Russia und the West was another topic discussed by the panelists. But to understand the relationship between Russia and the EU, it is necessary to look back in time.

by Marlene Prinz

This year I had the chance to participate in the 17th International Summer School, which took place from 24th-29th in Šipan. The weeklong Summer School revolved around the topic “The role of NATO in the process of stabilisation of Western Balkan countries” and was organised by the Atlantic Council of Croatia with the support of NATO PDD and the International Institute for Peace (IIP).

by Maro Polykarpou

Maria Kulikovska is a Ukrainian artist, architect, actionist, and curator. She was born and raised in the city of Kerch in Crimea, a place whereby she cannot return after the Russian annexation of Crimea. She has been living in Kyiv since and has had various exhibitions in different European cities which convey her experiences after the 2014 Madiadan. After an insightful discussion with her at the International Institute for Peace in Vienna,  we learned why it is important for her to transcend art into the wider political field. 

von Lea Boraucke

Anlässlich seines 88. Geburtstages lud das Bruno Kreisky Forum für Internationalen Dialog in Kooperation mit dem International Institute for Peace (IIP) am 23. Mai 2018 zum Gespräch mit Bundesminister a.D. Erwin Lanc ein. Die Moderation des Gesprächs übernahm Sonja Kato-Mailath. Gertraud Auer Borea d’Olmo, Generalsekretärin des Bruno Kreisky Forums, betonte Lanc‘ herausragende politische Tätigkeit für Österreich, insbesondere aber auch für Wien. Stephanie Fenkart, Geschäftsführerin des IIP, hob sein Engagement als Präsident des International Institute for Peace hervor. In diesem Amt hatte sich Erwin Lanc vor allem für die internationale Friedensförderung und einen friedlichen Dialog zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern eingesetzt. Seit 2008 ist Lanc Ehrenpräsident des Instituts.

by Lea Boraucke

In the context of the International Peace Studies Conference organised by the Academic Council On The United Nations System (ACUNS) a workshop on Women and Peace took place at the IIP, where the participants had the opportunity to discuss the role of women in peace-building and peacekeeping processes. Stephanie Fenkart, director of the International Institute for Peace (IIP), opened the workshop with the questions: What can women contribute to peace-building processes and what obstacles do women continue to face? This implies the question about the dominant challenges and new opportunities for women nowadays.

Iranian culture is beautiful and manifold.

On the 12th of June the IIP was honored to host the exhibition "Verlorene Träume" by Mitra Shahmoradi an Iranian artist living in Vienna.

See the Video of the talk and reading - accompanied by beautiful music with Mitra Shahmoradi-Strohmaier, Hannes Swoboda, Mahan Mirarab and Sakina Teyna.

by Hannes Swoboda

At a meeting with work shop character in Vienna at the IIP experts from Iran and some EU countries and the USA discussed the role of Iran in the international system. A lively discussion showed the necessity and usefulness of the dialogue across ideological and continental borders.

by Maro Polykarpou

The war in Ukraine has been taking place since 2014 and has been the subject of interest for big powers such as Russia, USA, Europe and China, leading the country to lose its own independent interests. For this reason the International Institute for Peace (IIP), the Platform for Dialogue and Conflict Resolution in Ukraine and the US Embassy in Austria invited Nolan Peterson, who has been reporting on the war in Ukraine since the summer of 2014, as a Kyiv-based correspondent.

by Maro Polykarpou

The 17th International Summer School organised by the Atlantic Council of Croatia with the support of NATO PDD and the International Institute for Peace in Vienna was held in the island of Sipan between the 24th and 29th of June 2018. This year’s topic was ‘The role of NATO in the process of stabilisation of Western Balkan countries’ with a special focus on the process of accession of the candidate Western Balkan countries in the European Union and NATO.

by Hannes Swoboda

At the yearly summer seminar at the island of Sipan close to Dubrovnik I presented the following ideas for a stronger EU -Western Balkan relationship. The summer seminar which is organized by the Croatian Atlantic Council with the support of the Vienna International Institute for Peace is an excellent opportunity of students of the region to discuss hot issues of the Western Balkan region.