Researching Peace - en podd från Uppsala universitet

In this episode of Researching Peace, we continue to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on peace research with Paola Vesco, a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research. Paola's research connects the dots between climate variability, food production, and conflict risk, providing essential insights in a world grappling with unprecedented environmental changes.

How does artificial intelligence (AI) affect peace and conflict research? Meet Jim Dale and Mert Can Yilmaz, who, in this episode, will explore the role of AI in peace and conflict research. Jim, a Programmer at the Violence & Impacts Early Warning System (VIEWS), explains the power of machine learning models in forecasting organized violence on a global scale. Mert, a Senior Analyst at Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), underscores the critical need to ensure AI systems are in sync with human values and intentions. Together, they navigate the complexities of explainable AI, its implications for peace studies, and the imperative for AI ethics. While they acknowledge the immense potential of AI in the realm of peace research, they stress that ethical considerations must guide its evolution to harness its benefits and curb potential risks.

In this episode, we welcome Stefan Döring, a researcher specializing in the intersection of water and conflict. Drawing from his interdisciplinary research, Stefan sheds light on the issue of water conflicts. He unpacks the spatial dynamics of communal violence and introduces a seemingly counter-intuitive argument: water scarcity can foster cooperation instead of conflict. As we explore the future interplay of water and climate, Stefan highlights potential strategies to curb water-related disputes and emphasizes the pivotal role of research in shaping this narrative.

In this episode, Associate Professor Nina von Uexkull talks about the intricate relationship between climate change and conflict. She explains how the two are interconnected and how resource scarcity plays a pivotal role. She emphasizes that environmental stressors can trigger competition for limited resources, leading to tensions and conflicts. She also touches on the challenges of accurately predicting these connections and the implications of taking early action to prevent climate-related conflicts.

Join us in this episode as we delve into the intricate relationship between water, climate, and conflict. Our guest, Professor Ashok Swain, a leading expert in international water cooperation, unravels the complexities of how these factors intersect and impact global dynamics. Discover the challenges of climate migrants, insights into regional water crises, and gain a glimpse into the future of peacebuilding amidst environmental changes.

I det här mycket spännande avsnittet av Researching Peace- Alva Myrdal centrum välkomnar vi vår tidigare statsminister Stefan Löfven, som nu är ordförande för fredsforskningsinstitutet SIPRI. Vi pratar såklart om hur tiden efter att han lämnat sin post som statsminister varit, men också om NATO, nedrustning och kärnvapen. Dessutom får vi höra hur det var att träffa Putin i verkligheten.

Det och mycket mer i det här avsnittet av Researching Peace- Alva Myrdal centrum - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning och Uppsala Universitet.

Det har blivit dags för säsongsavslutning i Researching Peace och vi avslutar på topp med universitetslektor Magnus Öberg. I det här avsnittet pratar vi bland annat om varför är det så viktigt med statistik kring konflikter och hur det går till när man samlar in fakta om världens alla pågående konflikter. Vi ska även prata om hur statistik kan påverka arbetet med nedrustningen av kärnvapen vid Alva Myrdal-centre.

Dessutom ska vi få reda på hur det kommer sig att Magnus Öbergs kollegor tycker att vi ska fråga honom om ubåtarna.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

In this episode of Researching Peace, we welcome Robert Kelley, a veteran nuclear engineer at the US Department of Energy's nuclear weapons complex at Los Alamos. Kelley was involved in research and engineering operations before shifting to information analysis and disarmament in the 1980s. He worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency where he led the nuclear inspections in Iraq in 1992 and again in 2001. Over the course of his career, he has traveled to more than 20 countries, including South Africa and Libya to inspect nuclear weapons programs. We are pleased to present this episode of Researching Peace in English.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Alva Myrdal Center for Nuclear Disarmament at Uppsala University.

 

Kan forskning bidra till en fredligare värld? Det tror dagens gäst ? professor Isak Svensson som redan som tonåring var fredsaktivist. I det här avsnittet ska han lära oss mer om hur forskning om förhandlingar kan förändra världen.

Vi ska också prata om hur förödande kriget i Ukraina är för framtida förhandlingar med länder som har kärnvapen.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

Cecilia Wikström är inte bara en av Sveriges mest seniora EU-parlamentariker ? hon är också ordförande i Alva Myrdal-centrums styrelse. I det här avsnittet blickar vi framåt och frågar oss vad centret egentligen kan åstadkomma på sikt. Och varför var det just Cecilia Wikström som fick frågan om att leda arbetet? Dessutom, hur har hon fått tag i en lampa som Indira Gandhi gett i present till Alva Myrdal?

Det och mycket mer i vårt första avsnitt för den här säsongen.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

Vem är det som kontrollerar om ett land har kärnvapen eller inte? Finns det verktyg för att ta reda på sanningen? Det har blivit dags att vässa geniknölarna i Researching Peace. I det här avsnittet träffar vi Sophie Grape, docent i tillämpad kärnfysik. Hon beskriver själv sitt jobb som ett detektivarbete.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

I det här avsnittet träffar vi svenska Beatrice Fihn som leder antikärnvapenrörelsen ICAN, mottagare av Nobels fredspris 2017. Men hur är det att leda den globala kampen mot kärnvapen mitt under brinnande krig, när världen plötsligt står inför ett verkligt kärnvapenhot? Är hon själv orolig för framtiden? Och varför är hon så besviken på den svenska regeringen?

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

Hur kommer Sveriges relation till Ryssland se ut i framtiden? Vad behöver hända efter kriget för att gå framåt? Och vad kan Alva Myrdal centrum spela för roll i det hela? I det här avsnittet av Researching Peace träffar vi Joakim Vaverka, toppdiplomat med lång erfarenhet från bland annat FN:s säkerhetsråd. Dessutom sitter Joakim Vaverka i styrelsen för Alva Myrdal centrum.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

Sedan kriget i Ukraina bröt ut har kärnvapenhotet trappats upp, bedömare menar att risken för att kärnvapen kommer att användas har ökat. I det här avsnittet möter vi Sveriges Radios utrikeskorrespondent Lubna El-Shanti som är född i Ukraina och som var på plats när kriget bröt ut. Hon är också en av de journalister som med egna ögon sett det fasansfulla i Butja där civila låg mördade på gatorna. Vi pratar om hur är det är att bevaka ett krig där hotet om kärnvapen finns närvarande och vad folket i Ukraina själva tror om kärnvapenhotet.

Dessutom ska vi reda på bakgrunden till varför Pink Floyd sjunger en Ukrainsk folkvisa.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

   

Kan Sverige bygga upp en beredskap för en kärnvapenattack? Eller är enda vägen framåt att arbeta för nedrustning? I det här avsnittet möter du Vendela Englund Burnett, ordförande i Svenska läkare mot kärnvapen, som menar att den svenska sjukvården skulle stå maktlös vid en kärnvapenattack. Vendela Englund Burnett är dessutom en av få som besökt de hemliga områdena i Sibirien där kärnvapen produceras.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

1945 fälldes två atombomber över Hiroshima och Nagasaki i Japan. Attackerna slog ut städerna och dödade över 200 000 personer. Kriget i Ukraina har återigen satt fokus på kärnvapenfrågan. Men vad har världen lärt sig av historien? Hur nära var det att kärnvapen avfyrades under Kuba-krisen? Och vad spelar sanktioner egentligen för roll? I det här avsnittet möter du Peter Wallensteen, professor och pionjär inom fredsforskningen. Dessutom får du höra hur det var när Peter som ung student blev inbjuden till samma fest som Alva Myrdal. 

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

   

För första gången sedan kalla kriget står världen inför ett reellt kärnvapenhot. Hur hamnade vi här och vilken roll kan Alva Myrdal center spela i nedrustningen? I det första avsnittet av vår andra säsong möter du Erik Melander, professor och föreståndare för det nystartade Alva Myrdal Center.

Researching Peace - en podcast från institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning samt Alva Myrdal-centrum för kärnvapennedrustning vid Uppsala Universitet.

How is peace research perceived in different places around the world? Do the perceptions remain the same when we move from a research environment in the global north to another in the south? If there is variation, what is the reason behind it? In this episode, Pedro Valenzuela -Professor of International Relations at the Javeriana University- and Angela Muvumba Sellström -Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and affiliated to Uppsala University?s Department of Peace and Conflict Research- talk about how peace research is viewed in the global south. They highlight the value of global partnerships and collaborations shaping the perceptions on this particular research field. Valenzuela and Sellström also discuss how researchers, practitioners, and policymakers can help create a fertile climate for peace by participating in outreach programs.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

What are the ethical challenges of conducting field research in conflict-affected areas? In this episode, Prakash Bhattarai -the Founder and Executive Director of Center for Social Change- and Karen Brounéus - Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University- talk about their experiences in the field, including in post-war Nepal, and they highlight some of the perils of doing field research. In addition, they underline the significance of creating a research culture of reflection and honesty. Sharing and learning from mistakes might be the key to building this culture, according to Bhattarai and Brounéus.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Is it possible to forecast when and where violence will escalate in the future? In this episode, Håvard Hegre -Dag Hammarskjöld Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo- talks about how he approaches to the question of prediction in peace studies. As the leader of the Violence Early-Warning System (ViEWS) project, Hegre explains the main components of a machine learning-based conflict forecast model. He also mentions various ethical dimensions of producing publicly available predictions.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

How can peace research play a role in the developments in international relations and diplomacy? How does the interaction between theory and practice work in the context of peace and conflict? In this episode, Jan Eliasson - Honorary Doctor of Uppsala University, former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, and former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs - talks about his experiences of interacting with peace research in his diplomatic efforts. He provides significant insights on the value of evidence-based policies and scientifically grounded policies in the field of peacebuilding and international mediation. In this regard, he emphasizes the role of the DPCR and SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), especially in peace efforts led by Swedish researchers and policymakers around the world.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

How should peace researchers reflect on ethics in their studies? What are the key challenges that they are likely to face while investigating on the ground in the conflict zones? Are ethical review boards really necessary? In this episode of Researching Peace, Kristine Höglund -Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University- talks about how to conduct peace research in an ethical manner. She also points out the significance of a rarely-addressed facet of the research ethics debates i.e. the climate responsibilities of the academia.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Why do we need data on conflicts in order to understand peace? The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) has been collecting systematic information on organized violence around the world for almost 40 years. In this episode of Researching Peace, the UCDP?s program director Magnus Öberg and project manager Therese Pettersson explain the logic and practice of collecting conflict data and they highlight what makes the UCDP one of the leading data sources in the field of peace and conflict research. Öberg and Pettersson also talk about the recent trends in organized violence in light of the newly released UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset 21.1.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Do we need to study civil resistance to better understand war and peace? Does civil resistance even work? If so, when and how? In this episode of Researching Peace, Erica Chenoweth - Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Kennedy School and Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study- talks about the study of civil resistance and shares her insights on the patterns of nonviolent and violent campaigns. Chenoweth?s transformation from a ?detached skeptic? to an ?invested participant in nonviolent movements? opens questions on the role of scholars and the ethics of studying civil resistance.   Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Civil society initiatives for peace are valuable in conflict-affected regions. Peace research learns a lot from the good practices and paves the way for practitioners and policy-makers to make them realize what works and what not when it comes to peacebuilding. In this episode, Hannah Tsadik ? Advocacy Director for Open Society Foundation, Africa Regional Office ? talks about how to respond to conflict as a civil society actor. Her insights on how her studies at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research have affected her work on the ground give some clues on how to minimize the gap between research and practice.   Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Peace research seeks to understand the causes, dynamics, and resolution of armed conflicts and organized violence. In this episode, Kjell-Åke Nordquist ? Professor of International Relations at the University College Stockholm- is talking about the origins and the evolution of peace and conflict research in Uppsala. As a former Head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, he is narrating how he was trained as a peace researcher and how the training had changed over time. He is also sharing how his experiences as a peace researcher helped him in different conflict settings, especially while he was acting as a facilitator in East Timor.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Conflict-ridden areas are at the focus of peace research in academia. But how does it feel to be on the ground? In this episode, Jamie LeSueur -Head of Emergency Operations at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Uppsala University Alumnus of the Year (2020)- shares some insights on his daily work as a practitioner and talks about how his time in Uppsala has been affecting his decisions at IFRC. As a master's graduate from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, LeSueur emphasizes that a degree in this field provides "a taste of what reality looks like" and being on the ground may provide even more.

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Is there a divide between research and policy? If so, how does this gap manifest itself? In this episode, Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs -Head of Research at the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA)- and Govinda Clayton -Senior Researcher in Peace Processes within the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich- talk about how to bridge the gap especially in peace and conflict related issues. Communication between the researchers and policymakers seems to be the key but why is it so difficult to set the scene for better communication?

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.

Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University has been working on understanding organized violence since 1971. In this episode, Peter Wallensteen -Senior Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and Professor Emeritus at University of Notre Dame- takes a look at this 50-year-long journey, talks about the foundational moments of the department and tries to answer some of the biggest questions in the field: What is peace research really about? Why do we need to make peace "researchable??

Researching Peace is a podcast from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, hosted by Professor Isak Svensson.