Research overview

Our research

The Institute for Global Peacecraft conducts independent research on how the concept of peace is defined and used in academia, law, policy and practice. Its aim is to identify the common ground these understandings share and to articulate it as a comprehensive theory of change for global peace. That common ground includes assumptions these understandings hold without stating them.

Maintaining international peace and security is the first purpose of the United Nations, yet international law has no generally accepted definition of peace. The Institute examines how far actors at all levels, from intergovernmental bodies to religious leaders and local communities, already pursue the same ends. Articulating that common ground can help their efforts reinforce rather than compete with one another.

The research is intended for Member States, United Nations entities, civil society and the academic community. The Institute publishes every step of the reasoning, including the points at which it could be wrong.

What we study

The research of the Institute is organized around five questions:

  • What is peace, and how is it defined across academia, law, policy and practice?
  • What do these definitions have in common, and what do they assume without saying so?
  • How can peace, so understood, be measured, and its negation, violence, be identified?
  • What does building peace entail, and what does restoring it entail once it has been negated?
  • To what extent are international law, policy and institutions designed to maintain peace and to restore it when it is negated?

Five research programmes address these questions, one each. Each builds on the ones before. The first three feed the fourth, a theory of change for global peace offered for discussion, and the fifth applies it to law, policy and institutions.

Research programmes

Research programmeConcepts and Definitions of PeaceGathering how peace is defined, as the evidence base for the Institute’s researchGathers how peace is defined and used in research, law, policy and practice. Its intended output is a systematic record of these definitions, the evidence base for the programmes that follow.Learn moreResearch programmeCommon Ground for PeaceIdentifying what diverse understandings of peace have in commonCompares those definitions to find what they have in common, including assumptions they make without stating them. Its intended output is a statement of that common ground, precise enough to be tested and critiqued.Learn moreResearch programmePeace Measurement and IndicatorsTurning the common ground into indicators of peaceWorks out how peace can be observed and measured in practice: within a person, between people and between groups. Its intended output is a set of indicators of peace that can be tested against data.Learn moreResearch programmeTheory of Change for Global PeaceBringing the common ground and its indicators together into a theory of change for global peaceBrings together the definitions, their common ground and its indicators. Its intended output is a comprehensive theory of change for global peace, offered as a starting point for discussion.Learn moreResearch programmePeace in Law, Policy and InstitutionsApplying the theory of change to law, policy and institutionsApplies the theory of change to law, policy and institutions. Its intended output is an assessment of how far they are aligned with it, and how far they produce peace or violence.Learn more

How we work

We reason from first principles, starting points that are accessible to all people regardless of any distinguishing characteristic like race, nationality, or gender. Our two research articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals. We explain our research in plain language, with examples, and we invite ongoing open discussion regarding our findings.

Learn more about how we work

Latest publications and events

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  • Side eventThe Future of Peace: Defining a Foundation for Global Peacecraft

    Organized and moderated by the Institute at the fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council

    24 March 2025 | Room XXV, Palais des Nations, Geneva

No upcoming events have been announced. See all events