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June 2026
 
 
 
 

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

 
 
 
   

Unrestrained power politics and rampant violence are currently shaking the international order. Major and middle powers such as the United States, Russia and Israel, but also Pakistan, Ethiopia and the Gulf monarchies, are pursuing politics by military means, thereby further intensifying global conflicts. In the process, international law is increasingly being sidelined.

In light of this alarming situation, INEF and three other leading peace research institutes presented their annual Peace Report today at the German Federal Press Conference in Berlin. Its central message is clear: Violations of international law – including those committed by allies and partners such as the United States or Israel – must be consistently condemned. At the same time, the ability of the United Nations to act must be safeguarded. In addition, the report underlines the peace-promoting role of development cooperation. It can serve as a counterweight to power politics if it is guided by inclusivity, human rights and conflict prevention.

The full report, featuring in-depth analyses and concrete policy recommendations, is now available to download free of charge – it is well worth a read!

As always, this newsletter also includes further upcoming events and publications from sef: and INEF.

We hope you enjoy reading it!

Kind regards,

 
Ingo Nordmann-Mohn, Development and Peace Foundation (sef:)   Carolin Rosenberg, Institute for Development and Peace (INEF)    
 
Upcoming Events

© Deutsche Welle

Autocrats and Algorithms: Tools to Defend Press Freedom in the Age of AI

sef: Session at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 
23 June 2026, 14:00 hrs, World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB)

Our session at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is coming closer! It will discuss strategies for protecting press freedom and strengthening journalistic integrity in the age of AI. On the panel: Sahana Udupa, Professor of Media Anthropology at LMU Munich, and Jasper Steinlein, Editorial AI Manager at Deutsche Welle.

Registration is now possible via Deutsche Welle (charges apply). 

Publications

© PRIF

The New Warlords: Containing the Dynamics of Violence

2026 Peace Report

Unrestrained power politics, rampant violence, and the erosion of international legal norms: the international order is under increasing pressure. Heads of state such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are acting as “new warlords” who flout international rules and wage war to advance their personal interests. The 2026 Peace Report, jointly published by Germany’s leading peace research institutes BICC, IFSH, PRIF, and INEF, analyzes these developments and outlines options for promoting peace nonetheless.

The chapter on “Sustainable Peace”, coordinated by INEF, warns of the serious consequences of funding cuts in development cooperation. The dismantling of the US development agency USAID in 2025, for example, has significantly set back efforts to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. The authors call for a strategic realignment of German and European development cooperation, with financial resources and expertise being pooled more strongly at EU level. At the same time, the peace-promoting role of development cooperation is emphasized.

Results and reports

© Nikola Schmidt

Cooperation or Confrontation: International partnerships vs. my country first (in German)

Dresden Forum for International Politics

The report on the 2026 Dresden Forum on International Politics has now been published (in German). It recounts the fascinating discussion between Olaf Scholz, Member of the German Bundestag, Minister-President Michael Kretschmer and international law expert Prof. Dr Heike Krieger, and explores what international cooperation might look like in times of growing conflict.

Our website also collects media coverage on the event, including a short TV feature (in German) and a photo gallery of the event.

© Ser_is_Snarkish / Flickr

Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Once Again Ends Without Consensus

Leonardo Bandarra reflects on the outcome of the conference

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) gathered in New York for the Eleventh Review Conference. As in 2015 and 2022, the states were unable to agree on a final outcome document and thus on common steps towards nuclear disarmament. INEF researcher Leonardo Bandarra attended the conference in New York and analyses the key lines of conflict in his report. He also discusses what conditions would be necessary in the future to achieve joint outcomes once again and to overcome the persistent deadlocks in the review process.

Development and Peace Foundation (sef:)
Dechenstraße 2 | 53115 Bonn | Germany
sef@sef-bonn.org
www.sef-bonn.org

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Institute for Development and Peace (INEF)
Lotharstraße 53 | 47057 Duisburg
inef-sek@uni-due.de
https://www.uni-due.de/inef/

© sef: 2026

The Development and Peace Foundation (sef:) was founded in 1986 on the initiative of Willy Brandt. It is a cross-party and non-profitmaking organisation. sef: provides an international high-level forum for shared thinking on the complex challenges of globalisation. It is linked to the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) by a cooperation agreement. The aim of INEF’s application-oriented research is to build bridges between theory and practice.