Short News 2024
In collaboration with the Society of the History of War, the AKM is organizing an online workshop for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers for the first time in March 2025. The workshop is primarily intended to provide an opportunity for mutual exchange and international networking. All further information can be found in the attached CfP.
The deadline is January 10, 2025.
Students at the Berlin Security Conference 2024
On November 19 and 20, five students from the War and Conflict Studies and International War Studies degree programs had the opportunity to take part in the Berlin Security Conference (BSC). This took place for the second time as part of a cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Germany (PwC). Philip Braun, Sarah Gehle, Elian Hadj Hamdi, Aline Michutta and Johanna Maria Stroh not only represented the course by looking after the exhibition stand, but also took the opportunity to take part in a number of exciting panels.
A particular highlight was the presentation by Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, on the occasion of NATO's 75th anniversary. The numerous specialist panels were also impressive. The central conclusion of many discussions was the increasing importance of the massive use of drones, particularly in conflicts such as in Ukraine and Israel. This change is permanently altering the global defense landscape by increasing strategic flexibility.
The conference offered students a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into current security policy issues and to make contacts. Many thanks to PwC Germany for making this enriching experience possible.
Panel Discussion on Security Policy: After the Presidential Elections in the United States
This year's security policy panel discussion, a cooperation between the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Chair of War Studies, took place on November 7, 2024 in the Presidential Wing (House 9). The topic of the evening event was the security policy consequences of the presidential elections in the USA. Major General Wolf-Jürgen Stahl, President of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS), and Jürgen Hardt, MdB, Foreign Policy Spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, moderated by Prof. Dr. Sönke Neitzel.
further information here
Opening of the New Academic Year 2024
This year's opening of the academic year took place on October 11, 2024. The new cohorts of the MA degree programs in War and Conflict Studies and in International War Studies were welcomed. At the same time, the Chair of War Studies honored the graduates of the past year, who had again devoted themselves to a wide range of Master's dissertation topics and achieved very pleasing results. At the center of this year's celebrations were once again the prizes awarded by the Chair: The two most outstanding students in the MA International War Studies, the Australian Étienne Darcas and the Finn Maisa Mattila, each received a scholarship from the Association of Friends of the Chair of War Studies worth EUR 7,000. This scholarship will help finance their second year of study in Dublin. The Chair's annual Prize for best graduate in War Studies was awarded this year to Johannes R. Fischbach, who wrote his excellent Master's dissertation on a naval history topic in the MA War and Conflict Studies. This prize consists of an honorary ring and a prize money of EUR 500, both of which are donated by the Friends of the Chair. Mr. Fischbach's speech was self-deprecating and thought-provoking, and was intended to motivate the first-year students to give their best at the University of Potsdam. The evening came to a fitting end on the terrace of House 9: As in previous years, in the glorious sunset with pretzels and champagne, with a view of the Neues Palais.
The DFG Research Unit “Military Cultures of Violence - Illegitimate Military Violence from the Early Modern Period to the Second World War” (FOR 2898) has been approved for a second research phase. With spokesperson Sönke Neitzel, the following research projects will be launched from spring 2025:
On the cause of violence. Military attacks, looting and the destruction of cultural assets during the Seven Years' War using the example of Saxony (1756-1763)
Project management: Marian Füssel
Crossing borders. On the genesis, extent and consequences of “illegitimate” violence in the Spanish Carlist Wars of the 19th century
Project management: Birgit Aschmann
Cultures of violence in the armies of the major European powers during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Violent offenses and international discourses (1792-1815)
Project management: Gundula Gahlen
The Emergence of the Polish Army: National Self-Assertion and Military Violence (1914-1926)
Jan Behrends
Atrocities and excesses. Illegitimate violence by the US Army in the age of world wars, 1914-1945
Sönke Neitzel
From September 17 to 22, Christian E. Rieck introduced the topics of Germany‘s new defense posture, European security policy and geopolitics at the "Kampala Geopolitics Academy". The weeklong training in the Ugandan capital was organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Security Policy Dialogue East Africa, which for the first time brought together a group of young academics from all East African countries. Other presentations by German and local experts addressed the conflicts in Sudan and the Horn of Africa, as well as terrorism in the Sahel and the role of non-Western actors in the region.
More information here
From July 24 to 26, 2024, Christian E. Rieck gave three papers on, amongst other topics, science diplomacy as well as German defence policy at the "WISC 2024" conference of the World International Studies Committee WISC in Warsaw. Alongside the annual conference of the International Studies Association ISA, this international conference is the largest in the field of international relations, with strong participation from the Global South. The conference took place at the University of Warsaw.
More information here
Discussion round with State Secretary Bagger on
On 10 July 2024, State Secretary Thomas Bagger from the Federal Foreign Office visited the Chair. He discussed the turning point from a foreign policy perspective with students o
Excursion to the Berlin Underworlds
On 8 July 2024, an excursion financed by the Förderverein took Master's students, members of the KAS university group and the Förderverein to the air raid shelter at Gesundbrunnen underground station. The tour of Berlin's underworlds was a journey back in time to the air war of 1940-45. Many thanks to our guides Daniel Sturm and Elliot Rix!
Christian E. Rieck gave a paper on "German science diplomacy in Latin America" at the annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association LASA in Bogotá from June 12 to 15, 2024. This international conference is the largest academic conference worldwide in the field of interdisciplinary Latin American studies and took place with strong participation from Latin American academia. The conference took place at the Universidad Javeriana, one of the best universities in Colombia.
More information here
