ANCIP

Several members of the ANCIP network presented research findings at this year’s 66th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) in Chicago, USA. As the largest conference in the field of International Studies, the ISA took place from 2-5 March 2025 under the theme “Reconnecting International Studies”.

On 11 February 2025, the second ANCIP Transfer Workshop took place in Brussels with logistical support by the Brussels office of the Leibniz Association. Representatives from European and African embassies, the EU Commission, think tanks, political party foundations, and research institutions attended the workshop to engage with the work of...

In cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation office in Berlin, the ANCIP (African Non-Military Conflict Intervention Practices) competence network has organized its first transfer workshop on 6 February 2025. The project is generously funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, 2022–2026).

In late January ANCIP held its sixth workshop, this time the network convened in Duisburg. The three days offered ANCIP fellows and PIs an opportunity for exchange on progress and challenges. As we did during the previous workshops, we also used the time spent together to provide each other with...

From November to December 2024, S. Elisabeth Warnck was a guest researcher at PRIF. During this time, she collaborated with Antonia Witt's research group and engaged with the ANCIP team in Frankfurt, focusing on the ANCIP Portal and her dissertation project. The research stay facilitated valuable exchanges and synergies between...

From December 11–12, 2024, the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)—under the College of Humanities at the University of Ghana and jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the University of Ghana—hosted a conference titled “Dealing with Conflict, Preparing for Peace: Current...

Jonas Schaaf conducted his field research in Abuja from mid-October to mid-November. In interviews with ECOWAS officials whose work is related to the project's themes, practices and logics of civil society inclusion in the West African regional organization’s interventions were identified.

ANCIP is pleased to announce the launch of two new publication series: the ANCIP Policy Papers and the ANCIP Working Papers. The series are dedicated to providing information on ongoing research, exploring novel topics, and generating policy advice on topics related to African non-military conflict intervention practices.

Emma Birikorang, acting Director of Research of Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra has joined University Duisburg-Essen (INEF) for a first stay as ANCIP fellow in fall 2024.

El-Ghassim Wane, former head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), has been this fall’s ANCIP fellow at Leipzig University. Among others, Wane is a former UN assistant secretary-general peacekeeping, former chief advisor to the chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), and director peace and security...

Last September, Jasmin Schmitz embarked on her third field research trip to gain insights into Regional Infrastructures for Peace (RI4P).

This summer ANCIP was part of 17th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (PEC) held at the Université Catholique de Lille from 27. until 31 August 2024. ANCIP-fellow Jasmin Schmitz presented her research on Local Inclusion in West African Regional Peacebuilding Structures.

In recent years, peace missions by the African Union (AU) and various African regional organizations have increasingly relied on the use of special envoys. These envoys are tasked with advancing peace processes in conflict-prone regions, aiming to strengthen African and local solutions over international interventions. However, the diplomatic interventions conducted...

The ANCIP team held its fifth network workshop in Leipzig, enjoying three sunny days around the beautiful Nikolaikirche. Like the previous times, these days spent together were a great opportunity to reconnect, exchange and plan the next steps of our project.

On 8 July 2024, ANCIP was represented at the European Conference on Politics and Gender, taking place from 8-10 July at Ghent University. ANCIP fellow S. Elisabeth Warnck co-chaired a panel on Feminist approaches to regional peace and security in the Global South, with Dr. Karmen Tornius (Freie Universität Berlin).

In February and March 2024, ANCIP fellow, Camille Vern, spent two months as a visiting research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

From 5-7 February 2024, the ANCIP network met for its fourth internal project workshop at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) in Frankfurt am Main.

On December 4, 2023, the Ancip portal project participated in this year’s Digital Humanities Day at Leipzig University (DHDL’23).

ANCIP members Antonia Witt, Christof Hartmann and Ulf Engel jointly participated in a conference on the theme "Sustainable Regional Peacekeeping".

Camille Vern, research fellow and PhD candidate at ANCIP, conducted research at the headquarters of the African Union from the beginning of August until the end of November 2023. During her time in Addis Ababa, she met with relevant stakeholders at the AU, experts on mediation and preventive diplomacy, as...

In late August of 2023 one of our ANCIP-researchers travelled to Ghana to explore the Ghanian peace structures. Upon her arrival she had the opportunity to discuss peacebuilding mechanisms with public officials, academics and civil society. The objective of this research visit was to understand how different actors work together...

At the invitation of Dr. Antonia Witt, I was privileged to spend two months (June to July 2023) as a visiting research professor at PRIF. The visit allowed me to interact with PRIF staff and conduct research in three main areas: mediation of African conflicts by retired presidents; assess the...

The 3rd ANCIP Workshop, held from July 12 to 14, 2023, in Duisburg, was a significant step for the project. Hosted by the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at Duisburg-Essen University, this workshop provided a platform for project members to share their research findings, exchange insights, and strategically plan...

The ANCIP project convened a panel the Seventh European Congress on World and Global History, held at Leiden University and The Hague from June 29 to July 1, 2023. The conference provided a dynamic platform for scholars and practitioners to delve into diverse aspects of world and global history under...

Dimpho Deleglise executed her first field study expedition to Addis Ababa from May 16 to June 16, 2023, to investigate the practical implementation and institutional embedding of the African Union's diplomatic engagement in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, via its High-Level Panel of three Special envoys.

At this year’s European Conference on African Studies with the theme “African Futures”, the ANCIP network was represented in different capacities. On the 31 May 2023, research fellow S. Elisabeth Warnck presented a paper on “Mapping African Union and ECOWAS meeting and document practices in the area of peace and...

Mona Saleh conducted field research in Abuja, Nigeria, from April 9 to April 29, 2023, with the aim of exploring the relationship between ECOWAS and its development partners, specifically focusing on how this relationship shapes ECOWAS’s non-military intervention practices, including mediation, preventive diplomacy, and early warning.

The AU@20: Achievements and Challenges of the Pan-African Project – Seminar at Nelson Mandela University Tuesday, 28 March 2023.

From 25th to 27th January 2023, the ANCIP research project held its 2nd workshop in Leipzig, Germany in order to evaluate the first phase of field research at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and to plan the second year of the project. The workshop was specifically designed for...

From mid-October to the end of November, the ANCIP researchers Camille Vern, S. Elisabeth Warnck (ReCentGlobe, University of Leipzig) and Jonas Schaaf (PRIF) conducted research at the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa. Setting continental frameworks for peace and security, the AU represents a key actor investigated by the ANCIP...

From 27th to 29th September 2022, the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1199 held its 7th annual conference on “Mediating Spatial Imaginations” at Leipzig University, Germany. One of the conference panels was chaired by the two ANCIP team members Ulf Engel (CRC 1199 & Leipzig University) and Skollan Elisabeth Warnck (Leipzig...

On 11 and 12 July, the ANCIP network met for its first internal project workshop in Frankfurt am Main. During the workshop, ANCIP members presented the research plans and state of the art for each of the seven subprojects. In addition to that, we also discussed topics around field research...

On April 18, 2022, the newly established ANCIP research project kickstarted its work with an insightful roundtable discussion on the recent wave of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. The panelists were the principal investigators of the newly founded ANCIP project, Prof. Dr. Ulf Engel (University Leipzig), Dr. Antonia Witt...