Durham Global Security Institute

Monday: 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday: 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday: 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday: 09:00 - 17:00
Friday: 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday: -
Sunday: -

About Durham Global Security Institute

Towards preventing conflict and building a more secure and inclusive world. . .

Durham Global Security Institute Description

In a world of rapidly changing threats and conflict dynamics, state and non-state actors have had to rethink their approach to conflict - and each other. Faced with drawn-out, asymmetric campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, military leaders, policy makers and humanitarian agencies have begun to explore an 'integrated approach' in which the primary declared goal is securing populations and their political, economic and security needs. At the same time, attention has begun to shift from intervention to conflict prevention.

However, whether the aim is to prevent, intervene or stabilise, simply strengthening state structures to make insurgency or terrorism impossible without addressing underlying human security concerns is not enough, since increased coercive power often exacerbates security concerns. Equally important is to increase responsiveness to local communities' needs, strengthen conflict resolution mechanisms and democratic oversight, and adapt international governance models and local dynamics to each other. Success will be determined by how well local and international defence, development and diplomacy agencies (state or non-state) work together and with local power-brokers.

Academia has an important role to play in this process. Through area expertise, empirically-tested research and historical, comparative and critical perspectives, it can help to inform - and challenge - the practices for preventing future conflict, stabilising violent situations and responsive post-conflict reconstruction. It can critique from its position of independence and give voice to marginalised, subaltern and non-state perspectives. Yet, few universities have taken up the challenge of systematically exploring the interface between all three elements of the defence-development-diplomacy triad and their impact on not just national and international but especially human security.

In response to this challenge, Durham University is establishing the Durham Global Security Institute (DGSI) for Defence, Development and Diplomacy. Located in a world class university, spanning seven Departments, and drawing on a remarkably diverse global network of leading scholars and practitioners, DGSI provides an inter-disciplinary framework within which to critically examine the interplay between defence, development and diplomacy in the contexts of conflict prevention, humanitarian intervention and post-conflict stabilisation and peacebuilding.

DGSI's core mission is to offer a neutral and independent environment in which military personnel, diplomats, civil servants, NGO and IGO staff, academics, and stakeholders can meet and learn from each other's perspectives. Uniquely, DGSI situates itself at the intersection between war and defence, peace and diplomacy and development studies, within a framework in which critical and subaltern perspectives can interact with problem-solving and traditional approaches.

To meet tomorrow's challenges, and to do so with integrity and sensitivity, we must break out of our existing paradigms and practices, and forge new ones out of the cross-fertilisation of these disparate perspectives. DGSI is pledged to play a decisive role in bringing this about.

Dr Jeroen Gunning

Director, Durham Global Security Institute

Reviews

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Please join us for another DGSi Public Lecture with Prof. Louiza Odysseos: Tuesday 21st January 2020, 4-6pm, Al-Qasimi Building IM102.

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DGSi event this afternoon 3-5pm in the Oriental Museum. Please join us!

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Dear DGSi friends,
We are delighted to start our public lecture series of the new academic year 2019/20 with Gordon Bacon. He is a former policeman (from the Durham area) who has worked on missing persons in the former Yugoslavia (following the civil wars) and Sri Lanka (following the Tsunami). We encourage the new cohort of MSc students to engage with his rich experience as a practitioner and join us today (8 October) at 16:00 in the Al-Qasimi Building, IM102.
We hope to see you there!

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Dear DGSI friends
We are proud to invite you to a special exhibition making part of our workshop on Governing (Im-)Mobilities: International Borders, Borderlands and Border Cities, to be held from May 23 to 24, 2019.
We will be showcasing the work of Himani Gupta in room IM101 at the Al Qasimi building, starting with a presentation tomorrow at 1:30 pm. Himani Gupta's work will be exhibited from 9 a.m. on may 23rd until 12:30 on May 24th.
... Please join us in this visual take on our discussions about ongoing work on borders, borderlands and border cities.
For more information please contact r.t.kormoll@durham.ac.uk
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Dear friends, you can now follow us on Twitter: @DGSi_

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DGSI friends: We would like to invite you to our exhibition launch and panel discussion "Security on the Move" on thursday, March 14, 2019 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Arch at the Africa Centre (66 Great Suffolk Street London, SE1 0BL):
Large scale migration and forced displacement are among the most dramatic consequences of war and political instability. In the DGSI research project ‘Security on the Move’, forty people who have been displaced to Somali cities took pictures to do...cument their experiences and everyday lives. An exhibition of these images and the photographers' testimonies will be launched on 14 March 2019 in London. The event is free but registration for the launch is required through Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/security-o n-the-move-exhibit…
Launch event programme (3-5pm, 14 March 2019) • Introduction of the research project and presentations of the main findings • Guided tour through the exhibition. Visitors can explore the exhibition and talk to the researchers • Panel discussion featuring humanitarian practioners and policy makers dealing with challenges of rapid urbanisation and migration. There will be opportunities for the audience to ask questions and engage with the panelists and the research team.
*Although this launch event will take place between 3-5pm, the exhibition is open to the public from 12-3pm and 5-7pm (no RSVP necessary)
Project background
The ‘Security on the Move’ project is conducted by the Durham Global Security Institute at Durham University, Noragric at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and the Somali civil society organisation SOWELPA, in collaboration with UNHabitat. For this research, interviews were conducted with 120 displaced people in the cities of Baidoa, Bosaaso, Hargeisa and Mogadishu. Forty internally displaced people were trained and equipped to take photographs that document their everyday lives in order to present their perspectives on security and urbanisation across these cities.
All exhibited photographs were taken by displaced people who have participated in the project. Public exhibitions and discussions have already been held in the four Somali project cities in January 2019. These are now being following with exhibitions in Oslo, London and Nairobi.
Project funded by Department of International Development (DFID), UK and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK
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The OSCE is calling for applications to its 2019 Junior Professional Officer Programme, open to nationals of OSCE participating States. For more information visit https://jobs.osce.org/…/junior-professi onal-officer-vnsecs0…

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Dear DGSI friends,
We are reigniting our DGSI lecture series next week as Dr Toni Haastrup will deliver her talk “Practicing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in Africa: A Regional Perspective”. Dr Haastrup’s talk focuses on her contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace and Security, reflecting on the type of contributions made by African practices of the WPS agenda as a way of introducing a difference from the dominating narratives of WPS from the Global North. Dr Haastrup is a Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Kent, dedicated to researching the EU’s external relations in Africa as well as Africa’s International Relations.
Her talk is scheduled for Thursday the 28th of February from 17.00 to 18.30 at Room MHL452 in the Mill Hill Lane building.

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DGSi would like to invite papers and panels for two events focused on the study of urban violence:
- A first call for the section on ‘Violence in the City: Actors, Forms and Dynamics of Urban Violence’ at the European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR) conference taking place in Wrocław, Poland, from 04-07 September 2019. This section draws attention to the different direct and indirect forms of urban violence, its actors, dynamics and causes. Submission deadline i...s 18th, February 2019
- A second call for the section 'Violence Security Capitalism: Global Perspectives on the City ' at the European Studies Association Pan-European Conference (EISA PEC) taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 11-14 September 2019. This call looks for papers for the following panels:
•Property, Power and Politics in the City •Everyday Politics in Austere Times: Navigating Cities of Violence •Violence and Urban Infrastructure •City Industries and Conflicts •Methodological Approaches to Study Violence and “Dangerous” Places •Resistance to Capitalism in the City •Governing International Mobilities: regulating movement and flows in cities •City and Terrorism
Submission deadline is 28th, February 2019
For more information on both calls please visit: https://www.dur.ac.uk/…/resear…/proje cts/violenceandthecity/
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Our students are working on conflict mapping, conflict sensitive approaches and programme management, looking at pastoralist conflicts in Northern Kenya.

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A paid training opportunity for anyone with an interest in the Western Balkans and with knowledge of local languages of the region: https://eed.recruitee.com/o/traineeship-w estern-balkans-pro…

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Dear DGSI friends,
Next week we will have the opportunity to host Dr André Bank from the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies who will be delivering his presentation: "In the Neighbourhood of War: Transformations in the Syrian-Jordanian Borderland."
Dr Bank's talk will reflect findings from field research in Norhern Jordan, arguing for the need to disaggregate temporally and spatially the local logics of (in)security. Such bottom-up view takes perceptions of (in)security... of people living in the broderland of war and compares them with quite simplistic models of violent conflict diffusion and spread.
This DGSI lecture series event will take place on tuesday Octoebr 30th, in room MHL452 at the Durham Business School from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
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Dear DGSI friends,
We would like to make you aware that our workshop on 'Governing (Im-)Mobilities' will take place from May 23-24, 2019, and not from May 30-31, as indicated on the website. The workshop aims to explore the transformation of borders and border regimes. It will look into conflicts this transformation generates, and discuss the implications this has for our understanding of the state, sovereignty and political authority more generally.
DGSi would like to i...nvite papers exploring borders, borderlands and bordercities in theoretical, historical-comparative and/or in-depth empirical enquiries. Scholars from a wide range of disciplines are welcome to apply, including, but not limited to history, geography, anthropology, sociology, economics, archeology, international relations, security and urban studies
The workshop is organised by Jutta Bakonyi (jutta.bakonyi@durham.ac.uk) and Raphaela Kormoll (r.t.kormoll@durham.ac.uk), and hosted by the Durham Global Security Institute (www.dur.ac.uk/dgsi/) at the School of Government and International Affairs in collaboration with IBRU: Durham University’s Centre for Borders Research (www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/). Regular updates on the event can be found on the Durham Global Security Institute’s website at: www.dur.ac.uk/dgsi/seminars/workshops/bor ders/.
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For those of you with an interest in Bosnia-Herzegovina and also seeking some work experience, Remembering Srebrenica in Birmingham are looking for volunteers to support their advocacy work.

More about Durham Global Security Institute

Durham Global Security Institute is located at Al-Qasimi Building, Elvet Hill Road, DH1 3TU Durham, Durham
+44 (0)191 334 5656
Monday: 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday: 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday: 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday: 09:00 - 17:00
Friday: 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday: -
Sunday: -
http://www.durham.ac.uk/dgsi