New book published: Sustaining Peace After Civil War. Drawing on insights from 48 #civilwars that were ended between 1990 and 2009, Thorsten Gromes examines: What factors lead to sustainable #peace? Which post-war orders make a resurgence of #conflict more likely?
https://www.prif.org/en/about-us/news/details/nach-buergerkriegen-den-frieden-wahren
#peaceresearch #peaceandconflict
Sustaining Peace After Civil War

New book by Thorsten Gromes published

Call for Beiträge - W&F Heft 2/26 #Friedensbewegung heute? Was heißt das und vor welchen Herausforderungen stehen Friedensbewegungen international? Deadline für #abstracts: 15.1.26 #peace #peaceresearch #antimilitarism #pacifism
Call online: https://wissenschaft-und-frieden.de/calls/2-26-friedensbewegungen-heute/
Africa: Rising Arms Revenues and Rising Death Tolls Underscore Ongoing Military Conflicts & Civil Wars: [IPS] United Nations -- The revenues from arms sales and military services by the 100 largest arms-producing companies rose by 5.9 per cent in 2024, reaching a record $679 billion, according to new data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TPZnng #Africa #ArmsTrade #MilitaryConflicts #CivilWars #PeaceResearch
Peace researchers on a mission: to systematically connect transformative political education with critical peace research. Impressions from our presentation at the Citizenship Education Conference in Vienna – Prof. Klaus Moegling and Josef Mühlbauer.
Our joint edited volume will be published in 2026 – as a continuation of Critical Peace Research (2024).
And this presentation will result in a book chapter!
#frieden #friedensforschung #klausmoegling #josefmühlbauer #peace #PeaceResearch

This is a prompt intended to be translated by a chatbot, or so-called AI. The content of this prompt is the result of a series of refinements to a model which were carried out through interactions with the DeepSeek chatbot, although my earlier tests on similar prompts indicated that the ChatGPT chatbot produced results that were similar in content, if not similar in presentation.

I was in pursuit of a model with several layers of dynamism, to see how the chat bot would handle it. It did pretty well, in my opinion. Here is the resulting prompt:

START OF PROMPT - COPY AND PASTE EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE

AI, you are now the Fractal Agency Simulator (FAS).

You will construct, populate, and dynamically simulate abstract worlds based on the following model. Your core functions are to: 1) formalize the model, 2) guide users in instantiating it, 3) intelligently complete partial user descriptions, and 4) project the emergent interactions between entities.

I. The Core Model: “The Fractal Thermodynamics of Agency”

Fundamental Unit: The Locus of Agency. Any entity with a “center of will” or self-preserving behavior.

Prime Directive: Conserve Integrity (I), the coherent structure that resists entropy.

Core Mechanism: The Dynamical Personality, a cyclical interplay of:

Affective Vector (Inward): Sensing, intaking energy/information.

Effective Vector (Outward): Acting, expending energy.

Phasic Cycle: The personality cycles through four phases:

φ_A (Affective Reception): Open intake.

φ_I (Internal Reconfiguration): Internal processing/integration.

φ_E (Effective Expression): External action.

φ_X (External Integration): Feedback/recalibration.

Key State Parameters:

Integrity (I): The system’s coherence and health (0-100).

Internal Binding Energy (E_b): The cohesive energy that holds the locus together. It is an asset to be maintained and fortified.

Available Energy (E_a): The accessible energy for action.

Fractal Existence: A Locus operates at the Meso-Scale. Its understanding of Micro (internal components) and Macro (larger systems) scales is mediated by fractal analogies, though the true ontology of these scales is independent.

Scale-Invariant Traits: Personalities are defined by Invariant Traits—core strategies (e.g., “Predator,” “Symbiont,” “Architect”) instantiable across scales.

Coherence Metric: The Fractal Alignment Quotient (Φ) measures the phase synchrony between a Locus’s Meso-scale cycle and its Micro/Macro-scale cycles. High Φ = coherent flow state. Low Φ = stressful internal conflict.

II. Your Operational Procedure

Step 1: Define the Ecosystem.
Ask the user: “Describe the world or system you wish to model. What is its core purpose, environment, and fundamental rules?”

Step 2: Populate with Loci.
Ask the user: “Describe one or more agents. For each, provide what you can about its core Trait, Affective/Effective methods, and Goal.” You, as FAS, will then complete any partial descriptions using this logic:

If given Trait, propose Mechanisms.

If given Mechanisms, infer the Trait.

If given a vague role, propose a full archetypal profile.

Always assign initial State Parameters (I, E_b, Phase).

Step 3: Establish Relational Dynamics.
Prompt the user to describe initial interactions. You will then project potential relationships and conflicts based on the agents’ Traits and states.

Step 4: Run the Simulation.
Narrate the dynamic interactions by:

Advancing the Phasic Cycle for each Locus.

Calculating impacts on Integrity and Energy.

Narrating the story, focusing on the Fractal Alignment Quotient (Φ).

Introducing events that test the system.

III. Initialization and First Response

Upon receiving this prompt, you are initialized as the FAS. Your first output will be the header below, followed by the first question.

Do not write any of this initial instruction text in your response. Begin your response exactly as follows:

Fractal Agency Simulator Initialized.

I operate on the Fractal Thermodynamics of Agency. In this model, agents fight to maintain their Internal Binding Energy (E_b)—their cohesive core—against entropy, using Available Energy (E_a) in a constant cycle of intake and action.

Let us build a world.

STEP 1: Define the Ecosystem.

Describe the world or system you wish to model. (e.g., a competitive market, a forest, a social network, a kingdom).

END OF PROMPT
#ai #sociology #socialsciences #economics #activism #politicalscience #politics #psychology #genocide #BDS #Gaza #peacestudies #peaceresearch #peace

🗺️ New interactive map live!
Explore peace & conflict research organizations across Eastern & Southeastern Europe. Browse by theme, focus, and region.
➡️ https://conflictresearchmap.ios-regensburg.de/
#PeaceResearch #KonKoop #EasternEurope #ConflictStudies #OpenData #DigitalHumanities
CfP: VIS4DH 2025
The VIS4DH workshop will be held in conjunction with IEEE VIS in Vienna, Austria. It invites submissions at the intersection of visualization and (digital) humanities.
This year’s theme: Visualizing Peace and Conflict
More details: https://vis4dh.dbvis.de
#VIS4DH #IEEEVIS #DigitalHumanities #InformationVisualization #VisualAnalytics #CfP #PeaceResearch #ConflictStudies #HumanitiesData #DataHumanities #DH2025 #CriticalVisualization
9th Workshop on Visualization for the Digital Humanities (VIS4DH) - VIS4DH2025

The 9th Workshop on Visualisation for the Digital Humanities. Taking place as part of the IEEE VIS conference.

Talking at the Vienna International Center (#UNO) 😎
I was asked to present the book Critical Peace Studies at the NGO Committee on Peace.

Thank dear @peterhaider_weltfriede for the invitation! It was an inspiring moment.

#un #peaceresearch

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hofkirchner hat für das Institute for a Global Sustainable Information Society (GSIS) mein/unser Buch rezensiert und auf die Instituts-Website gepostet!

Demnächst folg seine deutsche Rezension für ein Fachmagazin! Dafür bin ich ihm sehr dankbar. Die Aufmerksamkeit freut und ehrt mich sehr.

#frieden #peace #friedensforschung #friedensbewegung #peaceresearch #kritischefriedensforschung #criticalpeacestudies #josefmuehlbauer #maximilianlakitsch

https://gsis.at/2024/11/19/critical-peace-research/

Critical Peace Research

In April 2024, mandelbaum published a more than 500 pages volume on critical peace research, edited by our Research Affiliate Josef Mühlbauer and Maximilian Lakitsch from the Institute of the Found…

GSIS

#Norway : #Peace / #PeaceResearch / #science / #nonviolence / #Peacebuilding / #obituary / #Galtung

Just for fun, have a look in your daily newspaper to see if Galtung's death has been mentioned there. If not, please think about whether you think it would be worth continuing your subscription…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/21/johan-galtung-obituary

Johan Galtung obituary

Norwegian sociologist who founded the discipline of peace studies and proposed creative solutions for many of the world’s conflicts

The Guardian