As the global balance of power shifts, Southeast Asia finds itself at the crossroads of economic transformation, technological advancement, and strategic realignments. One key element in this evolving landscape is China’s Digital Silk Road (DSR), a crucial component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aimed at positioning China as the global technological superpower. This initiative promises to reshape the global digital order and could trigger a technological and normative rift with far-reaching geopolitical consequences.

In this episode, recorded live at PRIO, a panel of regional experts and researchers unpack the findings of a three-year project examining China’s digital technology exports to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. How are these countries managing the promises and perils of digital infrastructure tied to Beijing’s ambitions? And what does it mean for sovereignty, governance, and global power?

From infrastructure and internet governance to normative influence and political risk, the conversation offers a comparative look at how Southeast Asia is responding to China’s rising digital influence.

Speakers:

• Dr. Ilaria Carrozza, PRIO
• Dr. Cheng-Chwee Kuik, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
• Julio Amador III, Ateneo de Manila University
• Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, CSIS Indonesia
• Chair: Nic Marsh, PRIO

🎙️ Tune in for a sharp, regionally grounded discussion on China’s Digital Silk Road and the digital futures of Southeast Asia.

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There has been a steep increase in the reliance on AI tools for warfighting. This is unsurprising as AI allows for increased speed on the battlefield, better surveillance, tracking, target identification and validation, as well as more data-driven decision support both for identifying capabilities and for target selection. The increased reliance on AI has fueled a push for more weapons’ autonomy on the battlefield.

These changes to the way wars are fought have led to a range of ethical concerns around the use of AI for life-or-death decisions on the battlefield. In this episode, recorded live at PRIO, a panel of experts explores the implications of AI-driven warfare. What does it mean to delegate life-or-death decisions to algorithms? How should states and societies respond to this accelerating trend?

Panelists:

• Eivind Vad Petersson, State Secretary, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Jovana Davidovic, Senior Researcher, PRIO
• Mitt Regan, Professor of Law, Georgetown University

Moderator: Greg Reichberg, PRIO

🎙️ Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on the intersection of AI, ethics, and modern conflict - and what’s at stake as the line between human and machine decision-making continues to blur.

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2025 marks a turning point for the global aid sector. While many donors are pulling back, Norway is charting a different course - reaffirming its commitment to flexible, principled funding and the strategic use of aid as soft power.

In this episode, recorded live at PRIO, a panel of leading scholars and practitioners explore how the current crisis in global aid might serve as an opportunity for transformation. Are we witnessing a reformist recalibration or a call to radically rethink the entire system?

From debates around localization and institutional memory to the role of evidence-based approaches and equitable participation, the conversation tackles the big questions shaping the future of aid.

Speakers:

• Erik Abild, NORAD
• Øyvind Eggen, Artikulert
• Gry Ballestad, Norwegian People’s Aid
• Ole Jacob Sending, NUPI & Centre for Geopolitics
• Simon Reid-Henry, PRIO
• Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, University of Oslo and PRIO

Chair: Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, PRIO

🎙️ Listen now for an unflinching discussion on the ideas, tensions, and actors shaping the future of global aid - and Norway’s place within it.

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Listen to this inspiring seminar with Professor Halleh Ghorashi, a leading scholar in diversity and inclusion at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). She shared how her understanding of engaged scholarship has evolved throughout her academic journey, highlighting its impact on academia, society, and refugee communities.

Drawing from her work with the 'research within expertise' lab: Refugee Academy at VU, Professor Ghorashi showcased how engaged scholarship can drive meaningful change. Critical theory and feminist epistemology have been central for her in approaching engaged scholarship from a transformative angle.

In conversation with PRIO Researcher Cindy Horst, Professor Ghorashi explored her work of co-generating societal change towards increased diversity and inclusion in the Netherlands. Her transformative engaged scholarship conceptually draws on epistemic justice and builds on methods of co-creating various forms of knowledge with communities.

• Halleh Ghorashi is Professor of Diversity at VU. She proposes a critical approach of diversity and inclusion and shows the importance of the perspectives of migrants and refugees through narrative methodology in creating more inclusive structures.

• Cindy Horst is a Research Professor in Migration and Refugee Studies and co-director of the PRIO Centre on Culture, Conflict, and Co-existence. She is the author of Creative Resistance. The social justice practices of Monarch, Halleh and Diana (Lived Places Publishing, 2023), which includes a chapter about Halleh Ghorashi.

The event is co-organized by the PRIO Migration Centre and PRIO Centre on Culture, Conflict and Coexistence.

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PRIO was pleased to invite to a seminar with Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In this seminar, Albanese shared her firsthand experiences and insights from her work, focusing on the significant legal and political challenges facing the UN in Palestine.

The seminar addressed several key issues, including the challenges surrounding the UN’s access to the occupied Palestinian territories, the humanitarian implications of the ban on UNRWA, and the ongoing cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) related to genocide and humanitarian aid access. Albanese also provided an update on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and reflected on the potential of removing Israel’s seat at the UN in response to violations of international human rights law.

The conversation was moderated by Jørgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher at PRIO.

This event was a collaboration between the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Palestinakomiteen Norge.

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Once the war in Gaza ends, the narrow strip of land will require a massive reconstruction effort of unimaginable proportions. Large questions remain, such as who will pay? What political conditions can the reconstruction happen under?

To help us understand some of these questions, with reflections from the Arab Gulf, PRIO hosted 

• Ghassan Elkahlout, Palestinian scholar and Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) in Doha.
• Tor Wennesland, PRIO Practitioner in Residence.
• Jørgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher, PRIO.

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As war and humanitarian crises unfold in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon, a new Middle East is emerging. How can local humanitarian actors rise to the challenge? What role do they play in addressing urgent needs, fostering long-term solutions and promoting reconciliation amidst turmoil? And how can they navigate the complexities introduced by the recent UNRWA ban?

• Karam Abi Yazbeck, Regional Coordinator for Caritas Middle East and North Africa, sharing first-hand testimony directly from the ground
• Jørgen Jensehaugen, Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, providing a snapshot of the region's shifting geopolitical landscape and the implications of the UNRWA ban
• Raymond Johansen, Secretary General of Norwegian People's Aid
• Arne Næss-Holm, Director of International Programmes, Norwegian Church Aid
• Ingrid Rosendorf Joys, Secretary General, Caritas Norway

The discussion was moderated by Cindy Horst, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

This event was a collaboration between the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Caritas Norway, Norwegian People's Aid and Norwegian Church Aid.

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In light of the shifting geopolitical landscape, the long-standing theory of democratic peace - asserting that democracies rarely wage war against each other - is facing critical scrutiny.

This panel will discuss whether this principle still holds true in an era marked by shifting power dynamics, rising authoritarianism, and the erosion of liberal democratic norms.

With conflicts increasingly shaped by hybrid warfare, economic rivalries, and regional instability, the traditional correlation between democracy and peace may be weakening.

This discussion will explore whether contemporary democracies are more prone to conflict, or if the theory needs to be redefined for a multipolar world. The panel will also revisit Francis Fukuyama's "End of History" argument, which predicted the triumph of liberal democracy as the final form of human governance.

As new global players and political ideologies emerge, panelists will assess whether this notion is still relevant, or if we are witnessing the rise of new patterns of conflict that challenge the foundations of democratic peace.

• Ms. Hilde F. Johnson, European Institute of Peace
• Prof. Carl Henrik Knutsen, University of Oslo
• Dr. Marianne Dahl, Peace Research Institute Oslo

The discussion will be moderated by Dan Banik, Academic Director of Circle U's democracy hub.

This event is part of Oslo Peace Days 2024. Follow this link for full programme.

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AI shapes war, humanitarian emergencies and the roads to peace. Ongoing conflicts are also experimental laboratories, creating a boom in AI weapons systems.

Before and during the Gaza war, AI-generated imagery and text has contributed to diametrically opposed versions of a ‘truth’ about violence, the plight of civilians and the intentions of humanitarian actors. While responding to hurricanes Helene and Milton, US authorities also struggled against AI generated imagery manipulating understandings about the danger and impact of the disaster and government assistance.

In 2024, there are 120 armed conflicts around the world. Peace processes require finding shared grounds of knowledge. AI may be a double spoiler – heightening tension and eroding trust. This panel looks into the relationship between military technology and humanitarian law, how we understand claims about civilian suffering and societal devastation to be true – or not – and the impact of dis and misinformation on efforts to create pathways towards peaceful solutions.

• Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, University of Oslo and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
• Morten Tønnessen-Krokan, the Norwegian Red Cross
• Olav Østrem, faktisk.no

The discussion was moderated by Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, Senior Researcher, PRIO.

This event was collaboration between PRIO and the University of Oslo, and a part of Oslo Peace Days 2024.

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The recent U.S. election has dominated the political discourse for months, but now the world’s attention is shifting to the potential implications of next year’s leadership transition. A diminished U.S. presence at the global scene could elevate China and various regional powers as primary initiators and guarantors in the mediation processes in the Global South. The ideals of inclusive, transparent and democratic transitions to peace might be especially threatened. Could the European Union assume the U.S.’s role as a "liberal peace guarantor" at the global level?

Norway has long been a key player in conflict mediation and peacebuilding, supporting a range of European non-state organizations dedicated to peace process mediation and facilitation. These peace facilitation organizations (PFOs) have evolved into a specialized field, offering essential services at various stages of peace processes. However, in this changing world order, the continued existence of these PFOs depends on the ambitions and priorities of their Western donors, casting uncertainty over their future.

This seminar will present and discuss findings from a research project investigating inclusivity and transparency in peace negotiations, focusing on the strategies PFOs use to promote these principles. The project is a collaboration between PRIO and the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The program will include brief presentations from the co-PIs, Øystein H. Rolandsen (PRIO) and Simone Tholens (EUI), followed by a roundtable discussion. A light lunch will be served afterwards.

• Øystein H. Rolandsen, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo
• Simone Tholens, Part-time professor, European University Institute
• Hilde Frafjord Johnson, Senior Advisor, European Institute of Peace (EIP)
• Elisa Tarnaala, Senior Adviser, CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation

The conversation will be moderated by Øystein H. Rolandsen.

See all PRIO Events here: https://www.prio.org/events

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