KNOWPRO: Knowledge Production in German Peace and Security Policy

Phase 2 of the project

The project explores in greater depth insights into the production of knowledge concerning foreign interventions in the field of peace policy in Germany and extends these to a European and international level. Using the case studies of Afghanistan and Somalia, the research examines whether (1) there is a ‘Europeanisation’ of knowledge production in the field of peace and security policy and (2) whether learning curves occur on the part of the intervening actors during interventions.

To this end, a comparative analysis of knowledge production in Germany, France and at EU level will be carried out, and the process of mutual learning in Somalia and Uganda will be reconstructed. Based on the research findings, recommendations for action will be developed for academia, policy advisory bodies and government institutions.

The project is funded for the period from April 2026 to March 2028 and has a grant of around 650,000 euros. It is being carried out in collaboration with Klaus Schlichte and Jude Kagoro from the University of Bremen.

Phase 1 of the project

Using Afghanistan and Somalia as case studies, the project examines the production of knowledge relating to peace and security policy in Germany and East Africa concerning participation in interventions in internal conflicts through military or financial means. The role of intervention-related knowledge in German foreign policy has not yet been researched.

The research team’s aim is to identify the factors that influence the production of knowledge relating to peace and security policy. Furthermore, the project aims to ascertain how knowledge from peace and conflict research is reflected in institutional security policy knowledge, and how academic and political knowledge production are interlinked and can be better integrated. Based on the findings, recommendations for action will then be developed for academia, policy advisory bodies and government institutions.

The project is a collaborative initiative with the Universities of Kiel (Professor Dirk Nabers and Dr Frank Stengel, Political Sociology) and Bremen (Professor Klaus Schlichte and Dr Jude Kagoro, International Relations).

Publications

• Harbisch, Amelie (2025). Making local knowledge: Ethnographic authority in the German intervention in Afghanistan. Cooperation and Conflict 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0010836725132603
• Harbisch, Amelie; Hoffmann, Sophia; Geiger, Mia; Jäger, Ben (2025). Wissensproduktion für die deutsche Interventionspolitik: Der Fall Afghanistan. Politische Vierteljahresschrift. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-025-00641-7
• Harbisch, Amelie (2025). Knowing Afghanistan: interveners’ knowledge production in the in-between. Journal of International Relations and Development (28), pp. 509–536. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-025-00359-4
• Harbisch, Amelie; Hoffmann, Sophia; Geiger, Mia; Jäger, Ben (2025). Database: German experts on Afghanistan. https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/German_Experts_on_Afghanistan_xlsx/25[..]