The day after our international conference The Missing Peace, members of Culture Goes Europe (CGE) and partner organizations embarked on a study visit across Berlin, exploring contemporary peacebuilding practices through engagements with three distinct institutions working at the intersection of policy, education, and social research: the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), CRISP – Crisis Simulation for Peace e.V., and the Center for Independent Social Research (CISR). Each visit offered a unique lens on how peace and conflict are approached — from deploying civilian experts to global missions, to experiential learning through simulation games, to critical reflection on militarized narratives in post-Soviet spaces.
As the first stop, we had the opportunity to visit the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) — a key institution in Germany’s approach to civilian peacebuilding. Hosted at ZIF’s headquarters in Berlin, the session offered a rich and layered perspective on how international peace missions are designed, staffed, and supported.
Who They Are & What They Do
ZIF was founded in 2002 with a clear mission: to strengthen Germany’s civilian contributions to international peace operations. Today, the organization plays a central role in recruiting, preparing, and deploying civilian experts to missions led by the UN, EU, OSCE, NATO, and other international bodies. These missions span global conflict zones — from Ukraine and Georgia to Lebanon, Colombia, and Somalia.
Our session was led by Dr. Annika Hansen, an experienced practitioner and policy advisor who has worked both in the field (Libya, Bosnia) and at the strategic level (United Nations HQ in New York). She offered a deep dive into the history and evolution of peace operations since the 1960s, emphasizing how mandates have shifted to address increasingly complex political and social environments.
In addition to deployment, ZIF also provides training, analysis, and policy advice — acting as both an operational and strategic hub. It supports the German Federal Foreign Office and Parliament through briefings, evaluations, and expertise on peacebuilding policy.
What We Discussed
One of the most engaging parts of the visit was the discussion around ZIF’s training philosophy, which prioritizes both technical competence and emotional resilience. Their simulation-based trainings place future mission staff in high-pressure scenarios — such as checkpoints, hostage situations, or rapid evacuation protocols — to test how they respond under stress. This realism prepares participants for the emotional and ethical demands of working in crisis zones.
We also explored ZIF’s growing focus on emerging areas, including:
- Cybersecurity and peace operations
- Climate-security links
- Women, Peace & Security (WPS) agenda
- Disinformation and strategic communication
Participants asked thoughtful questions about:
- How ZIF evaluates the impact of civilian missions in such complex environments
- The balance between technical neutrality and political realities in peacekeeping
- The extent to which civil society actors are involved in mission design or evaluation
A key insight that stayed with many of us came from Dr. Hansen’s reflection:
“Peacebuilding isn’t only what happens in the field — it’s shaped long before deployment, in how mandates are written, who is selected, and what priorities are set.”
ZIF reminded us that peace operations are not abstract bureaucratic structures — they are made up of people, and how those people are trained, supported, and listened to makes all the difference.
