A Century between War and Peace: 100 Years of Engagement by the Geneva Graduate Institute

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22 September 2026

A Century between War and Peace: 100 Years of Engagement by the Geneva Graduate Institute

In anticipation of the Institute’s centenary in 2027, two special dossiers focusing on War and Peace are being produced under the editorial direction of Professor Andrew Clapham and written by researchers and professors from the Institute, along with other experts, in collaboration with the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Research Office and the newspaper Le Temps. The first dossier on War appears this week in Le Temps, beginning on 22 September. The contributions will later be republished in Global Challenges and Globe, the Graduate Institute Review.

Behind the conflicts that dominate today’s headlines lies a fundamental question: what kind of international order is now emerging and what place will it leave for the rule of law, international cooperation, and peaceful coexistence? Understanding the changing nature of war and the new logics that drive it is a necessary first step in charting the complex, fragile, yet essential path that should lead us back to a desire for peace.

Marie-Laure Salles, Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute

Since the end of the Cold War, the belief in a lasting “peace dividend” suggested that economic interdependence and multilateralism would gradually diminish the importance of reliance on military power. Yet the 2020s have seen wars that have brutally overturned this assumption, revealing a resurgence of high-intensity conflict with devastating results. States have now started to accelerate their rearmament and we are witnessing the return of strategic rivalries and contempt for the international norms which are meant to contain violence. This shift raises a pressing question: are we entering a new era in which major conflict becomes a structural feature of world politics?

In this series, researchers and professors from the Institute, along with other experts, analyse how contemporary wars are reshaping the dynamics of global security. Their contributions examine the strategic logic underlying increased military spending, the fragility of deterrence in a fragmented international order, the militarisation of evolving technologies, the different forms of modern war, and the relevance of international institutions in the face of this appetite for open warfare. Together, these analyses offer various perspectives on the current trajectories and ask what sort of security infrastructure we can look forward to. By bringing these viewpoints together, they highlight the challenges posed by a world once again riven by war.

The series is introduced by an article written by Marie-Laure Salles, Director of the Geneva Graduate Institute, entitled “Penser la guerre pour mieux ré-inventer la paix”.

The articles will be published in Le Temps over the course of five days, with each day of publication being dedicated to a theme:

Désordres géopolitiques