Political Science & Peace and Conflict Studies Subject Guide

Information on armed conflicts of the world. Here you will find information on the warring parties that have been active, the negotiations that have taken place and the peace agreements that have been signed.

The COW project is concerned with collecting data about the history of wars and conflict among states. Quantitative data in international relations.

MAR is a university-based research project that monitors and analyses the status and conflicts of politically-active communal groups in all countries with a current population of at least 500,000. Besides the MAR Data, also check out the MAROB Data.

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) has collected a list over different datasets on armed conflicts.

The Official Document System (ODS) is an online database of UN documents that was first launched in 1993 and updated in 2016. ODS has full-text, born-digital UN documents published from 1993 onward, including documents of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and their subsidiaries, as well as administrative issuances and other documents.

[Licensed] OECD’s online library for Books, Papers and Statistics and the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. It contains content published by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF).

A research and learning database providing comparative documentation, analysis, and interpretation of major human rights violations and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010. The collection includes primary and secondary materials across multiple media formats and content types for each selected event.

Fredsarkivet is a searchable digital archive with documentation from Sweden's participation in international peace operations, starting in 1956. Contains reports, war diaries, orders, photographies, etc.

The Polity IV dataset covers all major, independent states in the global system over the period 1800-2013 (i.e., states with a total population of 500,000 or more in the most recent year; currently 167 countries). With the support of the Political Instability Task Force, the Polity IV Project has been transformed into a living data collection effort, meaning that it constantly monitors regime changes in all major countries and provides annual assessments of regime authority characteristics, changes and data updates.

Oregon State University. The database is used to aid in the assessment of the process of water conflict prevention and resolution.

The World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe, together with other datasets cited in the data catalog.

The World DataBank is an analysis and visualisation tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics. You can create you own queries, generate tables, charts and maps and easily save, embed and share them.

A NGO focused on human rights with the objective to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights.

Based in London, The Royal Institute of International Affairs is an influential think tanks. They publish reports, briefing papers, working papers, and other material

An independent, not-for-profit research and publishing group that undertakes research on the social and environmental impact of large corporations, particularly multinationals.

A human rights organization with 47 member states, of which 27 are EU members. Works for Human rights, Democracy, Rule of Law.

Diakonia is a faith based Swedish development organization. They work with and support local partner organizations in about 35 countries around themes such as human rights, democratization, social and economic justice, gender equality and peace and reconciliation.

Europe's think tank for South East Europe and enlargement - films and reports on the Balkans, Turkey, Central Europe and the South Caucasus.

Freedom House publishes annual reports on global trends in democracy. It's an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world.

The organization seek to raise awareness and influence public policy concerning potential and actual genocide. Check out "About genocide" and "Resources".

Global Policy Forum is an independent policy watchdog that monitors the work of the United Nations and scrutinizes global policy-making. GPF works particularly on the UN Security Council, the food and hunger crisis, and the global economy.

A NGO that run campaigns against natural resource-related conflict and corruption and associated environmental and human rights abuses.

The Human Development Report (HDR) is an independent publication commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). HDR at the regional, national and local levels take the human development approach to the regional or country level and are prepared and owned by regional and national teams.

A nonprofit international non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The staff of human rights professionals including country experts, lawyers, journalists, and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities.

Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG - CEIIG) Report Vol. 1
In 2008, on the mission of the Council of the European Union, IIFFMCG-CEIIG was mandated to investigate the origins and the course of the conflict in Georgia, including with regard to international law (including the Helsinki Final Act), humanitarian law and human rights, and the accusations made in that context (including allegations of war crimes).

An independent peace-building organisation working in over 20 countries and territories around the world working with policy and practice in how to build sustainable peace.

NGO that produces Empirical reports. Crisis Watch. Frequently updated. The International Crisis Group is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between several North American and European states. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

The project promotes the role of women in preventing conflict, and the equal and full participation of women in all efforts to create and maintain international peace and security.

An independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting scientific, educational, and charitable purposes for the public welfare.

Sida is a government organization under the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Swedish development aid follows three thematic priorities; democracy and human rights, environment and climate change and gender equality and womens' role.

An independent, non-profit organization reporting on Swedish business relations in developing countries. They cover different sectors and focus on social and environmental concerns.

The UN Documentation Research Guide presents an overview of selected UN documents, publications, databases and websites.

The United Nations official website. Have a look under "What we do" --> "Maintain International Peace and Security" and you will find several useful entries

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states, and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure. See the Polity Project for coded authority characteristics of states in the world system, for purposes of comparative, quantitative analysis.

DIIS is an independent research institution engaged in research in international affairs. The institute draws up reports and analyses and follows developments in international affairs continuously.

A British research institute (think-tank) researching political and military conflict from an international perspective.

ISS is a regional human security policy think-tank with an exclusive focus on Africa with a mission to conceptualize, inform and enhance the debate on human security in Africa in order to support policy formulation and decision-making at every level. It is working towards a stable and peaceful Africa characterized by sustainable development, human rights, the rule of law, democracy and collaborative security.

SIPRI is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.