BICC Publications

Farha, J., Krötz, M., & Mohammed, E. (2019). More Bang for Their Buck: Enhancing the Sustainability of Surplus Ammunition Destruction Programs. Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, 23(2), Article 9, p. 42-45.

Dealing with stockpiles of surplus ammunition remains a key challenge for many African countries. In the last 10 years, at least 38 ammunition sites across Africa reportedly experienced unplanned explosions, causing injury and loss of life as well as significant damage to infrastructure and the... more

von Boemcken, M. (2019). Smooth security. Creative adaptation, mimicry and deception in everyday securityscapes. Critical Studies on Security, 7(2), .

Please find the article here. The article traces the everyday securityscapes of marginalized groups in Kyrgyzstan. It finds that they are as much about the crossing as the drawing of boundaries. To seek security is to become invisible, deceive, withdraw, seize momentary opportunities and... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2019). Geiselnehmer oder Retter des Staates? Irreguläre Bataillone in der Ukraine. Osteuropa, 69(3-4), 51–80.

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Mutschler, M. M. (2018). Rüstungsexportkontrolle durch den internationalen Waffenhandelsvertrag. S+F Sicherheit und Frieden, 36(3), 121-125.

Please find the article here. The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) sets, for the first time ever, legally binding, international rules for arms transfers. However, due to several problems, in particular the lack of clarity of some of its central concepts, the ATT is far from a significant contribution to... more

von Boemcken, M. (2018). Editorial: Everyday Security Practices in Asia. International Quarterly for Asian Studies, 49(1-2), 9-16.

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Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2018). Ressourcen und Grenzen der Macht: Personalistische Regime in Russland und der Türkei. Osteuropa, 68(10-12), 107–118.

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Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2018). Das Ende der Illusionen: Wie weiter mit Russland und der Türkei?. Osteuropa, 68(10-12), 261–270.

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Hansel, M., Mutschler, M. M., & Dickow, M. (2018). Taming cyber warfare: lessons from preventive arms control. Journal of Cyber Policy, 3(1), 44-60.

Preventive arms control, narrowly defined, is about restrictions on weapons development. From this traditional understanding follows that cyber warfare will be hard, if not impossible, to regulate. In this article, we start from a less circumscribed definition of preventive arms control that would... more

Richards, J. (2018). High Risk or Low Risk: Screening for Violent Extremists in DDR Programmes. International Peacekeeping, 25(3), 373-393.

Programmes of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) are increasingly implemented in contexts of violent extremist conflict. In such settings, DDR practitioners may need to distinguish between ex-combatants who can be safely reintegrated into civilian life, and ex-combatants who are... more

von Boemcken, M., Boboyorov, H., & Bagdasarova, N. (2018). Living dangerously: securityscapes of Lyuli and LGBT people in urban spaces of Kyrgyzstan. Central Asian Survey, 37(1), 68-84.

Imaginations of existential threat do not only express themselves in exceptional actions – as prominently suggested by securitization theory – but also in routine, day-to-day practices. They can become a part of ‘normal’ life. We demonstrate this by following the everyday activities of individuals... more

Richards, J. (2018). Troop Retention in Civil Wars: Desertion, Denunciation, and Military Organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Journal of Global Security Studies, 3(1), 38-55.

This article investigates the link between the organizational structure of nonstate armed groups and the ability of low-level combatants to desert without recapture. Throughout, I show that nonstate armed groups can adopt organizational structures that mimic those found in national armies and that... more

Isikozlu, E., Krötz, M., & Trancart, C. (2017). Crossing the Fence: Challenges of Operationalizing PSSM. Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, 21(3), Article 6.

Physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) can be broadly defined as a series of activities that make national stockpiles of weapons and ammunition safe and secure. Over the last decade, PSSM has become a highly requested form of intervention to curb the illicit flow of small arms and light... more

Etzold, B. (2017). Capitalising on Asylum – The Reconfiguration of Refugees’ Access to Local Fields of Labour in Germany. Refugee Review, 3, 82-102.

Since 2014, several legal reforms in Germany have reduced bureaucratic barriers for refugees’ access to work. They were coupled with the introduction of more language classes and other skill-enhancing measures. This proclaimed aim of quickly integrating refugees in the labour market marks a... more

Richards, J. (2017). Demobilising and Disengaging Violent Extremists: Towards a New UN Framework. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 6(1), 14: 1-5.

First and second generation programmes of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), are no longer ‘fit for purpose’ in contexts of violent extremism. Recognising this, voices from within the United Nations (UN) system have recently called for the development of a practice framework... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2017). Die Resilienz des Putinismus. Zeitschrift für Politik, 64(2), 214-234.

In order to understand Russia's regime we should study the interaction of formal and informal, of charismatic and clientelistic politics, of security politics and loyalty, of insecurity and mobilization, the repertoire of feudal politics and the political economy of state monopolistic capitalism.... more

Python, A., Brandsch, J., & Tskhay, A. (2017). Provoking local ethnic violence – A global study on ethnic polarization and terrorist targeting. Political Geography, 58(May 2017), 77-89.

This article theorizes and empirically investigates the link between ethnic divisions and terrorist attacks on a local scale. We argue that terrorists in ethnic contexts can use two separate provocation strategies: one targeting the government and one targeting opposing ethnic groups in order to... more

Prinz, J., & Schetter, C. (2017). Conditioned Sovereignty: The Creation and Legitimation of Spaces of Violence in Counterterrorism Operations of the "War on Terror". Alternatives, 41(3), 119-136.

We argue that the spatialization of violence in the counterterrorism operations of the War on Terror provides insight for understanding how these operations are legitimized and how they pose a challenge to an international order centered on state sovereignty. Against the background of a discussion... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2017). Wider den Sonderfrieden. Eine Replik auf das Konzept vom “Pluralen Frieden”. Osteuropa, 67(3-4), 103-108.

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Christ, S. (2017). ‘You are supposed to treat them like your mum and dad’: narratives about transnational family lives by middle-class Filipino children. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(6), 902-918.

The Philippines is a labour exporting country since the 1970s. Due to the contract labour systems in destinations such as the Middle East or East Asia, migrants are usually not able to bring their family members. This development led to the rise of transnational families – families who maintain... more

Schetter, C. (2016). Playing the Ethnic Card: On the Ethnicization of Afghan Politics. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 16(3), 460-477.

Ethnicity became a pivotal element of the Bonn Agreement 2001 aiming to end the civil wars in Afghanistan that have been ongoing since 1979. In the political process, ethnic categories were understood as key building blocks of Afghan society. In essence, the Bonn Agreement sought to outbalance... more

Etzold, B., & Sakdapolrak, P. (2016). Socio-spatialities of vulnerability: towards a polymorphic perspective in vulnerability research. Die Erde, 147(4), 234-251.

“The space of vulnerability” – the title of the influential paper by Michael Watts and Hans-Georg Bohle from 1993 – highlights the importance of spatiality for vulnerability research. As geographers have fundamentally shaped the concept of vulnerability, the issue of spatiality has been crucial for... more

Sakdapolrak, P., & Etzold, B. (2016). Editorial to the special section "Geographies of Vulnerability and Resilience - Critical Explorations". Die Erde, 147(4), 230-233.

In the past 30 years the concept of vulnerability has been an important paradigm in human geography and development studies. Vulnerability analyses have significantly enhanced our understanding of everyday life under conditions of poverty and food insecurity in the Global South and of people's... more

Mager, A., Wirkus, L., & Schoepfer, E. (2016). Impact Assessment of Oil Exploitation in South Sudan using Multi-Temporal Landsat Imagery. Photogrammetrie – Fernerkundung – Geoinformation(4), 211-223.

This scientific report examines the spatial impacts of oil exploitation in Melut County, South Sudan, at six points in the time span between 1999 and 2011, based on Landsat satellite data. Three features were analysed: cropland, oil well pads and roads. Feature extraction consisted of pixel- and... more

Meininghaus, E. (2016). Emergency Aid in intra-state War and Implications for post-conflict Reconstruction: the Syrian Medical System. Contemporary Levant, 1(2), 108-124.

This article analyses the dire state of the health system in war-torn Syria. It investigates the drastic changes that have transpired in health provisions since the beginning of the conflict and sheds light on emerging coping mechanisms. The article traces the militarisation of medical care and... more

Schetter, C., & Mielke, K. (2016). Was von Kundus bleibt. Intervention, Gewalt und Soziale Ordnung in Afghanistan. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 57(4), 614-642.

This article investigates interdependencies between intervening powers and local dynamics in Afghanistan in general and with a focus on the Kunduz region between 2001 and 2015. Using the concept of „Social Order“ the authors analyse how understandings of contexts and self-understandings of... more

Mielke, K. (2016). Tracing change: On the positionality of traditionally mobile groups in Kabul’s camps. Internationales Asienforum/ International Quarterly for Asian Studies, 47(3-4), 245-271.

This article explores the positionalities of two traditionally mobile groups of people in Afghanistan, former pastoralists and peripatetics, who are currently living in several urban camps in Kabul. Starting from the assumption of their immobilization in-between places, the research shows their... more

Richards, J. (2016). Implementing DDR in Settings of Ongoing Conflict: The Organization and Fragmentation of Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 5(1), 1-10.

Although it is common for armed groups to splinter (or “fragment”) during contexts of multi-party civil war, current guidance on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) does not address the challenges that arise when recalcitrant fighters, unwilling to report to DDR, break ranks and... more

Bohnet, H., Cottier, F., & Hug, S. (2016). Conflict-induced IDPs and the Spread of Conflict. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1-26.

Recent scholarship has found evidence that refugee flows may inadvertently contribute to the spread of conflict across borders. Little is known, however, about the spatial diffusion of conflict within a state’s borders and what role internal displacement plays in such a dynamic. This question is of... more

von Boemcken, M. (2016). Unknowing the unknowable. From ‘critical war studies’ to a critique of war. Critical Military Studies, 2(3), 226-241.

Recent critical interventions challenge the Enlightenment critique of war as the radical antithesis of ‘peace’. The negation of war as an epitome of unreason is, indeed, dangerous to the extent that it tends to excite pacifying ‘wars against war’. Yet, what follows from this? The article argues... more

Meininghaus, E. (2016). Humanitarianism in intra-state conflict: aid inequality and local governance in government- and opposition-controlled areas in the Syrian war. Third World Quarterly, 37(8), 1454-1482.

This article argues that humanitarian aid in intra-state conflict plays a crucial but largely unrecognised role in shaping the preconditions for negotiations for peace and post-conflict reconstruction. Drawing on a spatial theory approach, it identifies the role of humanitarian aid as not being... more

Etzold, B. (2016). Migration, Informal Labour and (Trans)Local Productions of Urban Space – The Case of Dhaka’s Street Food Vendors. Population, Space and Place, 22(2), 170-184.

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Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2016). Entspannung, Eindämmung oder Regimewechsel?: Paradigmen der internationalen Beziehungen und Politikoptionen im "Ukrainekonflikt". Zeitschrift für Politik, 63(1), 45-64.

Russia’s foreign policy decision-making process is an enigma. Four explanations compete in order to understand Russia’s Ukraine policy: offensive interpretations, including imperial readings, defensive neorealism, a situational and a domestic politics interpretation. The article discusses the... more

Rüegger, S., & Bohnet, H. (2015). The Ethnicity of Refugees (ER): A new dataset for understanding flight patterns. Conflict Management and Peace Science, First published online November 16/2015.

Introducing a new cross-national dataset on the ethnicity of refugees, covering the years 1975–2009, this study analyzes refugee flight patterns. We argue that the asylum destination of refugees is not haphazard but determined by trans-border ethnic linkages. Building on migration theories, we... more

Grawert, E. (2015). Anhaltend, ungelöst: Der Darfur-Konflikt und die Erfolglosigkeit der VN-Einsätze im Sudan. Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 4(2), 262-308.

The Darfur conflict is part of a bigger lasting violent conflict that had been latent since the 1980 s and erupted massively between 2003 and 2006. Characterized by national conflict constellations within Sudan and South Sudan, as well as violent conflicts crossing borders. International actors are... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2015). Putins Krieg im Osten. Beschwichtigen oder abschrecken?. Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, 8(4), 573-588.

What could be the lessons of the Ukraine conflict for German and European politics? On the backdrop of deep divisions in Germany and the EU over an appropriate Russia policy, the article discusses three options. A policy of appeasement and détente aims at a balance of power among the great powers... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2015). Eingebettet, nicht eingefroren. Konflikte und Regime im Kaukasus. Osteuropa, 65(7-10), 161-179.

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Tomaszewski, B., Judex, M., Szarzynski, J., Radestock, C., & Wirkus, L. (2015). Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Response: A Review. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 12(3), 571-602.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) continue to gain important recognition from disaster practitioners and academic researchers during what is arguably the most publicly visible disaster management phase – disaster response. The broader world of GIS academic research and industry practice for... more

Wirkus, L. (2015). An Open Source WebGIS Application for Civic Education on Peace and Conflict . International Journal of Geo-Information, 4(2), 1013–1032.

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Müller-Koné, M. (2015). Débrouillardise: certifying ‘conflict-free’ minerals in a context of regulatory pluralism in South Kivu, DR Congo. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 53(2), 145-168.

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Hornidge, A.-K., & Mielke, K. (2015). Crossroads Studies: From spatial containers to studying the mobile. Middle East–Topics & Arguments, 4, 13-19.

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Dickow, M., Hansel, M., & Mutschler, M. M. (2015). Präventive Rüstungskontrolle. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen mit Blick auf die Digitalisierung und Automatisierung des Krieges. Sicherheit und Frieden, 33(2), 67-73.

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Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2014). Hierarchie und Autonomie. Zur Betriebsweise der Sicherheitsapparate in Zentralasien. Osteuropa, 64(8), 27-48.

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Mielke, K. (2014). Social Order as a Boundary Concept: Unveiling Dichotomies, Conceptualizing Politics. Asien(132), 35-52.

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Mielke, K. (2014). What inhibits and enables Afghans' social mobility? On the limits of community organization and mobilization in Afghanistan. Orient, 55(3), 12-17.

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Prinz, J., & Schetter, C. (2014). Das Ende der Souveränität? – Über die Entstehung neuer Gewalträume im Krieg gegen den Terrorismus. Die Friedens-Warte, 89(3-4), 385-404.

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Richards, J. (2014). Forced, Coerced, and Voluntary Recruitment into Rebel and Militia Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 52(2), 301-326.

Why do non-state armed groups forcibly recruit civilians? To address this question I develop a conceptual framework distinguishing voluntary, coerced and forced recruitment. I then compare the recruitment tactics employed by ‘Mai-Mai’ militias and the RCD-Goma rebel group in the Democratic Republic... more

Vollmer, R. (2014). "Europäische Migrations- und Außengrenzpolitik – Wege aus der Sackgasse?". Sicherheit und Frieden, 32(1), 53-60.

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Etzold, B. (2014). Raumaneignungen, Regeln und Profite in Dhakas Feld des Straßenhandels – Sozialgeographische Erklärungsversuche auf Grundlage von Bourdieus Theorie der Praxis. Geographica Helvetica, 69(1), 37-48.

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Wilde, A., & Mielke, K. (2013). Order, Stability, and Change in Afghanistan: From Top-Down to Bottom-Up State-Making. Central Asian Survey, 32(3), 353-370.

This article presents findings from long-term empirical fieldwork and archival research into current and historical patterns of governance in north-eastern Afghanistan, conducted between 2006 and 2009. Despite the long civil war, striking continuities have been found in the make-up and functioning... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2013). Der ewige Friedensfreund oder „Warum sich den Kopf verrenken, wenn wir für den Frieden sind?". Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, 6(4), 543–561.

Peace activists, politicians, and the military ask for more capacities in civil conflict transformation. However, the contribution of NGOs depends on context. Civil conflict transformation necessitates a minimum of civilization, it does not solve issues of manifest violence. The nature of the... more

Etzold, B., Ahmed, A. U., Hassan, S. R., & Neelormi, S. (2013). Clouds gather in the sky, but no rain falls. Vulnerability to rainfall variability and food insecurity in Northern Bangladesh and its effects on migration. Climate and Development, 6(1), 18-27.

This article presents empirical evidence on changing rainfall patterns in Kurigram district in northern Bangladesh, on the local people's perception of these changes, and on their decision to migrate, or not, in order to cope with rainfall variability and food insecurity. Our study was conducted as... more

Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2013). Wandel statt Anbiederung. Deutsche Russlandpolitik auf dem Prüfstand. Osteuropa, 63(7), 179-194.

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Keck, M., & Etzold, B. (2013). Resilience Refused – Wasted Potentials for Improving Food Security in Dhaka. Erdkunde, 67(1), 75-91.

In 2007 and 2008, Bangladesh was subject to a food crisis – the outcome of multiple causes – which had a severe impact on the urban poor of the country’s capital. Dhaka’s food supplies were repeatedly disconnected due to floods and cyclones, yet there was always enough food in the megacity thanks... more

Tahmasebi, A., Ehlers, E., & Schetter, C. (2013). Climate Change and Mountain Pastoralism - The Shahsevan of Northwest Iran. Erdkunde, 67(4), 309-323.

High-mountain areas in arid environments are extremely sensitive indicators of sometimes only slight changes of precipitations and temperatures. This holds true especially for the so far under-researched mountain regions of Iran and its immediate neighbours. Climate change, however, is not the only... more

Schetter, C. (2013). The Durand Line. The Afghan-Pakistani Border Region between Pashtunistan, Tribalistan and Talibanistan. Internationales Asienforum, 44(1-2), 47-70.

While the borderland between Afghanistan and Pakistan has gained global significance since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is too narrow an approach to view this region solely through the lens of the “war on terror”. To understand this border region, one has to take the complex web of conflicts... more

Meyer, R., Schetter, C., & Prinz, J. (2012). Spatial contestation? – The theological foundations of Carl Schmitt’s spatial thought. Geoforum, 43(4), 687-696.

Carl Schmitt’s work on the political is extensively used as an intellectual point of departure in contemporary academic debates about political contestation. More precisely, Carl Schmitt’s friend versus enemy-distinction is invoked as an essential figuration of political contestation. At... more

Venet, C., & Mutschler, M. M. (2012). The European Union as an emerging actor in space security?. Space Pollicy, 28(2), 118-124.

With its draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities, the European Union has become visible in the debate on space security. In this paper we analyze this development, drawing on theoretical concepts in the scholarly debate about the ‘actorness’ of the EU. We find that the EU can be considered... more

Schetter, C. (2005). Ethnoscapes, National Territorialisation, and the Afghan War. Geopolitics, 10(1), 50-75.

This article pursues the question of how the territorialisation of power in the establishment of the Afghan nation-state has affected the spatial perceptions of political actors and the population at large. This question is particularly topical as spatial references are at present the driving force... more

Kingma, K. (1997). Demobilization of combatants after civil wars in Africa and their reintegration into civilian life. Policy Sciences, 30(3), 151–165.

In the past few years, several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted large scale demobilizations. These are positive signs and create opportunities for sustainable peace and human development. However, demobilization appears to be a complex process. It is closely linked to security issues; and... more

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