On 15–16 September 2025, DISACT team member Nikandros Ioannidis participated in the workshop “Humanitarian Military Interventions and Peacekeeping Under Fire,” organised by the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and supported by the German Foundation for Peace Research. The workshop aimed to advance comparative empirical research on humanitarian military interventions, Responsibility to Protect (R2P) missions, and robust peacekeeping operations.
Nikandros presented a co-authored paper with Iosif Kovras (University of Cyprus) entitled “Shifting Shadows: The Impact of International Accountability on Repertoires of Violence in Conflict Zones.” The study examined how international accountability mechanisms, particularly UN peacekeeping operations, influence the tactical choices of violent actors.
Drawing on georeferenced data on political violence and two datasets on UN deployments, and applying multilevel, panel, and regression discontinuity models, the research found that rebels tend to reduce clandestine violence in areas with strong UN presence, while militias increase it. These findings highlight an important unintended consequence: repression does not disappear but instead shifts into less visible forms such as abductions and enforced disappearances.
Participation in the workshop provided valuable opportunities to share findings, receive feedback, and exchange perspectives with scholars working on humanitarian interventions, peacekeeping, and accountability in conflict settings.