The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice

Global Challenge: Building a Peaceful, Inclusive and Secure World

With global ambitions and international expertise, the Institute seeks to make a practical difference to the lives of ordinary people struggling with the aftermath of conflict. The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice is a Global Research Institute (GRI) and a flagship for interdisciplinary research in areas of major societal challenge. The GRI brings together a critical mass of excellent researchers from a wide range of disciplines in world-class facilities to tackle some of the greatest global issues of our age.

Questions about peace, security and justice dominate the discourse of governments, international agencies and civil society throughout the world today. How can societies emerging from conflict resolve lingering grievances? How can they establish peace on a daily basis? How can the competing demands of justice, peace and security be resolved? The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute at Queen’s University Belfast responds to the unprecedented global challenge of building a peaceful, secure and inclusive world, bringing together the unparalleled expertise at Queen’s on these issues.

The Institute is distinctive internationally in linking peace-making with social transformation, giving attention to the need for governance reform of state institutions alongside cultural and social processes for healing in society.

Under the leadership of Professor Hastings Donnan, the Institute brings together Queen’s researchers from fields as diverse as Politics, Mental Health, Law, Sociology, Planning and Computer Engineering, with a cross-national focus, including traditional and modern societies, and historical and contemporary cases. Through research, education and civic engagement, the Mitchell Institute aims to make a difference to the lives of ordinary people in post-conflict settings by empowering them to realise fairness, justice and tolerance.

The GRI engages the challenge of building a peaceful, inclusive and secure world through four priority themes:

Legacy issues: How do peace processes become embedded in daily life following political settlement?

Justice and rights: How do we establish international norms of human rights in local cultures?

Security: How can we ensure just and ethical responses to a diverse range of security risks?

Ideology and beliefs: How do values and beliefs in different cultures shape approaches to peacebuilding?