I may get in trouble for posting this. Since the project IS sponsored
by VAG and may be of interest to at least some of you, I post it here. It
is nice to know that the company from whom you buy their products supports
worthwhile research. 

Regards - David Carment

>                             =20
>       Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome, and
>  Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Ebenhausen, near
>                           Munich
>                             =20
>        are conducting a two-year research project on
>          "Preventing Violent Conflict in Europe".
> 
> 
> 
> The   project,   which  is  supported  by  the   Volkswagen
> Foundation,  is  starting  in  January  1996  and  will  be
> directed by Gianni Bonvicini and Ettore Greco from  IAI  as
> well as Bernard von Plate and Reinhardt Rummel from SWP.  A
> small  number of experts from both research institutes  and
> scholars from various regions of Europe will join to  study
> how  specific conflicts may turn violent and how to prevent
> such  escalation.  To  enable  an  intensive  exchange   of
> knowledge  and, in fact, to generate a common expertise  in
> the  area  of conflict prevention, IAI and SWP are inviting
> four  young  research fellows to come  to  either  Rome  or
> Ebenhausen for a year and participate in the project.
> 
> The  working  language  of  the project  will  be  English.
> Interested scholars from former socialist countries of  the
> Visegrad group, the Baltics, South Eastern Europe  and  the
> CIS  may  apply. Applicants, who should hold  a  university
> degree  (e.g. Masters, Candidate or Doctorate)  and  should
> have  a  social science or history background,  are  kindly
> asked to fill out the attached questionnaire and send it in
> by October 10, 1995.
> 
> 
> 1.Description of the project
> 
> The  project  is  designed to serve the following  research
> goals
> 
> - to  provide an interdisciplinary research context for the
>   study  of  the potential for violent conflicts in  Europe
>   and the existing mechanisms to deal with them;
> 
> - to  analyze the evolution of states and regions in  which
>   unsolved  political problems could give rise  to  violent
>   conflicts;
> 
> - to  develop a typology of conflicts and a set of criteria
>   with which to assess their dynamics (case studies);
> 
> - to  evaluate  the available instruments for  the  various
>   aspects    of   conflict   prevention   (early   warning,
>   preventive    diplomacy,   humanitarian   and    economic
>   assistance, sanctions, arms control, preventive  military
>   deployments);
> 
> - to   analyze  the  actors  involved  in  the  process  of
>   conflict  prevention with particular regard to the  roles
>   of     both     governmental     and     non-governmental
>   (international) organizations;
> 
> - to  suggest a set of measures for improvement of conflict
>   prevention policies in Europe as a whole and some of  its
>   most critical regions.
> 
> Further goals of the project are:
> 
> - to   familiarize  the  scholars-in-residence   with   the
>   relevant  theories and experiences in conflict prevention
>   and    the   principles   elaborated   by   Euro-Atlantic
>   institutions in the security field;
> 
> - to  promote  closer cooperation within the  Euro-Atlantic
>   research  communities specialized in the security  field,
>   by  using  the  cooperation between  SWP  and  IAI  as  a
>   training field for the scholars-in-residence.
> 
> 
> 2.Scholars-in-Residence
> 
> Each of the four scholars-in-residence will be required:
> 
> - to  spend  one year in residence with the project  group.
>   This can be either from January 1996 to December 1996  or
>   from  January 1997 to December 1997. - This one year  can
>   be  spent either at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in
>   Rome  or  at  the  Stiftung Wissenschaft und  Politik  in
>   Ebenhausen (Germany);
> 
> - to  take  on major responsibility for the development  of
>   the project;
> 
> - to write research reports and prepare publications;
> 
> - to  participate actively in the international conferences
>   and  working group meetings which will be held within the
>   context of the project;
> 
> - to participate in the activities of the host institute.
> 
> The benefits for the scholars-in-residence will include:
> 
> - familiarization  with the instruments  for  analysis  and
>   assessment in the security field;
> 
> - improvement of the skills required to conduct a  research
>   project;
> 
> - working  in a stimulating environment of policy  oriented
>   research institutes in Germany and Italy;
> 
> - contact  with  the  wider network  of  the  Euro-Atlantic
>   study community to which the two institutes belong;
> 
> - Each  scholar-in-residence will receive  a  grant  of  DM
>   2.500   per  month  during  her/his  year  of   stay   in
>   Ebenhausen  or  Rome to cover costs of living,  insurance
>   and  housing.  One  return  ticket  for  the  scholar-in-
>   residence  to Ebenhausen or Rome will be covered  by  the
>   project  funds. There is also limited room  for  research
>   trips.
> 
> 
> 3.Recruitment procedure
> 
> A  limited  number  of  applicants will  be  invited  to  a
> recruitment colloquium which will be held in Ebenhausen  on
> 17 and 18 November 1995. They will have to work out a short
> contribution for the colloquium on a subject related to the
> research  project  and  present  it  orally.  The   working
> language of the colloquium will be English.
> 
> The   deadline   for   the  receipt  of   applications   (=3D
> questionnaire)  is  10  October  1995.  Decisions  on   the
> applicants selected for the recruitment colloquium will  be
> made  by  20  October 1995. The discussion paper  (5  pages
> max.)  for  the colloquium will have to be sent  in  by  10
> November  1995. Final decisions on the appointment  of  the
> scholars-in-residence  will be made immediately  after  the
> recruitment colloquium.
> =20
> =20
>                 Questionnaire (Application)
> 
> Please  fill out and fax at your earliest convenience  (not
> later than October 10, 1995) to:
>                     Fax: 49-8178-70312
>                       Helga Schubert
>           Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)
>             D-82067 Ebenhausen, Haus Eggenberg
>                    Phone: 49-8178-70320
>        E-mail: H.Schubert@swp.extern.lrz-muenchen.de
> 
> 
> 
> Name:
> 
> Address:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Phone:
> 
> Fax:
> 
> Birth date:
> 
> Married?
> 
> Children?
> 
> Will  you  be  accompanied by your family or part  of  your
> family during your stay in Germany or Italy?
> 
> Which is your preferred period of stay: 1996 or 1997?
> 
> Academic education and degree:
> 
> 
> 
> Professional work experience:
> 
> 
> 
> English language skills, degree of proficiency:
>    oral:      excellent   good    poor
>    writing:   excellent   good    poor
> Other languages:
>                                            Continued page 2
>                                                           =20
>                                        Questionnaire page 2
>                                                           =20
>                                                           =20
> 
> Please,  specify  any  of  your  academic  or  other   work
> experience abroad:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please, give two references:
> 
> 1.Name:
>   Profession/position:
>   Address:
> 
> 
> 
>   Fax:
>   Phone:
> 
> 
> 2.Name:
>   Profession/position:
>   Address:
> 
> 
> 
>   Fax:
>   Phone:
> 
> 
> 
> List of your publications:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> =20
>               Istituto Affari Internazionali
> 
> 
> 
> The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) was founded on  11
> October  1965  on the initiative of Altiero  Spinelli,  its
> first  director, with the support of the Fondazione Adriano
> Olivetti, l'Associazione di cultura e politica "Il Mulino",
> Centro Studi "Nord e Sud" and the ford Foundation.
> In  1991  the Institute moved to the Palazzo Rondinini,  an
> elegant eighteenth century Baroque building in the heart of
> Rome  where the main activities organised by the  Institute
> take place.
> A  non-profit organization, it is funded by individual  and
> corporate members, public and private organizations,  major
> international foundations, and by a standing grant from the
> Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
> The   main  objective  of  the  Institute  is  to   promote
> understanding  of  the  problems of international  politics
> through studies, research, meetings and publications,  with
> the aim of increasing the opportunities of all countries to
> move   in  the  direction  of  supranational  organization,
> democratic freedom and social justice (IAI Bylaws,  Article
> I).
> 
> 
> RESEARCH
> 
> An    interdisciplinary   approach   and    policy-oriented
> objectives   characterize  the  Institute's   analysis   of
> international events. The IAI strives to maintain a  global
> perspective, evaluating Italian positions with  respect  to
> those  of  other  international actors. To  this  end,  the
> Institute  has  involved an increasing  number  of  foreign
> researchers in its projects, and has strengthened its  ties
> with  similar  institutes abroad through regular  bilateral
> and multilateral meetings.
> In addition, the IAI belongs to the following international
> networks  of  research centres: the Trans  European  Policy
> Studies  Association (TEPSA), the group of Seven Institutes
> (Clingendael,  The  Netherlands; DGAP, Bonn;  IFRI,  Paris;
> RIIA,  London; SWP, Ebenhausen; WEU Institute for  Security
> Studies, Paris), the European Strategy Group (ESG) and  the
> European Security Analysis Network (ESAN).
> 
> Principal fields of research
> 
> - deepening European integration
> - international economic co-operation
> - the Balkans and East-West relations
> - the Mediterranean and areas to the south of Europe
> - international security
> - Italian foreign policy
> 
> 
> CONFERENCES
> 
> The  conference activities of the IAI are organized broadly
> as follows:
> 
> - public meetings and conferences
> - bilateral  meetings   with other Italian  institutes  and
>   foreign counterparts
> - study groups and seminars related to research topics
> - meetings of the Fora
> - loctures  by  foreign  and Italian  guest  speakers.  All
>   these  activities  are  organized  with  the  purpose  of
>   furthering  the  understanding  of  topical   issues   in
>   international  relations. The  meetings  of  the  various
>   Fora are detailed below as worthy of particular mention.
> 
> The   Fora  are  groups  which  further  debate   and   the
> dissemination  of information among corporate  members  and
> which  are also open to leading experts on topical  issues,
> civil servants, businessmen etc. They are a response to the
> need  of  their members for a deeper understanding  of  the
> connections between domestic and foreign policy  which  are
> of  particular  relevance  in  the  context  of  the  rapid
> transformations  occuring  on  both  the  Italian  and  the
> international  scene.  They  are  organized  in  four  main
> subject areas:
> Forum  on  the Economy, which explores issues  relating  to
> international economic cooperation and interdependence.
> Forum   on   Eastern   Europe,  which   follows   political
> developments in the Balkans and the Eastern European  areas
> of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
> Forum  on  the Mediterranean, which focuses on developments
> occuring  to  the  south  of Europe,  particularly  in  the
> Mediterranean, the Near East and the Gulf.
> Forum   on   Security,  which  examines  issues   regarding
> international  security and the role  played  by  Italy  in
> these issues.
> 
> 
> LIBRARY
> 
> The  library was set up in 1965, the year the Institute was
> founded,  and provides a high level of service  to  Italian
> experts  and  researchers  in  the  area  of  international
> issues. It contains more than 15 000 items, including bound
> volumes  of  periodicals  and  the  "open"  collection   of
> reference  materials. The library's contents are  currently
> being  catalogued  in  an  on-line  data  base,  which  now
> contains  more  than  6000  entries.  The  library   is   a
> participant  in  the  "European  Information   Network   on
> International Relations and Area Studies", an international
> project for libraries and data-banks which was launched  by
> the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Ebenhausen.
> 
> 
> PUBLICATIONS
> 
> Yearbook:  L'Italia  nella  Politica  Internazionale,  21st
> Edition, 1994 (1992-93), SIPI Editrice, Rome
> Journal  (in  English): The International  Spectator,  Vol.
> XXX, Fratelli Palombi Editore, Rome
> Review  (in Italian): Maastricht Watch, vol. III,  1994-95,
> quarterly  supplement of "Mondo Economic", II Sole  24  Ore
> SpA, Milano
> 
> Book  Series:  Lo Spettatore Internazionale, Franco  Angeli
> Editore, Milan
> Recent Issues:
> La  guerra  di Bosnia: una tragedia annunciata,  ed.  Marco
> Carnovale
> Il  Vertice  dei  Sette. Ruolo e prospective  del  G-7  nel
> mutato  scenario internazionale, eds. Guido Garavoglia  and
> Cesare Merlin
> L'Europa senza muri: Le sfide della pace fredda: un anno di
> presidenza italiana della Csce, ed. Ettore Greco
> 
> Working Papers: Documenti IAI
> 
> DIRECTING STAFF
> 
> President:     Cesare Merlini
> Director:      Gianni Bonvicini
> Vice-President:    Stefano Silvestri
> Director of Studies:    Roberto Aliboni
>                             =20
>                             =20
>              Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ORIGINS AND ORGANIZATION
> 
> 
> 
> The Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) is a foundation
> established in 1962 for the purpose of furthering  analytic
> research  into  problems  of  international  politics   and
> security.  Publicly  funded, but politicallly  independent,
> the  SWP today maintains the largest research institute  of
> its kind in the Federal Republic of Germany.
> 
> The  Stiftung  was called into being at  a  time  when  the
> Federal  Republic of Germany was beginning to  broaden  its
> role  on  the  international  scene.  Sensing  a  need  for
> independent academic advice to back the Federal  Republic's
> foreign  policy efforts, a group of distinguished  scholars
> and  public  officials under the chairmanship of  Professor
> Arnold   Bergstraesser  submitted  a   proposal   for   the
> establishment   of  an  interdisciplinary,  policy-oriented
> research  institute. The authors were convinced  that  such
> advice  could  credibly be offered  only  by  an  institute
> outside  the  traditional university system and  not  under
> direct government control =96 albeit with close ties to  both
> the   academic  and  the  political  worlds.  The  Stiftung
> Wissenschaft  und Politik was set up as a non-profitmaking,
> private  foundation  in  order to  provide  an  appropriate
> institutional framework.
> 
> The   Federal  Government,  having  previously  established
> policy  planning staffs in a number of ministries, welcomed
> this private initiative and pledged its support. In January
> 1965,  the  Federal Republic's parliament,  the  Bundestag,
> unanimously approved the government's request for  official
> funding.  Bundestag members shared the conviction that  the
> emerging  issues of national security and arms  control  in
> the  nuclear  age  required the intensive  and  specialized
> analytic  approach already being practised  in  the  United
> States, but not hitherto in Germany.
> 
> The   Forschungsinstitut  f=FCr  internationale  Politik  und
> Sicherheit  (Research Institute for International  Politics
> and   Security)   under  the  auspices  of   the   Stiftung
> Wissenschaft und Politik began its work in a former mansion
> in  Ebenhausen,  south of Munich. The SWP's  founders  were
> convinced that a location away from the federal capital and
> thus  somewhat  removed  from the  immediate  pressures  of
> politics would best enable the institute to conduct general
> and  policy-oriented research. Over the last 25 years,  the
> SWP  has grown significantly in size and importance. Today,
> the   institute  is  housed  in  modern  office   buildings
> clustered  around the old mansion. The latest  addition,  a
> conference  center, opened in 1987 and, equipped  with  all
> necessary technical facilities, enables the SWP to meet the
> growing  demand  for  hosting  national  and  international
> meetings of experts, policymakers and government leaders.
> 
> The  Stiftung's affairs are supervised by a 19-member Board
> of    Trustees,    the    Stiftungsrat.    This    includes
> representatives   from  the  Bundestag,  the   Chancellor's
> Office,  the Foreign Office, and the Ministries of Defense,
> Economics,  Finance,  and Research  and  Technology.  Other
> members  of  the  Stiftungsrat represent the  academic  and
> business  communities as well as the public at  large.  The
> Stiftungsrat   appoints  a  four-member   Executive   Board
> including, as its chairman, the director of the institute.
> 
> The  SWP  receives almost all the operating funds  for  the
> institute through annual non-project appropriations in  the
> Federal  budget.  These  are  supplemented  by  grants  for
> specific projects, obtained from private foundations in the
> Federal Republic and abroad.
> 
> RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
> 
> The  research  activities of the SWP seek  to  combine  the
> requirements  of general research in international  affairs
> with the specific needs and interests of policymakers.  Its
> research planning reflects this dual purpose. The institute
> develops  its  own research agenda, giving  due  regard  to
> specific   questions   raised  by  Bundestag   members   or
> government  departments.  The  two-year  research   program
> submitted by the institute as the result of this process is
> subject  to  formal approval by the Board of Trustees.  The
> institute does not engage in contract research.
> 
> On  the basis of the two-year program, the institue and its
> staff develop a semi-annual detailed working program.  This
> attempts  to combine the specific fields of expertise  with
> topical   issues   relating  to  current  and   foreseeable
> international developments. Most of the research focuses on
> conceptual problems and international affairs.
> 
> Research activities are currently organized in four broadly
> defined areas:
> =96   Western  European and transatlantic relations,  Eastern
>   European  affairs,  and  political  developments  in  the
>   successor states of the Soviet Union;
> =96   international security policies (defense, arms control,
>   and technological advances);
> =96   international economics (West, East, and  Third  World)
>   and issues involving technological change;
> =96   developments  outside Europe and North  America  (Asia,
>   Near and Middle East, Africa, Latin America) relevant  to
>   the other research areas.
> 
> Research  in  these  broad areas is carried  out  in  small
> teams, enabling work to be conducted either individually or
> through project-oriented interdisciplinary cooperation. The
> team  leaders  form a council, which is  consulted  by  the
> institute's  director  on all research  questions.  Special
> subjects outside the institute's normal range of competence
> are  occasionally  assigned to external  researchers  on  a
> contract basis.
> 
> Results   are   usually  disseminated  in   the   form   of
> nonclassified  studies and position papers. Many  of  these
> are intended primarily for the attention and specific needs
> of   policymakers   and,  therefore,  are   not   generally
> available.  Chief  recipients are  the  Bundestag  and  its
> committees,   the   Chancellery,   and   various    Federal
> Ministries. In addition, research results are often  shared
> directly between research staff and policymakers.
> 
> Increasingly   important  is  dialogue  and   exchange   of
> information  with similar institutions at home and  abroad.
> SWP  staff  members  are encouraged to participate  on  the
> national  and  international level in  conferences,  expert
> meetings,  workshops  and  major  research  programs,  thus
> widening their contribution to policy-related research  and
> helping    to    foster   international    discourse    and
> understanding.
> 
> In  most  cases, major research is eventually published  in
> periodicals and books under the name and responsibility  of
> the individual researcher. In 1978, the SWP inaugurated, in
> cooperation  with  the  Nomos  Verlagsgesellschaft,  Baden-
> Baden,   its   own  series  "Internationale   Politik   und
> Sicherheit";  since 1983, another series  has  been  added,
> "Aktuelle Materialien zur Internationalen Politik".  For  a
> listing of SWP publications see
> pp. 11.
> 
> The  Stiftung's professional staff, some 45 out of a  total
> permanent  staff  of  120,  is  drawn  from  a  variety  of
> disciplines and professional backgrounds (see the  listing,
> pp.  8).  It is regularly augmented by three general  staff
> officers  of  the  Bundeswehr, the  Federal  Armed  Forces,
> assigned to the SWP for a two-year period studying  defense
> and  arms  control issues. The SWP also hosts a  number  of
> postgraduate  students or younger scholars  doing  work  on
> international   affairs.   In   addition,   the    Stiftung
> occasionally  invites senior scholars or policymakers  from
> the  Federal Republic and abroad to take an active part  in
> the institute's research.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> =20
> =20
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stephan De Spiegeleire
> Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)          Tel. (49) 8178/70-360
> Research Institute for International Affairs     Fax  (49) 8178/70-312
> D-82067 Ebenhausen/Isar, Federal Republic of Germany
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
David Carment
School of International Affairs
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6
voice - (613) 788-2600-6662
fax - (613) 788-2889
Email address: dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------