Just Peace Festival

Just Peace Dialogue: Democracy and Peace

Date: Friday 20 June 2025
Time: 16:00 - 19:00
Location: The Hague Humanity Hub
Fluwelen Burgwal 58
2511 CJ The Hague

What is the relationship between democracy and peace? Do the two go hand in hand, so that less democracy means less peace? Or can democracy work against peace: for example, by producing protectionist and militarist governments? Or is there something more deeply wrong with democracy as we know it, such that future peace depends on a transformation of democracy? If so, what kind of new democracy do we need?

Registration is required. Tickets are free. Get yours here.

Meet the Panel

Mateo I. Cohen, Leiden University

Mateo I. Cohen is a lecturer and doctoral researcher at Leiden University's Political Science Department. Mateo published research articles on the Israeli right, conservative ideology, and democratic decay in various academic journals. His 2025 research monograph, Radicalized Conservatism in Israel (Leiden University Press), received praise for its contribution to the study of Israeli politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the ideological challenge to democracy.

Antoaneta Dimitrova, Leiden University

Antoaneta Dimitrova's research brings together different lines of inquiry relating to governance transfer across national borders. An enduring theme in her work has been the effect of the European Union on the democratic and market transformations of the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Other key themes are EU enlargement, currently focusing on the EU’s strategy towards the Western Balkan candidates. Another theme in her research inquires into the causes of democratic backsliding and especially role of state capture.

Gjovalin Macaj, Leiden University

Gjovalin Macaj is Assistant Professor in peace and justice at Leiden University. He holds a DPhil in human rights from the University of Oxford and a PhD in European foreign policy from Free University of Brussels. He served as an advisor to the Mission of Albania at the United Nations Security Council in 2022–23, where he covered country situations (e.g. Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq) and thematic issues (e.g. peacekeeping, sanctions, international courts and tribunals). His research focuses on the theory and practice of human rights, ethics, norms, diplomacy, the European Union and the United Nations.

Rugiatu Neneh Turay-Koroma, N’NINKIE Project

Rugiatu Neneh Turay is a Sierra Leonean changemaker, civic society leader, and former Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, known for her grassroots and policy-level work on women’s rights, anti-corruption, and community-led development. She founded the Amazonian Initiative Movement to end FGM through culturally respectful, non-violent alternatives, and co-leads N’NINKIE, promoting locally driven solutions for structural change and true empowerment for all groups in society. A 2024 Hrant Dink Award recipient, Neneh believes, “The world needs peace and peace, like change, can only come from within.”

Moderator: Violet Benneker, Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD)

Violet Benneker is a political dialogue expert currently working for NIMD, a global democracy support organization active in countries such as Myanmar, Ethiopia, Mali, Colombia, and the Dutch Caribbean. She teaches her own master’s course on political dialogue at Leiden University. Her PhD research focused on how political dialogues can lead to the implementation of contested human rights.

The Just Peace Dialogues will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Dutch.

Schedule

15.30 Doors Open
16.00-17.00 Roundtable
17.00-18.00 Breakout Groups
18.00-19.00 Borrel

Register for this event

The Just Peace Dialogues are a free event hosted by Leiden University. Space is limited, therefore registration is required for all Just Peace Dialogues.

The Just Peace Dialogues are a set of meetings for public deliberation of key aspects of building peace in today’s world. The dialogues are held across four days at the heart of the Just Peace Festival (19-22 June 2025) and address each of the festival’s six main themes. The aim is stimulate creative discussion about conditions for a just peace in contemporary society.

The dialogues are:

Imagining Peace (16 June 2025 16:00 - 19:00);
Peace in Europe (17 June 2025 16:00 - 19:00);
Peace in Sudan (18 June 2025 16:00 - 19:00);
Peace in Israel-Palestine (19 June 16:00 - 19:00);
Democracy and Peace (20 June 2025 16:00 - 19:00);
Cybersecurity and Peace (21 June 14:00 - 17:15);
Climate and Peace (22 June 14:00 - 17:15).

Learn more about the Just Peace Festival

global transformations and governance challenges