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 seven days at the heart of the Just Peace Festival (16 - 22 June 2025) and address each of the festival’s six main themes.

The Just Peace Dialogues are open to the public, including armed forces, civil society groups, journalists, policymakers, researchers, young people, and indeed any concerned citizens. The inspiration is that respectful searching dialogue among diverse viewpoints can generate mutual understanding and new solutions.

Dialogue 1: Imagining Peace

• Monday 16 June 2025
• 16:00 - 19:00
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building, Spanish Steps
• Link to this event here

Amidst today’s armed conflicts, authoritarian governments, cyber attacks, organized crime, economic insecurity, and ecological destruction, it can be hard to imagine peace. What do we mean by ‘peace’, beyond the absence of war? What kind of peace are we seeking? What makes people and society at peace? This dialogue brings together leading thinkers who push us to get more clear and creative about peace.

Dialogue 2: Peace in Europe

• Tuesday 17 June 2025
• 16:00 - 19:00
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building, Spanish Steps
• Link to this event here

Eighty years after 1945, Europe again faces war in its own region. How to turn this tide and have sustainable peace in Europe? To discuss this question, this dialogue looks at the experience of war in Ukraine; Russia's role in Europe; lessons of Europe’s history for future peace; the values underpinning future European peace; and Europe’s place in a changing global world. A week before the NATO Summit in The Hague, this dialogue offers a range of inspiring visions for peace in Europe

Dialogue 3: Peace in Sudan

• Wednesday 18 June 2025
• 16:00 - 19:00
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building, Spanish Steps
• Link to this event here

Since April 2023 the current war in Sudan has brought larger death, destruction, and displacement than any other ongoing armed conflict on earth. This dialogue brings together wise thinkers and excellent speakers from academia, civil society, policymakers, and youth to discuss how peace can be brought back to Sudan. What kind of creative and hopeful scenarios can be envisioned for peace in Sudan? What would be the key ingredients for a lasting peace? 

Dialogue 4: Peace in Israel-Palestine

• Thursday 19 June 2025
• 16:00 - 19:00
• The Hague Humanity Hub
• Link event here

Dialogue 5: Democracy and Peace

• Friday 20 June 2025
• 16:00 - 19:00
• The Hague Humanity Hub
• Link to this event here

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?

Dialogue 6: Cybersecurity and Peace

• Saturday 21 June 2025
• 10:30 - 13:45
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building
• Link to this event here

Thirty years ago, pioneers of the internet expected that this new technology would be a force for freedom, democracy, justice and peace. Yet today digital communications often involve human rights abuses, criminal activity, disinformation, gender-based violence, and cyber warfare. How can we turn these tides and make online spaces serve a just peace?

Dialogue 7: Rule of Law and Peace

• Saturday 21 June 2025
• 14:00 - 17:15
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building
• Link to this event here

Liberal visions of international order presume that peaceful settlement of disputes depends on the rule of law. Yet today many actors ignore United Nations resolutions, breach multilateral trade agreements, withdraw from international treaties, and violate legally established territorial borders. Is it the end of international law and order? Can we turn the tide, and if so how? Do we need a new kind of law to promote just peace, and if so what would it look like?

Dialogue 8: Equality and Peace

• Sunday 22 June 2025
• 10:30 - 13:45
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building
• Link to this event here

Modern conflict often links back to inequality. If people perceive that they are unfairly blocked from opportunities for a good life, their frustrations can channel into violence. Examples include struggles around colonialism, elitism, gender inequality, age hierarchies, racial exclusion, religious discrimination, disability rights, and more. Does current backsliding on diversity, equity and inclusion increase obstacles to peace? If so, what can be done to reaffirm the importance of equality for peace?

Dialogue 9: Climate and Peace

• Sunday 22 June 2025
• 14:00 - 17:15
• Leiden University, Wijnhaven Building
• Link to this event here

Today’s world faces unprecedented climate change and other environmental disruptions. Meeting these challenges with new policies and lifestyles involves major destabilization and large potentials for violent conflict. What can we do to turn ecological transformation into a force for peace?

Additionally, the programme includes the Peace, Democracy, and Media Conference organised with the Festival partner Iran Academia; and the Grotian Law and Modernity at the Dawn of a New Age - International Conference.