The Kroc Institute For International Peace StudiesEdit
The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies sits within the University of Notre Dame as a prominent hub for analyzing how communities move from violence to stable, legitimate governance. Born from a philanthropic gift by Joan B. Kroc and established in the mid-1980s, the institute has grown into a multidisciplinary center where scholars in political science, theology, economics, law, and related fields collaborate on the hard work of preventing and resolving conflict. Its mission blends rigorous analysis with a practical bent toward policy impact: training leaders, informing public debate, and contributing to peace processes around the world. The institute operates against the backdrop of the Catholic intellectual tradition, drawing on Catholic social teaching and the idea of natural law to ground its work in human dignity and the pursuit of a just peace, while engaging a broad, secular scholarly community and international partners. Peace studies emerges here not as sentiment but as a problem-solving enterprise aimed at reducing the human costs of war and instability.
The Kroc Institute has become known for its data-driven and field-based approach to peacebuilding, a synthesis that appeals to those who emphasize results and accountability in international affairs. It seeks to connect scholarly insight with concrete policy tools—whether in diplomacy, governance reform, or development strategy—so that peace is more than a momentary ceasefire and becomes a durable arrangement grounded in institutions, incentives, and shared norms. This orientation places the institute in a broader ecosystem of diplomacy and international cooperation, where work on issues such as human security, post-conflict reconstruction, and the rule of law is linked to the practical needs of governments and communities facing violent conflict.
History
The Kroc Institute was created to give serious attention to questions of conflict, war, and peace in a way that bridges theory and practice. The founding endowment from Joan B. Kroc established a formal center within the University of Notre Dame to cultivate rigorous inquiry into what makes peace endure after violence subsides. From its inception, the institute pursued a multidisciplinary agenda—integrating insights from political science, theology, and law with on-the-ground analysis of peace processes. Over the decades, its footprint has extended through partnerships with governments, international organizations, and civil society groups, as well as through fieldwork and data-driven research that tracks the outcomes of peace agreements and state-building initiatives. The work has often centered on post-conflict transitions in diverse regions, including Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with attention to both the political economy of peace and the ethical dimensions of statecraft. Peace Accords Matrix is one of the institute’s flagship efforts, compiling and analyzing peace agreements to gauge what helps or hinders lasting peace. Colombia and other conflict-affected contexts have been part of its research portfolio, illustrating how theory translates into policy-relevant insight. University of Notre Dame remains the institutional home that anchors the institute’s international engagement.
Mission and approach
At its core, the Kroc Institute pursues a mission to advance a practical, humane, and sustainable approach to peace. This means:
- Training leaders and practitioners who can operate at the intersection of diplomacy, development, and governance;
- Producing policy-relevant research that can inform governments, international organizations, and civil society;
- Engaging communities and field partners to design peacebuilding strategies that are effective on the ground;
- Emphasizing ethical reflection alongside empirical analysis, so that peace work respects human dignity and the rule of law.
The institute’s work reflects a vision of peace that is holistic: security is not only about preventing violence but also about creating the conditions for legitimate institutions, economic opportunity, and inclusive governance. Its methodological stance blends qualitative and quantitative methods, case studies and cross-national comparisons, and it repeatedly tests ideas against real-world outcomes. The Catholic perspective—rooted in Catholic social teaching and a tradition of just peace—provides a normative frame for considering duties to vulnerable populations, the moral limits of coercion, and the responsibilities of state and nonstate actors in peace processes. Nevertheless, the institute emphasizes broad engagement with secular scholars, international bodies, and practitioners to ensure relevance beyond any single tradition. The aim is not doctrinal advocacy but enduring effectiveness in preventing and resolving conflict, and in supporting legitimate governance that can withstand the temptations of corruption, coercion, or factionalism.
Key topics the institute covers include peacebuilding, conflict resolution, the governance of post-conflict societies, the interplay between development and security, and the role of international law in shaping peaceful outcomes. Its work invites policymakers to consider both the strategic calculus of security and the humane dimension of political legitimacy. The center’s emphasis on empirical impact—e.g., through data-driven analysis of peace agreements and governance reforms—resonates with audiences who prioritize results and accountability in international affairs. Human security and the rule of law feature prominently as concrete avenues through which durable peace becomes possible, not as abstract ideals.
Programs and research
The Kroc Institute hosts a range of educational programs and research initiatives designed to train cohorts of peaceful change-makers and to produce knowledge that travels beyond campus walls. It maintains graduate offerings in peace studies and related fields, supports field research in diverse conflict settings, and publishes analyses and policy briefs intended for practitioners as well as scholars. A core element of its research infrastructure is the Peace Accords Matrix, a data-driven project that documents peace agreements, monitors their implementation, and identifies factors associated with successful peace processes. This kind of work helps policymakers distinguish between well-intentioned but fragile arrangements and those with durable design features such as inclusive institutions, credible security guarantees, and sustainable economic development. The institute also houses collaborations with governments, international organizations like the United Nations, and a network of partner universities and NGOs to share findings, refine methodologies, and test peacebuilding concepts in real time. In addition to research, the Kroc Institute emphasizes field-based learning opportunities, mentoring for students pursuing careers in diplomacy and development, and engagement with policy communities at home and abroad. Post-conflict reconstruction and Just War Theory topics frequently appear in seminars and curricula to provide a balanced view of the moral and strategic dimensions of peace.
Field impact and partnerships
The institute’s scholarship is accompanied by a robust engagement program that aims to translate knowledge into practice. By working with governments, multi-lateral organizations, and civil society, it seeks to support peace processes with data-informed analysis, context-aware recommendations, and capacity-building activities. Projects often emphasize governance reform, anti-corruption measures, human rights monitoring, electoral integrity, and the development of institutions that can endure political changes. Partnerships with global actors such as the United Nations, regional organizations, and Non-governmental organization networks help ensure that research agendas stay attuned to pressing peace and security challenges. The Kroc Institute’s work on human security and rule of law aims to reduce the conditions that lead to violence, while its engagement with Catholic social teaching infuses humanitarian aims with a persistent concern for human dignity and social justice in a way that can be reconciled with state and market-based solutions.
Controversies and debates
Like any influential center operating at the intersection of ethics, policy, and international politics, the Kroc Institute faces scrutiny and critique. Some observers question whether peace studies can avoid becoming ideological or excessively abstract when confronted with the messy realities of how peace is built. Critics from various ends of the spectrum worry about potential biases introduced by religious or moral frameworks, or about an overreliance on Western liberal concepts of governance and human rights. In practice, the institute maintains an insistence on empirical evaluation—evidenced in tools like the Peace Accords Matrix—and on policy relevance, while acknowledging that values shape how problems are framed and solved.
From a more conservative or security-focused perspective, debates often center on the balance between national sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, the proper scope of international institutions, and the best mix of coercive and civilian instruments for peace. The Kroc Institute’s Catholic identity sometimes raises questions about how its normative commitments interact with pluralistic, secular policy environments. Proponents respond that the Catholic tradition contributes a tested framework for human dignity, natural law, and the moral dimensions of peace, without suppressing rigorous, external analysis or engagement with diverse stakeholders. They argue that a sound peace policy must address both the hard security concerns of preventing violence and the soft, governance-related needs that prevent relapse into conflict.
Critics who accuse peace studies of being overly focused on identity, grievance, or “woke” rhetoric often miss the empirical basis of the institute’s work. The center’s defenders point out that addressing grievances and inclusive governance is not a retreat from stability or sovereignty but a way to reduce incentives for violence and to broaden legitimacy for peaceful order. Data-driven projects such as the PAM provide a check against purely idealistic rhetoric, showing where peace efforts succeed and where they falter, and guiding policymakers toward reforms that can produce durable benefits for diverse communities—black, white, and otherwise—without signaling preference for any single ideology. In this way, the Kroc Institute presents peace as a practical project of state-building, governance reform, and humanitarian concern rather than a purely normative manifesto.