Peace Under Pressure: How German Peace Groups Respond to the Far Right

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, “war and peace” has become a prominent theme in public protests. However, the protest landscape in many European countries is fragmented: traditional peace movements continue to mobilize, while extreme-right and ideologically mixed actors increasingly adopt the peace frame to advance their own agendas. Traditional peace groups thus face new challenges in responding to the rising far right. This article analyzes over 100 statements from peace organizations in Germany, combined with interviews with movement members and experts, to identify different response strategies. We identify three strategies: containment, critical engagement, and partial outreach. Based on a detailed mapping of German peace groups, we also examine whether certain group characteristics make them more or less likely to adopt a particular strategy. Overall, the paper points to the complex controversies in current European peace movements.