Give peace a chance! Many people would agree with this sentence, especially those living in places like Gaza or Kyiv. Geneva has claimed to be the capital of peace for more than a century. Our Institute is located in the Maison de la Paix and hosts a specialised research centre – no wonder that peace in all its dimensions is a key theme in our collections. To celebrate this year’s edition of Geneva Peace Week (13-17 October 2025), we put a small selection of documents on display at the entrance of the Library.
Peacebuilding, peace education, psychology of peace, pacifism, our books and films cover many aspects of a subject that remains high on the agenda in these troubled times. Through its collections, the Library aims to support the many teaching and research activities around peace and peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute.
Keeping the flame burning
As old recipes are contested, many people around the world try to fight the temptation of Mars, including professional mediators, scholars and civil society organizations. Can Venus (women) contribute to the advancement of peace? It gave anyway the Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki the inspiration for a comedy.
The main categories related to Peace in our collection are:
303.6: Violence. Conflict (Sociology)
323.1: Ethnic minorities. Ethnic conflicts
323.2: Coup d’Etat. Revolution. Civil war
327.3: International social movements
327.5: International conflicts
327.6: Peace
341.68: Peacekeeping
355.01: War and warfare (theory)
Take some time to browse through the selection on display in the entrance of the Library as well as the programme of GPW25. Its theme this year is “Peace in Action”.
For more information concerning our collection on peace and peacebuilding, please contact Catherine Brendow.
Don’t have a DVD player? Borrow a portable DVD player from our services.
Geneva Graduate Institute Library Blog 