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t a series of meetings, presentations, and small group discussions, several senior fellows at the Institute of Peace in 1997–98 explored their mutual interest in issues of memory and forgiveness in post-conflict societies. The Institute recently awarded the group a $38,000 grant to explore the role memory has played in nurturing and shaping conflict. Their aim is to promote reconciliation, with particular focus on the question of forgiveness as an antidote to entrenched conflict.
Project directors Michael Foley of Catholic University and Paul Arthur of the University of Ulster will be joined in the study by George Irani, Lebanese American University, Beirut; Ruzica Rozandic, Southeastern University, Florida; and Idith Zertal, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. The scholars will base their work on case studies from Africa, India, Latin America, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, the former Soviet Union, and the former Yugoslavia.
Jon Alterman, program officer in the Research and Studies Program, discussed the rise of transnational media in the Middle East at the annual convention of the Arab-U.S. Association of Communications Educators in Cairo in September. He lectured on the same topic at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Institute. A report of his talk at the Diplomatic Institute appeared in the Satellite Television Guide, an Egyptian magazine.
Alterman discussed the political implications of a more open media environment in the Arab world at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies on November 19 and provided an overview of his work at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on November 24. His monograph New Media, New Politics? From Satellite Television to the Internet in the Arab World was published by the Washington Institute in November.
Sheryl Brown, director of communications, discussed “Public Opinion and the Media” with students at the NATO Defense College in Rome in September. In October, she met with representatives of Bosnia’s media in Sarajevo to explore how the Institute can help media from the various entities work together to address a multiethnic public. Later that month, she discussed “Future Realities for Relief Operations” at the World Aid ë98 conference in Geneva.
Patrick Cronin, director of research and studies, discussed “Nuclear Proliferation in Asia” and chaired a panel on regional perspectives on nuclear proliferation at the National Defense University’s “Symposium on Deterrence,” sponsored by the Center for Counterproliferation Research on October 28. Earlier that month, he presented a lecture on “U.S. Approaches to Peace and Security in the Asia Pacific” as part of the Modern Asia Series at the Asia Center, Harvard University. On September 28, Cronin discussed “U.S. Views” at Georgetown University’s Southeast Asia Forum on “Political Transition in Southeast Asia.”
Institute executive vice president Harriet Hentges and senior fellow Daniel Serwer visited the Balkans in November to assess recent developments there and to plan future Institute programs. Together they met with civic and political leaders and intellectuals in Belgrade, Serbia; Pristina, Kosovo province, Serbia; and Skopje, Macedonia. Hentges then traveled to Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Serwer to Podogrica, Montenegro.
Heather Kerr-Stewart, program officer in the Education and Training Program, has been asked to serve on an advisory committee for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Foreign Service. To commemorate the event, an essay contest is being established for high school students. Kerr-Stewart will help to develop an essay topic, determine how the prize money will be divided, and develop guidelines and judging criteria.
David Little, senior scholar in religion, ethics, and human rights, recently discussed religion, human rights, and U.S. foreign policy at various occasions celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He spoke at the State Department’s Open Forum, the Religion and Conflict Resolution seminar and Center for Human Rights lecture series at Columbia University, the “Religious Freedom, Christian-Muslim Relations, and the Future of Jerusalem” conference at Georgetown University, and the “Religion and Human Rights” lecture series at the University of Richmond School of Law. Little also presented the keynote paper, “The Moral Limits on the Use of Force,” at a conference at the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary.
Bob Schmitt, information systems manager, was awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Diplomacy by Princeton N. Lyman, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, on October 1. The award was granted for “outstanding efforts and skilled negotiations, which led to the development of the Tampere Convention of the Provision of Emergency Telecommunications” adopted by the United Nations and signed by the United States this month. The convention will make it easier to move telecommunications across national boundaries during disasters of any kind and for the first time provides international protections for telecommunications relief workers.
Barbara Wein, program officer in the Education and Training Program, moderated a panel on “The Impact of Globalization on Diversity” for a U.S. Information Agency program for 100 Hubert Humphrey Fellows from around the world on November 9.
In October, she facilitated a workshop for 50 anti-war activists on “Identity, Nationalism, and Conflict” at the 75th anniversary conference of the War Resisters League, held in Davidsonville, Md.
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