Download Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in War-Torn Societies

Peacebuilding and Statebuilding
in War-Torn Societies
July 5 – 15, 2011 • Josef Korbel School of
International Studies • Denver, Colorado USA
The Academic Council on the United Nations
System (ACUNS) and the American Society of
International Law (ASIL), in cooperation with the
Josef Korbel School of International Studies, are
pleased to announce the twenty-first ACUNSASIL Summer Workshop on International
Organization Studies.
The workshop is designed for junior professors in
international relations, international law or other
relevant disciplines, post-doctoral and advanced
doctoral level students, young lawyers and
practitioners from civil society groups, policy staff
from international organizations, and others at
similarly early stages of their professional careers.
The workshop seeks to develop a specialized
knowledge base on the challenges of war-torn
societies; gain specific new methodological tools
for analysis and assessment; explore the
possibilities, and limits, of international
engagement to ameliorate deep social divisions,
and a critical evaluation of the role of the United
Nations in conflict prevention, peacemaking, and
peacebuilding.
The workshop is hosted by the Josef Korbel
School of International Studies, University of
Denver.
Program Theme
Protracted social conflicts in deeply divided, wartorn societies such as Afghanistan, Bosnia,
Burundi, Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal,
or Sri Lanka suggest the need for engagement to
address the religious, ethnic, sectarian, and
other identity dimensions of conflict. This
requires a contextual and deeper understanding
of the role of identity in causes of conflict
analysis, peacemaking and mediation, in terms
of implementing peace agreements, and creating
the conditions for sustainable peace through
assistance to statebuilding processes that can
healthily regulate identity politics.
The purpose of the seminar is to explore leading
approaches to the understanding and practical
assessment of identity politics and the linkages
between understanding and international
engagement to facilitate more peaceful
interactions in deeply divided societies.
Participants will emerge with a deeper ability to
analyze the complexities of identity in conflict, to
consider alternative approaches to and methods
of engagement to help build peace, and ways
the international community may navigate the
difficult waters of statebuilding in which support
for governance reconstruction, reform, and
transformation is seen as a strategic approach to
long-term mitigation of conflict. The workshop
features thematic exploration, case-specific
specialization, and a supportive interactive
learning environment.
Learning Objectives
Participants in the course will gain knowledge and applied skills in analysis of identity-based conflicts
and international (especially UN) responses to build peace and viable states in deeply divided
societies. Among the themes the workshop will address are:
The complex nature of identity in deeply divided societies, and the roles of culture, social
structure, political economy, and political institutions in the construction and reproduction of
ethnic and sectarian identities;
The relationship between identity, ethno-nationalism, and the state in countries where identitybased organizations often gain greater loyalty from citizens that the national state;
Identity in the course of war, and the ways in which identities change during conflict and the
implications of such changes for the prospects for peacebuilding;
The especially injurious effects of identity-based conflict on women and girls;
How peace processes and peace settlements, often based on power-sharing formulas, affect the
prospects for peacebuilding and statebuilding;
Approaches, methods, and lessons learned in elite/leadership and community-level engagement
to build peace across lines of deep and enduring social divisions; and
The ways in which the United Nations, both the Secretariat and specialized organizations
together with regional organizations and international non-governmental organizations, can
improve monitoring, conflict prevention, peacemaking and mediation, development assistance
and aid, and regional integration may create ways in which domestic processes.
Through presentations by leading scholars and practitioners, case studies, guided research, and
innovative pedagogies geared to post-graduate professionals, this workshop will allow participants to
improve their own skills and capacities for engaging in the complex but critical areas of international
engagement to build peace in divided societies. Specialists and experts will include leading scholars
on the conflict and peacebuilding in deeply divided societies, practitioners from international
organizations, development aid specialists, and participants from the case-study countries.
Application Procedure for UN Secretariat Staff
UN Secretariat staff apply through the internal application process by contacting Bernadette Mutirende,
Centrally-Coordinated Learning Programmes, Office of Human Resources Management, UN, New York
at [email protected] . Completed applications must be received by Friday, 1 April 2011 and must
include all of the following:
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A brief (~1,000 words) statement of research interests apropos of the workshop themes;
A curriculum vitae
One letter of reference
Application Form (located on page 4)
Participant Selection
Up to 20 participants will be selected by a review committee for the Workshop.
Those selected will be expected to submit a ten-page draft of a research or policy paper to his or
her director in advance of the workshop (terms of references will be provided). Participants will
also join a virtual learning environment prior to the course.
Participants will submit to the ACUNS Secretariat following the workshop an assessment and
planning document that applies the analytical portion of the workshop to a particular strategy of
intervention for an international organization, donor state, or NGO.
The working language of the workshop is English.
The selected participants will receive lowest-cost economy class return air travel between their
location and the workshop site, accommodations and some meals for the duration of the
workshop.
The workshop is designed to promote collegial exchange and networking in an intense program.
Participants are expected to take part fully in all aspects of the program. For this reason,
participants are not encouraged to be accompanied by spouses, children or other dependents.
ACUNS, the host institution, any other associated organization can offer financial support,
specific accommodation, or special requests for those accompanying a workshop participant.
Application Form
Prefix:
□ Mr. □ Ms. □ Dr.
First Name:
________________________________________________________________
Last Name:
________________________________________________________________
Address:
________________________________________________________________
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Telephone:
________________________________________________________________
E-mail:
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Proposal Title: ________________________________________________________________