Conflict Resolution

Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

Paul Snodgrass — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 22:30:48 +0000

Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker Paul Snodgrass Sun, 12/29/2024 - 17:30

��AV’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution Remembers Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

Former President Jimmy Carter holding the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Photo credit: the Carter Center.

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at ��AV remembers James “Jimmy” Earl Carter, Jr. 39th President of the United States, as an agent of peace. We send our deepest condolences to his family.

“President Carter’s unwavering dedication to peace has been, and will continue to be, our beacon and guide. Our school’s name is a tribute to President Carter’s commitment to the worldwide peaceful resolution of conflict, which is imperative in today's world, as we face many entrenched and emerging human security threats,” said Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem. “We will further his legacy in conflict resolution through our research and practice. His insight, passion, and love for peace will remain our inspiration in educating future peacemakers.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, celebrating President Carter's Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in December 2002. Photo credit: The Carter Center.

“President Carter showed us that the American presidency can be even more than the pinnacle of political power. It can also be a prelude to far greater humanitarian works,” said George Mason President Gregory Washington. “Tirelessly, humbly, and often unheralded, he led the eradication of Guinea worm in Africa, assured free and fair elections, and devoted thousands of hours of manual labor to help build homes for those in need. In his life, he saved countless lives, brought dignity to countless more, and spread peace throughout our world.”

President, father, husband, author, teacher, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, humanitarian, and peacebuilder, Jimmy Carter led by example. Prior to his election to the presidency in 1976, he served as both Georgia Governor and Georgia State Senator. During his term as president, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy were created.

Carter expanded the national park system and environmental protection legislation. He negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (1978) and signed the SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union (1979). He was, perhaps, best known for his mediation efforts in realizing the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978. Titled the “Framework for Peace in the Middle East,” these dialogues paved the way for peace between these countries, even when such an outcome seemed remote.

Post-presidency, Jimmy Carter conducted peace negotiations and worked to eradicate disease in developing nations. He founded the Carter Center in 1982, and through the center, helped mediate conflicts in Ethiopia and Eritrea, North Korea, Liberia, Haiti, Bosnia, Sudan, Venezuela, and many more war-torn countries. For decades, Jimmy and his wife, Rosalynn, were prominent and active figures in Habitat for Humanity across the globe.

In 2002, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” He is one of only four U.S. Presidents to receive this honor.

On October 1st, to celebrate his 100th birthday, ��AV awarded President Carter an honorary doctor of humane letters to honor his legacy of selfless dedication to peace and a more just and peaceful world.

Jimmy Carter’s dedication to peace and justice was an example to peacebuilders and mediators and his efforts inspired the renaming of George Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in his honor in 2020. He will be remembered by the staff, faculty, and students at the Carter School and the entire peacebuilding community for his tireless and selfless contributions to peace.

About the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

��AV’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution is a community of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and partners with a fundamental commitment to building peace. Through the development of cutting-edge theory, research, education, and practical work, we seek to identify and address the underlying causes of conflict and provide tools for ethical and just peacebuilding on the local, national, and global stages.

About ��AV

��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.

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In This Story

Alpaslan Özerdem

Gregory Washington

Topics

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Humanitarian Assistance

Ernest Ogbozor

Paul Snodgrass — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 18:19:04 +0000

Ernest Ogbozor Paul Snodgrass Mon, 08/08/2022 - 14:19

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School

Contact Information

Email: eogbozor@gmu.edu

Biography

Dr. Ernest Ogbozor is a scholar-practitioner of conflict and development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian action. He was a recipient of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship and taught at George Washington University, Northeastern University, and Brandeis University. His research addresses two fundamental questions: to understand the micro-level impact of conflict and the strategies used by local communities to cope with violence and protect their livelihoods. His recent research focuses on understanding household resilience to violent extremism in the African Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. His professional experience includes work at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as a frontline humanitarian response officer, research contractor for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and monitoring & evaluation consultant at Search for Common Ground (SfCG). He previously worked for TechnoServe Inc., Enterprise for Development International (EfDI), and Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA/Nigeria).

Degrees

Ph.D., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, ��AV
MDiv, Practical Theology and Peacebuilding, Virginia Theological Seminary
MA, Sustainable International Development, Brandeis University
MBA, International Business Management, Lagos State University
BS, Agricultural Economics, University of Benin

Research Interests

Conflict Resolution
International Development
Humanitarian Assistance
Peacebuilding
Informal Security

Publications

Ogbozor E.N. “Co-existence in Boko Haram’s Caliphate: Making a Living in Militant

Controlled Areas in Rural Borno, Nigeria.” African Journal for the Prevention and

Combating of Terrorism (AJPCT), 2020.

Ogbozor E.N. “From Counter-terrorism to Livelihood Destruction: Factors Causing Systemic And Continuing Destruction of Livelihoods in the Lake Chad Basin.” African Journal for the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism (AJPCT), 2019. http://caert.org.dz/Publications/Journal/Journal-19-1.pdf

Ogbozor E.N. Protectors or Outlaws? The CJTF of Nigeria Show the Benefits and Challenges of Working with Civilian Security Actors. Africa Defense Forum, May 3, 2019 (Pages 44-48). http://adf-magazine.com/protectors-or-outlaws/.

Ogbozor, E. N., Mara L. Schoeny, and Andrew E. Baer. "Preventing torture for people

deprived of freedom: The Atlantic Hope and Black Swan Prison Model." Torture Journal 27.1. 2017. https://tidsskrift.dk/torture-journal/article/view/26535

Ogbozor, E.N. “Resilience to Violent Extremism: The Rural Livelihood Coping Strategies in the Lake Chad Basin.” Households in Conflict Network, Institute for Development Studies (IDS), 2016.

Ogbozor, E.N. “Understanding the Informal Security Sector in Nigeria.” Washington DC:

United States Institute of Peace, 2016. https://www.usip.org/publications/2016/09/understanding-informal-security-sector-nigeria

International Community Leaders Join Carter School for a One-of-a-Kind Fellowship

Paul Snodgrass — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 18:42:25 +0000

International Community Leaders Join Carter School for a One-of-a-Kind Fellowship Paul Snodgrass Fri, 07/29/2022 - 14:42

In partnership with the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Community Solutions Program (CSP) and IREX, a global development and education organization based in Washington, D.C., the Carter School is proud to welcome five community leaders from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Palestine, and Slovakia.

Together, the CSP Fellows will complete a four-month fellowship with the Carter School where their work will focus on the thematic areas of environmental issues, peace and conflict resolution, transparency and accountability, or women and gender issues.

Upon completion of the fellowship, the Fellows will return home to apply their new skills through community action projects.

Fellows

Jonathan Jiménez

Founding Partner, Family Lawyer and Professor of Law, Universidad Regional de Guatemala, Central America

Jonathan Jiménez was born in Chimaltenango a Mayan indigenous village of Guatemala. He is the legal team lead and founder of Jiménez & Jiménez Family Law Firm that provides legal services to victims of violence in the local indigenous community of Chimaltenango since 2019. Jonathan is certified by the Supreme Court of Guatemala as Law Attorney and Notary Public.

He has more than two years of experience in Human Rights litigation focused on Children and Adolescents and Family law including domestic violence and sexual abuse, mediation and arbitration, illegal immigration, and family disintegration matters.

Jonathan often serves as a speaker and panelist at human rights justice programs and seminars in his community. In addition, he is a Professor of Law at Universidad Regional de Guatemala.

Karam Al-Zaanin

Communications for Development Specialist

Karam Al-Zaanin, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Al-Azhar University in Palestine, and a diploma in Communication for Development. His skills in communication, networking, presentation, and strategic planning are key assets to his career as a pioneer project coordinator for humanitarian and aid organizations in Gaza.

Karam has the talent to visualize success and identify unconventional yet highly effective strategies for achieving success. He skillfully balances organizational objectives and productive relationships, strategizing and recommending ways in which to achieve and maintain a competitive business edge. Karam’s decision-making and leadership talents have supported his professional growth efforts.

Karam aspires to improve his knowledge and career and pursue making a positive impact in his local community, expanding it to other communities.

Niamat Ullah

Licensed Advocate of the District and Sessions Court, Bangladesh Bar Council
Legal Officer of Legal Cell, Office of the Registrar at the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)
Lead of Curriculum, Training & Project Development at Surge Bangladesh
Trainer of Peacebuilding at Peace Maker Studio (partner of UNDP Bangladesh)

Niamat Ullah is an Advocate of the District and Sessions Court under Bangladesh Bar Council and professionally works as a Legal Officer (Legal Cell), Office of the Registrar at the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). Prior to joining BUP, he worked as an Assistant Manager (Complaints management) at BRAC, where he developed documentation processes for investigations by maintaining sensitivity and confidentiality with the highest levels of efficiency. He started his professional career with the PVE works at Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center as a Lead Instructor for a special project on 'Promoting Equality in Madrasa Students' supported by the US Embassy, Dhaka in 2018 & 2019.

Niamat also volunteers as a Lead, Curriculum, Training & Project Development at Surge Bangladesh. In 2020, Niamat was awarded the ‘EMK Center Small Grant 2020 award for a PVE-related project, where he successfully implemented a nine-month-long project called Project C-FRIYS “Countering fake news and radicalization with the inclusion of young students”.

He completed his Master of Laws (LLM) from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), where his thesis was “A Critical Study on the Impact of Fanaticism over Freedom of Religion for the Religious Minorities of Bangladesh.”

Simona Marcinková

Humanitarian and Co-Founding Member of STEP-IN

Simona is a passionate teacher and a lifelong humanitarian worker. As a teacher, Simona is an ambassador of Teach for Slovakia leadership program. Simona spent two years among the Roma community, teaching in the largest Roma settlement in Slovakia. As a humanitarian worker, she is a co-founding member of STEP-IN, a Slovak medical non-governmental organization focused on providing healthcare in humanitarian and post-humanitarian contexts. Simona worked with STEP-IN over two years in Iraq, coordinating a medical team in a refugee camp. Since the war spread to Europe, together with STEP-IN team, Simona continues to provide medical help in Ukraine. 

Ula ElHindi

Peacebuilder and Project Coordinator for Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung/Rosa Café

Ula ElHindi, is a project coordinator for Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung/Rosa Café in the Gaza strip, Palestine. She holds a bachelor's of English Commerce-Business Administration. Ula has several years of experience working with women in the peace field, through specialized trainings and workshops. In 2021, she was selected as a peacebuilder by UNWOMEN, a UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. She is the founder of Metoogaza, which raises awareness about sexual harassment and rape.

Topics

Terri Dickerson

Paul Snodgrass — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 01:41:01 +0000

Terri Dickerson Paul Snodgrass Fri, 06/24/2022 - 21:41

Adjunct Faculty
Civil Rights Director for the U.S. Coast Guard

Contact Information

Email: tdicker4@gmu.edu

Biography

Dr. Terri A. Dickerson is an adjunct faculty member at ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, one of the nation’s few schools dedicated to social justice and peace. Her research focus is untold, lost, distorted and co-opted stories of marginalized individuals and communities. Dr. Dickerson is also Civil Rights Director for the U.S. Coast Guard. Previously she was Assistant Staff Director for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights where she led investigations and produced reports to Congress and the American public on issues across the civil rights spectrum including voting, equality in education, access to health care, and equal employment. Prior to that, she was Associate Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration where she worked on enterprise development for minoritized individuals. She began her career in the private, non-profit sector, eventually becoming Executive Director of American Women in Radio and Television and its 501(c)(3) Foundation. She also was diversity director for a newspaper association foundation. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, she is among students who were the first to integrate New Orleans Catholic schools.

Honors and Awards

NAACP Benjamin L. Hooks Distinguished Service Award, 2014

U. S. Government Senior Executive Service (SES) Presidential Rank Award, honors the top 5% of senior Federal employees for “sustained extraordinary accomplishment,” 2009

Provost’s Award, ��AV, 2018

James H. Laue Award, ��AV, School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, 2015

Alumni Award, ��AV, for academic achievement, community service, 2015

Affiliations

Member of the government Senior Executive Service.

Member, Senior Executive Service Qualifications Review Board, U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Member, Security Appeals Board, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Member, Board of Advisors, Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick AFB, FL.

Member, Board of Trustees, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 2007-2014

Member, Board of Directors, University of Virginia, Walter M. Ridley Scholarship Fund, 2004-2005

Presentations and Performances

September 2021 – Graduation Speaker for Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute

September 2020 – Assn. for the Study of African American Life and History, Annual Conference Speaker

July 2020 - Federally Employed Women National Training Conference Speaker

January 2020 – Naval Surface Warfare Center, MLK Day Speaker, Philadelphia PA

March 2020 – Defense Logistics Agency, Women’s History Month Speaker, Richmond VA

August 2019 Blacks in Government National Training Conference Speaker, Dallas TX

2020 - Defense Equal Opportunity Mgt. Institute, Patrick AFB, FL, Senior EEO Advanced Course

December 2017 – Graduation Speaker, ��AV, Eagle Bank Arena, Fairfax VA

Dr. Dickerson has testified before the U.S. Congress, House Sub-Committee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Publications

50 Activities for Managing Cultural Diversity, HRD Press, 1993. (Same book re-printed as Activities for Diversity Training.)

Dr. Dickerson has written articles for industry and national publications including The Washington Post, USA-TODAY, and The Ladies' Home Journal. Her book on diversity training (1993) was a bestseller for its publisher. She has been responsible for researching and publishing many reports that bear the U.S. Government seal.

Degrees

PhD, Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

MA, Government, Johns Hopkins University

BS, Education and Human Development, University of Virginia

Remembering Joseph V. Montville (1937-2022)

Paul Snodgrass — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 16:37:24 +0000

Remembering Joseph V. Montville (1937-2022) Paul Snodgrass Wed, 06/15/2022 - 12:37

In This Story

Marc Gopin

Richard Rubenstein

Kevin Avruch

We at the Carter School were saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague, Joseph V. Montville. Joe died peacefully surrounded by family, a well-deserved blessing.

Professor Emeritus Kevin Avruch has this to say about Joe:

Joe led a full and consequential life as a foreign service officer, educator, author, and committed activist in the service of peace. Among his many accomplishments, he is recognized as having termed the concept of Track Two diplomacy, giving a name to and thereby formally recognizing the contributions citizens – “non-professionals” -- could make in mitigating violence and working to achieve peace. He was a longtime supporter of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and the Carter School when I was dean of S-CAR (2013-2019). As we worked to name the school in honor of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Joe was my closest and most trusted advisor. He reached out to his own large network to engage the necessary support. Not a few of my letters and memoranda (in the inimitable style of the foreign service, but with a lot more “heart” than one would find in a diplomatic cable) were first drafted by Joe. He believed deeply in what became the Carter School and its mission. Joe was a loving, generous, and empathetic man.

Professor Richard Rubenstein elaborates further on the intellectual foundations of Joe’s work and his pioneering practices of diplomacy:

Joe Montville had many talents and interests in the field of conflict resolution, but his great passion was to develop an understanding of the methods by which religion might become a source of sustainable peace. During the time that I was writing and teaching about conflict and religion, Joe often lectured in my classes or appeared in symposia that I organized. He had a broad understanding of religion both in terms of its more orthodox institutional expressions and as a key element in the “civil religion” that often determines how groups relate to each either cooperatively or with hostility. He also was in close contact with religious leaders in the U.S. abroad whom he thought should work with each other towards the goal of positive peace.

An outstanding illustration of this was Joe’s key role in bringing Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, to give a lecture at National Cathedral. The trip was almost called off half a dozen times because of its political sensitivity at a time of continuing hostility between the US and Iran. I was present on January 6, 2006, when Khatami stood in the pulpit and declared (as Washington Post reporter Robin Wright reported) that “the United States is a ‘great’ country ‘with great people, great capacities, and potential’ -- language that stood in stark contrast to more than a quarter-century of Iran calling the United States ‘the Great Satan.’”

Wright’s article continued: “But he also condemned its unilateral foreign policy, and he cautioned at a news conference before last night's speech that Washington would be more effective if it worked alongside other nations.”

The second strong connection I had with Joe related to his deep friendship with Dr. Vamik Volkan, whose work he consistently advocated and publicized for years. He supported Volkan’s Center for Mind and Human Interaction at the University of Virginia and connected him with government officials to further his own practice in places like the Baltic nations. This made Joe more than the usual “social psychologist” – it allied him with an outstanding depth psychologist whose work deepened his understanding of the relationship of violent political conflicts to deep mental processes.

The person at the Carter School who knew Joe best, and whose relationship to Joe through the School’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution, was the longest, is Professor Marc Gopin. Marc reflects on Joe in the following words:

There were key events in Joe’s life that led him to his pioneering and most lasting contribution to world peace and conflict resolution theory. The first was his profound reaction, along with key friends that he had made across the world, to the paralyzing standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was then that they swung into action in 1980 with behind-the-scenes unofficial diplomacy at a far deeper level of relationship between select Americans and Soviets who were in a better position to communicate and build trust.

Joe realized then that practitioners of peacemaking and their unofficial diplomacy were essential to the future of the world. But he knew that he needed to spend a lifetime building the theories as to why and how those relationships could make a difference. Joe would spend the rest of his career supporting, in highly innovative and strategic ways, any and all institutions and practitioners who deepened the work of Track Two unofficial diplomacy.

The second seminal moment that led to a lifetime dedication to Track Two diplomacy was when he himself witnessed the terrible limits of official diplomacy during the Iran/Iraq war. He bore witness to the moral compromises and human rights violations that come with nations making despicable friends against common enemies, instead of healing the roots of conflict. These were stunning moments of revelation for Joe. Joe courageously struck out on his own after ending his official diplomatic work. He singlehandedly built a community of Washington and global influentials to embrace alternative forms of diplomacy. Thus, he continued his work at Esalen in California with his colleagues there, but he also embraced several other tributaries of research and practice that fed into Track Two Diplomacy. He championed research into the psychodynamics of conflict, into the wounds of war and incomplete mourning. He called for the need to innovate healing at a deep level that must accompany peace processes and peace treaties.

Joe built and expanded conflict resolution theory and practice by highlighting the important work of many others. He did this selflessly and generously, placing many other careers above his own when the needs of the world outweighed his own needs as he saw it. He also pioneered the field of memory and history as critical to conflict analysis. Influenced by positive psychology and other luminaries such as Elise Boulding, Joe promoted positive memories of shared civilizations versus the obsessive traditional emphasis on warring civilizations. He did this, for example, through promoting shared memories of the Golden Age of Moorish Spain and its unparalleled examples of Abrahamic family coexistence, a favorite theme of his decades-long writing and practice.

Finally, this direction of research and practice evolved into an intellectual embrace of the central importance of religion and religious actors for the future of inclusive peacebuilding and diplomacy. He did so decades before K street and everyone else scrambled to understand religion and violence after 9/11, which in reality was not a serious interest in religion but a thinly veiled fear of Islam. Joe by contrast embraced all religions in their capacity to promote peace and daringly established beachheads of research and practice right on K Street at CSIS, and at ��AV’s then Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Joe was singularly responsible for the writing and publication of every Oxford book on religion and peacebuilding that established a new field of religion and peacebuilding. Naturally he became chair of the board of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in 2003 from its inception, a Center that still exists today at the Carter School.

None of these initiatives would have secured platforms for research and practice without the quiet, selfless, visionary and generous helping hand of Joe Montville. He gave and gave for what he believed to be the single most important path to global peace. His students and colleagues have gone on to assert the vital importance to lasting peace of including numerous stakeholders in every corner of the globe who would never have been included in official diplomacy. The United States Department of State, his former employer, established entire departments that began to invest in programming for religion and peacebuilding and the inclusion of many stakeholders in peacebuilding. It is difficult as I look back to imagine any of these important innovations coming about without Joe’s dogged determination and quiet hand behind the scenes.

Joe claimed to have been not religious personally, and yet the zeal with which he pursued world peace, his dogged determination, and his tireless optimism combined with savvy strategy, all spoke to Joe Montville being a man on a mission – a man of vision, hope, and abiding faith in the future of humanity.

Topics

Bill Potapchuk

Paul Snodgrass — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 02:54:43 +0000

Bill Potapchuk Paul Snodgrass Thu, 04/07/2022 - 22:54

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School
Senior Fellow, Center for Peacemaking Practice
President, Community Building Institute

Contact Information

Email: wpotapc2 @gmu.edu

Biography

Bill Potapchuk is President and founder of the Community Building Institute (CBI), an organization created to strengthen the capacity of communities and organizations work collaboratively, inclusively, and equitably healthy, sustainable futures. His work over the past three decades has spanned a wide array of policy arenas and work with nonprofits, community groups, philanthropy, and every level of government. In recent years, his work has focused on community development, early childhood education, democracy reform, and large landscape conservation. Potapchuk has been affiliated with all of the previous incarnations of the Carter School starting with the Center for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 1987. Potapchuk is widely published. He has co-authored chapters in significant textbooks for the field, including the Deliberative Democracy Handbook, Consensus Building Handbook, and theCollaborative Leadership Fieldbook, and a wide array of monographs and journal articles.

Point of View Statement on Conflict in Ukraine: Negotiate Peace Now

Paul Snodgrass — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 19:38:10 +0000

Point of View Statement on Conflict in Ukraine: Negotiate Peace Now Paul Snodgrass Wed, 03/30/2022 - 15:38

In This Story

The opinions and views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the Carter School or ��AV, its affiliates, or employees.

Add Your Signature

Peace and Conflict Resolution scholars and foreign affairs practitioners convened at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School’s Point of View research and retreat facility in Mason Neck, Virginia issued the following appeal to the conflicting parties in Ukraine:

All parties to this conflict are now hurting. The costs in human life and suffering are mounting and the damaging effects of the conflict are rippling around the world. It is high time for the parties to agree to an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities. Continuing the struggle inevitably multiplies the damage and poses increasing risks that nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction may be used.

Along with the U.N. Secretary General, we believe that conditions now exist for negotiating an agreement acceptable to all parties. The parties should therefore set about negotiating a comprehensive peace agreement with no preconditions.

We call on the international community to support peace as it emerges, offering humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding support for the long-term process of recovery.

In addition, it is imperative that all OSCE Participating States commit to a throughgoing review of the existing security architecture. This review should begin immediately with a view to updating the Helsinki Final Act and other security agreements at the OSCE’s forthcoming 50th Anniversary in Helsinki in 2025.

Signatories are listed below. Others are invited to join the statement and to distribute it widely. To be added as a signatory, please provide your information here.

John M. Evans
Former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

Jeffrey Sachs
University Professor at Columbia University

Jack F. Matlock, Jr.
U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-91

Richard Falk
Professor of International Studies, Emeritus, Princeton University

Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (Ret.)

Alpasian Ozerdem
Dean, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Christopher R. Mitchell
Professor Emeritus, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Susan H. Allen
Director, Center for Peacemaking Practice, ��AV

Richard E. Rubenstein
University Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Karina Korostelina
Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Sergey Utkin, Leading Researcher, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences

Daniel Rothbart
Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Prabha Sankaranarayan
President and CEO, Mediators Beyond Borders International

Hugh DeSantis
Former career office, U.S. State Department, Author

Sara Cobb
Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Dr. Margarita Tadevosyan
Research Assistant Professor
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, ��AV

Ivan Kislenko
Fulbright Scholar

Alex van Oss
(Former) Coordinator, Caucasus Area Studies
Foreign Service Institute

Michael Shank
Adjunct Professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs and ��AV's Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Dr. Lara Olson
Consultant, Peacebuilding and Conflict Sensitive Development
Research Fellow, Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies (CMSS), University of Calgary, Canada

David Carment
Professor of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Fellow, Institute for Peace and Diplomacy,

Cynthia Lazaroff
Founder and Director, Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy

Omar Grech
Director, Centre for the Study and Practice of Conflict Resolution, University of Malta

Rene Wadlow
President, Association of World Citizens

Kevin Avruch
Henry Hart Rice Professor of Conflict Resolution Emeritus
Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, ��AV

Peggy Mason
Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament to the United Nations
Current President of the Rideau Institute

Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa
Editor, Transcend Media Service

Jake Lynch
Associate Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies
The University of Sydney

Diane Perlman
U.S. Convenor, TRANSCEND

John Scales Avery, PhD

Michael Loadenthal
Executive Director, The Peace and Justice Association

Jeremy Wildeman
Adjunct Professor, Adjunct Professor at the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies, Carleton University; and in International Development Studies, Trent University

J.M. Flagg
Chicago, Illinois

Jan Oberg, dr hc, director
The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF
Lund, Sweden

Dr. Mary Wade
Founder, Building Respect in Community (BRIC), Philadelphia, PA

Professor Marianna Muravyeva
Russian Law and Administration
For Legal and Peaceful Conflict Resolution
Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki

Tatsushi Arai
Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Kent State University

Dr. Paula Garb
University of California, Irvine Center for Citizen Peacebuilding

Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah
Advisory Board Member and Part-Time Faculty, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Sean Howard
Adjunct Prof. of Political Science, Cape Breton University

Douglas Irvin-Eriksen
Assistant Professor, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Dr. Peter Langille
Director, Sustainable Common Security

Marie Myers Lloyd
Member, Ceasefire.ca

Nicholas Ourusoff
Educator in Computer Science, Chomskian Activist

Dr. Gordon Yanchyshyn
Psychiatrist

Connie Duchene
Council of Canadians

Emmanuel K. Akyempong
Graduating Senior, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Irene McPhee
Mother, Grandmother, Human

Dr. Paul Owen
Retiring Politician, Counselor

David Parnas

Phyllis Creighton
Honorary Life Member, Science for Peace

Sara Petite

Eleanor Coffey

Larry Kazdan
Global Citizen

Crl Boychuk

Sk. Tawfique M. Haque, PhD.
Professor and Director South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and Center for Peace Studies (CPS) Chair, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Katherine Li
Assistant Professor, Department of English & Modern Languages Adviser, Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

Ambassador Shahidul Haque
Professorial Fellow South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University

Dr. Abdul Wohab
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology Coordinator, Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

Dr. Ishrat Zakia Sultana
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. M Jashim Uddin
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Bulbul Siddiqui
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Helal Mohd. Mohiuddin
Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Harisur Rahman
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Md Rizwanul Islam
Professor & Chair, Department of Law, North South University

Dr. Norman K. Swazo
Professor, Department of History and Philosophy, North South University

Ahmed Hossain
Professor, Department of Public health, North South University

Dr. Nova Ahmed
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North South University

Dr. Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Mohammed Nuruzzaman
Professor, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Ms. Parisa Shakur
Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, North South University

Tata Zafar
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Tasmia Nower
Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Dr. Hasanuzzaman
Assistant Director, Office of External Affairs, North South University

Dr. Md. Jakariya
Professor, Department if Environmental Science and Sociology, North South University

Mizanur Rahman
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University

Fahd Bin Zahed
Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, North South University

Dr. Tasnuva Enam
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of History and Philosophy, North South University

Farin Shabnam Ritu
Research Associate, South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

Md. Parvez Hasan Yousuf
Research Associate, South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

Rudmila Khan
Research Associate, South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

Miad Islam
Research Assistant, South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) and Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University

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Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Jeff Helsing

Paul Snodgrass — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 20:25:09 +0000

Jeff Helsing Paul Snodgrass Wed, 03/23/2022 - 16:25

Research Associate Professor
Executive Director of the Better Evidence Project

Contact Information

Email: jhelsing@gmu.edu

Biography

Jeffrey Helsing is Executive Director of the Better Evidence Project and Research Associate Professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution. Prior to joining the Carter School, he spent over 20 years at the United States Institute of Peace, including as Associate Vice President where he led USIP’s education and training programs as well as curriculum development that included conflict resolution training for civil society organizations, peacebuilding practitioners, youth and religious leaders, humanitarian aid workers, and diplomats. Helsing has taught a broad range of subjects, including conflict resolution, analysis of war and peace, negotiations, human rights and conflict, comparative foreign policies, American foreign policy and international relations theory, and helped develop a master’s degree concentration in international relations at the American University in Cairo. His published articles have focused on conflicts in the Middle East and he co-edited Human Rights and Conflicton the links between human rights, humanitarian law and peacebuilding. He has also written articles and delivered numerous conference papers on the impact of education policies and projects in conflict zones. Helsing holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.

Advocating for diverse representation in climate change policy

Kristin Heydt — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 21:47:42 +0000

Advocating for diverse representation in climate change policy Kristin Heydt Thu, 11/04/2021 - 17:47

In This Story

Terrence Lyons

Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, BA ’10, MS ’14, grew up during the civil war in Tajikistan, and said it was her experience of living through conflict that motivated her to study at ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. In April, she received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

“The Carter School means so much to me personally and professionally,” Khonikoboyeva said, adding that she keeps in touch with professors who have been like mentors. “For me, this award is a promise that I will live up to it.”

So far, she’s on track.

Since graduating, Khonikboyeva spent eight years working at USAID, doing the same work she said people did for her as a child living through war. Following four years at the Aga Khan Foundation, where Khonikboyeva developed communications and policy strategy for countries in conflict, she was appointed Senior Advisor, Policy, Planning and Learning for USAID under the Biden-Harris Administration in February 2021.

“We are thrilled, but not surprised, to see Dilafruz getting the recognition she deserves,” said Carter School associate professor Terrence Lyons. “Her appointment will allow her commitment to social justice and her understanding of how transnational processes of advocacy and development shape policy at the highest levels to make a lasting difference.”

“This is about giving back to this country that means so much to me, and as a Muslim immigrant woman, it’s important to show that there is a space for us in leadership,” Khonikboyeva said.

She said her new position calls on her to coordinate with global partners, including the United Nations, in support of the Biden-Harris priorities. At the same time, she is focusing on climate change at the intersection of diversity and inclusion, looking at issues around environmental justice, and ensuring diverse voices, including indigenous populations and racial and ethnic minorities, have a place at the table.

Diverse representation is critical, she said, as multiple perspectives help strengthen the nation.

The skills she learned at Mason also come in handy.

“Conflict resolution helps you at the interpersonal, organizational, and certainly for my career, at the international level,” Khonikboyeva said. “The need for the Carter School grows with every single moment and every single year.”

Khonikboyeva’s story was also chronicled by former President George W. Bush in his book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants,” which was released in April.

Each chapter opens with an oil portrait of one of the immigrants, painted by President Bush. The chapters are written from his perspective, telling the inspiring stories of immigrants, and their contributions to America, Khonikboyeva said.

The portraits and stories are on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas through Jan. 3, 2022.

The book’s potential impact is what excites Khonikboyeva most.

“I’m deeply touched by this book,” she said. “It doesn’t try to hide how difficult it is to immigrate, how difficult it is to build back up from absolutely nothing.”

“It’s a celebration of that hard work and it doesn’t feed into partisan politics,” she said. “It’s very much a celebration of people and immigrants who are critical to making this country succeed.”

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Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

International Development

An unusual prison encounter inspired this alum to open doors for peacebuilding

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 16:08:58 +0000

An unusual prison encounter inspired this alum to open doors for peacebuilding Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 10/14/2021 - 12:08

In This Story

Agnieszka Paczyńska

Susan Allen

Charles Davidson

Charles Davidson being airlifted by the United Nations in the Congo in 2019, after the region came under attack from militia groups in the area. Photo provided.

A cultural immersion trip in 2008 brought Charles Davidson (PhD ’19) inside the walls of San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia. What he saw there not only changed his life, he said, but ignited a spark of inspiration that led to peacebuilding efforts around the world.

“At the time, children were living in the prison with their incarcerated parents because there was nowhere else for them to go,” said Davidson, research faculty and alumnus of ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. “I felt so deeply this reality that children were paying the price of their parents’ crimes, and I felt there was more to be done to address issues in war-torn countries, especially as a person of faith.”

From that moment, Davidson said he decided to dedicate his life to breaking cycles of violence.

“I came back to the United States and started reading everything I could about what it meant to be a professional peacebuilder,” the Arkansas native said. “I wrote down names of different war-torn countries I wanted to affect change in and nailed [the paper] to my doorframe.”

His dream wasn’t fleeting. Davidson said he spent his early 20s traveling to and living in conflict-ridden countries, including Colombia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Honduras and Uganda, to learn as much as he could about conflicts and peacebuilding.

When he returned home in 2009, he founded the nonprofit, Innovations in Peacebuilding International (formerly ForgottenSong), which has launched or supported 16 peacebuilding projects in five war-torn countries.

“A mountaintop moment for us has been working directly with the demobilization of child combatants [in the Congo],” Davidson said.

In partnership with a Congolese-led organization that works to demobilize young people engaged with militias, Davidson’s group helps offer sustainable futures and peaceful alternatives to children, when and if they choose to leave those militias. That could mean helping fund their education, or supporting their start in agriculture, entrepreneurship, or pursuit of a technical skill, Davidson said.

From left to right: David Bubasha, Charles Davidson, and the late Thierry Shabani. Bubasha and Shabani were former child soldiers who left militias to start AJDC, an organization that works to demobilize child combatants in the Congo, and partners with IPI. 2019. Photo provided.

“What has always impressed me about Charles is his infectious enthusiasm and passion for his work, research, family and friends, and especially for making the world a better place,” said Professor Agnieszka Paczynska. “He does this incredibly important work while remaining modest and humble.”

Davidson said the Carter School, with its reputation for being a leader in peacebuilding, was his dream PhD program.

Davidson and his wife, Abby, in Andorra in 2018. “[Abby] has always backed my ideas, and been the breadwinner for so long as I charged through school,” Davidson said. "I no way would be able to have done any of this [work] without her moral and all other types of support.”

“I got to learn the dynamics about what it means to be a peacebuilder from many different angles, read the great minds, be around great thinkers, attend conferences and meet my scholarly heroes,” Davidson said, adding that what he learned continues to influence his work.

“[The Carter School] helped me respect the agency and identity of people involved with conflict,” he said. “Thereby, it equipped me to go searching for peace in the minds of those who were experienced in the conflict, rather than thinking I possessed all the answers.”

Davidson is also impacting the world, said Professor Susan Allen, as he leads Mason’s Political Leadership Academy, which encourages participants to embrace conflict in healthy ways.

“I really hope that, domestically and internationally, my life and career will amount to people knowing how to think about conflict differently,” Davidson said. “If people are willing to meet one another on the field of their humanity, with kindness, love and respect, in spite of—or even through—their conflicts, I know I’ll have done my job.”

Davidson, and a team visiting the area to explore ideas for expanding peacemaking practices, gather with villagers from Minembwe in 2019, after the area came under attack from militia groups in the area. Photo provided.

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Remembering Former President Jimmy Carter: Statesman, Humanitarian, and Peacemaker

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Contribute to the Carter School Legacy Fund for the Study and Practice of Peace Processes

Our story of becoming the Carter School in 2020

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Ernest Ogbozor

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International Community Leaders Join Carter School for a One-of-a-Kind Fellowship

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Jonathan Jiménez

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Terri Dickerson

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Remembering Joseph V. Montville (1937-2022)

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Bill Potapchuk

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Point of View Statement on Conflict in Ukraine: Negotiate Peace Now

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Jeff Helsing

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Advocating for diverse representation in climate change policy

In This Story

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An unusual prison encounter inspired this alum to open doors for peacebuilding

In This Story

“A mountaintop moment for us has been working directly with the demobilization of child combatants [in the Congo],” Davidson said.

Davidson said the Carter School, with its reputation for being a leader in peacebuilding, was his dream PhD program.

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About ��AV