Global Security: Through a Bosnian Lens

October 25, 2011, 3:00pm-5:30pm EDT
Reception to Follow

Location: US Institute of Peace
2301 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Directions

What can we learn about global security nearly two decades after the hugely destructive violence of the Bosnian War? Despite the end of the armed conflict in 1995, Bosnia is still described as a country in "a perpetual state of crisis." Few easy answers exist on how to bridge the political divide, which is wider today than it was before the war.

USIP, in collaboration with The Institute for Inclusive Security, USAID, and Vital Voices, will host a discussion with Ambassador Swanee Hunt and USAID's Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg on lessons emerging from the Bosnia conflict with a particular focus on the best ways to ensure a direct role for women in peace-building efforts worldwide. In her new book "Worlds Apart," Ambassador Swanee Hunt draws from 17 years of work in the Balkans, particularly the gap between citizens living out the war and 'the internationals" deciding whether and/or how to intervene. From these stories, Hunt draws six lessons applicable to conflicts throughout the world.

In addition, film producer Abigail Disney and film director Pamela Hogan will present their PBS documentary, "I Came to Testify," that describes how a group of 16 women from Bosnia, victims of the war's systematic rapes, broke through political and societal silence by stepping onto the witness stand at an international tribunal. A panel discussion will follow.

Speakers include:

Ambassador Swanee Hunt
President, Hunt Alternatives Fund; Chair, The Institute for Inclusive Security;
Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Donald Steinberg
Deputy Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Abigail Disney
Producer of the film, "I Came to Testify"

Pamela Hogan
Director of the film, "I Came to Testify"

Mirsad "Miki" Jacevic
Chief Training Officer, Institute for Inclusive Security

Richard H. Solomon, Welcome
President, US Institute of Peace

Kathleen Kuehnast, Moderator
Director, Gender and Peacebuilding Center, US Institute of Peace

In full collaboration with:
US Agency for International Development

US Institute of Peace

Vital Voices Global Partnership

Inquiries

Please contact Brooke Stedman at bstedman@usip.org with any general questions about this event.

Journalists may contact Jaime Horn at jaime_horn@huntalternatives.org.