The Politics of Sacred Space · 2017. 2. 16. · peace colloquy The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies University of Notre Dame Issue No. 10, Fall 2006 The Politics

p e a c e c o l l o q u y

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace StudiesUniversity of Notre Dame

Issue No. 10, Fall 2006

The Politicsof Sacred SpaceA report from Jerusalem

Kroc historian examinesMideast border wars — pg. 11

World Social Forumnurtures democracy — pg. 14

— pg. 3

SYRIA

ISRAEL

GolanHeights(Israelioccupied)

MediterraneanSea

Shebaa Farms

BEIRUT

LEBANON

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| c o n t e n t s |

3 Column: assessing peaceefforts

4 “Sacred Space” conference

11 Mapping Syria

14 World Social Forum

18 Rwanda revisited

20 Peace conference

21 Alumni news

23 Kroc news

31 Faculty publications

34 Kroc publications

35 Column: Lessons from Myla

Why maps matter The failings of long-ago mapmakersare partly to blame for the ongoingconflict over the borders separatingSyria, Lebanon, and Israel, says histo-rian Asher Kaufman. His researchexplores the historic underpinnings oftoday’s Middle Eastern flashpoints. — page 11

Laboratory for democracyThe World Social Forum may prove tobe the most important political devel-opment of the 21st century, which iswhy it is grabbing the attention ofsociologists such as Jackie Smith. Thescholar/activist explains the movement’sroots and potential.— page 14

Embracing paradoxFaculty member Larissa Fast, a conflicttransformation expert, finds “hope,progress and paradox” in Rwanda. Shereports on the complexities of buildingpeace in a society emerging from theashes of genocide. — page 18

Editor: Julie Titone

Designer: Marty Schalm

Printer: Apollo Printing

On the cover: Visitors approach Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock. Photo by Martha Merritt.

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Hal CulbertsonAssociate Director

ll peace processes are played out to a ubiquitous soundtrack of violence,” observesJohn Darby in the recently published volume, Violence and Reconstruction (Notre DamePress, 2006). The continuation — or escalation — of violence after peace accords canlead to disillusionment and undermine support for the peace process. It can also con-found attempts to assess the effectiveness of peace initiatives.

Is the continued violence a sign that peace efforts failed, or a reaction to theirsuccess by parties that benefit from conflict? How can peacebuilders demonstrate that advances havereally been made, when a seemingly small incident can quickly escalate, undermining years of effort?These questions loom over peace agreements, but also peacebuilding initiatives taken by non-govern-mental organizations and civil society groups.

Kroc Institute faculty members are increasingly being called upon to wrestle with issues such as these. Sometimes, organizations with which we have longstanding relationships request our help inassessing their peacebuilding efforts. For example, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) recently asked LarissaFast to document Catholic peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide.Her reflections on this undertaking are presented on page 18.

Requests also come from the policy community. With support from the Japanese governmentand the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, George Lopez and David Cortright developedstandards and a methodology for evaluating compliance with recommendations of the United NationsSecurity Council Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate.

With funding from the United States Institute of Peace, the Kroc Institute and the CRS SoutheastAsia Regional Office are developing a toolkit containing resources that organizations can use to plan,monitor, and evaluate their own peacebuilding activities. The toolkit project team is led by John PaulLederach, John Darby, and myself from the Kroc Institute, and Reina Neufeldt and Myla Leguro of CRS.Over the past several months, the team facilitated workshops on the toolkit in Cambodia and at theannual Kroc-CRS Summer Institute for Peacebuilding at Notre Dame. We will feature more on the toolkitin the upcoming issue of Peace Colloquy.

The evaluation tools being developed will be particularly beneficial to our graduate students. In2005–06, the first year that Kroc students completed field internships, several students were asked toevaluate peacebuilding efforts as part of their internships with organizations around the world.

Looking for signs of improvement in conflicts that often seem intractable is a daunting endeavor.It requires a deep understanding of both complex local realities and scholarly methods of inquiry. Giventhe institute’s commitment to integrating scholarship and practice, this is a task we are uniquely suitedto pursue.

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Assessing the impact of peacebuilding

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Israeli security checkpoint. The mood is somber andtentative. A short walk away, the human traffic bustlingin and out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on abusy Sunday in Lent underscored the tension among itsvarious Christian co-inhabitants. Most dispiriting, per-haps, were the sites on the Palestinian side of the wall.The now-partitioned Cave of the Patriarchs, whereAbraham and Sarah are believed to be entombed, isentered through checkpoints, barbed wire, metal detec-tors, and a gauntlet of Israeli teen-soldiers sportingautomatic rifles. One who would come to pray is dis-tracted by the scene where Baruch Goldstein, a Jewishphysician and irate settler, opened fire on Muslim wor-shippers in 1994 — 12 years to the day before we visit-ed the site — murdering 29. Rachel’s Tomb is anotherheavily fortified bunker; the wall allows access forIsraelis and tourists, and snakes nearby to create a spaceon the other side for a planned Jewish settlement.

With these site visits as a backdrop, the conferenceopened on Monday with the panel Myth, History, andIdentity: Competing Narratives of Sacred Space. Kroc fac-ulty fellow and anthropologist Patrick Gaffney, C.S.C.,described the historical disputes among Christians, whohave traditionally viewed the Holy Land as “the fifthgospel.” The millet system developed by the Ottomans,recognizing the internal Christian disputes overJerusalem, established what came to be called “the statusquo.” Under this arrangement, the Greek Orthodox,the Armenian Orthodox, and the Latin Christians weregranted separate religious sovereignties over the city andits holy sites, particularly the Church of the HolySepulchre, which was divided spatially and temporallyamong the ethnoreligious groups. Nationalism compli-cated and exacerbated the intra-religious tensionsthroughout the 20th century. Recently, the unsustain-ability of the situation was crystallized in the strugglesto repair the dome of the church. Aware that the statusquo was eroding in the 1980s and 1990s under theforce of Israeli (Jewish) expansion, Palestinian (Muslim)

The Politics of Sacred SpaceReport on the Kroc Institute conference at Tantur, March 2006

S C O T T A P P L E B Y

Land is sign, symbol, and space — persistent ele-ments of personal, religious, and political identity inJerusalem, the place of origin and pilgrimage for thethree great Abrahamic faiths. Now a wall knifes throughthe land, creating its own ominous sign and symbol ofscarred space and mutual mistrust. The dynamics ofexclusion, resistance, defiance, struggle, and advocacyfor peace that define this “holy land” was the subject ofan international conference held at Tantur EcumenicalInstitute in Jerusalem on March 12–14, 2006. Titled“Whence the Heavenly Jerusalem? The Politics ofSacred Space and the Pursuit of Peace,” the conferenceexplored religious and political contestation over holysites in Palestine and Israel from a variety of Muslim,Christian, and Jewish perspectives.

Rashied Omar and Scott Appleby, co-directors ofthe Kroc Institute‘s Program on Religion, Conflict andPeacebuilding, organized the conference. During theplanning phase David Burrell, C.S.C., served as theUniversity of Notre Dame’s and Kroc’s representative atTantur, a world-renowned conference center adminis-tered by Notre Dame and the Vatican. Conference par-ticipants included a cohort of faculty and officers fromNotre Dame, scholars and peace practitioners fromother American and Canadian universities, Kroc alumniworking for peace in the Middle East, and activists,politicians, and professors from communities and universities in Israel and Palestine.

On Sunday March 12, prior to the formal openingof the conference we toured Temple Mount/NobleSanctuary and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre inJerusalem, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, andRachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Each of these contestedreligious sites was heavily fortified and guarded by theIsraeli army, casting a pall over our pilgrimage and cre-ating a sense of dismay in Christian, Jewish, Muslim,and secular pilgrims alike.

Now only Muslims may enter Al-Aqsa mosque andthe shrine of the Dome of the Rock, although anyonemay visit the mount itself, after passing through an

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radicalism, and the accompanying diminution of the Christian presence in the Holy Land, the mainChristian groups signed an agreement of cooperation.The rebuilding of the dome became symbolic of a more profound shift toward collaboration in the face of external threats.

One such threat, Gaffney concluded, is the rise ofmillennial Protestantism, mostly from the UnitedStates. It views Jerusalem as the site of the endtimesdrama, the fundamentalist version of which doomsMuslims to extermination, provides Jews a final oppor-tunity to convert to Christianity or be slain, and placesthe erstwhile Orthodox and Latin status quo at a theo-logical disadvantage, to say the least.

Motti Inbari, a sociologist at Jezreel Valley Collegein Israel, sketched the attitudes and behaviors of Israel’sreligious Zionists toward Temple Mount. Internal diver-sity was again the theme, in this instance manifest in an intra-Jewish dispute over whether Jews might enterthe Temple Mount area. While the Chief Rabbi ofJerusalem has forbidden this practice as inviting sacri-lege (with Jews trampling inadvertently upon the Holyof Holies, the inner sanctum of the Temple), the “settlerrabbis” of Gush Emunim have permitted it, lest Jewishabsence encourage Palestinian hegemony over the site.Inbari surveyed the corresponding spectrum ofOrthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish attitudes regard-ing the appropriate role of Jewish agency and activismin rebuilding the Temple. One extreme counsels passivi-

ty and study in preparation for the restoration of Jewishrule. The other extreme provides scriptural grounds forrevolutionary violence, thereby “taking destiny intotheir own hands.”

Mustafa Abu-Sway, a professor of Islamic studies atAl-Quds University in Jerusalem, examined Qur’anicand Hadith-based sources (or lack thereof ) onJerusalem, noting readings of the Qur’an that link entryto the holy lands to righteousness rather than religionor nationality. Who has kept God’s law? They shallinherit the holy lands. Of critical importance to theQur’an, Abu-Sway noted, is the truth that genetic orbiological descent is never sufficient in itself to meritsuch inheritance.

The status of Jerusalem itself is ambiguous inIslamic texts, barely rating a mention in some sources,but set on equal footing with Mecca and Medina inothers. (Notably, Hamas’s charter follows and expandsthe latter tradition.) The miraculous Night Journey ofthe Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalemmore than 14 centuries ago forged a special relationshipbetween the Noble Sanctuary and Muslims the worldover, who are obliged by a Hadith of the Prophet tomaintain Al-Aqsa Mosque both physically and spiritual-ly. The obligation is fulfilled primarily through acts ofworship, but the physical maintenance of the Mosque isalso part of the responsibility of all Muslims. “The ful-fillment of both duties will be impaired,” Abu-Swaynoted,” as long as Al-Aqsa Mosque remains under

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Keynote speaker Gershom Gorenberg and his son, Yehonatan, chat with Kroc Institute Director Scott Appleby.

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occupation.” Muslims who are prevented from prayingthere and from supporting it are denied the ability tofulfill critical religious responsibilities.

According to Islam, people may receive divine pun-ishment for evil acts but not for evil thoughts or illintention. The one exception to this rule exists withinthe sacred precincts of Mecca, where ill intentions aswell as ill actions are punishable. Accordingly, manyMuslim scholars shortened their stay in Mecca afterperforming the pilgrimage in order to avoid the possi-bility of being held accountable for possible negativethoughts and intentions. This issue may lay behind thedecision to keep political power at a distance from theholy cities of Mecca and Jerusalem, for politics maysully the righteousness of people and therefore the sanc-tity of religious sites.

Many other traditions extol the special merits ofJerusalem, including the view that praying at Al-Aqsa

Mosque is far more efficacious than prayers in otherlocations (with the exception of the two mosques ofMecca and Medina). Numerous traditions celebrate andglorify Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, and the entire Holy Landand highly encourage visitations there.

Yet caliphs have shown respect for the Christianpresence in Jerusalem and for the Church of the HolySepulchre in particular. An exchange of letters aboutJerusalem that took place between two prominent companions of the Prophet provides an illustration.Abu Al-Darda’ invited Salman Al-Farisi to come to Bayt Al-Maqdis (literally, the House of the Sanctified).Salman replied by saying that the Land cannot sanctifyanyone. Only one’s good deeds may bring true sanctity(as recorded in Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik).

Patrick Mason, a Notre Dame historian, raised theissue of the universal religious appeal of Jerusalem. Histest case was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints, commonly known as the Mormons. WhenBrigham Young University, the Mormon intellectualstronghold in Utah, established an extension campus onMount Scopus, university officials were forced to pledgenot to proselytize. (The campus was closed with theonset of the second intifada.) Misunderstanding andmisperception of Mormons stands behind the fear.Indeed, for Mormons, who consider themselves the second branch of the People of Israel, the actual Holy Land lies in America (Missouri), and the NewJerusalem will be established there. Jerusalem is the siteof the House of Judah, the home of the Jews; Americais the site of the ingathering of the lost 10 tribes ofIsrael. According to this sacred narrative, and by dint of their own status as a persecuted religious minority,Mormons believe themselves positioned to serve asmediators and agents of reconciliation between the Jewsand the “lost tribes.” Hence their presence in Jerusalem:to bring peace, not to sow division through proselytism.

The keynote address — “Jerusalem: The Politics of Myth” — was delivered by Gershom Gorenberg,author of The End of Days: Fundamentalism and theStruggle for Temple Mount (Free Press, 2000) and TheAccidental Empire (Henry Holt, 2006), a new book onthe political origins of the Israeli settlements. “Themusic of religion” is critical to understanding life andconflict in Israel/Palestine, Gorenberg declared, but“oddly, the politicians are tone-deaf to it.” He asked:Why is there a city here? Jerusalem has no port, noriver, no clean water — only the site of a religious story,

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The entrance to Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem.

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the place of Isaac’s binding, the axis mundi,Mohammed’s ascent, Jesus’ crucifixion, the place of sinand final atonement. There is no neutral term for thatsite: by calling it Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif,one declares oneself politically. The source of Muslimpower, the irredentist Jews argue, is their control of theplace of divine energy (Temple Mount); only throughthis power did they expel Jews from the Sinai.

With this frenzied religious context established,Gorenberg examined the dance of the Israeli andPalestinian negotiators around the question of the finalstatus of Jerusalem in any viable peace settlement.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was playing withsymbols he did not understand, Gorenberg charged,while Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PalestineLiberation Organization, claimed that “there is noJewish connection to this site.” The intractability of thefinal status question, it is said, owes to the religioussymbolism in which Jerusalem is drenched; e.g., Hamascould never abide shared sovereignty with Israel overJerusalem because it is the Muslims’ holy city. This isnonsense, Gorenberg concluded, because symbols bytheir very character contain multiple meanings andreadings, as Pope John Paul II demonstrated during hispilgrimage to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 2000. Ittakes a religiously sophisticated political leadership,however, to prepare the ground for such a transforma-tion of exclusivist readings.

After lunch, Joyce Dalsheim, a Rockefeller VisitingFellow at the Kroc Institute, chaired a panel on diverseperspectives on the land. The session featured twoJewish settler women, Hadassah Froman and HadarBashan, and a Palestinian woman, Terry Boullata,whose community, Abu Dis in East Jerusalem, has beendivided by the wall. Dalsheim framed the discussion bytracing the connection, in the minds of the inhabitantsof the land, between its cultivation and beautification,on the one hand, and its sacralization, on the other.Froman delivered a poetic/metaphysical reflection on“The Land,” envisioned as the land of all peoples whohave come into mystical union with Lord of the uni-verse. Hadar Bashan showed a home video of her familybeing ejected from Gaza by the Israeli military, andshared her sense of anguish and betrayal.

For her part, Boullata noted with some bitternessthat, while her family has resided in Jerusalem for gen-erations, she must renew her residency there every sevenyears. A checkpoint, one of 605 erected between Israeland Palestine, stands in front of her home, not far from

the wall, which denies Palestinians access to the road toJerusalem, Jericho, and Bethany. In response to ques-tions from Israelis in the audience — “How would youprevent terrorism?” — Boullatta argued that Palestinianterrorism is a direct response to Israeli state terrorism:once the latter ends, the former will end. Palestinianswould be happy to inhabit the 22 percent of the landpromised Palestinians in the Camp David talks, sheobserved — a parcel that has been reduced to 12 per-cent by the wall and other expansionist moves.

In the subsequent session, Asher Kaufman, an Israelischolar who joined the Kroc faculty and Notre Dame’shistory department last fall, offered a reappraisal of theIsrael/Palestine conflict based on the premise that theconflict has never really been a secular one, definedsolely by a struggle over a piece of territory. In fact,Kaufman argued, from the beginning the conflict wasrationalized in religious terms by both sides, even by the most secular components of the two communities.“Thus, when the two sides, Jews and Palestinian Arabs,argued about their right over the land, more often thannot they have used religious arguments to strengthentheir position and weaken the position of the other.”Israelis and Palestinians, to be sure, were not fightingover theological differences, but their respective reli-gious identities were resources for mobilizing people todo violence against the other. “It is, therefore, essentialto think about religion when we approach this conflictand to work on its resolution through this prism. Onlythen would we be able to deal with the easiest part —with territory.”

Paul Cobb, Kaufman’s colleague in the historydepartment, deconstructed the myth of “conflict perpet-ual and immemorial” in the Holy Land, noting thatfour-fifths of Jerusalem’s history, approximately 3,200years, were eras of peace among its various peoples.Wars resulted from unjust policies and from unjustpeace settlements. Modern nationalism, Cobb argued,has increased the sense of urgency, competition, anddissatisfaction with political settlements such as “the status quo.” History is a resource in peacebuilding, he offered, but the authenticity of the history is whatmoves people. To complicate matters, authenticity isnot the same as accuracy.

Tuesday began with a lecture on faith-based diplo-macy in the Middle East by Marc Gopin, a rabbi andauthor who has pioneered the study of religiousresources, traditional and textual, for peacebuilding

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within the Abrahamic traditions. Agreeing withGorenberg that progress toward a negotiated settlementis impeded by a lack of religious vocabulary and percep-tion on the part of the chief negotiators on all sides,Gopin provided numerous examples of how religiousand popular sensibilities mirror one another. Whatcounts for secular negotiators is outcomes alone, heargued, while religious/popular values hold a privilegedplace for principles and responsibilities, includingbehavior in wartime, proper conduct in burial rituals,the practices of communal memory and atonement,and the treatment of the religious other. Non-state reli-gious actors on all sides, Gopin explained, bring sharedsensibilities — the integrity of tradition, the priority ofthe sacred, respect for the dead — across ethnic andnational divides. “Radical empathy,” he concluded, is apath to sustained peace. Although suffering religiouscommunities evince this virtue, it has not informed thepolitical sensibilities of protagonists in the region. Sadly,perhaps, but realistically, direct personal contact amongreligious leaders on various sides in the conflict mayneed to occur elsewhere, allowing these transnationalreligious communities to gather apart from the distrac-tions and immediate disputes of home.

The ensuing session focused on political perceptionsof Jerusalem and its history. Notre Dame political scien-tist emeritus Alan Dowty found reason for hope inpolling data indicating that Jerusalem becomes “demys-tified” in Israeli eyes the closer one gets to Jerusalemitself, its inhabitants, and neighborhoods. Negotiationsover the final status of the city become viable, Dowtyconcluded, when they become neighborhood- and site-specific, that is, when they are distanced from the“Heavenly City” mythology and rhetoric. The pollingdata demonstrated that the vast majority of Israelis arein favor of a two-state solution, and are even willing tocede land inhabited by Palestinians.

Bernard Sabella, a professor of political science atBethlehem University, lamented the plight ofPalestinian Christians and excoriated the Israelis forconstructing the wall and choosing separation overengagement. He thrice warned the Israelis and theirAmerican patrons that inattention to the economicplight of Palestinian youth would backfire terribly. “Wehave no hope in occupation,” he cried. “If you do nothelp us, all will pay a terrible price.” Interestingly,Sabella was protective of Palestinian Christian relationswith Palestinian Muslims, their solidarity the result ofoppression at the same hands.

Audience members listen intently during “Whence the Heavenly Jerusalem?” conference.

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Emmanuel Sivan, a historian and scholar of radicalIslam at Hebrew University, followed with an argument,drawn from a historical comparison between medievaland modern times, that contemporary inter-religiousinteractions in Jerusalem are marked by an unprece-dented form of intolerance — i.e., “you have no rightto this place because your religion is inferior.” Amongthe religious extremists, Jewish as well as Muslim, a self-conscious “ultraorthodoxy” has fostered the attitudethat there is nothing good or holy or defensible in thefaith of the other — whether “the other” is a person of a different religion, or an insufficiently orthodox co-religionist. This modern development means that an operative divide exists between the tolerant and theintolerant. Ironically, the religiously tolerant must formalliances against the religiously intolerant.

The theme of cross-religious alliances for peace was developed in the subsequent panel by MohammedAbu-Nimer (American University), Patrice Brodeur(University of Montreal), Ben Mollov (Bar-IlanUniversity), and David Neuhaus (BethlehemUniversity). Father Neuhaus, a biblical scholar, madethe intriguing point that the bookends of the Bible—Genesis 1 and Revelation 22 — suggest that Godintended all the world as sacred space. Indeed, he con-tinued, the Bible is reticent about specifying or delimit-ing sacred space for fear of idolatry and internecineconflict. This point reinforces the current emphasis inreligious peacebuilding on providential plentitude asopposed to scarcity. There is sufficient “holy space” foreveryone.

Brodeur explained that religious peacebuilding andfaith-based mediation is particularly important inregions of the world where the majority of the popula-tion self-identifies religiously and where religious organ-izations play an important role in the life of individualsand families. In the case of Jerusalem, Brodeur contend-ed, the old enlightenment dichotomy between “reli-gious” and “secular” has been modified by the rise ofexclusivist nationalist-religious discourses in both Israeliand Palestinian societies. This convergence of “religious”and “secular” worldviews is exacerbated by their code-pendency. Therefore, Brodeur concluded, peacebuildersmust work assiduously to build a kind of inter-commu-nal dialogue that bridges the religious-secular divide.

Mollov has facilitated dialogues in Bethlehemamong Palestinian and Israeli students, seeking com-mon elements on which to base discussion. Intriguingly,

he found that religious students were originally themost negative towards those of different backgrounds,but that, after the conversations, their perceptionschanged. Recent restrictions on movement in the vicini-ty have prompted Mollov to assess the possibilities of e-mail dialogues.

Abu-Nimer presented the major findings of anempirical research project that evaluated the effective-ness of the plethora of interfaith organizations in Israeland Palestine. A main dilemma facing Palestiniansengaged in interfaith discussions is the need for a dia-logue of life, not a dialogue of theology. The latter,many feel, is an excuse for inaction, and a luxury thattheir precarious circumstances do not permit.

The Tuesday afternoon sessions were given over toreports on methods of inter-religious peacebuilding by,among others, graduates of the Kroc Institute who workin conflict management and conflict resolution in theHoly Land. A panel organized by Kroc Alumni AffairsDirector Anne Hayner included Josh Vander Velde(M.A. ’04) and Zoughbi Zoughbi (M.A. ’89), the direc-tor of Wi’am, a Palestinian conflict resolution center inBethlehem.

Vander Velde, a U.S. rabbinical student inJerusalem, described the “encounter tours” he hasorganized for American Jewish students in the WestBank, with the goal of helping them get past their fearof visiting the area. He wants to expose future Jewishleaders to Palestinian personal narratives, political narra-tives, and human interaction. He noted that the tourshad a mixed impact. Some students lost the “pure”sense of Israel they had held, while others confirmedtheir perception that there is no Palestinian “partner forpeace.”

Zoughbi offered an analysis of Palestinian perspec-tives on the recent elections that avoided the temptationto romanticize or demonize Hamas. The vote forHamas, he explained, was not a vote for violent resist-ance or extremism. Rather, it was a vote for politicalreform, and a vote of frustration against ineffectivePalestinian leadership and political corruption underFatah, and against the peace process as it has unfolded.Now the Palestinians must prevail upon Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence, Zoughbi concluded.

This bare-bones summary does not do justice to the richness of the individual presentations, nor to theconference itself, the most interesting moments of

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which occurred in the discussion sessions and off-the-record conversations over dinner and tea. The staff ofTantur was wonderfully accommodating, fostering asense of intellectual and spiritual community among us.

A final word about the Palestinian participation,both Muslim and Christian, in the conference. Someworried that the relative lack of such participation,owing largely to Israeli restrictions, signals Tantur’sreduced effectiveness as a site of peacebuilding in theregion. Yet peacebuilding is always vulnerable, andrequires sustained presence across and through the

“gaps” — the walls and restrictions and bombings. Icame away convinced that we need more, not less,interaction among as large a circle as we can assemble.We recognize that the size of the circle will vary accord-ing to conditions on the ground.

But if not Tantur, where?

Scott Appleby is the John M. Regan Jr. Director of the KrocInstitute and a professor of history. His books include TheAmbivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation(Rowman & Littlefield 2000).

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Martha Merritt listens as Mustafa Abu-Sway shares Islamic perspectives on Jerusalem.

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Mapping Greater SyriaA historian explores “Boundaries, Identities, and Conflict

in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel/Palestine”

A S H E R K A U F M A N

Political boundaries, those borderlines on maps andoften literally on the ground that envelop state territo-ries, have shaped much of sociopolitical history sincethe 17th century. What had started primarily as aEuropean project gradually spread throughout the globevia colonialism to the point that we cannot think aboutour world — even in the era of globalization, borderlessmarkets, multinational corporations, and a flow of capi-tal and information — absent the prism of state territo-rial boundaries. Even in the post-Cold War era, themodern sovereign state continues to play a major role inthe global system, despite the fact that some academicsin Europe and North America have forecast the declineof the nation-state. We can speak today about the per-meability of a few political boundaries (not surprisinglythey are in Europe and North America), but by nomeans can we speak about their disappearance.

In short, the state still plays a major role in the global system, and state boundaries — one of the mostvisible expressions of state sovereignty — continue to befundamental features in international, national, andregional arenas. There are more than 125 border dis-putes between sovereign states. Many are volatile,threatening regional and sometimes global stability.Lord George Curzon, in his famous 1908 “Frontiers”lecture, defined political borders as “the razor’s edge onwhich hangs suspended the modern issues of war andpeace, of life and death to nations.” Even if borderstoday are not quite the razor’s edge of war and peace,border conflicts, many of which contribute to regionalinstability, deserve the close attention of peaceresearchers.

In the Middle East, boundaries and sovereignty stillplay prime roles at state and societal levels. Witnessflashpoints such as Iraq and the Palestinian occupiedterritories. The 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israeladded another trouble spot to a region plagued byinstability and conflict. The roots and consequences ofthis war, which started on July 12 with a cross-borderoperation of the Shiite organization into Israeli sover-

eign territory, go beyond the Israeli-Lebanese border-line. Yet, it is the political boundaries separating Israel,Lebanon (and Syria) that served not only as the arena ofthe confrontation but also as an important pretext forthe war.

While the Israeli-Hezbollah war attracted wide-spread attention, the borders shared by Syria, Lebanonand Israel have been in the spotlight since 1990. In thatyear, Lebanon terminated 15 years of gruesome civilwar and started to reassemble its broken pieces. Thisrequired, among other things, re-gaining sovereigntyfrom two occupying foreign countries, Israel and Syria.In May 2000, after almost 18 years of guerilla warfareconducted by Hezbollah, Israel finally withdrew fromLebanon. Five years later, it was Syria’s turn to withdrawfrom Lebanon, though this was done in a different con-text and on different terms. The withdrawal of Israeland Syria from Lebanon rekindled old border conflictsbetween these three countries and launched new ones.And so, since May 2000, contested matters of sover-eignty, border demarcation, and the colonial legacy ofGreater Syria — the area that roughly corresponds tomodern Syria, Lebanon, and Israel — have resurfacedand preoccupied the minds and energies of the statesinvolved, the international community, and communi-ties along these political borderlines.

My current project, “Mapping Greater Syria:Boundaries, Identities and Conflict in Syria, Lebanon,and Israel/Palestine,” was inspired by these contempo-rary conflicts. I analyze them through a historical prism,going back to the beginning of the 19th century and tothe introduction of modern cartography in the region.This was also when the term “Greater Syria” started totake shape, first in European colonial imagination andlater within local elites. Both groups developed spatialperceptions about the “natural boundaries” of thisGreater Syria and about the distinct ethnic uniquenessof its inhabitants. At the beginning of the 20th centurythe idea of Greater Syria began to be deconstructed intoseparate political entities, but it never disappeared from

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intellectual andpolitical discoursein the region.

Borders mayhave a static image,but I explore themas sites at which,and throughwhich, socio-spatialdifferences arecommunicated andcontested. In otherwords, my studyexplores theseboundaries not justas the political lim-its of Israel, Syria,and Lebanon, butrather as socio-ter-ritorial constructsthat are constantlybeing shaped bythe political centersas well as byperipheral and bor-der communities ofthe three countries.

Take, for example, the debate over the demarcationof the boundary between Syria and Lebanon. TheSyrian withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2005 broughtto the fore the fact that the boundary between thesetwo states had never been officially determined. France,the creator and the mandatory power of the two states,did not bother to demarcate their shared border. Theborder remained unmarked even after Lebanon andSyria attained independence in 1943 and 1946, respec-tively, owing to Syria’s reluctance to officially acceptLebanese independence. In addition, the Lebanese stateneglected the periphery of the country, including theborder with Syria.

In order to regulate the diplomatic relations betweenthe states as Lebanon demands, the two countries needto establish a joint demarcation commission. Such acommission would determine their shared boundaryand produce a long-overdue, internationally recognizedborder treaty. This Lebanese demand is strongly sup-ported by the United Nations and has produced one ofthe few recent cases of U.S.-European diplomatic coop-eration in the Middle East.

But littlein the MiddleEast is thatstraightfor-ward.Additional factors makesuch a borderdemarcationproject challenging.

Mostimportant isthe border disputebetween Israel,Lebanon, andSyria over theShebaa farms.This smallpiece of land(about 16square miles)was occupiedby Israel in the1967 war

along with the rest of the Syrian Golan Heights. InMay 2000, when Israel withdrew from South Lebanon,Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite organization, followedby the Lebanese government, declared that the Shebaafarms are Lebanese and demanded Israeli withdrawalfrom them. Israel, on the other hand, claimed that thearea was part of the Golan Heights and could be nego-tiated only in the context of peace talks between Israeland Syria. The United Nations sided with Israel andconcluded that the Israeli withdrawal from SouthLebanon was indeed complete. The UN, however,acknowledged that it is impossible to determine sover-eignty in the region for the simple reason that there hasnever been any border treaty between Syria andLebanon. In the absence of a treaty, the UN relied onexisting maps, which placed the Shebaa farms withinthe Syrian Golan Heights.

The origin of this dispute dates back to the Frenchcolonial period. While France never bothered to demar-cate the shared border of Syria and Lebanon, it diddraw maps. A French colonial project in 1862 producedthe first map of ”modern Lebanon.” This map helpedto facilitate the ideal of a separate Lebanese political

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entity. This same map served as the basis for the delin-eation of the boundary line between Syria andLebanon, causing many border irregularities, includingthe area of the Shebaa farms.

Subsequent maps created during the period of theFrench mandate in the 1920s and 1930s did not resolvethese irregularities. The Syrian-Lebanese border wasmarked on these maps unprofessionally, using old dataand without sending out surveying teams, as requiredby all modern border determination projects. The mapsplaced the Shebaa farms within Syria, while, for allpractical matters, the owners and residents of the farmsconsidered themselves to be Lebanese citizens. Theyconducted their administrative affairs in Lebanon, paidtaxes to Beirut, and held Lebanese identity cards.During the 1950s Syria exploited this border anomalyand took control of this area, establishing military postsin the farms and, in a 1960 census, even registered resi-dents as Syrian citizens.

This problem could have remained fairly limited inscope, but with the 1967 occupation of the region byIsrael, the Shebaa imbroglio entered the orbit of theArab-Israeli conflict. Since 2000, Hezbollah has used itas a pretext to continue its armed struggle against Israel.Adding to the complexity, since Syria was forced toleave Lebanon in May 2005, the Shebaa farms contro-versy has also been used by Damascus as a tool againstits former protégée, Lebanon. Syria has refused to offi-cially demarcate the border in that area and rejected thedisarmament of Hezbollah. Keeping this conflict aliveserves the interests of Syria by tying the fate of theSyrian Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967,with the Shebaa farms. Additionally, having aspirationsto remain relevant and dominant in the regional strug-gle for power, Syria has a clear interest to maintain itsinfluence within Lebanese domestic politics through thesupport of Hezbollah’s struggle in the Shebaa farms.

The Shebaa farms border dispute highlights the roleplayed by the territorial and political periphery inLebanon in the construction of Lebanese national dis-course and the impact of the borderline on border com-munities in the three countries. To examine these issues,I draw on the interdisciplinary field of Border Studieswhich, among other things, brings border communitiesand borderlands into the forefront of the discussion onstate formation. From this perspective, I trace how theShiite community, which had been politically and spa-tially marginalized by Lebanese elites, used a marginalpiece of territory — the Shebaa farms — to dictate

Lebanese national agenda and to assert its place withinLebanese society. In this way the Lebanese borderland, aneglected region since the country’s creation in 1920,has become central in defining Lebanese national dis-course.

The recent war between Israel and Hezbollah addedanother dimension to my analysis. UN Resolution1701, which ended the hostilities, refers specifically tothe Shebaa farms border conflict and ties its resolutionwith a future politicalarrangement betweenLebanon and Israel. ThisResolution, together with UNResolutions 1680 and 1559(passed respectively in May2006 and September 2004),relate to Lebanon and its rela-tions with its neighbors andare imbued with references tothe shared boundaries ofSyria, Lebanon, and Israel.These political boundarieswill be at the center of anyfuture diplomatic arrange-ment. In order to have a last-ing ceasefire, Israel andLebanon must respect each other’s sovereign-ty. For this to happen, Hezbollah should bekept away from the Israeli-Lebanese border. The priceof that could be an Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaafarms.

The Lebanese demand for sovereignty over thispiece of territory does find some support in the histori-cal record, even if the Lebanese state never bothered toexercise this sovereignty until Hezbollah made it theraison d’étre of its armed struggle against Israel. Withthe right political atmosphere and the assistance of theUnited Nations, such an exchange between Israel andLebanon could take place, as it was already implied inResolution 1701. In addition, this UN Resolution callsfor the delineation of the international boundaries ofLebanon as part of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to this conflict. This long overdue demar-cation could be the first step toward regulatingLebanon’s relations with its neighbors and could helpstabilize a region that is otherwise plagued by instability.

Asher Kaufman joined the Kroc Institute faculty in August 2005.Prior to that, he taught at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where hewas a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institutefor the Advancement of Peace.

Asher Kaufman

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The World Social ForumAn experiment in global democracy

J A C K I E S M I T H

On February 15, 2003, an estimated 12 millionprotesters gathered in more than 700 cities in 60 coun-tries to protest U.S. plans to invade Iraq. In manymajor cities, these protests were the largest ever record-ed. Although the world’s governments working togethercould not dissuade the United States from its plans forwar, the world’s people, acting together, helped toundermine the legitimacy of President Bush’s actionsand to deny the U.S. government the internationalallies it sought. The action was so successful that a New York Times column referred to global public opinion as the “second superpower.”

How did activists organize such unprecedentedprotests? The answer to this question is important notonly to social change advocates, but also to scholarshoping to understand the ways global change impactspolitical participation. A rapidly growing number ofresearchers are turning their attention to the WorldSocial Forum (WSF), as evidenced by the number ofconference panels and journal articles devoted toexploring the movement’s significance.

The idea for a global day of action and early plan-ning for the event developed in Porto Alegre, Brazil,during the third meeting of what has become an annualWorld Social Forum. Mobilizing around the slogan“Another World is Possible,” the WSF began as both aprotest against the annual World Economic Forum inDavos, Switzerland, and as a response to the challengeof critics: “We know what you’re against, but what areyou for?”

As the largest political gathering in all of human history, the WSF may prove to be the most importantpolitical development of the 21st century. Whether itwill fulfill its promise depends on how citizens and gov-ernments respond to its initiatives. The forum’s powerflows from a recognition that globalization withoutdemocratization can yield a hybrid of imperialism,authoritarianism, and tyranny. As the Iraq war protestsshow, the WSF must do more than simply communi-cate world public opinion. It needs to promote andsupport international institutional arrangements that

are more responsive and accountable to internationalpublic pressure.

The WSF is comprised of an annual global meeting,complemented by hundreds of regional, national, andlocal social forums. It all began in Porto Alegre in 2001,when some 15,000 activists — more than three timesthe number expected — gathered to promote alterna-tives to economic globalization. Since its origins in2001, the WSF has met in Porto Alegre; Mumbai,India; Bamako, Mali; Caracas, Venezuela; and Karachi,Pakistan. It now draws more than 150,000 participants,while the proliferation of smaller meetings continues.Organizers see the WSF process as creating open spacefor citizens to explore the impact of global changes ontheir local and national experiences, while cultivatingtransnational dialogues and a social-movement networkto address shared problems. Scholars are increasinglyattentive to how the WSF might contribute to ademocratization of global institutions.

In a global system where opportunities for citizenparticipation are rare, the WSF serves as a laboratory fordemocracy. Activists are testing new forms of participa-tion and representation that can inform official effortsto democratize global institutions.

In its first five years, the WSF process has demon-strated a remarkable capacity for adaptation. Its perva-sive culture of democracy encourages dialogue andrespectful efforts to confront and address conflicts. It ismindful of the ways power operates to shape debatesand to exclude some voices. In particular, the WSF hasmoved consistently in the direction of greater decentral-ization. This has expanded opportunities for people tobe involved in global-level politics. It has also fosterednew forms of networking among activists working ondifferent issues, in different countries, and at differentlevels of action. And it has generated opportunities forpeople to learn and practice skills relevant to globaladvocacy.

Typically, 80 percent of participants in any socialforum live within the host city’s region; thus the prolif-

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Sociologist Jackie Smith was among those attending the fifth World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2005.

eration of forums enables more local activists to participate. The main web site for the WSF(www.worldsocialforum.org) provides links to nationalsocial forums on virtually every continent. Regionalforums have met in Europe, Africa, Asia, and theAmericas. In addition, many cities have hosted socialforums to bring together a broad range of activists whoare increasingly aware of the interconnectedness and theglobal sources of the problems on which they work.The practice of holding “polycentric” global forums inmultiple sites was tested for the first time this year, andthe official World Social Forum was held in consecutivegatherings in Mali, Venezuela, and Pakistan.

The advantage of decentralizing the annual forum is that it expands the possibilities for poor people andother marginalized groups to participate effectively.There is evidence that the involvement of less privilegedgroups has helped shape the forum, even though signifi-cant inequalities remain.

The most active region is Europe, which drew half amillion activists to its recent European Social Forum inAthens. Africa remains the least active in the WSFprocess, although organizers expect that the Bamakoforum in 2006 and the 2007 World Social Forum inNairobi will reinforce African organizing efforts. U.S.activists have been notably scarce at the WSF.Nevertheless, there are efforts under way to mobilize thefirst U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta next summer, andmany U.S. cities have been sites of local forums.Chicago hosted its third social forum in May 2006, andseveral hundred activists gathered this summer at theSoutheast Social Forum (Durham, North Carolina) andthe Midwest Social Forum (Milwaukee, Wisconsin).One important question that scholars are beginning to address is why there is such wide variation in WSFparticipation across different countries and regions.

Few structures of modern life provide opportunitiesfor people from different class, racial, and professional

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backgrounds to come together to talk politics. TheWSF not only does that, but also enables activists tomake better use of technologies that facilitate regularcommunication across vast distances. However, technol-ogy alone cannot generate the robust social ties requiredfor sustained political work. As activists point out, “Therevolution will not be e-mailed.” This sentiment echoesrecent research in the social sciences, which is less opti-mistic than earlier research findings about the contribu-tions of technology to enhancing social ties. The socialforums provide lively, but also routine and predictable,spaces in which activists can come together, generatingthe mutual understanding and trust required for globaldemocracy.

Finally, as an expanding and inclusive politicalspace, the WSF creates opportunities for individuals tocultivate the skills necessary for global citizenship.There are no elections for global officials, and few inter-national policies are subjected to public debate, particu-larly transnational debate. The foreign-policy-makingprocesses in most countries severely constrain possibili-ties for national governments to consult with their con-stituents about important international policies. TheWSF fills this vacuum by providing a politicized arenawhere people can learn about and articulate positionson global issues. They do so as part of a dialogue withdiverse groups of people, thereby fostering appreciationfor the needs and perspectives of others while cultivat-ing skills for political negotiation and compromise. Ifwe are ever to have a more democratic world, we willneed far more people with these sorts of skills.

The rise of terrorism, proliferation of politicalprotest, and widespread decline in voter participationare all evidence that political institutions lack the popu-lar legitimacy they need to effectively manage globalproblems. Although the WSF has largely escaped theattention of the U.S. mass media and many of those inpower, the process is making global democracy happenfrom below by providing opportunities for people toengage in discussions about how to address the world’smost pressing problems. The WSF has become animportant venue for nurturing democracy at local,national, and global levels. It helps to globalize civilsociety by nurturing transnational identities and dia-logue. In doing so, it is a threat to the interests of theextremists on both sides of the “global war on terror”who thrive on political polarization, militarism, andwar. Peacebuilders and peace scholars around the worldshould therefore be attentive to the World Social Forummovement and the possibilities it holds for shaping amore peaceful world order.

Jackie Smith is on the Kroc Peace Studies faculty and is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame.

For more information:

http://www.indymedia.org/or/2006/01/831615.shtmlhttp://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1557.html

As an expanding and inclusive political space,

the WSF creates opportunities for individuals

to cultivate the skills necessary for global citizenship.

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Researcher launches working group on World Social Forums movement

Jackie Smith attended the 2001 and 2005 World Social Forums in Brazil, and “morelocal and regional forums than I can count.” Each time she observes the eclectic, passionateproceedings as a sociologist, and also immerses herself as a social activist.

Smith, who is organizing a fall Kroc Institute workshop onthe World Social Forums movement, believes this “participantobservation research” enhances her scholarship. It also givesher a chance to make a difference in the world and to providea role model for her students. “In our day-to-day work at theuniversity, it’s hard to actually do anything about the problemswe study. But to understand how social change happens, theresearcher really has to try to do some of the work thatactivists and practitioners do.”

Smith earned both her master’s in peace studies and doctorate in international relations at the University of NotreDame, where she is a member of the Kroc Institute facultyand an associate professor of sociology. She is known for herresearch on the transnational dimensions of social move-ments, exploring ways in which global economic and politicalintegration has influenced how people engage in politics. Herforthcoming book is Changing the World: Struggles for GlobalDemocracy. She has co-edited three books on the subject:Coalitions Across Borders: Transnational Protest in aNeoliberal Era (with Joe Bandy); Globalization and Resistance:Transnational Dimensions of Social Movements (with HankJohnston); and Transnational Social Movements and GlobalPolitics: Solidarity Beyond the State (with Charles Chatfield and Ron Pagnucco).

Smith is an active member of the group Sociologists Without Borders. At the recentMidwest Social Forum in Milwaukee, she co-organized a workshop to help develop an interna-tional and multidisciplinary network of scholars to promote the World Social Forum agenda.

She is organizing scholars from around the United States, Canada, and Mexico to expand WSF research. This Social Forums Working Group aims to build upon the researchbeing done in Europe under the leadership of Professor Donatella della Porta (seehttp://demos.iue.it/). The European group has conducted surveys and focus groups to evalu-ate the impact of social forum participation in different national contexts and across time,resulting in the book Globalization from Below: Transnational Protest and Activist Networks.Smith’s research program will generate similar studies in North America. Initial findings willbe presented at meetings of the International Studies Association and American SociologicalAssociation in 2007.

The Social Forums Working Group will meet at the Hesburgh Center for InternationalStudies this fall. Two public events are scheduled. On November 9, a panel of experts andlocal organizers will explore the challenges of connecting local organizing work to globalanalyses and political processes. On November 10, there will be a presentation on dellaPorta’s research, along with an analysis of the broader political ramifications of the WorldSocial Forum process. Professor della Porta will participate via video conference fromFlorence, Italy, and one of her colleagues will be in South Bend to address questions abouttheir research.

Details of the November events will be posted in the “events” section of the KrocInstitute web site, http://kroc.nd.edu.

Jackie Smith

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Embracing paradoxReflections on peacebuilding and reconciliation in Rwanda

L A R I S S A F A S T

As the plane touched down at the Kigali airport inearly October 2005, I watched eagerly for the familiar,quiet beauty of the Rwandan countryside, with its lushgreen fields and rolling hills. I had last visited Rwandain 2000 as part of a multiyear project training localorganizations in conflict resolution skills. This time Itraveled to Rwanda to document the Catholic Church’speace and reconciliation efforts since the genocide in1994.

The 10-minute car journey from the airport to myhotel made it clear that much had changed in the capi-tal city. The physical changes included new buildings,landscaping in the medians, and sidewalks that framedthe main road. During the next few weeks, I saw deeperchanges in the people. I found hope, progress, and paradox.

Rwanda is the most densely populated country inAfrica. Its 8.5 million people share a space slightlysmaller than Maryland. Ethnically, they are Hutu (thevast majority), Tutsi, and Twa. Hutu extremists andhardliners targeted Tutsi and politically moderate Hutuin the genocide, and the violence that engulfed thecountry left 937,000 people dead in 100 days, accord-ing to the Rwandan government. The suffering of andtensions among Rwandans remain, but appear to haveeased with the passage of time. Despite the mountain ofchallenges they face, Rwandans have begun to rebuildtheir lives and their country.

My assignment, shared with fellow consultant LauraMcGrew, was commissioned by Catholic Relief Services(CRS), together with the Catholic Church in Rwanda.According to the 2002 census, about half of Rwandansare Catholic. During the past century, the church hasbeen a powerful influence in Rwanda, owning and run-ning virtually all primary, secondary, and vocationalschools, operating clinics and hospitals, and providingrelief and development services.

During the genocide, many Catholic clergy werekilled, and many churches and church-owned schoolsand clinics were damaged or destroyed. However, the

church also lost moral authority and influence. Its mostvehement critics have accused the Catholic Church ofparticipating in, planning, and denying the genocide.They cite as evidence the actions of individual clergy,three of whom are on trial at the International CriminalTribunal for Rwanda, and the mass killings that tookplace in many Catholic (and Protestant) churches.Others refute these charges, pointing to the clergy andother Catholics who risked and, in some cases, lost theirlives protecting people during the genocide.

Instead of focusing on the past, Laura and I devotedour attention to what the church has done in the yearssince 1994 to promote peace and justice in Rwanda.We worked closely with CRS, in particular the Peaceand Justice staff of CRS/Rwanda, and with the national-level Justice and Peace Commission staff of theRwandan Conference of Catholic Bishops. We inter-viewed both supporters and critics of the church. Wevisited a prison and spoke with nongovernmentalorganizations, government officials, diocesan and parishpeace and justice committees, and parishioners fromacross the country.

Our report concludes that, despite a scarcity ofresources and trained personnel, “the Catholic Churchin Rwanda is involved in an impressive array of activi-ties that indirectly and directly promote peace and rec-onciliation in Rwanda. Virtually all interviewees feltthat the church itself has evolved and increased its credibility in peace and reconciliation.”

My visit to Rwanda highlighted for me the com-plexity of building peace in a society emerging from theashes of genocide. In particular, I struggled with theparadoxes of how to strive for and achieve reconciliationon the one hand and ensure justice on the other.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a paradox as:“a statement or tenet contrary to received opinion orbelief, especially one that is difficult to believe.” Most ofus, especially those within a Christian tradition, consid-er reconciliation to be entirely positive, something forwhich we should strive. It is a word commonly used in

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Rwanda by clergy, ordinary Rwandans, and governmentofficials alike. The paradox lies in the conflict betweenour conception of reconciliation as a voluntary processand real-world pressures and dilemmas. If prisoners aregiven incentives, such as early release, to confess to theircrimes, and if public discourse encourages, values, andeulogizes forgiveness and reconciliation, is reconciliationreally a choice? The choices of many Rwandans, espe-cially survivors, are limited by poverty and scarceresources. For women in particular, the struggle to survive is acute. One woman told me how the donorcommunity jumps to fund projects that bring togethergroups of women survivors and women whose hus-bands are in prison accused of genocide crimes. Many such groups exist. It is difficult, however, to find funding for groups that do not bring together these “categories” of women as an element of their programming.

The justice of the “Gacaca jurisdictions,” the community-based trials for those accused of genocidecrimes, is part of a long process that relies upon every-one — accuser and accused — to “dare to tell thetruth” about what happened. Yet how do we definetruth? Does a good deed of protecting individuals “can-cel out” other instances of committing or abettinggenocide? Where and how should we draw the line?Should we even try?

Some survivors or the families of those who diedhave genuinely reconciled with those who perpetratedcrimes during the genocide. Yet the coercive nature ofjustice and peace after genocide is evident in the incen-tives for early release from prison, the commutation ofsentences and public pressure to process the large num-bers of individuals implicated in the genocide. Oneexpatriate told me in the late 1990s that “every otherperson getting off the plane is a conflict resolution spe-cialist. What Rwanda needs is development.” This isperhaps even more true today. A deeper reconciliationrequires truth, justice, and mercy, but cannot neglecteconomic survival.

Defining success as achieving “reconciliation” only11 years after genocide, as some have done, sets animpossible standard. Government and civil society insti-tutions in Rwanda, such as the Catholic Church, andthe people themselves face a long and difficult journeyas they rebuild their country. It is impossible to findquick and easy answers. The challenge is to embracethese paradoxes of reconciliation, doing our best to tiltthe scale away from coercion and lack of choice andtoward a deeper reconciliation. Time, patience, andsupport for Rwandan peacebuilders will be necessary.

Larissa Fast is a Kroc Institute faculty member and visitingassistant professor of sociology.

Rwandan children.Their country needsnot just reconciliation,but a rebuilt economy.

Larissa Fast, left, and co-consultant Laura McGrew withMsgr. Alexis Habiyambere, Bishop of Nyundo Diocese.

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Diversity of ideas strengthenspeace conference

K E V I N W A L S H

I never anticipated the marketing of a student peaceconference could be so challenging. Given that therewere more than a dozen panels and presentations ontopics ranging from action programs in South Bend toeducational efforts in Rwanda, it seemed nearly impos-sible to capture the spirit of the 2006 event in onecatchy phrase. As part of the conference organizingteam, I wondered if the event would be doomed byweak attendance. Thankfully,it was not.

The very diversity of theconference was its greateststrength.

“There was somethingfor everyone,” a student toldme after leaving the last ofthe panels, one concerningeconomic development andpeacebuilding. “It showshow no matter your interestsor your major, there isalways an opportunity to do something.”

Celebrating this spirit, the March 31-April 1 confer-ence brought together undergraduates, graduate stu-dents, and professionals from various walks of life andacademic disciplines under the title “Voices of Today,Changes for Tomorrow.” The assorted speakers high-lighted not only the problems that afflict our globalsociety, but also empowered students with the knowl-edge that they have the ability to change it.

This was the Kroc Institute’s 14th annual peace con-ference planned by and organized for undergraduatestudents. Two hundred participants attended the event,held at the Hesburgh Center for International Studies.Students hailed from dozens of universities, fromColumbia University in New York to the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley. After enjoying an opening banquet,they were entertained by the Indian dance troupeBanghara and folk singer/peace activist Joe Tascheta.

Keynote speaker and Kroc graduate Jian Yi (M.A.’98) spoke on the value of peacefully empowering those

who have been marginalized and forgotten. Jian Yi hasspent recent years documenting self-governance in ruralChina, where his work has helped villagers realize thatthey can create change through nonviolent means. His talk, “Documenting Self-Governance in China:Empowering Individuals Through Film,” highlightedstudent activism, youth leadership, and the role ofyouth in peacebuilding.

Others at the lectern spokefrom their own experience inworking with youth. The Rev.Jack McGinnis and KimOverdyke (M.A. ’02) describedtheir efforts as, respectively, cre-ator of the PeaceKit for Kidsand director of the Take Tenyouth violence-prevention pro-gram. Kroc Institute VisitingFellow Myla Leguro, director ofthe Mindanao PeacebuildingInstitute in the Philippines,enriched her address with songsof peace written by Mindanao

youth.Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the conference

was the interaction of students who attended the paneldiscussions. Whether the topic was protection ofhuman rights along international borders or the role ofthe arts in peacebuilding, these panels fostered livelyand informative conversation. They attracted the largestand most diverse audiences. Among those attendingwere students who were uncertain of the usefulness ofpeacebuilding courses in their careers.

“I was quite encouraged to continue in this field bybeing able to participate in this conference,” comment-ed Jason Millar, a junior attending from Cleveland’sJohn Carroll University. The conference aspired tostrengthen and unite the voices of youth in order to cre-ate profound changes in the world, and responses likeJason’s were the best indicators that it reached that goal.

Kevin J. Walsh (B.A. ’06), majored in political science and peacestudies. He will attend Villanova University School of Law.

Kevin Walsh, second from right in front, with peaceconference crew.

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Kevin Ranney (’91), from Canada, is managing part-ner of Jantzi Research Inc. (www.jantziresearch.com),which provides services to investors who consider thesocial, environmental, and ethical performance of thecorporations in which they invest. Kevin overseesresearch and manages the development of the compa-ny’s methodology and core product, a database of socialand environmental profiles of Canadian corporations.E-mail: [email protected]

S. P. Udayakumar (Kumar) (’90), from India, found-ed and directs the South Asian Community Center forEducation and Research (SACCER) to carry out com-munity work, education, and research ventures in TamilNadu, India. SACCER projects include an elementaryschool, a vocational school, vocational centers forwomen in 12 coastal villages, and entrepreneurshiptraining for young fisherwomen. In 2006 the elemen-tary school has begun its fourth year providing low-cost, quality English education to some 100 ruralchildren. In 2000 Kumar founded the Green Party of India. Kumar’s publications include “Presenting”the Past: Anxious History and Ancient Future inHindutva India (Praeger, 2005). E-mail: [email protected]

Ellen Ott Marshall (’92), from the U.S., is associateprofessor of ethics at Claremont School of Theology

in California and associate professorof religion at Claremont GraduateUniversity. She is particularly inter-ested in issues of violence and peacemaking, ethical questions in literature and film, and the dynamicrelationship among faith, history, andethics. Ellen is the contributing edi-tor of a volume of essays written byClaremont faculty, Choosing Peacethrough Daily Practices (Pilgrim Press,2005). Her second book, Though

the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom, which addresses the virtue of hope in the Christian tradition, will be published by Abingdon Press in the fall of 2006. E-mail: [email protected]

Winnie Romeril (’93), from the U.S., is a paramedic in Corning, New York, and a nonviolence trainer withPeace Brigades International and other internationalpeace teams, working primarily in Europe and Asia. Shealso serves as a volunteer with the American Red Cross

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during national disasters. Winnie continues to redirectpart of her U.S. income tax to peaceful organizations,writing about her tax resistance in local papers andnotifying the IRS each year. E-mail:[email protected]

Nguyen Thai Yen Huong (’93), fromVietnam, is deputy dean of the Facultyof Mid-Career Training and PostGraduate Studies of the Institute forInternational Relations (IIR) of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam.She is in charge of mid-career trainingcourses for staff of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and other ministries and also IIR’s M.A. Program inInternational Relations. Huong is also alecturer of American Studies for B.A. and M.A. stu-dents. Her research focuses on the American politicalsystem, American foreign policy, and the U.S.’s bilateralrelations with other major powers. Her most recentpublications include Humanitarian Interventions andUS Foreign Policy (Gioi Publishing, 2005) and TheUnited States: Its Socio-cultural Characteristics (NationalPolitical Publishing House, 2005), based on her Ph.D.thesis. E-mail: [email protected]

Sarah Brammeier McCrisken (’94), from the U.S.,lives in England, where she is organizational develop-ment advisor for the Oxford City Council, providingadvice and training in areas such as management devel-opment, managing conflicts in the workplace, andcareer counseling. She also works to support the use ofpeer and youth mediation to bring together victims andperpetrators of crime. E-mail:[email protected]

Xabier Agirre (’95), from the BasqueCountry of Spain, is a senior analyst inthe Office of the Prosecutor at theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) inThe Hague. His job involves strategicanalysis to identify the main areas ofcrime and plan the investigations of themost notorious leaders for war crimes,genocide, and crimes against humanity.Xabier is working on investigationsrelated to Darfur, Uganda, and the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, as well as monitoring severalother situations relevant to the ICC. E-mail:[email protected]

Xabier Agirre

Ellen Ott Marshall

Nguyen Thai YenHuong

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Mimi Conradi Gerstbauer(’95), from the U.S., is assis-tant professor of political sci-ence and director of peacestudies at Gustavus AdolphusCollege in Minnesota. Sheteaches international relations, Latin American politics,and introduction to peace studies. Her research focuseson forgiveness and reconciliation in international poli-tics. E-mail: [email protected]

Kriszta Tihanyi (’98), from Hungary, is chief operatingofficer for Market Matters, Inc., in Ithaca, NY, a small

nonprofit organization that has grown outof Cornell’s Emerging Markets Program.It works with small and medium-sizeagribusiness companies, located primarilyin Southern and East Africa. Kriszta is alsoa visiting scholar at Cornell University’sPeace Studies Program, and author ofBlending in the Rainbow Nation: TheRacial Integration of Schools and ItsImplications for Reconciliation in Post-apartheid South Africa (Lexington Books,

2006), based on her doctoral dissertation. E-mail: [email protected]

Hyekyung (Diana) Park (’01), from Korea, has beenworking as Programme Officer at the PartnershipSchools Team for the Korean National Commission for UNESCO since 2002. She is in charge of culturalexchange and projects to foster intercultural under-standing. E-mail: [email protected]

Charles Muwunga (’00), from Uganda, has beenappointed a human rights officer with the UnitedNations High Commission forHuman Rights in Nepal. He willmonitor and report on human rightsand international humanitarian lawactivities and abuses in the region. Forthe previous six years, Charles direct-ed the Jinja office of the UgandaHuman Rights Commission andserved as national coordinator of theInterfaith Peace Network in Uganda.E-mail: [email protected]

Maneesha S. Wanasinghe-Pasqual (’01), from Sri Lanka, is a lecturer at the University of Colombo,teaching conflict resolution to third and fourth yearundergraduates “and loving it.” She also supervises mas-ters-level students in their theses. Maneesha is complet-ing work toward a Ph.D. from the Institute for ConflictAnalysis and Resolution, George Mason University,Virginia. Her dissertation focuses on the Sri LankanTamil diaspora. E-mail: [email protected]

John Kleiderer (’02), of the U.S., has beennamed policy director of the U.S. JesuitConference in Washington, D.C. He is a co-editor of Just War, Lasting Peace: WhatChristian Traditions Can Teach Us (Orbis,2006). Key contributors to the book includeKroc Institute Senior Fellow George Lopezand Faculty Fellow Michael Baxter. John hasbegun work toward a Masters of NonprofitAdministration at the University of NotreDame. E-mail: [email protected]

Elias Omondi Opongo (’04), from Kenya, is programofficer at the Jesuit Hakimani Centre in Nairobi. Hegives training workshops on peacebuilding,conflict resolution, and good governance tovarious communities, leaders, and organiza-tions in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, andKenya. In his book Making Choices for Peace(Pauline Publications Africa, 2006), Omondicalls for agencies to go beyond aid delivery,while expounding on field diplomacy, thepsycho-social concerns of aid workers, andthe spirituality of humanitarian work. Theforeword is by John Paul Lederach, the KrocInstitute’s professor of international peacebuilding. E-mail: [email protected]

Burcu Munyas (’06), from Turkey, has been appointedan international development fellow with CatholicRelief Services, and will be posted for the coming yearto Israel/Palestine. Burcu completed a six-month fieldplacement with Catholic Relief Services, based inPhnom Penh, Cambodia, during her M.A. program.Her master’s project at the Kroc Institute was titled“Genocide in the Minds of Cambodian Youth:Transmitting (Hi)stories of Genocide to Second and Third Generations in Cambodia.” E-mail: [email protected]

Mimi ConradiGerstbauer

CharlesMuwunga

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Peter Wallensteen inaugurates Starmann professorship

One of the world’s leading peace researchers, PeterWallensteen, joined the Kroc Institute faculty this fall asthe Richard G. Starmann Sr. Research Professor ofPeace Studies. Wallensteen’s inaugural address will bethe keynote at a November conference on “StrategicPeacebuilding: The State of the Art,” which will markthe institute’s 20th anniversary.

The new chair is named in honor of a longtimefriend of the institute. A member of the Kroc InstituteAdvisory Council since 2001, Richard Starmann hasspecialized in crisis management in the United States,Europe, Asia and the Pacific Basin for more than 25years. As senior vice president of McDonald’s, he was incharge of worldwide communications and led the com-pany’s global crisis management team from 1981 to1998.

Professor Wallensteen will spend one semester eachyear in residence at Notre Dame, where he will consultand collaborate with Kroc faculty on institute researchprojects, supervise graduate students in peace studies,make a major presentation on research in progress,teach a graduate seminar, and offer a series of lectures toundergraduate students on the core concepts and meth-ods of peace research.

He foresees linkages between his work at Uppsalaand Kroc. “My ambition is to find connections betweenthese two programs and research at the Kroc Institute— for instance, in the field of peace agreements and onsanctions.”

Wallensteen became the first holder of theHammarskjöld chair in peace and conflict research in1985, when Uppsala was recruiting its first Ph.D. can-didates. The program grew into one of the best of itskind, known for tough competition for admittance(two to four students admitted each year) and for itsfocus on methodological strength. He arrives at theKroc Institute as planning is under way for a peacestudies doctoral program at the University of NotreDame.

Wallensteen is the author of International Sanctions:Between Wars and Words, Understanding ConflictResolution: Peace, War, and the Global System, andMaking Targeted Sanctions Effective, among other titles.He has also led recent commissioned studies on themeans of preventing genocide, international strategiesfor democracy, and the United Nation's post-conflictpeacebuilding capacity. His research interests alsoinclude the durability of peace agreements, and theimpact of preventative measures on the dynamics of disputes and conflicts.

Peter Wallensteen

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“Morality,” says Avishai Margalit, “is what we directat strangers; ethics is what we direct to our near anddear.”

In March 2006, Margalit became the first Jewishscholar to speak at the Kroc Institute’s annual JohnHoward Yoder Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion,and Peace. The lecture and ensuing conversation arenamed for the well-known Mennonite theologian andfounding fellow of the Kroc Institute.

The Jewish model of relations keeps separate issuesof ethics and morality, Margalit argued during the lec-ture. Christians, on the other hand, try the “very ambi-tious” approach of aiming to replace morality withethics — that is, they believe the ideal is to treat every-one as they would treat relatives or friends, he said.

“John Howard Yoder tried to narrow the gap(between ethics and morality), which he thought wasunnecessarily highlighted,” said Margalit, who is theSchulman Professor of Philosophy at HebrewUniversity.

Margalit’s talk was titled “The Kiss of Betrayal:From Family to ‘Friendship in Faith.’” It was a wide-ranging exploration of how different religions approachmorality, and whether faith in God or belief in a causeshould trump relationships with friends and family. Heasked when friendship forged by faith — such as thatshared by Jesus and his disciples — outweighs obliga-tions to others.

Margalit’s references ranged from the poet Dante tothe placards waved by angry British football fans upsetwhen a player “sold out” to another team. The latter, he said, dealt with the most widely accepted definitionof betrayal, which is represented by Judas: handingone’s friend over to the enemy in return for money.

“The kiss calls for proximity,” he said. “It is a sign of extreme trust.”

Among his other examples was that of British poetIris Murdoch, whose husband decided, after her death,to reveal information to her biographers that shewouldn’t have wanted known. Margalit posed the

question: “Is betrayal acceptable providing the betrayedcan never find out about it?”

Margalit’s lecture in the Hesburgh Center auditori-um was followed by conversation with the speaker overlunch. Among those present were members of the uni-versity and local community, including Anne-MarieYoder, John Howard’s widow, and other Yoder familyand friends. Margalit shared his perspectives on topics ranging from the Israel/Palestine conflict —“Transformation of political conflict into religious con-flict is a disaster” — to pacifism: “Hitler eradicated allof my family. There are very few survivors. I am forresistance … A world that tolerates a Hitler is a verybad world.”

Margalit’s books include The Ethics of Memory and ADecent Society. He has published widely in philosophicaljournals on such topics as philosophy of language, logi-cal paradoxes and rationality, social and political philos-ophy, and the philosophy of religion. He was the 2001winner of the Spinoza Lens Prize, awarded for “a signifi-cant contribution to the normative debate on society.”

Philosopher focuses on betrayal, relationships

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Kaldor: “Organized violence” replaces traditional war

Afghanistan and Iraq each had authoritarian regimesthat were on the verge of collapse when the UnitedStates invaded. In each case, the U.S. and its allies havefaced loose networks of combatants rather than a stand-ing army.

In those ways and more, the two Middle East con-flicts meet Mary Kaldor’s definition of “new wars.” Theauthor of New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in aGlobal Era shared her perspectives when she deliveredthe 12th annual Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh C.S.C.Lecture in Ethics and Public Policy.

Kaldor is professor of global governance and directorof the Centre for the Study of Global Governance,London School of Economics. She is highly regardedfor her innovative work on democratization, conflict,and globalization. Kaldor argues that in the context ofglobalization, what we think of as war is becoming ananachronism. In its place is a type of organized violencethat could be described as a mixture of war, organizedcrime, and massive violations of human rights.

Her March 28 talk was titled “The New Wars inIraq and Afghanistan.” She began with her perspectivethat President George Bush’s and Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsefeld’s vision of new war is actually updat-ed old war, in which the latest technology is graftedonto World War II-era strategies of aerial bombardmentand defensive maneuvers.

Typical of countries embroiled in new wars, bothIraq and Afghanistan had authoritarian regimes thatwere on the verge of collapse when the U.S. and itsallies invaded in 2002-03, she said. Neither state couldgenerate enough tax income to support itself. Both were experiencing a big rise in crime — the poppytrade in Afghanistan, corruption in Iraq. Since SaddamHussein’s regime fell in Iraq and the Taliban lost to theUnited States in Afghanistan, battles have been foughtnot by regular armed forces, but by loose networks ofstate and non-state actors, such as religious party militias.

In both countries the primary victims of war havebeen civilians, mostly because of the inability to distin-guish insurgents from civilians — another hallmark ofnew wars. “The United States has been dragged moreand more into a new war,” Kaldor noted, “and the moreit presents it as an old war, in which U.S. democracy isfighting Islamic terrorism, the more Islamic terroristsand the more new war it spreads.”

The situation in Iraq is especially depressing, shetold her audience in the Hesburgh Center auditorium.

“The only alternative I see is creation of an interna-tional protectorate for both countries, authorized by theUnited Nations, in which you see a big increase not just

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CPN conference focuseson church in Central Africa

Nearly 100 Catholic Church leaders and specialistsin peace and reconciliation convened in the CentralAfrican country of Burundi for the Third InternationalConference of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network(CPN), from July 24-28. Joining them were six facultyand staff members from the Kroc Institute.

The conference examined the church’s peacebuildingefforts in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Among theissues discussed were community-based reconciliation inRwanda, trauma healing in Burundi, efforts to achievepolitical stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo,and the role of the church in other countries in sup-porting these efforts.

The conference was held at a critical time for thechurch’s peace and reconciliation initiatives, accordingto Bishop Jean Ntagwarara of Bubanza, president of theConference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi.

“The holding of this CPN Conference is a chance,or rather a grace, a gift from God for our sub-region, sooften misdirected by repetitive and interminable wars,”he said. “We hope that it will permit the internationalcommunity to become more familiar with our prob-lems, the causes of our conflicts and the efforts under-taken by the Catholic Church in trying to contribute topeace.”

of forces, but also policemen, reconstruction experts.Most importantly, they would see their primary job notof defeating insurgents, but protecting individuals.America would have to play a big role — it would needa huge rethinking of attitudes toward multilateralismand war.”

Kaldor put that suggestion into a global context inher March 29 lecture, “Just War and Human Security.”She began by saying that a transformation of globalsociety is under way, driven by five changes:

• The emergence of a global consciousness, emergingin part from the ability to see the Earth from space,which underscored its fragility and people’s sharedresponsibility.

• Increased migration. “Most people belong to severaloverlapping communities.”

• Global interconnectedness. Many important deci-sions are no longer made by states, but by organiza-tions such as the World Bank.

• The changing character of warfare. “Battles are reallytoo destructive to be fought. We learned that in theSecond World War.”

• The emergence of global governance. “I don’t meana global state,” Kaldor emphasized. “Such a statewould be very tyrannical. States would continue tobe important, but they are onelayer among many layers that affectour lives.”

In such a transformed society, shesaid, the goals of war would be protec-tion of civilians, and stabilizationrather than victory.

Kaldor contrasted this humanitari-an “just cause” for war with the tradi-tional “just war” theory, which sheconsiders outdated. “It’s very easy toshift from just war as a kind of ethicalguide to just war as a way of simplylegitimizing murder.”

Church and state officials unveil a plaque honoring Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney.

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Kaneb awards honorKroc-affiliated teachers

Five University of Notre Dame faculty membersassociated with the Kroc Institute were among the 47people honored with Kaneb Teaching Awards at the sev-enth annual ceremony. The awards recognize excellencein undergraduate teaching, based in part on studentevaluations, and include a case prize of $1,000.

The 2006 winners included Martha Merritt, associate director of the institute; Paul Cobb,assistant professor of history and Kroc faculty fel-low; Frances Hagopian, associate professor ofpolitical science and Kroc faculty fellow, andRichard Pierce, assistant professor of history, chairof Africana Studies, and Kroc faculty fellow; andpeace studies alumnus Mark Gunty (M.A. ’89),assistant director of the Office of InstitutionalResearch and assistant professor of sociology.

The conference was sponsored by the CPN, in col-laboration with the Conference of Catholic Bishops ofBurundi and Catholic Relief Services, and with supportfrom the Kroc Institute and the German Catholic aidagency, Misereor. It was dedicated to the memory ofArchbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, the ApostolicNuncio in Burundi whose work for peace led to hismurder in 2003. Those attending from the KrocInstitute were Director Scott Appleby, faculty fellowsLarissa Fast, Patrick Gaffney, Thomas McDermott andRobert Dowd, and events coordinator ColetteSgambati.

A full conference report will appear in the next issueof Peace Colloquy.

PRCP gets newcoordinator;

Omar stays on to teach

Patrick Masonhas been namedcoordinator of theProgram in Religion,Conflict andPeacebuilding(PRCP). Masonearned his doctoratein history in 2005from the Universityof Notre Dame, witha dissertation explor-ing violence againstJews, African-AmericanProtestants, Latter-day Saints, andCatholics in the late19th-century southern United States. His research andteaching specialties include religion, race, and violencein U.S. history, and comparative religious violence andpeacebuilding. He is a graduate of Brigham YoungUniversity (1999) and the Kroc Institute’s M.A. inPeace Studies Program (’03).

Mason replaces another Kroc Institute alumnus,Rashied Omar (M.A. ’01). Omar will remain at NotreDame as research scholar of Islamic studies and peace-

building. He will teach Islamicethics, among other subjects. Anative of South Africa and for-mer imam of a Cape Townmosque, Omar received a doc-torate in religious studies fromthe University of Cape Townin 2005.

PRCP is an interdiscipli-nary, inter-religious programthat explores the complex rolesof diverse religious traditionsin contemporary conflicts. Itis entering its sixth year ofactivities, which include host-ing Rockefeller VisitingFellows.

Patrick Mason

Rashied Omar

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Field experiencestake students

to six far-flung cities

Members of the M.A. in Peace Studies class of 2007are spending this fall semester exploring the challengesof peacebuilding and serving as interns with organiza-tions in six cities. The sites, host organizations, and students are: Cape Town, South Africa:

Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office: Mark Fetzkoof the United States

Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation: Lisa Nafziger of Canada

Institute for Democracy in South Africa: Lison Joseph of India

Jerusalem/Bethlehem:Israeli-Palestinian Center for Research and

Information: Ramesh Prakashvelu of IndiaSabeel: John Filson of the United StatesWi’am: Silke Denker of Germany

Kampala, Uganda:Amnesty International: Yatman Cheng of ChinaFoundation for Human Rights Initiative:

Patrick Tom of ZimbabweThe AIDS Support Organization: Alicia Simoni of

the United States

Davao City, Philippines:Catholic Relief Services: Maria Lucia Zapata of

Colombia and Tania Alahendra of Sri Lanka

Phnom Penh, Cambodia:Catholic Relief Services: Hala Fleihan

of Lebanon

Washington, D.C., United States:Refugees International:

Meedan Mekonnen of EthiopiaHenry L. Stimson Center:

Denis Okello of UgandaInstitute for Multilateral Diplomacy:

Tatyana Shin of UzbekistanGeorge Washington University:

Said Yakhyoev of Tajikistan

Sanctions expert advisescongressional committee

Economic sanctions remain a useful and powerfuldiplomatic tool, a Kroc Institute sanctions expert toldmembers of the U.S. Congress in May.

According to Senior Fellow George A. Lopez, theUnited Nations has sharpened that tool since the 1990sOil-for-Food program that targeted Iraq gave sanctions

a bad reputation.Sanctions reformshave been significantand are ongoing, he told members of the HouseGovernment ReformSubcommittee onNational Security,Emerging Threats,and InternationalRelations. Lopezbased his commentson 15 years of schol-arly research andconsulting for theUN and its membercountries.

He listed the circumstances under which sanctions are most effective,including:

• The UN Security Council details a clear and limited number of demands in the sanctions resolution;

• The sanctions adopted by the council and itsmembers are one component of a more multifac-eted means of persuasion and/or coercion;

• The council has made provisions for humanitari-an exceptions, as needed.

UN sanctions fail, Lopez said, when:• They are excessively punitive and isolate a target

from continued bargaining with the SecurityCouncil or member states;

• Leaders of the targeted country or party portraythe UN as the offending party and deflect thefocus from their own behavior;

George Lopez

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Scott Appleby receivesthird honorary doctorate

R. Scott Appleby, the John M. Regan Jr. Director ofthe Kroc Institute, gave the commencement address andreceived an honorary doctor of laws degree May 14 atSaint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

In awarding the degree, university officials specifical-ly cited Appleby’s leadership at the Kroc Institute. Theypraised his “persistent voice for the role of religiousunderstanding in building peace among peoples dividedby religious and ethnic conflict.” The award also laudedAppleby’s work with Martin E. Marty on the five-volume Fundamentalism Project, a comprehensiveresource on fundamentalism in major religious traditions.

A professor of history and member of theUniversity of Notre Dame faculty since 1994, Applebyis a 1978 Notre Dame graduate and holds master’s anddoctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He isthe author of The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion,Violence, and Reconciliation and Church and Age Unite!The Modernist Impulse in American Catholicism, andcoauthor of Transforming Parish Ministry: The ChangingRoles of Clergy, Laity, and Women Religious. He also iseditor of Spokesmen for the Despised: FundamentalistLeaders of the Middle East and coeditor of Being Right:Conservative Catholics in America.

• The Security Council or its members fail to recog-nize partial compliance:

• Successful application of economic coercion produces no change in political behavior or compliance.

The complete report prepared by Lopez for the subcommittee is available online at http://kroc.nd.edu/research/sanctions_oilfood.shtml.

The hearing, titled “UN Sanctions After Oil-for-Food: Still a Viable Diplomatic Tool?” began with ques-tioning by John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the UnitedNations.

Peace Studies majorwins Scoville Fellowship

Julia Fitzpatrick (B.A. ’06), a political science andpeace studies major, won a Scoville Fellowship, whichSenior Fellow George Lopez describes as “one of themost competitive professionalizing and career-makingopportunities” for recent college graduates.

The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship was estab-lished in 1987 to provide college graduates with theopportunity to gain a Washington, D.C. perspective onkey issues of peace and security. Winners spend six tonine months in Washington, serving as junior staffmembers at the organization of their choice — inFitzpatrick’s case, Citizens for Global Solutions. She will be doing research on U.N. reform and helping lob-byists who are trying to gain congressional support forinternational peace and security issues.

A native of Detroit, Juliafocused her undergraduatestudies on the Arab MiddleEast and Islam. In the springof 2005, she studied at theAmerican University in Cairo,Egypt, for which she receivedthe National SecurityEducation Program David L.Boren UndergraduateScholarship. She spent the fol-lowing summer working withCatholic Relief Services inCairo. At Notre Dame, Fitzpatrick was active in socialjustice groups, served on the peace studies undergradu-ate advisory committee and peace conference commit-tee, and was active in Campus Ministry.

“The care and guidance of my professors at the Kroc Institute provided me with the tools and insightsnecessary to engage conflict and conceptualize peacefulsolutions,” Fitzpatrick said. “They encouraged me todevelop my own skills and cultivate confidence in myability to analyze and speak on issues of policy andinternational affairs. Most importantly, I understand myvocation as a compassionate and reflective practitionerin issues of peace and conflict due to the ways in whichthe Kroc Institute has shaped my world view.”

After her fellowship, Fitzpatrick hopes to return tothe Middle East to become proficient in Arabic and fur-ther engage issues of peace, conflict, and social justice.

Julia Fitzpatrick

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Guggenheim programhonors Paul Cobb

Paul Cobb, a Kroc Institute faculty fellow and anassociate professor of Islamic history, was among 187artists, scholars, and scientists awarded GuggenheimFellowships in early 2006.

Cobb, who is also a fellow of the Medieval Institute,has a special interest in Muslims in the age of theCrusades. His latest book is a biography of an eyewit-ness to the Crusades, a medieval Muslim from Syrianamed Usama, whose memoirs Cobb first encounteredas an undergraduate in an Arabic class. Titled Usamaibn Munqidh: Warrior-Poet of the Age of Crusades(Oxford: Oneworld, 2006), Cobb’s book is the firstbiography in English of Usama.

Cobb says his research drew him further intoUsama’s life and inspired him to write an intimate history of Usama’s clan, the Banu Muniqdh. Usama’s

memoirs were rich indetails about family lifeand the family castle stillstands in Syria. “Thememoirs were tough tounderstand, but veryfunny and moving,”Cobb said. “I subse-quently learned thatUsama, who was quitefamous in his day as apoet and warrior, was from an aristocratic

family of some notoriety in medieval Syria.” Additionalresearch took Cobb “into all sorts of fascinating textsand strange locales in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, andEgypt.”

Cobb’s work is aided by his ability to use Arabic,Persian, Greek, Syriac, French, German, and “enoughTurkish and Italian to sweet-talk the archivists.” Inaddition to the family history, his research has spawnedother projects including a new English translation ofUsama’s memoirs for Penguin Classics titled Islam andthe Crusades: Usama ibn Munqidh and Ibn Jubayr. Hewill spend his fellowship year in South Bend, using thetime to write.

Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis ofdistinguished achievement and exceptional promise forfuture accomplishment.

A Kroc milestone:First two-year class

completes M.A. program

In May, the Kroc Institute bid farewell to the Classof 2006, the first to complete the M.A. in Peace Studiesprogram after it was expanded from one to two years.Those students were also the first to complete fieldexperiences, which sent them to internships around theworld.

In keeping with tradition, the Class of 2006 washonored at a special ceremony in the auditorium of theHesburgh Center for International Studies, where the13 graduates received diplomas and congratulationsfrom the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., founder ofthe institute.

Several students presented reflections on their Krocexperiences. Tom Arendshorst, an American ophthal-mologist who entered the class when he was newlyretired, summed up the feelings of many as he paidtribute to his fellow students and faculty:

“Two years ago I hoped to acquire understandingsthat might help me be an effective advocate for socialand economic justice in our American society, whichguards privilege for some people while abusing manyothers. I hoped that being part of this Kroc programmight energize my life’s new direction.

“I had high hopes, but I was not prepared for therichness of the Kroc peace studies experience. I did notexpect the abundant bounty of this diverse, tight com-munity of fellow students. I could not have anticipatedthat my professors would not only be experts, but thatthey would all be dedicated, creative teachers. I was notprepared for the inspiring sense of vision and missionthat the Kroc Institute faculty bring to their work.”

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| p u b l i c a t i o n s |

BooksPaul M. Cobb, Usama ibnMunqidh: Warrior-Poet of the Age ofCrusades (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006).

Usama ibn Munqidh (1095–1188)was a Syrian poet and warrior whowas at the front line of some of themost dramatic moments in Islamichistory, including the invasion of the Turks into the Middle East, thecollapse of Shi’ite political power,and, above all, the coming of theCrusades. Stressing Usama’s literaryachievements as much as his politicaladventures, Kroc Institute FacultyFellow Paul Cobb examines the com-plete literary legacy of this famous“Arab-Syrian Gentleman” and offersa unique window into his life, times,and world of thought.

David Cortright, Gandhi andBeyond: Nonviolence for an Age ofTerrorism (Boulder, Colorado:Paradigm Publishers, 2006).

Is there room for nonviolence in an age of terrorism? Kroc InstituteResearch Fellow David Cortrightmakes a strong case for the need fornonviolent action — now more thanever. Drawing on the legend and les-sons of Gandhi, Cortright traces thehistory of nonviolent social move-ments. Gandhi and Beyond offers acritical evaluation and refinement ofGandhi’s message, laying the founda-tion for a renewed dedication tononviolence as the universal path tosocial progress and antidote to terror-ism. The author portrays Gandhi’spolitical strengths and weaknesses;shows how the lessons of Gandhiwere applied by such 20th centuryluminaries as Martin Luther King,Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, and Barbara Deming, and integratesCortright’s personal experience withthe peace movement.

Denis Goulet, Development Ethics at Work: Explorations 1960-2002(London and New York, Routledge,2006).

In recent years, global institutionssuch as the World Bank have becomeincreasingly conscious of the rolethat ethical reflection may play inleading towards more successfulknowledge and policy for develop-ment. This key book, written byKroc Faculty Fellow Denis Goulet(founder of the field of developmentethics), gathers together his maincontributions in three distinct parts,covering the early journeys of theauthor’s thinking, an exposition ofthe main themes he has explored,and the transition from early alterna-tive development to alternative globalizations.

Daniel Philpott, ed., The Politics of Past Evil: Religion, Reconciliation,and the Dilemmas of TransitionalJustice (South Bend, Indiana:University of Notre Dame Press,2006).

Over the last few decades, societieshave been forced to confront pastevil, including the injustices of communism, military dictatorship,apartheid, and civil war. Emergingfrom these efforts is the concept ofreconciliation, whose meaningphilosophers and social scientistshave debated in the context of politi-cal transitions in countries as diverseas South Africa, East Timor,Guatemala, and the Czech Republic.Most of thesedebates sharea secularismthat is at oddswith thebeliefs ofmany of theparticipants in

these transitions. By contrast, thefocus is on theology in this volumeedited by Daniel Philpott, Krocpeace studies faculty member andassociate professor of political sci-ence. The book is a conversationamong theologians, philosophers,political scientists, and historians.Alan Torrance, David Burrell,C.S.C., Nicholas Wolterstorff, andPhilpott draw on theology and phi-losophy for their theoretical perspec-tives; A. James McAdams, MarkAmstutz, and Ronald Wells chart thepath of reconciliation in Germany,Argentina, South Africa, andNorthern Ireland. The concludingessay is written by Scott Appleby,John M. Regan Jr. Director of theKroc Institute.

Raimo Väyrynen, ed., The Waningof Major War: Theories and Debates(New York: Routledge, 2005).

In this book, leading internationalscholars map the trends in major-power warfare and explore whether itis waxing or waning. Is major-powerwar as a historical institution indecline? While there is some conver-gence in their individual conclusions,the authors are by no means unani-mous about the trend. Their articlesexplore different causes and corre-lates of the waning of major-powerwarfare, including internationalstructure, nuclear weapons, interna-tional law, multilateral institutions,sovereignty, and value changes.Editor Raimo Väyrynen, formerdirector of the Kroc Institute, nowdirects the Helsinki Collegium forAdvanced Studies, University ofHelsinki, Finland. The first versionsof the chapters were presented at aconference organized by the KrocInstitute in May 2001. Contributingauthors are Paul W. Schroeder, John

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Mueller, Marie T. Henehen, JohnVasquez, Peter Wallensteen, Martinvan Creveld, T. V. Paul, Kalevi J.Holsti, Patrick M. Morgan, HendrikSpruyt, and William R. Thompson.

ChaptersJohn Darby, “Peace Processes,” inCharles Villa-Vicencio and ErikDoxtader, eds., Pieces of the Puzzle:Keywords on Reconciliation andTransitional Justice (Cape TownInstitute for Justice andReconciliation, 2005), pp. 19–24.

Since 1990 there have been morethan 30 major settlements of con-flict, and dozens of partial ones, witha formidable increase in our knowl-edge of recent and contemporarypeace processes. In this chapter, JohnDarby, Kroc Institute research direc-tor, discusses six propositions aboutpeace processes. They are: Mostceasefires collapse in the first fewmonths; a lasting agreement isimpossible unless it actively involvesthose with the power to bring itdown by violence; spoiler groups canonly be neutralized with the activeinvolvement of ex-militants; during

peace negotiations, the primary func-tion of leaders is to deliver their ownpeople; members of the securityforces and paramilitary groups mustbe integrated into society if a peaceagreement is to stick; finally, a peaceprocess does not end with a peaceaccord.

Daniel Philpott and TimothySamuel Shah, “Faith, Freedom, andFederation: The Role of ReligiousIdeas and Institutions in EuropeanPolitical Convergence,” in TimothyA. Byrnes and Peter J. Katzenstein,eds., Religion in an Expanding Europe(Cambridge, U.K.: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2006), pp. 34–64.

The authors seek to uncover the rea-sons why different European reli-gions — the Catholic Church, theOrthodox Church, and TurkishIslam — take different attitudestowards the political unification ofEurope. They look at two episodes inparticular: the democratic revolu-tions of 1989 and the widening anddeepening of European integrationin the 1990s.

Daniel Philpott and Brian Cox,“What Faith-Based Diplomacy CanOffer in Kashmir,” in David R.Smock, ed., Peaceworks: ReligiousContributions to Peacemaking: WhenReligion Brings Peace Not War, No. 55(Washington, D.C.: United StatesInstitute for Peace, 2006), pp. 5–8.

This chapter describes the nature andhistory of the authors’ work for faith-based reconciliation in Kashmir, con-ducted under the auspices of theInternational Center for Religionand Diplomacy over the past sixyears. They conclude with proposalsfor cooperation between track-oneand track-two levels of conflict resolution.

Articles David Cortright, “Reminiscences ofResistance,” Peace Review: A Journalof Social Justice, vol.18, no. 2 (Spring2006): 207–214.

In 1968, fresh out of college, DavidCortright was drafted into the U.S.Army, despite his qualms about theVietnam conflict. In this article, the Kroc Institute research fellowdescribes a transformative experience:his participation in the GI antiwarmovement, which shook the founda-tions of the American military. Hisinvolvement included protests, publi-cations, and a notable lawsuit. Hispersonal crisis of conscience, hewrites, was rooted in the social crisisof war, and he ultimately committedhis life to the struggle for justice andpeace.

Alan Dowty, “The Enigma ofOpacity: Israel’s Nuclear WeaponsProgram as a Field of Study,” IsraelStudies Forum, vol. 20, no. 2 (Winter2005): 3–21.

Research on Israel’s nuclear weaponspolicy is seen as a classic case of

David Cortright, left, speaks at a reception celebrating his book Gandhi and Beyond

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conflict between security constraintsand the academic ethos of openness.However, the ambiguity of Israel’sdeclared policy has eroded consider-ably over time, first to “opacity” andnow to simple non-acknowledge-ment, according to the author, aKroc Institute faculty fellow andemeritus professor of political sci-ence. Furthermore, Alan Dowtyargues, there have been vast changesin strategic circumstances: the initialrationale as a nuclear deterrent toconventional attack has been eclipsedby deterrence of other weapons ofmass destruction. This rationale ispotentially a more promising plat-form for arms control agreements,Dowty contends.

Alan Dowty, “Despair is NotEnough: Violence, AttitudinalChange, and ‘Ripeness’ in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” Cooperationand Conflict, vol. 41, no.1 (March2006): 5–29.

In what ways does intensified vio-lence change attitudes in protractedconflicts? When does it harden atti-tudes, and when does it moderatethem? This question is tested for twointifada periods (1987–1993 and2000–05) . The author notes that aclear distinction emerges between“expressive” issues — those with ashort-term focus and a high emotivecontent — and the primary issues inthe conflict. He illustrates how thefirst intifada accelerated dovishtrends on primary issues, while inthe second intifada attitudes did notmoderate until a basic structuralchange occurred.

Robert C. Johansen, “The Impact of U.S. Policy toward theInternational Criminal Court on the Prevention of Genocide, WarCrimes, and Crimes AgainstHumanity,” Human Rights Quarterly,vol. 28, no. 2 (May 2006): 302–331.

Senior Fellow Robert Johansen con-tends that the United States hasundermined the effectiveness of theInternational Criminal Court inmultiple ways. It has refused to joinor support the court; withheld sup-port for United Nations peacekeep-ing unless U.S. citizens are exemptedfrom international enforcement aris-ing out of such operations; pressedother countries to sign treatiesexempting U.S. citizens from courtproceedings; cut aid to selectedcountries unless they sign immunityagreements with Washington; andheld victims of war crimes andcrimes against humanity hostage toobtaining exemptions for U.S. citi-zens. Johansen argues that these poli-cies make it more difficult to enforcethe laws prohibiting genocide, warcrimes, and crimes against humanity.

Daniel Philpott, “Kashmir: riconcil-iazione dal basso” [Kashmir: recon-ciliation from below], Missione Oggi(February 2006): 25–28.

In this piece written for an Italianmissionary magazine, the authordescribes the nature, purpose, andchallenges of the faith-based recon-ciliation he has worked for inKashmir under the auspices of theInternational Center for Religionand Diplomacy.

Jackie Smith, “EconomicGlobalization and Labor Rights:Towards Global Solidarity?” TheNotre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics,and Public Policy, vol. 20 (Spring2006): 873–881.

This paper was part of a symposiumsponsored by the journal in April2006 on “The Future of LaborUnions.” The author, Kroc peacestudies faculty member and associateprofessor of sociology, summarizesthe impact of globalization on work-er rights. She argues that the futureof labor unions will depend upontheir ability to forge a wider array ofties to diverse national and issue-based constituencies. The contempo-rary movement for global justiceprovides opportunities for unions toexpand their base, Smith contends,and it challenges labor unions tothink globally about their work.

Oliver Williams, “The UN GlobalCompact” in An African Perspective:The St. Augustine Papers, vol. 6, no. 1(2005): 1–28.

The UN Global Compact is a volun-tary initiative designed to help fashion a more humane world byenlisting business to follow 10 prin-ciples concerning human rights,labor, the environment, and corrup-tion. The author, a Kroc faculty fellow, notes that although the four-year-old compact has signed up morethan 1,100 companies and morethan 200 large multinationals, fewmajor U.S. companies have joined.The article outlines the problemsthat the compact brings to the foreand offers insights from the ethicalliterature that may address companyconcerns or provide new ways ofthinking about the issues. It furtherargues that the forum provided bythe compact may be the most effec-tive means to gain consensus on therole of business in society.

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peace practitioners. That has helped us in defining ourcourses, in designing our services. We don’t want to beacademic.”

Trust. When Catholic Relief Services turned itsattention to peace and justice issues in the 1990s,Mindanao’s non-Christians were leery of its motives.But Myla and her colleagues found help in allayingthose fears. “We were lucky to have Muslim partnerswho worked with us in the initial stages of the program,who became our champions. They explained in theirown community what we were about as an organiza-tion. Then we did community visits. Once you arethere, more people know you and understand you.Then you have trust.”

Follow-up. MPI doesn’t just train people in peace-building techniques. It provides support once they gethome, so they can apply their knowledge to the needsof their communities — arranging dialogues, perhaps,or setting up conflict resolution mechanisms. “Mydream is for MPI to become irrelevant — not because

we’re going to achieve peace, but because we’ve trainedpeople to do their work.”

Power. Peace practitioners wield power because theybring money and expertise into a community. Mylaoften reflects on MPI’s influence, and her desire that it not be dominant. She encourages grassroots peace-builders to claim power in trying to change their com-munities. She encourages MPI staffers to see themselvesas mentors, facilitators, bridge builders, or companions,depending on local needs.

Myla uses another role to describe her work to herfive-year-old daughter. “I tell her I am a peace teacher. I teach people how they can live together, how theyhave the capacity to decide on their own how to livetogether.”

Myla began her career doing development work.Her academic training was in neither education norpeace studies. She told me, with a laugh, that she stud-ied agriculture. That seems fitting, given her ultimatecareer sowing seeds of peace.

Kroc publicationsKroc Institute Policy Brief No. 11: The smarter U.S.option: A full summit with Iran, by George A. Lopez and David Cortright

The United States should negotiate directly with Iran overnuclear disarmament issues, argue Lopez and Cortright inThe smarter U.S. option. They contend that the disputebetween the two countries belongs on the bi-lateral summittable, not at the United Nations Security Council. They write:“The issues facing Iran and the United States extend farbeyond this enrichment controversy. They include support forterrorism, a stable future for Iraq, trade, energy needs, peaceand security in the wider Middle East, and the prospect ofnormalized diplomatic relations. This constellation of con-cerns provides the classic conditions for a meaningful andpotentially far-reaching summit.”

Lopez, a senior fellow, and Cortright, a research fellow,are experts on the use of economic and political sanctions.They also explain why sanctions, isolation, and punishmentwon’t work when it comes to influencing Iran in this case.

Kroc Institute Policy Briefs are based on pioneeringresearch by peace experts at the Kroc Institute and theiraffiliates. The authors analyze policy briefs analyze currentissues in international affairs and propose innovative strate-gies for peace. “The smarter U.S. option” was the first briefto be sent primarily via e-mail to policy makers, the media,alumni and others.

Kroc Institute Occasional Paper No. 27:OP:1: The Rightto Religious Conversion: Between Apostasy andProselytization by A. Rashied Omar

In spring 2006, an Afghan citizen who converted fromIslam to Christianity was arrested under local shari`a law,which mandates the death penalty for apostasy. As a resultof international pressure Abdul Rahman was released andgiven asylum in Italy. The widely publicized incident highlight-ed the urgent need for Muslims to seriously re-examine therestrictive traditional shari`a laws on apostasy, writes Omar,who is visiting professor of Islamic studies and peacebuild-ing. He notes that the case took place in the war-ravagedcontext of Afghanistan where relief aid for the victims of waris dispensed by Christian agencies, some with a primarilyevangelistic agenda. That raises the question: Is it ethical forphilanthropic activities and humanitarian service to be under-taken with the primary intent to proselytize? No, Omar con-tends. He challenges Christians and Muslims committed tointer-religious dialogue to not only affirm the right of any indi-vidual to change his or her religion, and to decry the use ofinappropriate means to entice the person to switch faiths.

All policy briefs and occasional papers can be found via the“Publications” link on the Kroc web site, http://kroc.nd.edu.

Lessons from Myla, continued from page 35

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Julie TitoneDirector of Communications

Once, when he was describinga thorny ethical question posedby a teacher, my son scrunchedhis brow and said, “It makes myhead hurt!” I felt a similar frustra-

tion as I tried to absorb the contents of several single-spaced pages, handed to me by Myla Leguro, describingthe decades-long conflict on the Philippine island ofMindanao. The tangled roots of the struggle go backfour centuries. Since the 1970s, government clasheswith both Muslim rebels and communist groups haveleft 120,000 people dead, 1.5 million displaced, 71 percent living in poverty. Roads and schools lie in ruins.Drug trafficking thrives. Caught in the madness are 12million Christians, 4 million Muslims and 2 millionindigenous people — “the tri-people,” as Myla callsthem.

Myla represents the flip side of the Mindanao conflict. In the face of its complexity, she maintains asingle-minded determination to bring peace to her lushhomeland. She is the Peace and Reconciliation Programmanager for Catholic Relief Services in Davao City.Among her many responsibilities is directing theMindanao Peace Institute (MPI), which has a growingreputation as a place to learn about effective, grassrootspeacebuilding.

As the first person to receive a Kroc Institute visitingfellowship designated for employees of Catholic ReliefServices, Myla spent part of the spring semester atNotre Dame. She brought with her a tropical smile,calm self-confidence, and a strong work ethic. Her mainfellowship project was to reflect upon, and write about,a decade of peacebuilding work in the Philippines. Shealso lectured on the role of women in peacebuilding,addressed the undergraduate peace conference, andshared her experiences with graduate students in acourse on the management of nongovernmental organizations.

Besides its annual peacebuilding workshops thathave drawn 900 people from 30 countries, MPI has an ongoing training program for grassroots leaders inMindanao. MPI has 10 staff members, and is collective-ly managed by Catholic Relief Services, the MennoniteCentral Committee, and the Catholic Agency forOverseas Development. Myla’s goal is for the institute

Lessons from Myla

Myla Leguro, Kroc Institute visiting fellow

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to be independent. That would allow it to expand serv-ices, get its own building, and eventually open centersoutside of Mindanao.

One sign that the world has taken notice of Myla’swork was her inclusion in a group of 1,000 womennominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. She isknown for her management and evaluation skills. Butwhat most impresses me most is her understanding ofhuman relationships. That surely must be the basis ofsuccessful conflict transformation, “true north” on thepeacebuilder’s compass. During a long conversationwith Myla, I gleaned lessons about the value of main-taining focus in order to meet our goals, building trustwith others, following through with commitments, andusing power responsibly.

Focus. “We’ve always been very clear about ourvision and mission,” Myla said. “MPI is for grassroots

continued on pg. 34

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Diana Batchelor of the United Kingdom (M.A. ’06) catches up with her reading during her field internship in South Africa.

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Documents

The Politics of Sacred Space · 2017. 2. 16. · peace colloquy The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies University of Notre Dame Issue No. 10, Fall 2006 The Politics