IPRA 2018 Conference

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IPRA General Conference 2018

Details: Category: Ipra Peace; Published: Sunday, 08 April 2018 21:07; Hits: 2046

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Details: Category: Ipra Peace

IPRA 2014 Conference

Details: Category: Ipra Peace; Published: Thursday, 20 August 2015 20:49; Hits: 1672

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25th IPRA GENERAL CONFERENCE 2014

UNITING FOR PEACE: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PEACE THROUGH UNIVERSAL VALUES

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Organized by Sakarya University

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - August 11-15 2014

During the Cold War ideological confrontations, inter-state conflicts and extremely costly and risky arms races were seen as the most dangerous threats against peace and security. Since with its end much of these threats seemed to have disappeared, it was widely expected that a new, more peaceful era could begin. Peace dividend, comprehensive conversion, sustainable development, global peace and justice in a civil society were the key words. The 1990s experienced reductions of troops, arms and budgets, resources that were available now for civil purposes. Today we see more non-military approaches included in international conflict management such as in UN and EU peace activities, or through the increased participation of NGOs/CSOs, as well.

However, the end of the Cold War also witnessed a change in conflict patterns and the world faced a new generation of challenges for peace and security. Regional conflicts with ethnic, religious and/or economic-political background appeared in the Balkans, East and Central Africa, the Middle East, Caucasus or Central Asia. Recently the world is experiencing violent and non-violent mass upheavals, overthrow of authoritarian governments and militant quests for better democracy, livelihood and peace as in Northern Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Thailand or Ukraine. Other novel threats – real like the World Trade Center terror attacks or purposefully staged as in the case of alleged WMDs in Iraq – had a strong impact on changes in the security, conflict and peace environment, as well.

It was this kind of changes that caused or were paralleled by according adjustments particularly in the international security and defence sector. One effect was that after a drop in the aftermath of the Cold War – global military expenditures have been going up since 1998. In 2013 they reached a level that even topped spendings at the peak of the Cold War. A related result has been that military instead of civil, non-violent procedures remained dominating in international conflict intervention. In stark contrast to that, and despite the strongly increased role of the UN after the Cold War, its peace-related activities have remained dramatically underfunded. The UN budget total covers not even 2% of what is globally spent for military purposes.

Addressing and connecting these two contrary developments may be considered as a responsibility and an opportunity for the peace research community: To raise political and public awareness of this extreme misbalance, to develop alternatives and to show ways how to change this imbalance. Multifold empirical evidence that fundamentally questions the alleged success and costs of military conflict management are at hand already. In order to move forward we definitely need more studies of this kind that show, quantitatively and qualitatively, under which circumstances, with what targets and limited resources non-military dealing with conflict may be more effective, more efficient and sustainable – and hence, superior to military interference. This includes a redefinition of its role and extent, as well.

IPRA GOVERNING COUNCIL 2016-2018

Details: Category: Ipra Peace; Hits: 1262

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IPRA GOVERNING COUNCIL 2016-2018

Dr. Katsuya Kodama - IPRA co-Secretary General
Prof. Úrsula Oswald Spring - IPRA co-Secretary General

AFRICA
FEMALE	Jacinta Mwende Maweu - University of Nairobi, Kenya
FEMALE	Bernedette Muthien - Constitutional Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities in South Africa, South Africa
MALE	Olufemi Oluniyi - Minister in Charge, ECWA Victory Arena, Nigeria
MALE	Matt Mogekwu - Ithaca College, USA
ASIA-PACIFIC
FEMALE	Kelli Te Maiharoa - Otago University, New Zealand Sri Nuyanti Indonesia
FEMALE
MALE	Tetsu Sadotomo (Japan)
MALE	Manish Sharma (India)
EUROPE
FEMALE	Riikka Kuusisto - University of Helsinki, Finland
FEMALE	Stephanie Thiel - University of Giessen, Germany
MALE	Luc Reychler - Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
MALE	Hendrik Bullens - Netherlands
LATIN AMERICA
FEMALE	Ursula Oswald Spring - National University of Mexico, Mexico
FEMALE	Alvany Maria dos Santos Santiago - Federal University of Sao Francisco Valley – UNIVASF, Brazil
MALE	Hernan Dario Vazquez Reyna - Peru
MALE	Andres Macias Tolosa - Universidad Externado de Colombia, Colombia
NORTH AMERICA
FEMALE	Carolyn Stephenson - University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA
FEMALE	Ellen Vaillancourt Simon Fraser Universtiy, Canada
MALE	Patrick Hiller - Portland State University, USA
MALE	Matt Meyer - Representative of PJSA; UN HQ NGO Representative, International Peace Research Association
RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
FEMALE	Olga Vorkunova - Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
MALE	Attila Fabian - West Hungary University, Hungary