2008 Peace and Global Security Workshops

Plenary: “Building Security from the Ground Up: The Frontlines of Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding”

Reports of experience in the Middle East and Africa on local activities that provide a foundation for peacebuilding.

Speakers:

  • Father Clement Mweyang Aapengnuo, Ghana;
  • Jana El-Horr, Lebanon and Iraq; Ruba Musleh, Palestine

Moderator: Lisa Schirch, Eastern Mennonite University

 

Plenary: “Iran and Nuclear Nonproliferation”
(Joint Plenary with Middle East Track)

How to deal peaceably and effectively with Iran’s nuclear weapons potential and bring Iran into a structure of true regional security.

Speakers:

  • Stephen Kinzer, former New York Times bureau chief;
  • Trita Parsi, President, National Iranian American Council; Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch

Moderator: Barbara Green, Executive Director, Churches Center for Theology and Public Policy.

 

Swords into Plowshares: Drawing Back U.S. Military Presence in Africa
(Joint Workshop with Africa Track)

Review of U.S. military bases and military assistance programs in Africa, the new African Command, and alternative ways to help Africans achieve true security.

Speaker:

  • Daniel Volman, Ph.D., Director of the African Security Research Project; Nicole Lee, Executive Director, TransAfrica Forum.

Moderator: Lora Lumpe, Legislative Representative on the US Campaign to Ban Landmines, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

 

Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture

Examination of the nature of U.S.-sponsored torture including the role of the School of the Americas in fostering it. Exploration of what the U.S. Congress can do and what the religious community can do to end it.

Speakers:

  • Dr. George Hunsinger, NARCAT Founder and Professor of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary;
  • Eric Le Compte, National Coordinator, School of the Americas Watch; John Humphries, Director for Program Coordination, NRCAT;
  • Matt Hawthorne, Director for Policy Coordination for NRCAT.

Moderator: Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT).

 

Federal Budget Priorities
(Joint Session with Domestic Track)

Understanding current federal budget priorities, including military spending, and changing current spending decisions to better meet our security and domestic human needs.

Speakers:

  • Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies/Foreign Policy in Focus;
  • Greg Speeter, Executive Director, National Priorities Project

 

Plenary: “Getting Traction on the New Nuclear Danger”

Need to stop development of new nuclear weapons and work toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Speakers:

  • Jonathan Schell, Journalist, The Nation, and lecturer, Yale University;
  • David Culp, Legislative Representative, Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Moderator: James Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist General Board of Church and Society.

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