Bolstering Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

Location

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Theatre

Free

Assistant Secretary Rick Barton delivered the keynote address at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies’ West Coast launch of a new study entitled Peacebuilding 2.0: Mapping the Boundaries of an Expanding Field.

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Barton detailed the role of the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), which he has led since its inception one year ago. The bureau engages in conflict prevention, crisis response and stabilization, aiming to address the underlying causes of destabilizing violence in priority countries such as Syria, Burma and Kenya.

He identified local participation and ownership as essential to CSO’s design and methodology, a point reiterated after Barton’s lecture by panelist Melanie Greenberg, executive director of the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP). She said that the bureau has been “remarkably proactive in reaching out to new communities, very hungrily seeking new ideas and new kinds of catalytic action for resolving conflict.”

The convergence of representatives from civil society, the military, government and academia on the panel — and the fruitful dialogue that ensued — served as a microcosm of what should be happening in the field, and what CSO is seeking to exemplify in countries in crisis.

The study, Peacebuilding2.0: Mapping the Boundaries of an Expanding Field, was funded by the United States Institute of Peace and implemented by the Alliance for Peacebuilding, in partnership with the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. Assistant Secretary Barton’s keynote address was followed by a panel discussion.

This event was free and open to the public.

Welcome and Introduction: Edward Luck, Ph.D., Dean and Professor
Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies

Keynote Speaker: Ambassador Rick Barton, Assistant Secretary of State
Conflict and Stabilization Operations
U.S. Department of State

Moderator: Necla Tschirgi, Ph.D., Professor of Practice
Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies

Panelists: Melanie Greenberg, J.D.
Executive Director, Alliance for Peacebuilding

Maj. Gen. John Broadmeadow
Commanding General
1st Marine Logistics Group and 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade

Co-sponsored by:

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies
USD Department of Political Science and International Relations

Supported by the U.S. Institute of Peace Public Education for Peacebuilding Support Initiative.

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program are those of the speakers/author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace