JHU SAIS to Host Conference on the Balkans

The Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will hold a daylong conference, "Stabilizing and Reconciling the Balkans," on Tuesday, 10/23 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

This conference is the inaugural event of the Swiss Foundation for World Affairs, a new institute housed at SAIS.

Zarko Korac, deputy prime minister of the Republic of Serbia, will give the keynote address at 9:15 a.m. Expert panelists from academia, U.S. and Balkan government agencies, nonprofit organizations and the media will speak throughout the day during the following sessions. A complete agenda of speakers and topics is at the end of this advisory.

9 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

9:15 a.m. Keynote address by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac

10 a.m. International Engagement

11:30 a.m. Institution Building and Democratization

1:30 p.m. Economic Reconstruction

2:30 p.m. Reconciliation

5 p.m. Closing Remarks

The conference, free and open to the public, will be held in the Kenney Auditorium, first floor of the SAIS Nitze Building. Members of the public must register to attend the conference by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 202.663.5722.

Members of the media who plan to cover this event should contact Felisa Neuringer in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected]

CONFERENCE AGENDA:

"Stabilizing and Reconciling the Balkans"

Conference on Tuesday, 10/23/2001

Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Paul H. Nitze Building / Kenney Auditorium

8:30 a.m. Coffee

9:00 Welcome and Introduction

Stephen Szabo

Interim Dean of SAIS

Christian Blickenstorfer

Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States

Edouard Brunner and Peter Ziegler

Chairman; Executive Director of the Swiss Foundation for World Affairs (respectively)

9:15 Opening address

Zarko Korac

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

10:00 International Engagement

USA, Russia, UN, EU, NATO, OSCE: What future role in the Balkans?

James Pardew

Ambassador, Special Advisor for South Eastern Europe, U.S. Department of State

Ilya V. Gaiduk

Senior Research Fellow, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow

Jonathan Davidson

Senior Advisor, Delegation of the European Commission in Washington

Edward P. Joseph

Visiting Scholar, SAIS; former senior official with UNPROFOR (Bosnia and Croatia), UNMIK (Kosovo) and OSCE

11:15 Coffee Break

11:30 Institution Building and Democratization

How to build new institutions in divided societies? How to enhance democracy in a multi-ethnic context?

Saso Ordanoski

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the news magazine "Forum" (Skopje); Director of the Forum-Center for Strategic Research & Documentation

Ruth Wedgwood

Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Organization, SAIS; Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

Wolf Linder

Professor, Center for the Study of Swiss Politics, University of Bern; author of "Swiss Democracy: Possible Solutions to Conflict in Multicultural Societies"

Chair morning session:

Jeffrey Smith

Associate Fellow, Remarque Institute, New York University; on sabbatical from "The Washington Post" (Southern Europe Bureau Chief)

12.30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 Economic Reconstruction

How to overcome the crisis of war-torn, formerly communist economies?

Ivan Vujacic

Professor of Economics, University of Belgrade; President of the Political Council of the Democratic Party

Karen Mathiesan

Director, Office of Central and Southeastern Europe, U.S. Treasury Department

Jean-Daniel Gerber

Head of the Swiss Federal Office for Refugees; former Executive Director in the World Bank

2:30 - Reconciliation

5:15 Can the Balkans (ever) be reconciled? Challenges, approaches, projects, new designs

Veton Surroi

Publisher of "KOHA Ditore" (Prishtina), the most influential Albanian newspaper in Kosovo

Sonja Biserko

Chairwoman of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Belgrade

I. William Zartman

Jacob Blaustein Professor of International Organization and Conflict Resolution, SAIS

Kurt R. Spillmann

Professor, Center for Security Studies and Conflict Research, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich

Followed, after Coffee Break, by a discussion with the speakers from the Balkans and:

Ana Trisic-Babic

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina

Brenda Pearson

Senior Political Analyst, International Crisis Group; author of the ICG-Reports on Macedonia

Daniel Serwer

Director of the Balkans Initiative, United States Institute of Peace

Chair afternoon session:

Charles Gati

Professor in European Studies, SAIS

Concluding remarks

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Robert E. Osgood Professor of American Foreign Policy, SAIS; Center for Strategic and International Studies; former National Security Advisor to President Carter

Edouard Brunner

Ambassador, Chairman of the Swiss Foundation for World Affairs

RSVP: Robin Washington, Program Coordinator, 202-663-5722 or fax 202-663-5943 or email [email protected]
 

For more information, contact Felisa Klubes in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at (202) 663-5626 or [email protected].