Johns Hopkins SAIS to host Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of Kosovo, for a conversation on Kosovo’s future in a challenging region on November 8

MEDIA ADVISORY

The Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host a conversation with Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of the Republic of Kosovo, on Monday, November 8, focused on Kosovo’s future in a challenging region. President Osmani-Sadriu will join Edward P. Joseph, an FPI Senior Fellow, to discuss the current situation in Kosovo, efforts of the EU and U.S. to foster a comprehensive settlement between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as domestic priorities such as combating corruption and organized crime.

Speakers

Opening remarks
Cinnamon Dornsife
Executive Director, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Moderator
Edward P. Joseph
Adjunct Lecturer in Conflict Management and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu
President of Kosovo

Time and Date

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. EST
Monday, November 8, 2021

Registration

The ceremony will be streamed live here. The event is closed to the general public but open to a limited number of credentialed media. Due to space constraints and COVID-19 safety protocols, in-person coverage will be restricted. Members of the media who wish to cover the event in person must request access by emailing [email protected] no later than close of business on Friday, November 5. Final media access will be confirmed at least one day prior to the event. Pre-authorized camera set-up will only be permitted from 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Media Contact

Jason Lucas
Communications Manager
Johns Hopkins SAIS
+1 (202) 663-5620
[email protected]

About the Speakers

Cinnamon Dornsife is currently a senior advisor of the International Development Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and executive director of the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at SAIS. Dornsife leads learning initiatives in social entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom and teaches courses on social entrepreneurship and the international financial institutions. She is a senior executive, negotiator, and advocate with 30 years of experience in international banking, economic development and foreign policy.

A former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, Dornsife has served in many high profile roles, including as executive director of the Asian Development Bank, advisor for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and Acting Director and Senior Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins SAIS International Development Program. She has also been a consultant on development assistance and policy issues for a wide variety of think tanks, nonprofits, and private sector firms. She spent more than a decade serving the Asia Foundation in several senior positions at headquarters, heading the Washington, DC office, and in the field office in Indonesia. She has also worked with the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership, Pathfinder International, Forest Trends, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Dornsife currently serves on the board of directors for Abt Associates and board of advisers for the Asian Development Bank Institute, Devex, the United States-Indonesia Society, and United Nations Association of the National Capital Area. She delivered a keynote address on "What's New in International Development?" at the 2011 International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy in the United States, previously offered congressional testimony, and served as an expert reviewer for the Asian Development Bank Institute CD-ROM series on sustainable development and civil society. Dornsife holds an M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS.

Edward P. Joseph is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a lecturer in conflict management at SAIS. Joseph is a leading commentator and analyst on the Balkans. He served on the ground for a dozen years, including throughout the war years, in all conflict countries in the region, and including service with the U.S. Army. Joseph’s testimony at the Hague Tribunal has been cited as instrumental in a landmark war crimes verdict in Bosnia in 1995. The Obama State Department nominated Joseph to serve as Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, one of the world’s largest democracy and human rights missions. In that capacity, Joseph negotiated an 11th-hour agreement with Kosovo and Serbia to hold Serbian national elections in Kosovo. He has been deployed on missions as well in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Haiti.

Joseph’s commentary has been published in most major outlets. His Foreign Affairs article, "The Balkans, Interrupted," was selected as one of "The Best of 2015." Joseph served as executive director of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington, DC, as the first non-alumnus leader of the foundation in its nearly century of existence. He is currently vice-president for government relations of the National Council on U.S.-Libya Relations.

Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu was elected and sworn in as Kosovo’s seventh President on April 4, 2021. She was elected the first female Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo in February 2020, and also served as Acting President of the Republic of Kosovo from November 2020 to March 2021. Osmani-Sadriu served as a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo for five terms. As a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, she chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on European Integration and served as the Deputy Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Reform.

From 2006 to 2010, Osmani-Sadriu served as Chief of Staff to then Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Senior Advisor on Legal Affairs and International Relations. She represented the president in the Commission for the drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Osmani-Sadriu was a member of the representative team for the Republic of Kosovo in a case heard before the International Court of Justice regarding the declaration of the independence of Kosovo.

Osmani-Sadriu has lectured at the University of Prishtina's Faculty of Law since 2006 and has previously served as a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh. She has also lectured at RIT - Kosovo (AUK), AAB – Riinvest College and delivered thematic lectures at other universities in Europe and the U.S. In 2017, the University of Pittsburg named Osmani-Sadriu a Sheth International Achievement Award recipient. She is a member of the Board of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a member of the Steering Committee of the young Deputies of the World Bank and the IMF.

Foreign Policy Institute

The Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) was established in 1980 to unite the worlds of scholarship and policy in the search for realistic answers to international issues facing the United States and the world. FPI seeks to advance practically oriented research and discussion about foreign policy. To this end, it organizes research initiatives and study groups, and hosts leaders from around the world as resident or non-resident fellows in fields including international policy, business, journalism, and academia. Read more about FPI here: https://www.fpi.sais-jhu.edu

Johns Hopkins SAIS

A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today's critical issues. For more than 75 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school's interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today.

For more information, visit sais.jhu.edu or on Twitter @SAISHopkins

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Date:

Thursday, November 4, 2021