National Peace Essay Contest Awards Week

This year's class of National Peace Essay Contest winners are in Washington, D.C., for a five-day program of meetings, seminars, and workshops on U.S. foreign policy and international peace. The program features meetings with prominent experts from government and academic affairs. The students also spent a day on Capitol Hill meeting with their elected officials, including Senators Dick Durbin and Barak Obama.

The students, chosen from over 1,000 entrants in the essay contest as representing the best from their state, also visit museums and take time out to get to know one another. They attended an award ceremony keynoted by Ugandan mediator and current USIP Senior Fellow Betty Bigombe. Bigombe spoke from first-hand experience about youth and violent conflict—the topic of this year's essay.

Wendy Cai of Tempe, Arizona won the top national prize of a $10,000 college scholarship. Cathy Sun of Williamsville, New York took second prize and a $5,000 scholarship, and Anita Hofschneider of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands won third prize and a $2,500 scholarship. The prizes were awarded yesterday at a Washington, D.C. ceremony held at the Embassy of Sweden.

International Intervention in Gaza: Options and Obstacles
USIPeace Briefing | Scott Lasensky
The recent Hamas takeover of Gaza has led to calls for greater international intervention. With prominent figures calling for an international force in Gaza and along the Gaza-Egypt border to halt arms trafficking, what are the demands, options, and obstacles for international intervention scenarios?

Public Opinion in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Peaceworks | Jacob Shamir
How does public opinion act as a domestic imperative on policymaking? This monograph addresses this question, using extensive research on both Israeli and Palestinian public opinion collected during the second intifada, which began in 2000.

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June 20
Christine Fair was quoted in the article "Film spurs questions on murder of reporter" which appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

June 20
Former Senior Fellow Cengiz Candar published an article in the Turkish Daily News titled "Scenarios in Washington, facts in Ankara."

June 18
Global Peace and Security in Community Colleges and the Communities They Serve participant Karen Davis was quoted in Florida's Hernando Today.

June 18
Senior Fellow Betty Bigombe was interviewed by Voice of America News in the article "Under South African Mediation, A Tenuous Zimbabwean Dialogue Opens."

June 19
Scott Lasensky was quoted in The Christian Science Monitor article "Israel's sudden Gaza dilemma."

June 17
Christine Fair was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle article "Angelina Jolie film renews the focus on hazy Pearl case," on the status of the Daniel Pearl case in Pakistan. Fair was also quoted in the June 17 Interntaional Herald Tribune article "Pakistan and democracy a precarious mix for U.S." on democracy in Pakistan.

June 17
The Sacramento Bee published an editorial on USIP's new headquarters project.

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Maoist Crisis in Nepal: Diplomatic Approaches for Resolution
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
A prominent expert on Nepal's security and foreign relations, Senior Fellow Jaya Acharya will discuss the diplomatic approaches used to bring Nepal's warring parties to the negotiating table. Acharya served as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter to Prime Minister G. P. Koirala during 1991-2005. Acharya has also been a fellow at Harvard's Center for International Affairs and a recipient of a Fulbright grant. He holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University and presently serves as executive chairman of Kathmandu's Center for Democracy and Development.

Pursuing Justice in the Midst of War: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Beyond
Thursday, July 5, 2007
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
How do international tribunals operating during war to secure justice affect the work of peacemakers? Do they help bring parties to the peace table, or do they hinder the prospects for peace? Senior Fellow Joyce Neu will discuss her research into the impact of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on the peace negotiations in Bosnia and share the implications of her findings for current efforts to find a balance between peace and justice in countries emerging from conflict. Neu is the executive director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego.

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