Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a leading authority on global humanitarian crises stemming from violent conflicts, will speak at a Sept. 30 event focused on new approaches to address the causes and consequences of global conflicts.
Haass’ address will open a daylong series of dialogues with prominent experts on global conflicts, hosted by the Harris School of Public Policy Studies. The event, titled “Confronting the New Era of Global Conflicts,” will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Mandel Hall. It will include intensive discussion of current crises such as the violent clashes in Syria, which has resulted in more than 4 million refugees. Speakers will explore the transformative power of data-driven analysis to address the greatest foreign policy challenges of our time.
Following Haass’ remarks, Prof. Ethan Bueno de Mesquita of Chicago Harris will moderate a policy discussion with Ret. Colonel Joseph Felter of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University; Donald Kaberuka, former president of the African Development Bank Group; James Robinson, University Professor at Chicago Harris; and Julianne Smith, senior fellow and director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at the Center for a New American Security.
“As our speakers will discuss, we live in a world that is facing conflicts on a scale never before seen,” said Daniel Diermeier, dean of Chicago Harris. “Today, more than 59 million people are living as refugees or have been forcibly displaced from their homes. This is the highest level ever recorded. The world urgently needs new policy solutions to address the root causes of this new generation of global conflicts.”
Among his numerous foreign policy accomplishments, Haass served as the chair of multi-party peace negotiations in Northern Ireland in 2013. For his efforts to promote peace and conflict resolution, he received the Tipperary International Peace Award.
From January 2001 to June 2003, Haass was director of policy planning for the U.S. Department of State, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Haass also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and U.S. envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process. In recognition of his service, he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award.
Haass has extensive additional government experience. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. Previously, he served in the Departments of State (1981-85) and Defense (1979-80) and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.
Haass also was vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz visiting professor of international studies at Hamilton College, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A Rhodes scholar, Haass holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctor of philosophy degrees from Oxford University.
The day’s academic program will conclude with a symposium featuring Melissa Dell of Harvard University; Ruben Enikolopov of the Barcelona Institute of Political Economy and Governance; and Jacob Shapiro of Princeton University.
For a full schedule of the day’s events, visit http://harris.uchicago.edu/harrisworld. Join the conversation using the hashtags #HarrisWorld and #TransformingConflicts.
—Prof. Chuan He
