ICAR, Friedrich Ebert Foundation Host Transatlantic Workshop

This fall, ICAR and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation co-hosted a historic meeting, the first-ever conference of European and North American experts discussing how the concepts and processes of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) can be used to transform foreign policy.

The three-day workshop, "Partnering for Peace: Transatlantic Concepts for Conflict Resolution in Public Policy," assembled 35 conflict resolution specialists and policymakers to make recommendations on how to make CAR practices central to foreign policy formation, international diplomacy, military-civil cooperation, and international development.

Policymakers present included Ambassador Friedrich Dauble, who is tasked with promoting conflict resolution at the German Foreign Office, Elizabeth Kvitashvili, director of US-AID office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, and ICAR alumna Cynthia Irmer of the U.S. State Department. Ambassador Howard Wolpe, director of Woodrow Wilson Center’s Africa program was as an active participant, as were Andrew Carl, director of London's Conciliation Resources, Heinz Krummenacher of Swisspeace, and Martina Fischer of Berlin's Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, to name a few. These experts engaged in intense discussions on topics ranging from the main principles of conflict transformation to the lessons of "third party" interventions, current obstacles to integrating CAR approaches into foreign policy, and best methods for overcoming those obstacles.

There was general agreement that opportunities for influencing policy are multiplying as a result of the growing recognition that military force cannot solve the problems that have generated massive violence in areas like the Middle East and Africa, and that new problem-solving approaches are needed. It was also apparent that despite recognition of some conflict resolution techniques by U.S. federal agencies, the Europeans had moved further in this direction.

The conferees were encouraged in their efforts by Anthony Smallwood, head of public diplomacy at the Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S., who spoke at the welcoming dinner, and by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), who addressed the final luncheon at Hotel Washington. Workshop organizers are now discussing follow-up activities, which will likely include establishing a transatlantic network of conflict specialists and expanding discussions to include experts from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Principal organizers of the workshop were ICAR's Richard Rubenstein and Ebert Foundation's Almut Wieland- Karimi, while logistics were handled by the Foundation's Knut Panknin and ICAR Public Policy Working Group's Kate Romanova and Gina Cerasani.