Online exclusive | Tufts' Institute for Global Leadership co-convenes Iraqi peace talks in Helsinki
Dan Pasternack
Issue date: 7/1/08 Section: News
Tufts took on a major role in helping to heal the war-ravaged nation of Iraq as Iraqi leaders met late last month with officials from South Africa and Northern Ireland at a forum in Helsinki, Finland.
The private forum, known as Helsinki II, examined how diverse members of Iraq's post-Saddam Hussein government can coexist and bring about change without the use of violence. It sought, at the very least, to hold peaceful discussions.
The idea and funding for the conference came from Robert Bendetson (A '73), a university trustee and the chair of the executive board of Tufts' Institute for Global Leadership (IGL).
"He had a dream," said Sherman Teichman, the director of the IGL. "He met [the forum organizers] when he became involved in IGL."
Bringing together Iraqi Sunnis, Shia and Kurds, the forum provided a neutral location for the leaders to come together and talk.
What made Helsinki II different from most peace talks was the use of outside facilitators from South Africa and Northern Ireland. Both nations have been faced with and resolved violent social divides similar to what is occurring in Iraq today.
"The whole process started many years ago, and it has continued from that," Bendetson told the Daily. He continued to say that he "had an idea to bring South Africans to work with Iraqis. Then it just moved from one level to another."
Bendetson and Provost Jamshed Bharucha both attended Helsinki II.
By many accounts, the Iraqis had made significant progress in the forum. "Helsinki II was a really great step forward. They were willing to speak and be open and express their opinions," sophomore Kelsi Stine said. Stine and fellow international relations major J.J. Emru, a senior, attended Helsinki II and worked as note takers for the forum.
Bendetson saw reconciliation between Iraqi factions as a gradual, arduous endeavor. "I feel that it's a continuum and that it's a process," he said. "The problems are so perplexing that the solutions are not immediate." He added that the outcome of the conference could be considered positive, "as long as progress is being made."
The private forum, known as Helsinki II, examined how diverse members of Iraq's post-Saddam Hussein government can coexist and bring about change without the use of violence. It sought, at the very least, to hold peaceful discussions.
The idea and funding for the conference came from Robert Bendetson (A '73), a university trustee and the chair of the executive board of Tufts' Institute for Global Leadership (IGL).
"He had a dream," said Sherman Teichman, the director of the IGL. "He met [the forum organizers] when he became involved in IGL."
Bringing together Iraqi Sunnis, Shia and Kurds, the forum provided a neutral location for the leaders to come together and talk.
What made Helsinki II different from most peace talks was the use of outside facilitators from South Africa and Northern Ireland. Both nations have been faced with and resolved violent social divides similar to what is occurring in Iraq today.
"The whole process started many years ago, and it has continued from that," Bendetson told the Daily. He continued to say that he "had an idea to bring South Africans to work with Iraqis. Then it just moved from one level to another."
Bendetson and Provost Jamshed Bharucha both attended Helsinki II.
By many accounts, the Iraqis had made significant progress in the forum. "Helsinki II was a really great step forward. They were willing to speak and be open and express their opinions," sophomore Kelsi Stine said. Stine and fellow international relations major J.J. Emru, a senior, attended Helsinki II and worked as note takers for the forum.
Bendetson saw reconciliation between Iraqi factions as a gradual, arduous endeavor. "I feel that it's a continuum and that it's a process," he said. "The problems are so perplexing that the solutions are not immediate." He added that the outcome of the conference could be considered positive, "as long as progress is being made."
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Ban Ki-Moon
posted 5/25/08 @ 1:22 PM EST
Folks, this is why the IGL is the premier program on campus and a truly unique entity among those offered at any other university world wide. If Tufts ever hopes shake the mediocrity in which it is currently mired and take its place amongst the leading international undergraduate institutions producing high achieving public servants and global policy shapers, it will be on the back of the IGL. (Continued…)
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