Alpana Modi (Australia) Tuesday’s session on “Negotiating in an International Context” was an eye opening experience for me. I learned the intricacies of international negotiating, and that “silence is worth more than a thousand [...]
Kendal Jones (US) Although scholars and practitioners in the field of post-conflict transitions tend to view reconciliation as an “obvious objective” and perhaps even the main challenge to rebuilding communities after conflict, the victims [...]
Kate Kranz Jordan (USA - Allied Joint Force Command, Naples/US Naval Forces Europe/Africa, ISAF, United States Naval Academy) At the end of the second week of the symposium, we set out to resolve a number of the [...]
Jennifer MacNeill (US) It is one thing to sit in a classroom for weeks, months - years even, and learn about concepts such as “restorative and retributive justice”, “frameworks”, and “alternatives to state building”…It [...]
Ojo Osaigbovo (Nigeria/Australia) The debate regarding the efficacy of punitive versus restorative justice has been an increasingly central one in global political discourse. As a proponent of a punitive form of post-war transitional justice [...]
(Sarah Littisha Jansen, Canada) To hear David Crane, former founding Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, tell it, one would understand that the greatest insult he ever received was when Thabo Mbeki [...]
Alpana Modi (Australia) The last 24 hours on the ICTY have been highly educational – dining with an interpreter of the ICTY, attending the hearing of Ratko Mladić at the ICTY and having a question [...]
Benita Sumita (India) International justice is a powerful and powerless word simultaneously. It means all and nothing as I have come to see and understand it in the last couple of days of learning about [...]
Daniel Holmes (Canada) Forget everything you thought you knew about statebuilding. The esteemed Dr. Robert Lamb challenged the class with the most difficult and frustrating lesson to date. As the day started, Dr. Lamb led [...]
Elfrid Pati (Albania) It is three days since the 20th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre, and as I sit in a boat-turned-outdoors seating for a restaurant I’ve recently grown fond of on one of The [...]
Auriane Botte (France) Day 4 was entirely dedicated to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As I am passionate about the ICC and International Criminal Justice, this day promised to be full of exciting discoveries [...]
Elysa Hogg (Canada) The theme of today’s classes was ‘Mapping the Fields of Restorative and Retributive Justice.’ Within the first five minutes of the morning Dr. Tom Zwart distributed several international court scenarios for us [...]
Laura Steele (Australia) After diving headfirst into fixing the post-conflict situation in Libya, guided and inspired by the highly accomplished and somewhat hard-core transition specialist and practitioner Audra Dykman, the scene was set early on [...]
Benita Sumita (India) “A man who wants to move a mountain does so by carrying away small stones at a time,” Confucius There is no doubt that the 2015 Hague Symposium is about the big [...]
Nathan Williams JP (Australia) The International Peace and Security Institute’s 10th Hague Symposium began with a dinner at the Rootz Restaurant attended by esteemed guest speaker Justice Richard Goldstone. Justice Goldstone was the first Chief Prosecutor [...]
Zunaira Malik, United States of America Take thirty six individuals: lawyers, students, and practitioners, train them in transitional justice and pragmatic peacebuilding, and then put them to the test. This has been our life for [...]
Kevin Coffey, Ireland In anticipation of the intensive three-day simulation geared towards achieving peace in the fictionalized war-torn Beladusham, IPSI participants had the pleasure of being trained in negotiation by Mr. Wilbur Perlot; the deputy-director [...]
Makhotso Lengane, South Africa As week three of The Hague Symposium drew to a close, so grew the feeling of sadness that comes with a goodbye that is imminent. It is hard to believe that [...]
Emily Fountain, United States of America Steven Biko once wrote, “In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift - a more human face.” I remember reading [...]
Matthew Dato, United States of America Here at the International Peace and Security Institute’s summer symposium in The Hague, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to listen to thought-provoking speakers, to be instructed and guided [...]
Vivien Wong, Australia There are two sides to every story. At the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, these two sides are marked by the courtroom. There’s nothing like a visit to the ICTY [...]
Jennifer Kerner, United States of America How does the world make sense of unimaginable atrocities and establish some semblance of justice for those affected by these events? On Wednesday, Former Special Advisor to the Prosecutor [...]
William Bejan, United States of America As an International Peace and Security Institute participant who had the pleasure of attending last year’s Bologna Symposium on Conflict Resolution, I am grateful for the new insights I [...]
Adriana Roque Romero, Colombia It has been almost a week since we arrived to The Hague, and we have been learning about various issues concerning the elements involved in post-conflict transitions, mainly through the scope [...]
Felix Papineau, Canada It is sometimes stated that the 20th century, which brought us the First and Second World Wars as well as the Cold War, was the century of conflicts, while the 21st century will [...]
Sophia Carrillo, United States of America One of the highlights of The Hague Symposium is the immense breadth of experience the speakers divulge during topic lectures, translating to an incredible opportunity to glean best practices [...]
Adriana Abu Abara, Australia July 24 began with a site visit to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. It began like any other introduction to a tribunal: the logistics, the courtroom, and the cases before the [...]
Catarina Inverso, Brazil How, and from where, do systems of governance emerge in a post-war context?Is a top-down or a bottom-up approach better equipped to establish a new government? What about hybrid approaches of [...]
Victoria Barker, United States of America As I biked to the Clingendael Institute of International Relations this morning, the city seemed eerie — I hardly passed anyone else on the usually bustling bike path. The whole [...]
Nancy Waterstraat, Germany Is reconciliation always feasible and necessary? The first part- feasibility- might be a quite obvious maybe or even no. One of the most striking realizations personally, however, was that maybe the [...]
Concepcion Torres, United States of America As a Christian, an International Affairs graduate, and aspiring international criminal lawyer, stepping into the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a dream come true. Having had the opportunity to [...]
Santiago Alberto Vargas Nino, Colombia July 17 marked the celebration of the Day of International Criminal Justice. On this very special occasion, participants at The Hague Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions and International Justice organized [...]
Melissa O'Donnell, Australia Any commitment to working in this field, becoming a peacemaker, surely demands a certain level of idealism, a belief that a better reality is possible and, call it naïve or arrogant, but a [...]
Felix Papineau, Canada As if having the opportunity to study and mingle in the beautiful and historical Clingendael Institute, where a think tank and diplomatic academy is established, was not by itself a stimulating enough [...]
Juliana Gonzalez, Colombia The Hague Symposium has officially begun and we all eagerly sit at Clingendael, waiting for Dr. Daniel Serwer to come in and begin the first session. We discovered that we share no [...]
Jennifer M. Kerner, United States of America How far would you go to learn how to cultivate peace in the midst of conflict? For many of the participants in the 2014 IPSI Symposium on Post-Conflict [...]
by Kristy Dinsmoor, United States of America Wednesday - We are in the second day of a 3 day simulation and it has gotten real. A fictitious country is in the midst of a civil war and [...]
Natalia Montano Hernandez, Mexico “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was [...]
by Sarthak Maggon, India Leaving personalities out of negotiations is what yields constructive results. But that remains a major flaw in the concept of international conflict resolution, the existence of a plethora of interests. Yesterday began yet [...]
by Wanja Munaita, Kenya/Canada “To bring peace through justice” This was a statement made by a participant in the documentary War Don Don, which we watched at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Is that possible in our [...]
by Kristy Dinsmoor, United States of America Today our guest speaker, photojournalist Keith Lane, gave us an appreciation for the invisible people behind the scenes who put themselves at risk (in more ways than one), in a search [...]
by Melissa Gregg, United Kingdom Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein is a man with rich and pragmatic advice to give: “don’t mistake enthusiasm for competence”, “if you continue to ride a dead horse, don’t expect it to take [...]
Kristy Dinsmoor, United States of America In a field driven by donor expectations and feel good projects, we often see good intentions produce negative effects. There are often gaps between academic theory and practical application. Today our [...]
by Anna Farrant, Australia My partner recently said that The Hague is like ‘Disney Land for lawyers’, and if that’s true then the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia is surely one of its most [...]
by Ben Kissin, United States of America The 2013 Hague Symposium has been a great experience so far, and there has been a wealth of knowledgeable speakers who have lectured for us. Today’s speaker was former [...]
by Alex Raleigh, United States of America As I completed the readings in preparation for today’s case study on the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), I realized I knew almost nothing about the conflict. Nevertheless, after four [...]
by Marni Manning, Australia While our initial week introduced the fundamentals of transitional justice and peace building, Monday’s guest presenters, Dr Derick Brinkerhoff and Dr Francesc Vendrell, provided unique insights into the practical realities associated [...]
Troy Powell, Canada Our breakout discussions were quite interesting and covered a wide gamut of topics. If I were to identify an overarching theme I would say it was globalization. A topic that evoked a protean [...]
by Joelle Thibault, Canada Wednesday at The Hague symposium, the class went downtown to the Leiden University, where we joined our guest speaker Dov Jacobs. He is an Assistant Professor in International Law at the Grostius Centre. [...]
Yabah Berthe Bognini, Ivory Coast The fourth day of the symposium began with a field trip at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The purpose of the trip was to learn more about the ICC and [...]
by Sarah Tiong, Australia It was a privilege to receive wisdom and perspective from Dr Dov Jacobs on Wednesday. The primary focus of our lesson was the elements and mechanisms to achieving justice. The IPSI [...]
by Wanja Munaita, Kenya/Canada From Australia to Cameroon, India to the United States, we gathered yesterday with much anticipation for the first lecture of what has been defined as “an intense but fun & fulfilling” month at the [...]
Troy Powell, Canada On day one of the IPSI symposium on Post Conflict Transitions and International Justice, I was given the opportunity to take part in a fruitful discussion with people from many different countries. To [...]
by Mariam Metwally, Egypt When I randomly signed up to write a blog on the 16th of August, I had no idea that I will be writing about, in my opinion, one of the most influencing, [...]
By Lyn Drummond, Australia The second day of the three day simulation was a very long one. It started just after midnight, then 2am, and 4am as negotiators were hauled from their beds to find out [...]
by Ana Valeria, Bolivia After an almost sleepless night, partially because of the reading, partially because of the geek inside anxiously awaiting 8 a.m., and surely the thought of maybe not living up to the standards of [...]
by Ruth Murambadoro, Zimbabwe Week four of the Hague Symposium mark the crux of the 30days in Den Haag. Monday's short-course on negotiation came to the test in yesterday's activities as participants had to constantly [...]
by Pierre A. Ahouré, Cote d’Ivoire The 15th day of our Symposium began with a visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in TheHague. We began our visit to the heart of the ICC premises under [...]
by, Tina Svalina, Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Valerie Rosoux opened our minds and touched our hearts through her presentation about memory, reconciliation and memorialization. She was able to incorporate all of our ideas into a structured discussion [...]
by Isa Bello, Nigeria Today, the Symposium spent the day at the Special Tribunal For Lebanon (STL). The Special Court is indeed unique. It is borne out of an agreement between the Lebanese government and the United [...]
by Yooree Lee, Australia 'I'm having a cynical day today', is what I jotted down in my notepad as I sat down to listen to those working within the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. And it soon became [...]
by Karabo Rajuili, South Africa It’s the third week of classes, and second week of tribunal site visits. On the back of visits to the International Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Special Court [...]
by Saskia Nauenberg, United States of America The story of Sierra Leone’s rebel leader Issa Sesay left many of us conflicted: Was it fair? What sentence should he have received? Does the Special Court of Sierra Leone positively [...]
by Rosemary Grey, Australia The highlight of Monday's visit to the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) was an insightful address by Brenda Hollis, Chief Prosecutor of SCSL. In a comment that reflected the influence of restorative [...]
by Tina Svalina, Bosnia and Herzegovina Once the dynamic duo, Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein and Bill Stuebner hit the stage, they were unstoppable. Although, the situations addressed were not in any way comical, both speakers [...]
by Ruth Murambadoro, Zimbabwe Although Liberia is a founding member of the United Nations and African Union (former Organization for African Union), it has not been spared from the risk of destabilizing global peace and [...]
by Maria Morell, Argentina As days go by, we are going deeper and deeper into the analysis of concrete case studies of post conflict transitions. After reviewing the Argentina transition and the unstopping seek for justice and [...]
by Colina Cole, United States of America The Hague Symposium cohort visited the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ITCY), which was established to prosecute high ranking officials for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia that occurred [...]
by Melani Van Der Merwe, South Africa The second week of The Hague Symposium has been amazing yet emotionally taxing and gripping...eye opening! Through the stories and pearls of wisdom shared by some of the [...]
by Jesse Delbridge, South Africa A difficult combination to achieve simultaneously is integration and self-determination, especially considering that precious little economic integration has taken place since the fall of the old regime. Whilst the transitional [...]
by Jenny Cook, United States of America Yesterday we were privileged to hear from not one but two world leaders in transitional justice. It was a great crossroad between two very important subjects: justice and truth. [...]
by Katherine Stodulka, Australia Pouring rain cannot dampen the friendships that are forming at The Hague Symposium, nor the eagerness to learn new skills and the feeling of privilege to be participating in such a unique [...]
by Margaret Quixley, Australia Week two began with the case study analyses of post-conflict transitions from around the world. Professor Juan Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and former President of the ICTJ, joined us to speak [...]
by Raf Callaerts, Belgium “Everyone say IPSIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” *Click* We are standing on the steps of the Peace Palace, an iconic structure that originated from the ideals of pacifism and world peace, its beautiful hallways, rooms and [...]
by Adam Mattatall, Canada We brought the sunshine: this is what some of the Hague's residents have kept telling us as they recount the past two months of dreary weather that has nonetheless rendered the city's [...]
by Stephaine Cruise, United States of America What would you rather be doing in the month of July? Away on holiday enjoying the summer solstice or empowering and educating the 2012 Hague Symposium’s future leaders? I [...]
by Lutisha Vickerie, United States of America The 2012 The Hague Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions and International Justice kicked off unofficially on Saturday, July 21st with an informal meet and greet in the square in front of [...]
