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IPRA's 40th Anniversary Conference in Hungary
an article by Michael True
Two hundred-fifty members of the International Peace
Research Association gathered for the organization's fortieth
anniversary gathering, July 5-9, 2004, in Sopron, Hungary, an hour east
of Vienna. The opening address, by Kevin Clements, Director, Peace and
Conflict Studies, Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia, focused
on nonviolent alternatives in addressing terrorism and on conflict
transformation to build cultures of peace.
Particularly
significant were the attendance and participation of younger scholars,
who reported on original and significant research in panels arranged by
the twenty-two IPRA commissions.
Presentations included papers
on nonviolence theory and cosmopolitanism by Ian Atack, Trinity
College, Dublin; nonviolent campaigns in Hungary in the 19th century,
by Tom Weber, LaTrobe University, Australia; and nonviolent responses
to Muslim terrorists by Chaiwat Satha-Anad, Thamassat University,
Bangkok.
A special plenary on the Middle East included a major
talk on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict by Stephen Zunes, University
of San Francisco, USA., and author of "Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East
Policy and the Roots of Terrorism" (2003).
New initiatives by
younger scholars and researchers included a peace education center in
Vienna, new programs in conflict resolution in India; and similar
peacebuilding initiatives in Uganda, Japan, the Philippines, and Latin
America.
At the business meeting, Luc Reychler, University of
Leuven, Belgium, was elected Secretary General of the International
Peace Research Association, and Ian Harris, University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee, USA continues at President, International Peace Research
Association Foundation, which awards small grants in peace education
and research.
The 2006 IPRA conference will meet in Calgary, Canada, with Larry Fisk as coordinator.
More information is available on the IPRA website.
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