UQ ROTARY PROGRAM

Next Tuesday's guest speaker is Sanaz Shahrokni, a student at the University of Queensland's Rotary Program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resulution. The following brief overview is drawn from the relevant page on UQ's website (http://www.uq.edu.au/) as a backgrounder to that program. Your comments are, of course, invited. The last paragraph might be of particular interest.


"The University of Queensland's Rotary Program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution is part of a new global program to advance research, teaching, practical training and knowledge on issues of international relations, conflict resolution and peace-building. It offers a tailored Masters Degree, aimed at potential world and community leaders, designed to have a practical effect on addressing international and regional conflicts.
"Recent international crises and those emerging in our own Asia-Pacific region highlight the need for greater understanding of the political, economic and social factors that affect security and stability, as well as the tragic human costs involved in such conflicts. The renewed threat of insurgency and terrorism, humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, central Africa and the Balkans, and the dangers of nuclear exchange in South Asia all indicate that we need to develop greater expertise on alleviating such tensions and more effective strategies for promoting peace and stability.

"There is also an urgent need to address such issues before they escalate: the cost of Australia's involvement in East Timor, for example, has been approximately one billion dollars. Amounts spent on conflicts and re-building efforts in other parts of the world amplify this figure enormously. Educational programs aimed at the peaceful resolution of disputes - seen as having long-term rather than immediate effects - and which cost a small fraction of such amounts can help to avoid the need for expensive peacekeeping operations and reconstruction costs. Training for mediation and peaceful solutions to conflicts or potential conflicts in our world is an investment in the future: stable, peaceful and prosperous nations will have a positive effect on global security relations.

"Following an intensive international search by The Rotary Foundation, the University of Queensland was selected from over one hundred universities expressing interest in the establishment of a program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution. The decision recognised the outstanding reputation of UQ's longstanding International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies programs. UQ's program is one of only six such programs worldwide, and one of only two in the Asia-Pacific region. Other programs are based at the Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA ; University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England; International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan; Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and University of California, Berkeley, California, USA."