Event Date: October 5, 2015 - 12:00
Location: Archives nationales, Salle Gilles Hocquart, 535 Avenue Viger Est, Montréal

RICHARD GOWAN, Columbia University.

Presented by the CIPS.
Free. In English. Registration is not required. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.

Video of the event:

In a period in which new wars and violent extremism are spreading in the Middle East, Africa and Eurasia, the United Nations and other international conflict management organizations are under profound strain.  Richard Gowan will address the lessons of wars including those in Syria, Ukraine and South Sudan, and ask if multilateral mechanisms can prevent, mitigate and resolve future crises including (i) great power tensions with Russia and China; (ii) the spread of transnational extremist groups; and (iii) the breakdown of the world’s poorest states.  Can peacekeeping operations adapt to take on new challenges?  Will the Security Council and other inter-governmental forums succumb to paralysis as tensions rise with Moscow and Beijing, or does the Iranian nuclear agreement show that collective security arrangements are still sustainable?  Should Western governments, including Canada, invest more in the UN and other multilateral security organizations, and how can they persuade non-Western countries to do the same?

Richard Gowan is an expert on peace operations, the United Nations (in particular the Security Council and diplomatic role of the Secretary General) and European Security issues.  He was previously research director at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, where he remains a fellow, and is also an associate fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).  He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) where he teaches conflict resolution.  He writes a weekly column on diplomatic issues for World Politics Review, and has also written for Politico, Aeon, Al Jazeera America, Deutsche Welle and other European news sources.  He has frequently been quoted on UN affairs by the New York Times, Guardian, Financial Times, Reuters, Voice of America and others.

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