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School of Diplomacy and International Relations
Group photo of Peace and Conflict Studies Department administrators

Programs

The Center hosts impactful programs that promote understanding, and conflict management in areas of tension and conflict around the globe.

Nanjing Conference 2017

Asia Pacific Security and U.S.-China Relations Conference, December 6, 2017 (Nanjing University, China)

U.S.-China Maritime Security Dialogue 
The U.S.-China relationship has never been more uncertain than it is today. The Center is at the forefront of measures to improve dialogue and communication on issues central to stable security relationships between the two countries. This includes the projects Promoting U.S.-China Communication and Dialogue on the South China Sea Disputes (2016-2019) and U.S.-China Security Dialogues: Advancing Communication at a Bilateral Crisis Point (2019-2022). Through dialogues, joint research, and generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Center has fostered constructive engagement between former senior military officers, government officials, and leading scholars from the U.S. and China on both the South China Sea dispute and nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula.

Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Bomb blast at the Tibesti Hotel in eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday 1st June 2011 / Photo © Sohail Nakhooda, Kalam Research & Media

Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 
The 2011 Arab Spring has led to prolonged social conflicts, substantial human suffering and tensions between states. It has also exposed shortcomings in existing international approaches for supporting peace and stronger states. The Center is driving efforts to ensure international aid accelerates peace, local mediation efforts support national political processes, and that peacebuilding initiatives are effectively designed. The Program is presently working with INGOs, governments and multilateral organizations in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Training and Mentoring
The Center serves as a capacity and skill development resource to those working on or in conflict. This encompasses dialogue skills, mediation skills and practical peace programming.

All Conflict is Local Conference 
The Center hosts an annual conference featuring student and alumni stories and reflections on conflict from various parts of the world, merging theory and personal experiences to better understand how "all conflict is local."

Catholic and Religious Peacemaking Program 
The Center offers courses and promotes research on the established and emerging peacemaking work done by Catholic actors and entities.

Reconciliation through Dialogue: Territorial Dispute and Reconciliation Challenges in East Asia
This program includes a series of conflict resolution dialogues involving leading scholars from China, Japan, Korea and United States and the publication of two co-edited volumes focused on the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute and the reconciliation challenges in East Asia.
•    Contested Memories and Reconciliation Challenges (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2015).
•    Clash of National Identities: China, Japan and the East China Sea Territorial Dispute (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2013).