UBC public symposium zeros in on the Balkans

  • Date: Friday, Oct. 1
  • Time: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Place: St. John’s College, 2111 Lower Mall
  • Parking: Pay parking is available at the West Parkade
    across the street. Take Gate 6 off Northwest Marine Drive.

During a period of global reassessment, a timely free symposium
— “The Balkan Crisis and Euro-Atlantic Security: The Challenges
Ahead” — is being held at UBC to inform the ongoing, heated public
debate.

Diplomats and other experts will join faculty from UBC’s Institute
for European Studies (IES) and SFU’s Research Institute for Southeastern
Europe (RISE) for a wide-ranging discussion of the unresolved issues
in this complex and troubled region.

The symposium, which is open to the public, takes place at St.
John’s College from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 1. It is sponsored
by the IES and RISE.

The symposium is organized around four main themes: “The Dimension
of the Crisis;” “The Balkans, U.S. and Eurasia;” “Euro-Atlantic
and Canadian Security Responses;” and “Reconstruction and Reconciliation:
Looking Ahead.”

Morning sessions will focus on the Kosovo crisis from the perspectives
of the international community, Europe, the U.S. and Russia.

Featured speakers include Paul Marantz, UBC associate professor
of Political Science and Frank Unger, a visiting professor at IEC,
John Lampe, chair of the History Dept. at the University of Maryland,
and Alex Moens, associate professor of Political Science at SFU.

Speakers in the afternoon include Gordon Smith, former Canadian
ambassador to the European Union, Raphael Girard, Canadian ambassador
to Yugoslavia, Gerry Robinson, Canadian international official on
the Bosnia Mission, and SFU Political Science Prof. Lenard Cohen,
an expert on the Balkans.

For more information and programs, call 604.822.1452.

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