Speaker Events - Thursday, April 07, 2011
SRSG Ad Melkert on Iraq's Three Key Issues
Speaking at IPI on April 7th, Ad Melkert, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, identified three key issues fueling demonstrations in Iraq and elsewhere in the region: the need for better services; more jobs, particularly for young people; and a way to end corruption, which he said is endemic in Iraq.
Mr. Melkert noted that the region has experienced 50-100 demonstrations since mid-February.
Mr. Melkert said the demonstrations around these issues had the merit of bringing Iraqis together "across the lines of community, sex, political affiliation."
"And that is something that is a new phenomenon in a country that, as a consequence, not only has now a constitutional system, but also sees the other sides, the expression by civil society, by citizens, in a rather unorganized and, here and there, quite suppressed way," he said.
"But, nevertheless, that genie is out of the bottle," he said. "And the government knows and acknowledges that it will have to deal with it."
The event, titled "Iraq in Transition: Postconflict Challenges and Possibilities," was moderated by IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen.
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The Global Observatory
Interview with John Prendergast, Co-Founder, Enough Project
Mr. Prendergast discusses the international justice system and the new ground forged by Invisible Children's Kony2012 campaign.
Key Global Events to Watch in May
A list of key upcoming meetings and events with implications for global affairs.
The Global Observatory is a new website by IPI, providing timely analysis on peace and security issues, interviews with leading policymakers, interactive maps, and more.
Recent Events
May 10, 2012
Arbour: What the Rule of Law Means
“In my understanding of the rule of law, fundamentally, what the rule of law means is that it embraces the principle of equality before the law,” Louise Arbour, president of the International Crisis Group (ICG), told an IPI audience on May 10, 2012. Ms. Arbour outlined that this means that no one is above the law and everyone has both equal protection and equal benefit of the law. 
May 03, 2012
Shachtman: Cyber Threats Akin to South Bronx, Not Pearl Harbor
“There’s not a danger of a cyber Pearl Harbor… it’s more like the South Bronx circa 1999, where there’s a danger that it becomes such a tough neighborhood that no one wants to set up shop there and people move out,” Noah Shachtman, editor of the Danger Room blog at Wired magazine and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, told an IPI audience at a panel on cyber security on May 3, 2011.
April 27, 2012
Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems
An April 27th roundtable discussion at IPI titled “Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems” examined the progress, prospects and challenges of regional and international early warning and response mechanisms to monitor, anticipate, and mitigate potential conflict situations in Africa.