For 16 days last November, the town of Dayton, Ohio was at the center of a swirl of international media attention as the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia were closeted together there in order to hammer out a plan for keeping peace in the Balkans. That agreement -- initialed by the three presidents in Dayton on Nov. 21 and formally signed in Paris on Dec. 14 -- cleared the way for 60,000 NATO troops to enter the region, setting off ripples of exultation in some quarters and waves of trepidation in others. In fact, at the time, President Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia was quoted as saying, "My government is taking part in this agreement without any enthusiasm but as someone taking a bitter yet useful potion or medication."
The events that have occurred in the wake of that agreement and the problem of ethnic conflict in Europe will be assessed in a foreign policy conference titled "A Year After Dayton: Has the Bosnian Peace Process Worked?" being held Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16, in Levinson Auditorium and in Rm. 127 of the Law School, 127 Wall St. The conference, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Schell Center for International Human Rights, the Yale United Nations Legal Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.
The two-day conference will feature the following panels: "The Balkan War: A User's Guide" Friday, 2 p.m., offering a historical look at the conflict; "Nationalism and the Liberal State" Friday, 4:15 p.m., exploring whether building ethnic identity into the structure of the state is consistent with the evolution of a liberal democracy; "War Crimes and the Political Future of Bosnia-Herzegovina" Saturday, 9 a.m., focusing on the problems of war-crimes prosecutions; "Peacekeeping, Refugees and Economic Reconstruction" Saturday, 11 a.m., looking at the difficulties faced by the World Bank and aid agencies in reconstructing shattered economies; and "Diplomatic Roundtable: The Future of the Balkans" Saturday, 2:15 p.m., assessing the likely course of political evolution in the region.
Highlighting the conference will be keynote addresses by two speakers: Kofi Annan, under secretary general for peacekeeping operations at the U.N., and Misha Glenny, author of "The Fall of Yugoslavia: The Third Balkan War." Mr. Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat who is considered likely to be named as the next U.N. general secretary, will speak at a dinner on Friday in the Presidents Room of Woolsey Hall, corner of Grove and Prospect Streets. Mr. Glenny will present his talk following a lunch in the Law School dining room on Saturday. While Yale faculty and their spouses may attend the dinner and lunch for free, the cost for others is $30 for the dinner and $10 for the lunch. To make a reservation, call 212-434-9647 before Nov. 10. There will, however, be free "dinnerless" and "lunchless" seating available at both events for students and New Haven residents who wish to attend the speeches only. Those interested in reserving a seat should call the number listed above. A limited number of seats will also be available at the door at 8:45 p.m. for Mr. Annan's talk and at 1:15 p.m. for Mr. Glenny's speech. Among the other speakers who will be featured at the conference are Ambassador Robert Frowicke, head of the Bosnia Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which was in charge of the recent Bosnian elections; Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, permanent representative of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the U.N.; Ivan Simonovic, deputy foreign minister of the Republic of Croatia; former White House counsel Lloyd Cutler; and Antonio Cassese, president of the Hague War Crimes Tribunal. Participants from Yale include Ruth Wedgwood who is organizing the conference, Bruce Ackerman, Mirjan Damaska, Paul Dubinsky, Doug Rae and Michael Reisman.
For further information about the conference, or a complete schedule, call 212-434-9647 or Professor Wedgwood at 432-4946.