KEYNOTE SPEAKERS in random order
Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies, Transcend
A pioneer of peace research, he was a co-founder of what became the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in 1959 and the International Peace Research Association IPRA in 1964 (EuPRA’s umbrella organization). Currently he works at Transcend which promotes a more peaceful world through research, education/training, dissemination and action.
Aude Fleurant, Director, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Formerly she held positions at a French Ministry of Defence think tank in Canada. Her research interests and publications (recently e.g. in SIPRI Yearbooks 2014 and 2015) focus on drivers and changes in the international security sector, doctrines and military markets.
Oliver Richmond, Professor of International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manchester, UK.
His work addresses general issues of peace theory (Oxford University Press, 2014). as well as intersections of political order and (failed) state formation and their constraints on peace building (e.g. 2014 and 2015) – for which he coined the term ‘hybrid ‘ or ‘post-liberal peace’.
Itir Toksöz, Ass. Prof. of International Relations and Head of the IR Dept, Dogus Univ., Istanbul.
Key areas of research are threat perceptions; civil-militant relations; human security; science, technology, arts and IR. She is a convenor of the Security and Disarmament Commission at IPRA, serving as EuPRA’s President since 2012. She also writes songs and poems, and is a co-founder of and author for blog University of Venus (www.uvenus.org)
Willem v. Eekelen, European Center for security studies (CESS)
Van Eekelen was Minister of Defence of the Netherlands in the 1980s. He was Secretary General of the Western European Union (WEU) and Senator in the Dutch Parliament. He is a Board member of CESS.
Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Researcher Bonn International. Conversion Center (BICC), Germany,. and Ass. Prof. of Political Science, Bonn Univ..
He held international positions i.a. at Duke Univ. and Univ. of Pennsylvania, USA. His key expertise and publications covers (in-)stability and civil conflict transformation in non-democratic regimes – with a focus on Central Asia, Russia and Ukraine.
Bjørn Møller, Prof. with Spec. Responsibilities, Dep. of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg Univ., DK.
He previously held positions at the then – Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI) working i.a.on military conversion, and served in the 1990ies as the Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA). Recent areas of research/publications are on the role of regional organizations for European security (2012) and problems of global refugees, encampment and piracy (2014).
Pavel K. Baev, Research Director and Professor at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO).
His research interests include the evolving confrontation between Russia and the West in the context of the Ukraine crisis; the transformation of the Russian armed forces; the energy security dimension of the Russian-European relations; Russian policy in the Arctic; and post-Soviet conflict management in the greater Caspian area. Baev is leading the Regions and Powers research group at PRIO.
Peter Nobel, Human Rights Lawyer and Honorary doctor at Uppsala University (Sweden).
Peter Nobel is a Human Rights lawyer. In 1986 he was appointed Swedens first Ombudsman against ethnic discrimination (1986-91). He then went on as General Secretary of the Swedish Red Cross (1991-94). After the M/S Estonia shipwreck in 1994, the Government appointed Nobel as Counsellor for survivors and families of the victims. From 1997 onwards, he served as expert in the UN Committee for the elimination of racial discrimination.
Helge Lurås, founder and director of the Centre for International and Strategic Analysis (SISA).
He has experience from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norwegian Armed Forces, NATO, the UN and from private sector consultancy. His main focus areas are global and geopolitical development, international power relations and Norwegian foreign and security policies. He is an experienced lecturer, and holds a high profile as a commentator and debater in Norwegian media.
Mohammed Abdiker, Director of the Department of Operations and Emergencies, IOM
Mohammed Abdiker serves as the Director of the Department of Operations and Emergencies at the Headquarters of the International Organization for Migration. He has previoulsy served as Chief of Mission in Sri Lanka (2007- 2010); and the Chief of Mission in Zimbabwe (2003-2007); as well as covering the return and resettlement of refugees for IOM offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, and West Africa. He has also focused extensively on IOM’s DDR programming.