Our Co-Director, Derek Brown gave a talk for the Herbert Kelman Seminar on Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard University on May 12, 2023. The talk, “Opportunities Lost and Found: Challenges for Peacebuilding in Myanmar and Zimbabwe” was presented in conjunction with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. It was the concluding presentation for the annual Herb Kelman Seminar, named after the late Herb Kelman, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor Social Ethics at Harvard University, and a longtime supporter and Advisory Board member of the Peace Appeal.
In the talk, Brown examined recent developments in both Myanmar and Zimbabwe, contrasting the paths each country has taken since the military coup in Myanmar, and the ouster of Robert Mugabe in 2017. In framing the comparison of these two very different countries and conflicts, one with a brutal war being waged by a military junta against its own people, and the other with a long simmering political conflict where political intimidation and violence is frequently witnessed, Brown profiled in brief the diversity of instruments of influence and change being pursued and employed by national and international stakeholders to help both countries advance peace with justice.