SPP Hosts Roundtable on the Syrian Conflict

SPP Professor of Practice, Robert Templer, moderated a roundtable on the Syrian conflict at CEU on Thursday.

Templer, who is also Director of SPP's Center for Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery, was joined by CEU's President and Rector, John Shattuck, as well as Professor Aziz Al-Azmeh of CEU's Department of History, and Assistant Professor Xymena Kuroswska and Associate Professor Erin Kristin Jenne of CEU's Department of International Relations and European Studies.

Speaking about the decision to hold this roundtable event, Templer explained: "This is an opportunity to discuss what can be done to resolve a conflict that is not only having a devastating impact on Syrians but is threatening the entire Middle East. There will be no military victory in Syria but the prospects for an imminent political solution have been dim. The agreement on chemical weapons and the tentative opening between Iran and the United States may be changing the dynamics. The panelists will be asked to explore what they think should be done to resolve this conflict and what they think are the chances of success."

The Syria conflict and the role, if any, the international community should be playing in it is a topic of much discussion among students and faculty at SPP and in the wider CEU community. The panelists spoke in detail on a number of issues but chief among those was the international reaction to the chemical weapon attack in August which John Shattuck likened to the Srebrenica massacre that finally focused international attention on the Balkan conflict in 1995. In much the same way he argued, the chemical attack, has prompted an international response after two years of inaction during which over 100,000 people have been killed. 

Check back for a full report on the event.