News Release

CHAPEL HILL -- How the United States and its allies can help nations rebuild after conflict will be the topic of a free public symposium Friday (Aug. 27) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Three career U.S. diplomats will discuss the future of the Balkans from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Wilson Library off South Road. Registration is not required, but those wishing boxed lunches should email slavic@email.unc.edu by noon Thursday (Aug. 26).

"Post-conflict rehabilitation is a challenge we face around the world in places including Iraq," said Dr. Robert Jenkins, director of UNC’s Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies and adjunct professor of international studies. "The symposium will allow us to explore the changing nature of European security in the context of conflict resolution, democratization, human rights and state-building in the former Yugoslavia."

The speakers have worked in the Balkans and other areas around the world for the U.S. Foreign Service, the U.S. Department of State and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), which is similar to the United Nations.

Funded and operated by its 55 member nations in Europe, central Asia and North America, the organization works toward security, conflict prevention and recovery, human rights, economic development and environmental protection in those nations. Currently its 3,000 employees work in 18 such rehabilitation missions around the world. Eventually they will train local residents to take over the rebuilding of their countries. Then the organization’s workers move on to other areas in need.

Speakers at the symposium, "OSCE, E.U. and the U.S.: What Prospects for the Western Balkans?" will be current and former American ambassadors:

· Todd Becker, deputy head of the OSCE mission in Croatia, a veteran of diplomacy in relations among Yugoslavia and its successor and neighboring states. Becker previously was a diplomat for the U.S. Foreign Service in Germany (East and West), Greece, the Fiji Islands, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels and in Washington, D.C.

· Robert Beecroft, diplomat in residence at the National War College in Washington, D.C., former head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Beecroft served the State Department at U.S. embassies including those in Bonn, Cairo, Paris and Sarajevo. He was chief of mission and special envoy for the Bosnian Federation from 1996 to 1997 in Sarajevo.

· Michael Wygant, Becker’s predecessor in Croatia, previously head of OSCE missions in Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Slovakia and Georgia. Now retired, Wygant began active duty with the State Department with tours in Zimbabwe and Togo in the 1960s. In 1987, he became the first American Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia.

The symposium will end with questions from the audience.

"The OSCE is an under-appreciated international forum that has had a significant impact on the European security landscape," said Dr. Eric Mlyn, adjunct associate professor of international studies, who has researched and written on the organization. "This symposium will give our community a unique opportunity to talk about the lessons of the past and the challenges of the future in this still very important and dynamic part of the world."

Jenkins’ center will sponsor the symposium with UNC’s Center for European Studies, one of just 10 such units nationwide designated by the European Union to help educate the American public about the union and modern Western Europe. Both UNC centers are part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Jenkins and Mlyn have led UNC students on summer Burch Field Research Seminars to Vienna, where they observed some of OSCE’s weekly assemblies. They also visited the Balkans. Jenkins said some UNC students will attend Friday’s conference for a special learning opportunity.

"This will be an unusual gathering of high-level diplomats who have led significant efforts in this very important part of the world," Jenkins said. "We are honored to have these diplomats spend the day with us."

For more information, call Jenkins at 919-962-0901.

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Contact: Dr. Robert Jenkins, 919-962-0901, rjenkins@email.unc.edu

News Services contacts: Print, L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589; broadcast, Karen Moon, 919-962-8595.