Eminent experts on conflict resolution from the University of Bradford, UK, made detailed presentations and conducted the questions/answers sessions. The University of Bradford is among the pioneers in the field of peace studies and has been offering degree level programmes in this field for over 30 years.
The South Asian Strategic Study Unit (Sassu) of the University of Bradford arranged the international seminar under an ongoing collaborative agreement between NUST/IIPCR.
The Sassu is to hold a series of conferences and workshops and produce reports, articles and papers on the issues of strategic stability in South Asia under the agreement. This seminar was a part of the international collaboration for promoting conflict resolution for peace in the region.
Sahibzada Yaqub Khan highlighted the importance of the collaboration between IIPCR and the University of Bradford for growth and development of IIPCR. He complimented the efforts put in by Professor Shaun Gregory, Head of the Department of Peace Studies, and his Sassu team in getting together a panel of three very distinguished scholars in the field of conflict resolution and bringing them to Pakistan for sharing their thoughts.
Professor Oliver Ramsbotham gave a detailed lecture on the emergence and development of conflict resolution as a distinct field of intellectual enquiry from the 60's to the present time. He explained how the concepts and models used in conflict resolution offered different ways of understanding the conflicts and resolving them.
He presented data and explained that interstate conflicts of win/lose or zero-sum nature had reduced since 1945 with the emergence of interstate conflict resolution mechanism of the United Nations. A more complex nature of conflicts was now challenging the peace in various parts of the world. These complex kinds of conflicts required non-zero sum solutions resulting in win-win situations.
Professor Tom Woodhouse followed up on the first lecture and expanded the understanding of the emerging field of conflict resolution. Drawing on practical experience in the Balkans, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, Dr Nick Lewer argued that the field of conflict resolution was not an abstract framework, but was a pragmatic approach to understanding conflicts, which offered powerful tools for the management and resolution of real world conflicts.
Dr Gulfaraz Ahmed, Executive Director IIPCR made the closing remarks highlighting the salient points of the presentations and the discussion. He thanked the participants for a very active participation and interesting discussion. He complimented the guest scholars and hoped for an ongoing collaboration in the filed of information and research sharing.