Friday 10 May, 2024
Speaker: Francesco Mancini
Title: The United Nations and Peace: Aspiration or Illusion?
Speaker - Francesco Mancini
Friday, 10 May 2024, 7- 8 pm
ACM Ngee Ann Auditorium
29th May is the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Created in 1948 to monitor the ceasefire after the Arab-Israeli War, Peacekeeping is one of the most visible tools at disposal of the international community to help halting war and supporting peace. 76 years later and after over 60 Missions, however, it does not look like we are getting any closer to global peace. As conflicts rage from Gaza to Haiti, from Sudan to Ukraine, from Burkina Faso to Myanmar, it seems that achieving peace remains a difficult endeavor. Can the UN do more? Why is achieving and sustaining peace still so hard in the 21st century?
About the Speaker:
Francesco Mancini is Vice Dean (Executive Education) and Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. He leads the School's professional development programs for government officials and corporate leaders, and teaches courses on “International Conflict Analysis and Resolution” and “Global Governance.” Francesco is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He is a Fellow at the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Non-resident Senior Adviser at the International Peace Institute (IPI), a member of the Research Committee of the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) in Sydney, Australia, a member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Peacebuilding” and of the International Advisory Board of “International Politics.”
Francesco served as Senior Director at the International Peace Institute (IPI) until 2014 before he moved to Singapore, working in the area of international security and peace mediation, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding primarily in the Middle East and West Africa.
Francesco regularly lectures at academic institutions and international conferences, and has appeared as global affairs commentator on news outlets, including BBC, CNBC, Channel NewsAsia, and Channel 8 (Singapore's Chinese language channel). Francesco is authors of many articles, books, and policy papers. He co-edited two books, Security & Development: Searching for Critical Connections (2010) and The Management of UN Peacekeeping: Coordination, Learning, and Leadership in Peace Operations (2017).