Conflict prevention through societal integration...

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier
5 dicembre 2018
5 December 2018

Venue: Palazzo Prodi, via T. Gar, 14 - Room 001
Time: 10.00 - 12.30 

Series: "Targetti Lecture Series on European Integration and Globalization"

Prof. Lamberto Zannier, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities 

 "Conflict prevention through societal integration: Insights into the work of the High Commissioner on National Minorities"

As the nature of crisis and conflict in the OSCE area has fundamentally changed in the post-Cold War era, national minorities have increasingly become victims of geopolitics. In some cases, tensions between different groups within States have risen, sometimes spilling over to neighbouring countries. Many of these tensions stem from a poor management of diversity and shortcomings in social integration. With this in mind, back in 1992, OSCE Heads of State and Government established the post of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, to address ethnic tensions and to prevent inter-State crises or conflicts over national minority issues. Over the years, from its headquarters in The Hague, its role has evolved from an early warning tripwire to long term, structural conflict prevention. In particular, successive High Commissioners have focused on assisting countries in devising sound policies to guarantee minorities’ access to education and  justice, to ensure their participation in public life and, more generally, to promote balanced integration of diverse societies. In his talk, High Commissioner Zannier will provide some interesting insights on his mandate and work methods. Drawing from examples of majority-minority relations with conflict potential in the OSCE area, he will illustrate how he operationalises conflict prevention in his daily work with a view to containing or de-escalating tensions, as well as the tools he uses to assist States in addressing structural minority-majority issues that have the potential to generate conflict.

The "SIS Diploma Awarding Ceremony" will follow.

Professor Ferdinando Targetti was a brilliant economist, a passionate scholar, an engaged intellectual, and an esteemed policy-maker. His ideas and his distinctive style, together with his formidable wit and breadth of vision, fascinated and influenced students and colleagues, both in academia and in the political arena. His research activity covered a broad range of topics in the fields of international economics and European integration.
The desire to honor the memory of Ferdinando Targetti, who was its first Director, has led the School of International Studies to establish the Ferdinando Targetti Lecture Series on European Integration and Globalization, which it hosts every year. The series aims to convene leading scholars, influential policy-makers and Ferdinando’s former colleagues in order to discuss topical issues regarding the process of European integration and the trends of globalization.

Event organized by:

Scuola di Studi Internazionali

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