Global Security: Through a Bosnian Lens

Watch video of the event.

What can we learn about global security nearly two decades after the hugely destructive violence of the Bosnian War?

On October 25, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), in collaboration with The Institute for Inclusive Security, US Agency for International Development, and Vital Voices Global Partnership, hosted a discussion with Inclusive Security’s Chair Ambassador Swanee Hunt and USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, drawing from Hunt's new book, Worlds Apart: Bosnian Lessons for Global Security, which documents foreign policy lessons learned from Hunt's 17 years of work with women and others in the Balkans. Approximately 170 people attended "Global Security: Through a Bosnian Lens." 

For the second half of the program, film producer Abigail Disney and film director Pamela Hogan presented their PBS documentary, "I Came to Testify," from the series Women, War & Peace. The film describes how a group of 16 women, victims of systematic rape during the war in Bosnia, broke through political and societal silence to tell their stories. A lively discussion followed, featuring Hunt, Disney, Hogan, and Inclusive Security Chief Training Officer Miki Jacevic.

At the reception following the event, US Representatives Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) toasted Ambassador Hunt on her lifelong commitment to elevating the role of women in peace processes. 

Rep. Johnson noted, "The two women I have kept in touch with that have come from Swanee's Women Waging Peace Network and are now prominent leaders - one became the president of Liberia...the other was the president of Chile. It is a very meaningful thing to give encouragement to women who can provide world leadership." Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices, also attended the event and praised Ambassador Hunt, who helped launch Vital Voices in 1997.

Of the women in the film, Rep. Carnahan said, "The women featured personify courage." 
 
Rep. Bernice Johnson emphasized how mainstream the idea of women, peace, and security has become. "I have said to the negotiators negotiating peace for the Middle East - just add women around the table. Let women around the table and we will see a difference. I truly believe that," she said.

For more information about Inclusive Security's work in Bosnia, please contact Miki Jacevic.