Under the UNOG Library Talks Series, and in collaboration with the Graduate Institute's Executive Education Programme, the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform cordially invites you to:
Book Launch: TIME TO REACT, The Efficiency of International Organizations
in Crisis Responses
Date: Friday 16 May 2014, 13.00-14.30
Venue: UNOG Library Events Room B-135, Palais des Nations
Registration: Register by Wednesday 14 May 2014 at 12:00. If you already have a UN badge, then please register your attendance here.
IMPORTANT: If you do not have a UN access badge, please register here
AUTHOR: Heidi Hardt, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington
Round Table Discussion
Chaired by: Professor Thomas Biersteker, Curt Gasteyger Chair in International Security and Conflict Studies at the Graduate Institute
Discussants:
-
Rashid Khalikov, Director of OCHA Geneva
-
Achim Wennmann, Executive Coordinator of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform
About the book
The book “Time to React” finds that crisis response operations by international organizations are predominantly defined by unspoken rules and social networks that are connected to but not necessarily driven by the institutional mechanisms designed for crisis response. The book argues that “individuals, rather than states, most profoundly affect the speed of peace negotiations. When elites negotiate through informal social networks they are able to resolve crisis more quickly”. The findings of this book have significant implications for the way multilateral organizations strategize around effective crisis response highlighting the importance of informal spaces for decision-making in multilateral settings. The book builds on contemporary scholarship with original data on response rates and interview evidence from 50 ambassadors across four leading organizations (AU, EU, OAS and OSCE). It offers the first known and original dataset on international organizations' rates of response to crisis and empirical evidence on decision-making in crisis response and points to a series of policy recommendations to combat delays in crisis intervention. This book launch in Geneva wishes to discuss the findings in light of the experience of crisis responses and preparedness in the humanitarian and peacebuilding fields.
About the author
Prof. Heidi Hardt is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington and, in July, will be joining the faculty at the University of California, Irvine. She has published widely on international organizations and conflict management. Dr. Hardt is also the recipient of the 2014-2015 Fulbright-Schuman EUI Chair to Florence, Italy. She received her MSc in European Studies from the London School of Economics and her Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
