Adopt-A-Minefield goes to the Balkans

This past June, AAM's Prairie Summer and Kevin O'Brien were joined by photographer Andris Bjornson as they visited Adopt a Minefield partners and sites in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Below are a few selected photos from the trip.

Read Kevin's Travel Log Here

All photos ©Adopt-A-Minefield by Andris Bjornson

Audio of an active minefield being cleared.

Rakovica Buholina, near Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Adopt-A-Minefield Mine Action Programs Map

Adopt-A-Minefield around the world

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AMICC in Cyberspace: John Washburn addresses the denizens of Second Life

AMICC Director and Convener John L. Washburn makes another appearance to discuss the International Criminal Court, this time in the virtual world of Second Life.  Appearing before an assortment of avatars, Mr. Washburn explains the ICC and fields questions on how it relates to global happenings today, including the situation in the Republic of Georgia, and the 2008 US Presidential Election.

The International Justice Center's blog regarding Mr. Washburn's visit

Listen to Mr. Washburn's remarks:

Previous AMICC posts

The AMICC website

Financial Times - Letter to the Editor from Global Policy Programmes

Ayca Ariyoruk, Senior Associate of Global Policy Programmes, responds to Financial Times Russia-Georgia Conflict article, "A bully’s deserts." Read the original article here.

Financial Times
Letters to the Editor
Use and abuse of term ‘peacekeeping’
Published: August 21 2008

Sir, I was relieved to read your editorial “A bully's deserts” (August 19), where you finally took notice of the misuse of the term "peacekeeping" by observers when covering the recent clashes between the Russian, Georgian and ethnic Ossetian troops.

Georgia's parliament officially objected to the presence of the Russian forces in a parliamentary vote in 2006. Consent of all parties is at the heart and soul of peacekeeping, a creative technique the United Nations developed initially to monitor ceasefires. Although peacekeeping has evolved over the years to mean implementing more complex peace agreements where consent is not always obtainable, to classify them as “peacekeeping” is suitable as long as the mandate is blessed by an international organisation such as the UN or is accompanied by an overwhelming international consensus. Considering that neither Georgian consent nor international support is given for the troops currently under the Russian command in South Ossetia, to continue to refer to them as such is a misuse and even an abuse of the term “peacekeeping”.

Ayca Ariyoruk,
Senior Associate, Global Policy Programmes,
United Nations Association of the USA,
New York, NY, US

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Author Frank McCourt speaks with students at the 2008 UNA-USA MUN Conference.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt addresses 2,300 Model UN students at the 2008 United Nations Association of the United States of America Model UN Conference (UNA-USA MUN) Opening Ceremonies, held in the General Assembly Hall of UN Headquarters.

Global Connections Television with Bill Miller

UNA-USA Board member Bill Miller interviews William vanden Heuvel, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations under the Carter administration. Topics include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and US & UN relations.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte speaks with Global Classrooms Model UN students

The 2008 Global Classrooms: Washington, DC Model UN Conference, held at the U.S. State Department in April, featured an address and Q&A session with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.  View Ambassador Negroponte's remarks, and his fielding of questions from the Model UN delegates.

Remarks

Student questions pt. 1


Student questions pt. 2

AMICC on the Radio

While on his trip to Iowa, AMICC Deputy Convener Matthew Heaphy spoke to the Iowa City Foreign Relations council about American foreign policy in relation to the International Criminal Court, which was rebroadcast on Iowa Public Radio. You can listen to it here:

(press play, and allow time for the file to load)

AMICC Director John Washburn on YouTube

Previous AMICC posts: 1 | 2

Visit the AMICC website here

Ban Ki-moon visits Model UN students

Twice in the past eight months, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has addressed UNA-USA's Global Classrooms students. In February, Mr. Ban visited Chicago's Walter Payton Prepatory School, where he and Mayor Richard Daley were treated to a lively Model UN simulation. In May the Secretary General once again addressed student delegates during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 UNA-USA Model UN Conference (UNAUSAMUN), held in the General Assembly Hall of UN Headquarters.

Chicago's ABC News video and report on Mr. Ban's visit to Walter Payton Prep

Ban Ki-moon at UNAUSAMUN 2008, New York


Ambassador William Luers Addresses the 2008 UNAUSAMUN Model UN Conference - YouTube

UNA Photos on Flickr:
UNAUSAMUN 2008 | Global Classrooms: Chicago