Successes Show Prevention Can Work, Should Be Used More: USIP Vice President Briefs Navy War College
Abi Williams, USIP senior vice president for conflict management, recently delivered a major lecture to Naval War College students on peacekeeping and conflict prevention’s role in the National Security Strategy of the United States.
October 6, 2011
Abi Williams, USIP senior vice president for conflict management, recently delivered a major lecture to 250 Naval War College students on peacekeeping and conflict prevention’s role in the National Security Strategy of the United States.
“The importance of conflict prevention is widely endorsed in principle – including in the 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy – but too rarely put into serious practice. Recent events in Libya, Yemen, Syria and elsewhere underscore the importance of improving efforts to prevent violent conflicts,” Williams told the group on Sept. 30.
Asked by students if conflict prevention is actually possible, Williams responded “that there have been several successful cases of conflict prevention including in Macedonia where the UN deployed its first preventive peacekeeping operation, UNPREDEP.”
On USIP’s role in conflict prevention, Williams made it clear that the Institute is committed to preventing violent conflict and that this is a priority in its Strategic Plan for the next five years.
The College of Naval Command and Staff is a multidisciplinary program designed for U.S. Naval and Coast Guard officers in the grade of lieutenant commander, U.S. Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force officers in the grade of major, and civilians of equivalent seniority from various federal agencies.