CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hosting a forum on Oct. 4 to consider the future of international conflict.
The forum, free and open to the public, will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in 356 Armory Building, 505 E. Armory Ave., Champaign.
The forum’s panelists – who include current and former ACDIS faculty members – will ponder various scenarios, organized around the theme, “The Last International War?”
According to ACDIS director Clifford Singer, for discussion purposes, “major international war” is defined in this context as “one that involves the use of 50,000 troops or more to cross what has been a de facto line of actual control for a decade or more.”
Singer, a professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering, will present the forum’s opening remarks. Panelists and their topics include:
• Edward Kolodziej, professor of political science, director of Illinois’ Global Studies Center and ACDIS co-founder, “Global Requirements for Ending Major International Wars.”
• Stephen P. Cohen, senior fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., and co-founder and former director of ACDIS, “1971 – The Last Major War in South Asia?”
• Jeremiah D. Sullivan, professor of physics and former ACDIS director, “Implications for the Future of Nuclear Weapons.”
• Stephen Chilton, professor of political science, University of Minnesota at Duluth, and son of ACDIS co-founder Arthur B. Chilton, “Are We Ready to Live Without Major International Wars?”
A complimentary lunch follows, by reservation only. To make reservations, call 217-333-8331.
Established in 1978, ACDIS is an interdisciplinary research, teaching and public service program in the university’s International Programs and Studies. Its primary areas of focus are uses of technology and security; South Asia; democratization in Russia and Eastern Europe; globalization; human rights; and military history.
With nearly 40 core and affiliated faculty, ACDIS has developed 25 courses, hosted numerous international conferences and workshops for scholars and other security experts, and published research papers and newsletters. It also maintains a research library and participates in the U.S. Air Force national Defense Fellow program, which hosts an officer for a year of advanced research and training.
