UN representative to talk on the Iraq War

A professor from United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan, will examine the complexities of the Iraq War at a free public lecture on Monday night.

The lecture will be held at The University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus on May 15 from 4-6pm in the Abel Smith lecture theatre (building 23), Campbell Road.

The speaker, Professor Ramesh Thakur, is Senior Vice Rector of United Nations University and UN Assistant Secretary-General.

The implications of the Iraq War for the United Nations will be discussed, and how the war has complicated a response to the nuclear challenge by Iran.

Professor Thakur will show how goals in Iraq have been undermined by the means, and will argue the liberation of the people from Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime was a collateral benefit amidst much damage to principles, institutions and relations.

Professor Thakur joined UN University in 1998 after working for the University of Otago in New Zealand. He was also Head of the Peace Research Centre at Australian National University.

He has worked as Commissioner on the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, and was advisor and writer for UN reforms.

Educated in India and Canada, he has served on advisory bodies on peace and disarmament to the governments of Australia and New Zealand and currently serves on the advisory boards of several research institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

The lecture is jointly hosted by UQ’s Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (ACPACS) and the Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law (UN University and Griffith University).

The public is welcome to attend this free lecture.

For further enquiries, contact ACPACS at UQ on 07 3365 1763, email acpacs@uq.edu.au