Thursday, November 18, 2021
Session 1: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EST
Session 2: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
WebEx Event
The heartbreaking sight of terrified Afghans struggling to leave their country in the wake of the withdrawal of United States and NATO forces, inevitably brings to mind images from the end of the American war in Vietnam, and raises questions about the impact of other conflicts such as the war on the Korean Peninsula. Organized in two sessions, this conference prompts us to consider the geopolitical, human, environmental, and economic consequences of these wars on the people in the conflict zone, as well on the veterans and citizens of the United States. The first session convenes scholars whose perspectives are informed by rigorous study of extant documentation. The second panel comprises representatives of humanitarian organizations that have been working on the ground to mitigate the baneful consequences of war in the conflict areas as well as among former combatants.
Session 1 (9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EST): Geopolitical, Economic, and Social Consequences of War
Speakers:
- Heidi Peltier, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Political Science and Project Director, Cost of War Project, Boston University
- Ji-young Lee, Associate Professor of International Relations and C.W. Lim and KF Professor of Korean Studies, American University
- Paul Morrow, Fellow, Vietnam Legacies Project, Human Rights Center, University of Dayton
- Benjamin D. Hopkins, Professor of History and International Affairs, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
Moderator:
- Christopher A. Kojm, Professor of International Affairs and Director, Leadership, Ethics and Practice Initiative, Elliott School of International Affairs
Session 2 (10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST): On the Ground: Humanitarian Efforts to Heal the Wounds of War
Speakers:
- Daniel Jasper, Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Asia, American Friends Service Committee
- Susan Hammond, Executive Director and Founder, War Legacies Project
- Heidi Kühn, Founder and CEO, Roots of Peace
Moderator:
- Linda J. Yarr, Research Professor of International Affairs and Director, Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia (PISA), Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
This conference will take place in two separate WebEx events, one for each session, with both held on Thursday, November 18th. If you would like to attend both sessions, please register through both of the above Eventbrite pages, as the WebEx links will be different for both. The webinar for Session 1 begins at 9:00 AM EST, and the webinar for Session 2 begins at 10:30 AM EST. Registered guests will receive an email with instructions for joining the webinar prior to the event. Registration closes for each session 24 hours before each WebEx event begins. Media inquiries must be sent to gwmedia@gwu.edu in advance. If you need specific accommodations, please contact gsigur@gwu.edu with at least 3 business days’ notice.
This event is free, open to the public, and will be recorded. Questions can be sent in advance to gsigur@gwu.edu with subject “Costs and Consequences of War Session 1” or “Costs and Consequences of War Session 2.”
Session 1 Speakers
Heidi Peltier is a Senior Researcher at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and the Director of Programs for the Costs of War Project. She has been a contributing author to the Costs of War Project since its inception in 2010 and joined the staff in 2019. Peltier is an Economist who has written on military-related topics including the employment impacts of military and other public spending; military contracting, or what she calls the “Camo Economy;” and other areas at the intersection of militarism and public finance. She has also written widely on the employment impacts of a transition to a low-carbon economy, and is the author of the book, Creating a Clean-Energy Economy: How Investments in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Can Create Jobs in a Sustainable Economy.
Ji-Young Lee is a political scientist who studies East Asian security at the intersection of history, area studies, and international relations. She is an Associate Professor of International Relations and the C. W. Lim and KF Professor of Korean Studies at American University’s School of International Service. She is the author of China’s Hegemony: Four Hundred Years of East Asian Domination (Columbia University Press, 2016). Her current book project, The Great Power Next Door (under contract with Columbia University Press), is a historically informed analysis of when and how China has chosen to militarily intervene in the Korean Peninsula. Previously, she taught at Oberlin College as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Politics and East Asian Studies and was a POSCO Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center, a nonresident James Kelly Korean Studies Fellow with the Pacific Forum CSIS, and a Korea Foundation-Mansfield Foundation scholar of the U.S.-Korea Scholar-Policymaker Nexus program. Most recently, she served as the Korea Policy Chair and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation.
Paul Morrow is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Dayton, with a cross-appointment in the University’s Human Rights Center. His research focuses on legal and moral questions arising from war and mass violence. Earlier this year, Dr. Morrow and Human Rights Center Executive Director Shelley Inglis published a report titled Coming to Terms with Legacies of the Vietnam War. Applying a transitional justice lens, this report examines the legacies of America’s war in Vietnam and to assess what remains to be done.
Benjamin D. Hopkins is Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies. Hopkins is a historian of modern South Asia, specializing in the history of Afghanistan and British imperialism on the Indian subcontinent. He has authored, co-authored, and co-edited numerous books on the region. Hopkins has received fellowships from the Council on Foreign Relations, the National University of Singapore, the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, and the Wilson Center in DC. Writing for the public, he has been featured in The New York Times, The National Interest, and the BBC. Hopkins holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and BSc from the London School of Economics.
Session 1 Moderator
Christopher A. Kojm serves as the Director of the Elliott School’s Leadership, Ethics and Practice Initiative. He re-joined the School as a Professor of Practice in International Affairs after serving as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council from 2009 to 2014. He is also the Director of the US Foreign Policy Summer Program. He taught previously at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. In government, Chris served as a staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 1984-98 under Rep. Lee H. Hamilton, as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1998-2003), and as deputy director of the 9/11 Commission (2003-04). He was also president of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, the Commission’s follow-on public education organization (2004-05). He also served as a Senior Advisor to the Iraq Study Group (2006). He received a master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton.
Session 2 Speakers
Daniel Jasper is the Asia Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, where he has advocated for diplomacy, humanitarian cooperation, and peacebuilding with North Korea and China since 2015. He has assisted and taken part in humanitarian delegations to North Korea and regularly participates in Track II dialogues with Chinese foreign policy experts. He is a member of the National Committee on North Korea, an Advisory Board Member for the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs, an International Advisor to the National Association of Korean Americans, as well as, the founder and primary author of StreetCivics.com. Previously, he worked at World Learning where he administered State Department exchange programs primarily with Iran. He has also worked for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Minnesota House of Representatives, and Congresswoman Betty McCollum. He holds a Master’s in public policy from Duke University and a Bachelor’s in global studies, cultural studies, and linguistics from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Susan Hammond, the daughter of a U.S. Vietnam veteran, became interested in post-war Southeast Asia after traveling to Viet Nam, and Cambodia in 1991. In 1996, after earning her MA in International Education from NYU, Susan returned to Viet Nam to study Vietnamese. She became involved in fostering mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia and addressing the long-term impacts of war while working as the Deputy Director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development from 1996 to 2007. During this time she lived in New, York, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos coordinating programs for FRD. In 2007, Susan returned to her home state of Vermont and founded War Legacies Project which focused on addressing the long-term health and environmental impacts of war including the on-going impacts of Agent Orange in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In 2019, Susan received the Vietnam Order of Friendship medal for her more than two decades of work in Viet Nam.
Heidi Kuhn is Founder and CEO of Roots of Peace, a humanitarian non-profit organization founded in September 1997 with a vision to transform MINES TO VINES–replacing the scourge of landmines with sustainable agricultural farmland. Her pioneering work empowers families living in war-torn regions with hope leading to the economics of peace through export and trade. She attended the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Political Economics, where those core beliefs were strengthened during the peace movement of the 1970’s, setting forth a lifelong commitment to pioneering the footsteps of peace. Heidi and Roots of Peace have been the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2006 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award/National Jefferson Award for Public Service, and the Rotary International “Service Above Self” Award. In 2018, she received the inaugural Earth Ethics Award from Marcus Nobel, nephew of Alfred Nobel, presented to her at the United Nations in New York. And, in 2019, Heidi received the Gandhi Global Family Award in New Delhi, the first American to receive this prestigious award on the 150th Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
Session 2 Moderator
Linda J. Yarr is Research Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs and Director of George Washington University’s Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia (PISA). PISA collaborates with organizations, universities and government agencies in Asia to address emerging issues such as climate change and conflict prevention, as well as to engage in joint research projects and training programs. Ms. Yarr has authored book chapters and articles on Vietnam, international affairs, and gender studies. She was a visiting scholar at the National University of Malaysia, American University, the Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute, and the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. Previously, she taught global political economy at Long Island University and courses in political science and development studies at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Ms. Yarr earned an international relations degree at the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris, and an M.A. in Government and Southeast Asia studies at Cornell University.
