UMass at Helsinki II, April 2008
Thirty-eight Iraqis met for three days in Helsinki, Finland to develop principles on which reconciliation might be based. They were aided by extraordinary facilitators from Northern Ireland and South Africa.
An article from Assocated Press describing the conference held in April 2008 known as Helsinki II.
UMass students, faculty, and staff describe the meetings.
Pat Peterson: "Staff of the conference center, note takers from Tufts and UMass, and organizers from Helsinki all assembled in the reception area at midnight to welcome the participants who walked slowly past us, some wearing turbans or checkered shumaggs and flowing garments and pulling their luggage on wheels. This was the beginning of three days of debate and drama with some theater mixed in." (A member of the staff of the Moakley Chair).
Nancy Riordan:" Having just finished a seminar on Track II Diplomacy, witnessing the Helsinki I and II processes firsthand was work in the field of the sort graduate students dream of." (2007 Graduate of the McCormack Graduate School, on the staff of the Moakley Chair)
Rajini Shrikanth: "The principal facilitators, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and Northern Ireland's Martin McGuiness, were at once quietly confident and, at the same time, open to having their confidence destabilized. They communicated no expectations of success or failure, and therefore they provided the Iraqis the kind of open environment free from pressure in which multiple perspectives could be productively exchanged." (Professor of English Literature and Director of the Honors Program)
Andrea Crowell: "The willingness and enthusiasm of the Iraqi participants of Helsinki I and II and seeing members of the Northern Irish and South Africa Delegation sitting next to their former political enemies and working together toward a common goal gave me renewed hope in the ability of the Iraqi people to come to a resolve. Even the worst conflicts can be sorted out when there are individuals committed to the process." (2007 Graduate of the McCormack Graduate School)
John Moore: "A particularly poignant moment occurred when the Iraqis were engaged in intense discussions about defining Iraq's identity, which had surfaced ethnic and religious tensions. Jeffrey Donaldson (a former member of the Ulster Unionist Party) spoke eloquently of his experience in finding it possible to maintain an individual identity separate from a national political identity. While speaking, he held up his own passport and that of his former enemy from Sinn Fein, Alex Maskey. Both are from Northern Ireland, but Donaldson carries a British passport and Maskey carries an Irish passport. His point was that there can be creative solutions to these seemingly intractable and highly controversial issues." (A graduate student in the Dispute Resolution Program)
Background information Iraq: Some Facts
For English Speakers with Good Intentions: A Few Words of Arabic
Akram al Kakim, Iraqi Minister of National Reconciliation (center) speaks on the need to enact laws to regulate the militias, the lobby groups, and the political parties' unrestrained use of the media. These issues were discussed and addressed in the document known as "Helsinki II, Principles and Mechanisms."