Clingendael Academy hosts a Summer school from the International Peace and Security Institute (IPSI): The Hague Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions and International Justice.

Symposia in The Hague and Bologna

IPSI is an American non-governmental organisation (NGO) that gathers participants from all over the world, in order to professionalise transitions from conflict to stability. Its annual three-week post-graduate courses are the ‘The Hague Symposium’ at the Clingendael Institute and the ‘Bologna Symposium’ at the John Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

“Our Summer school participants come from 19 different countries. It’s so cool to see their different perspectives on international justice intersect!”

Organiser Kate Elci (Program Director, International Peace & Security Institute)

Wicked (post-)conflict questions

Its participants learn about the ‘wicked questions’ of both violent conflicts and post-conflict transitions. Indeed, IPSI provides “a new way of thinking about why some transitions succeed where others fail”. For this purpose, the participants learn from international trainers, scholars and practitioners such as war veterans and aid workers.

Case studies and simulations

Furthermore, they simulate processes of stabilisation, reconciliation and transition, respectively set in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the fictional region of Beladusham. In order to prepare themselves for such challenging simulations, Ron Ton, Director of Clingendael Academy, trains their international negotiation skills.

International City of Peace and Justice

Summer school participants also seize their opportunity to explore why The Hague brands itself as the International City of Peace and Justice, by visiting intergovernmental organisations (IGOs), such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, addresses the participants in a restaurant downtown: “justice and peace mediation can reinforce each other”.

More training courses on international relations

Are you interested in partnering with Clingendael Academy to organise an international training course at our historical manor? Please contact Rick van der Kleij, Training and Research Fellow, Clingendael Academy.

“I realise that Clingendael is established on what used to be nazi-occupied territory. Now that it has turned from a site of terror into a site of peace and justice, it’s such a symbolic venue to discuss matters of reconciliation and memorization.”

Participant Timothy Green IV (PhD candidate conflict termination and transitional justice, University of New Mexico)