[Conversation Invitation] Military Interventions in the Broader Middle East: Effects on Nation Building and Education

Why am I posting this?
Because this is a public health issue.

From the Brookings Institution Upcoming Event summary

Events in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya have raised questions about the extent to which military intervention promotes nation building. As the prospect of military involvement in Syria seemingly draws inexorably closer, the urgency in accurately framing and seeking answers to this question through robust and frank debate is becoming increasingly clear.

Clear also is the crucial role of quality education in nation building, in combating poverty and promoting peace, social justice, and human rights.

Too frequently overlooked however, are the forms and consequences of military interaction with education when intervention is debated, authorized or takes place. In times of conflict education will suffer – and will do so through a myriad of ways: teachers and students may be killed, injured, imprisoned, or threatened; children may be recruited into the militaries of states and non-state armed groups; and schools and universities damaged or destroyed, deliberately or as collateral damage. Educational premises may, also, be used by military forces as barracks, for storage of munitions or even as firing positions and, in so doing, render them vulnerable to attack by opposition forces. Military support to education through construction of education facilities can sometimes be problematic. Individually and combined, all have the potential not only to harm education specifically, but also to undermine a commonly expressed motivation for military intervention: to facilitate nation building. The protection of education is inseparable from such endeavors.

The Brookings Doha Center – in partnership with the Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict, a programme of the Education Above All Foundation – is pleased to invite you to a conversation with General Sir David Richards, former Chief of Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces and former principal military advisor to the British Prime Minster from 2010–2013. General Sir David Richards played a leading role in the UK’s military operations in Afghanistan and Libya and throughout his distinguished career at the very top of the UK armed forces and government.

To reserve a place for yourself and/or a guest, please RSVP with the names of those who wish to attend to dohacenter@brookings.edu.

 

For those wishing to view/listen to this event, here’s the email response I rec’d (within 24 hours!) from the Brookings Doha Center.

Please note that the full audio of the event will be made available within 48 hours of the event, the full transcript within 72 hours, and the full video of the event will be up approximately one week after the event. We will also have an event summary that will be posted in a week. All materials can be found on the event’s website page.

EVENT AGENDA

• Moderator

  • 

    Salman Shaikh

    Director, Brookings Doha Center

    Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy

    @Salman_Shaikh1

• Speaker

  • General Sir David Richards

    Former Chief of the Defense Staff, UK