On 10 September 2015, I joined Alison Giffen, Senior Advisor to US President Barack Obama on Peacekeeping issues and Paul D. Williams for a round-table discussion in Washington D.C. to discuss the future of UN peacekeeping. Organised by the Stimson Center (a Washington based think tank focusing on global security policies), the event focused on recent policy developments in the US, at the UN and Europe and also assessed the recent reform proposals of the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO), whose European regional consultation was co-organized in Brussels in February by Professor Koops and the Global Governance Institute, with the support of VeCo students. The Stimson event also served as the book launch of the Oxford Handbook of UN Peacekeeping Operations, co-edited by Dean Koops and  ProfessorPaul D. Williams (Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University), who also served as moderator of the panel.

Picture from left to right:
Joachim Koops,  Aditi Gorur of the Stimson Center, Alison Giffen, Senior Advisor to Barack Obama on UN Peacekeeping and Professor Paul D. Williams (Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University) present the main results of the Oxford Handbook of UN Peacekeeping Operations and discuss the future of Peacekeeping.

On 8 September 2015, I, spoke at a workshop on ‘A Western Return to UN Peacekeeping?’, organised by the Department of Government of Georgetown University. Chaired by Professor Lise M. Howard (Associate Professor, Georgetown University) with the participation of Alexandra Novesseloff (French Ministry of Defence) and Paul D. Williams (George Washington University), the panel explored major opportunities and core obstacles regarding a strengthened re-engagement of Western nations to UN peacekeeping. An engaging Q&A session with the audience members, which included seasoned peacekeeping experts, ambassadors, UN representatives and graduate students from Georgetown university, rounded off the event.
The event also served as the kick-off of further events of cooperation between VeCo International Affairs faculty and Georgetown University professors focusing on peace, security and conflict resolution issues.
From left to right:
Professor Joachim Koops (Vesalius College), Dr. Alexandra Novesseloff (French Ministry of Defence & Center on International Cooperation), Professor Lise M. Howard (Georgetown University), Professor Paul D. Williams (George Washington University).