Soldiers

The Netherlands Defense Academy visits the Montreal Institute for genocide and Human Rights Studies

June 18, 2012

A delegation of 53 selected Army, Navy and Air Force officers from the Netherlands Defense Academy visited Concordia's Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) to learn about MIGS’s Will to Intervene project. The Dutch visitors were part of the Defense Academy’s Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Netherlands Defense Academy Course and are travelling to several four cities in North America to hear the latest thinking about international security, development assistance, and government policy, from a North American perspective. In the question and answer period, the fruitful discussion ranged from the latest developments in Syria to the role that self-interest plays in mass atrocities prevention. Beyond global peacekeeping and peace building, the delegation was interested in the importance of public education and awareness-rising, the capacities of social media in mass atrocity prevention, and in MIGS’ Media monitoring project.

Frank Chalk, Kyle Matthews and Marie Lamensch made presentations on the behalf of MIGS with the help of the three interns, Kaitlin D'Avella, Lea Watrin and Sarah Wiley, while Lt.-Gen. Jouke Eikelboom spoke on behalf of the academy. Two members of the Canadian Armed Forces also attended: Lt.-Col. Bruno Plourde of the Black Watch and Maj. André Berdais. Part of the NLDA’s aim is not only to get acquainted with the political- and military strategic situation, and to learn about the current governing culture in Canada, but also to potentially advise policymakers and the defence. We believe this was a successful opportunity for MIGS to promote its signature W2I project.