Nobel Peace Center Nobel Peace Center

This is part one of a three-part series, covering the different aspects of international law and public opinion.
With the number of armed conflicts on the rise, the question is whether law or public opinion can save us from war becoming the new normal.

To discuss this topic we have invited Mary Ellen O’Connell and Frank Rusciano. Moderator for this event will be Christian Borch. The event is in cooperation between the Norwegian Nobel Institute, The Norwegian Atlantic Committee and the Nobel Peace Center.

Our guests:
Dr.Mary Ellen O’Connell, holds a Ph.D. International Law, JD, MSc. International Relations, B.A. History.
Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution--Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She is currently a Fulbright researcher at the Norwegian Nobel Institute where she is writing, The Art of Law in the International Community. O’Connell’s research focuses on international law and the use of force, international dispute resolution, and legal theory. She has published extensively, including The Power and Purpose of International Law, was a vice president of the American Society of International Law, and chaired the Use of Force Committee of the International Law Association. She has been a Marshall Scholar, a Humboldt Scholar, a Templeton Foundation fellow, and a MacArthur Foundation grantee. She served as a professional military educator, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and a practicing lawyer in Washington, D.C. and comments regularly in the media.

Dr. Frank Rusciano holds a Ph.D., M.A. in Political Science, B.A. Government and English Litterature.
Rusciano is a Professor of Political Science and Director of Global Studies at Rider University. He is a three-time Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, a Fulbright Fellow in Policy Studies at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and in Advanced International Studies at the Nobel Institute in Oslo Norway. He has published several books, including World Opinion and the Emerging International Order, which one reviewer called “the best book yet on the impact of the global flow of information on people’s perceptions, beliefs, and values.” He has also published over 45 articles and book chapters on world opinion, social choice, and comparative and global politics. His latest book is World Opinion and the Northern Ireland Peace Process. He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Ford Foundation, and the Kettering Foundation. His present work studies the foundations of international community.

For more in-depth information on this topic, we recommended reading On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. The book can be purchased at our museum store at the Nobel Peace Center.

Elif Shafak is one of Turkey’s most renowned writers and speakers. She lives both in Istanbul and in London, and writes in Turkish and English. She is an active political commentator, both in Turkey and internationally. We meet her in conversation with Morten Myksvoll, editior of Tyrkiskpolitikk.no.

Photo: Bilge Öner