Conference: WWI and Contemporary Policy on War and Peace

When: September 26 – 28, 2014
Where: Canadian War Museum in Ottawa

Click here to download Preliminary Program. 

Click here to download registration form. 

On the centenary of World War One, The Group of 78 and Project Ploughshares are pleased to organize the conference “World War One and Contemporary Policy on War and Peace” with the assistance of the Canadian War Museum to reflect on how we can reduce the incidence of armed conflict and reinforce the foundations of a more stable, just and peaceful world. Historians will cast light on the events preceding, during and following the war. Others will draw attention to how our world is similar, where it diverges, and the development of multilateral institutions and international law to avoid war and build human security.

Our aim in convening this conference is to bring together historians and commentators from civil society, the diplomatic and military communities to consider the “Great War” in relation to issues of contemporary international peace and security. What can we learn from World War 1 to prevent armed conflict in our day, strengthen the tools of diplomacy and peace-building, inhibit the innovation of increasingly destructive

weaponry, and reduce the stockpiles of costly weaponry?

There can be no greater tribute to those who suffered and died in World War 1 than to learn from their experience, and strive to avoid the mistakes made by policy makers in the warring states.