FPCD Announces Associate Scholar Dr. Michaela Hertkorn

FPCD Associate Scholar, Adjunct Professor, Center for Global Affairs, School of Continuing and Professional Studies & General Studies Program, School of Arts and Science of New York University


The Foundation for Post Conflict Development (FPCD) is honoured to announce the selection of Dr. Michaela C. Hertkorn as Foundation Associate Scholar. Through a formal Memorandum of Understanding signed by Dr. Hertkorn and FPCD Executive Director, Claudia Abate on August 15, 2007, the relationship has been formalized. Dr. Hertkorn, as an associate of the Foundation for Post Conflict Development will undertake a research project entitled, How to Make Peace- and Nation-Building Work? Lessons the Atlantic Community Can Learn from Post 2nd World War Germany. The focus of the Research will be three-fold:

1.Research will continue to explore the role of, both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union in post-conflict peace- and nation-building.
2.Research will also examine the theoretical challenges for successful, viable nation- and peace-building after both, man-made and natural disasters.
3.Based on earlier research, the study will deal with the particular case of successful reconstruction and nation-building in Western Germany following World War II.

When complete, the study will be made available on FPCD’s website, however, please visit www.postconflictdev.org for updates on Dr. Hertkorn’s progress.

About Dr. Michaela Hertkorn
Dr. Hertkorn is an adjunct professor at Center for Global Affairs with the School of Continuing and Professional Studies of New York University. She also teaches at NYU’s School of Arts and Science.

Michaela holds a masters degree in political science from the University of Heidelberg and a Ph. D. in political science and international relations from Free University Berlin. Her dissertation focused on conflict prevention in intra-state conflicts, while most of her doctoral research was conducted at the German American Center for Visiting Scholars and at the Center for German and European Studies of Georgetown University. From 2000 to 2001, she was a Robert-Bosch post-doctoral fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies of Johns Hopkins University. In September 2001, research on transatlantic relations continued with the Center for European Studies of New York University.

Since 2003, Michaela Hertkorn has served as the Director for Transatlantic Relations with the Düsseldorf Institute for Foreign and Security Policy, a German think tank affiliated with the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf. Michaela is an associate of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD), a non-governmental organization based in Arlington, VA, which focuses on peace-building and conflict transformation.

Dr. Hertkorn is an alumni of the 2002 Manfred-Wörner-Seminar and was a German delegate to the 2006 annual 'young leaders conference' organized by the American Council on Germany in Berlin.
Her research in recent years has focused on the NATO and EU framework in post-conflict stabilization.

About The Foundation for Post Conflict Development
The Foundation for Post Conflict Development is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501 (c) (3) that raises awareness about and assists countries emerging from conflict situations. The mission of the FPCD is to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals; eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; develop a global partnership for development and fulfill the aims of the United Nations Charter in the context of post conflict situations.

Through direct education, action and development or the promotion of a global partnership for such efforts, the FPCD is dedicated to assist post conflict countries with projects necessary for their reconstruction, among them the demobilization/disbanding of child soldiers, reintegration of war veterans, the creation of meaningful employment and cultural preservation.

The Foundation for Post Conflict Development is a civil society partner in improving global development and seeks to work with organizations that place development as a priority. In this vein, the FPCD and Fundacao Xanana Gusmão (FXG) have formally joined efforts as “sister foundations”

The FPCD has signed the UN Global Compact, committing the FPCD to adhering to and promoting principles of human rights, labor, the environment and anti corruption within its sphere of influence. More information may be found by visiting www.unglobalcompact.org or www.postconflictdev.org .

Contact:

Dr. Michaela Hertkorn
FPCD Associate Scholar
mhertkorn@postconflictdev.org

Claudia Abate
FPCD Executive Director
cabate@postconflictdev.org

NATION BUILDING 101: THE CHINA CARD

Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton's national security adviser from 1997-2000,has receently written a very important op-ed piece for the IHT titled:AMERICA'S ERODING GLOBAL LEADERSHIP. Co-authored with Mr. Eric P.Schwarz,former senior director of multilateral and humanitarian affairs for the National Security Council, the article describes how China has rushed into the vacuum created by the Bush administration's obsession with Iraq, and provided "billions of dollars in aid for roads and bridges from Laos to the Philippines, far outstripping U.S. aid and engagement in the region and rivaling World Bank and Asian Development Bank aid programs..."

One of the showcases for this generosity is Timor-Leste, the island nation which was the subject of the documentary film I made several years ago, EAST TIMOR: BETRAYAL AND RESURRECTION. My film traced the history of the country through to independence in 2002, and ended with a terse postscript describing the economic plight of the country in 2004. At that time, the film deviated from the official UN party line, which was that the UN nation building effort under UNTAET had been a great success.

My view, which I shared with many others, was that the scope of the nation building effort had been far too limited to achieve any real success. Subsequent events in Timor-leste have unfortunately proven this view to be, if anything, an understatement.

In January of 2006, the Foundation for Post Conflict Development and the World Harmony Foundation, a Chinese entity devoted to reminding the world of the horrors of the Rape of Nanking, sponsored a screening of my film in New York for President Jose Ramos Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. At that time, their roles were reversed, and they invited me to return to make a sequel on the economic development of their country. The troubles of May 2006 forced me to put this projecton hold, since it was not at all clear to me where the country was heading.(it still isn't!)

The Chinese presence at that screening was substantial, but I did not think much about it at the time. They were generously funding the event,and I was most appreciative. I had been aware of a Chinese interest in Timor-Leste when I was working with UNTAET in 2000, but it seemed anything but sinister.

At that time, most of Timor-Leste was in ruins, and the country received material assistance from China in the form of farm tractors and other equipment. Then the Hotung family from Macao contributed a boat to transport refugees. They eventually came for a visit, and showered us with luxurious electronic appliances hard to use in a country without a viable electric grid.

When we met with Mr. Hotung, we asked about the nature of his interest in Timor-Leste, and he answered by declaring his love for his Portuguese speaking cousins, and their country. After after some gentle prodding, he revealed an ambition to build a hotel in Timor-leste. This was a bit startling, since Timor-leste was hardly a tourist destination at the time. After further prodding, Mr. Hotung noted
that the hotel might also have a casino. Aha! That made sense, since the Chinese had been trying to crack the Australian casino market for years. However, it was clear that Mr. Hotung would have to make a substantial contribution to the Timor-Leste's
very conservative Catholic church, since they would strongly oppose such a venture.

To date, no hotel or casino have been built. However, the Chinese have built a spectacular new presidential palace, along with other major buildings, and have provided a great deal of material assistance as well as economic aid without asking for anything in return.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Berger, American assistance to Timor-Leste was cut 40% between 2001 and 2006. Mr. Berger then goes on to say that Timor is not a "national security priority for the United States", and there I must disagree with him.

Since Timor-Leste is undeniably a national priority for neighboring Australia, it is, by extension, a priority for the United States. Aside from the country's oil and natural gas reserves, the country enjoys a strategic location overlooking the Timor Gap, one of the two major maritime routes from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.

It is hard to say whether the American plan was to keep Timor-Leste poor and dependent,like Micronesia, or was just the result of tunnel vision by the Bush administration. Regardless, the results are the same.

The Chinese have become very popular in Timor-Leste, and one can hardly fault the East Timorese for appreciating this very tangible assistance in their time of need. Timor-Leste still has many serious problems that will take decades to solve, but I, for one, am happy to see that SOMEONE is helping them.