We have the pleasure of hosting Ian Martin, a human rights activist, former Secretary-General of Amnesty International and senior United Nations official, to discuss Political Transitions Out of Conflict. The format will be conversational, with questions welcomed from the audience!

We will ask Ian about UN support missions in Libya, Nepal, and Timor-Leste, exploring their potential contributions to peacebuilding transitions and human rights preservation. Through these case studies, we’ll examine some of the successes, challenges and limitations faced by the UN. By viewing these cases through the lens of Political Transitions Out of Conflict, we may look at key intervention operations, like the establishment of a constitutional frameworks with popular consultation in Timor-Leste, the de-escalation of civil armed violence in Nepal through the ratification of peace accords and the formation of national peacebuilding and transitional justice commissions aiding security and governance reconstruction.

This session will provide attendees with a comprehensive view of the machinery of international peacebuilding and human rights protection. It will shed light on the practical operations of humanitarian intervention campaigns, as experienced by those at the forefront, while also offering insights into the skills and experiences necessary in this vital field.

About the speaker

Ian Martin has worked in political transition and peacebuilding with the UN in countries including Libya, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Rwanda, and Haiti, in roles such as Head of UN Support Mission, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and other senior UN Human Rights positions across UN Missions.

He has authored the monograph All Necessary Measures? The United Nations and International Intervention in Libya (London: Hurst, 2022), reflecting on the UN’s years in Libya following its civil war in 2011. Martin problematises Western intervention as a justified response to civil unrest in apprehension of mass violence, questioning whether other political motivations affected decision-making and if there was ever a possibility for a peaceful political transition.

About the CSD Speaker Series

The Conflict, Security and Development (CSD) Speaker Series is a new initiative from the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group in the Department of War Studies. It aims to bring together interested individuals with some of the brightest and most influential thinkers in the fields of conflict, security, and development.

This event is located in S-1.06 Lecture Theatre on level -1 of the Strand Building. A member of our team will be located at the Strand Building reception to register you and direct you to the room