WAFAR Conference


October 2-3, 2025
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Western Interdisciplinary Research Centre
Room 3000
Western University
Click here to register

(registration is mandatory).

How does the international legal system respond to war and conflict?


The international community has seen threats to interstate peace on a scale unthinkable for decades. The goal of this conference is to bring together a diverse group of experts to examine:

  • Why has international law failed to secure the peace it promised?
  • Why have states turned to international law as peace seems under the greatest strain in decades?
  • How can international law and the international community adapt to better secure peace today?

Our chairs for the event are:

  • Ryan Liss, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Western University
  • Valerie Oosterveld, Professor, Department of Law, Western University

Where: Western Interdisciplinary Research Buidling, Room 3000, Western University, London, Ontario, CANADA N6A 5B7

When: October 2-3, 2025

Registration by September 29, 2025 is mandatory.


Preliminary Agenda:

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Time 

Description

8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Welcome

Grace Parraga, WAFAR Director

Ryan Liss, WAFAR Theme Lead

9:15 a.m.

Defining Peace

Chair: Ryan Liss (WAFAR)

Panelists: 

Payam Akhavan (Massey)

Cecilia Bailliet (Oslo; UN Independent Expert on International Solidarity)

10:15 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:45 a.m.

Criminal Accountability in an Age of Great Power Politics: Is Multilateralism Over?

Chair: Masud Husain (WAFAR)

Panelists:

Kim Prost (Judge, International Criminal Court) (virtual)

Norm Farrell (Department of Justice)

Darryl Robinson (Queen’s University)

11:45 a.m.

Navigating Chaos: Canadian Foreign Policy in an Age of Conflict and Insecurity

Chair: Kerry Buck (Ambassador (ret.))

Panelists:

Guillermo Rishchynski (former Amb. to United Nations)

Bessma Momani (Waterloo)

12:45 p.m.

Break

1:00 p.m.

Lunch

Keynote Lecture by Payam Akhavan (Massey)

2:00 p.m.

Climate Change, Global Human Security and Peace

Chair: Bipasha Baruah (WAFAR)

Panelists:

Lina Brand Correa (York)

Sheena Wilson (Alberta)

Akola Thompson (Western)

3:00 p.m.

 Coffee Break

3:30 p.m.

Navigating Current Conflict with the Help of Forward-looking Storytelling

Chair: Pascal Michelberger (WAFAR)

Panelists:

Sophia McClennan (Penn State)(virtual)

Dara Vandor (Visual artist)

Felipe Quintanillia (Western)

 

Friday, October 3, 2025

Time 

Panel Title

Panelists

8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Territorial Expansion and International Peace and Security

Chair: Sabine Nolke (WAFAR)

Panelists:

Kerry Buck (Ambassador (ret.))

Chris Waters (Windsor)

Frank Schumacher (Western)

10:00 a.m.

Engaging the Sacred for Peace

Chair: Uzma Rashid (UN UPeace, WAFAR)

Panelists:

Juan Carlos Sainz Borgo (UN UPeace)

Mariateresa Garrido V. (UN UPeace)

11:00 a.m.

Coffee Break

11:30 a.m.

The Challenge of Hybrid Warfare to Peace

Chair: Valerie Oosterveld (WAFAR)

Panelists:

Leah West (Carleton)(virtual)

Sylvain Vité (International Committee of the Red Cross)

Brigadier-General (Ret’d) Ken Watkin (former Judge Advocate General, Canadian Forces)

Lena Moore (Cambridge)

12:45 p.m.

Lunch

Closing Keynote Lecture

Closing Remarks

 

Contact

If you have questions about this event, please email Ryan Liss (rliss@uwo.ca).