WAFAR Conference


October 2-3, 2025
8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building
Room 3000
Western University
Register Today

(mandatory registration by Sept 29, 2025)

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
  • Bipasha Baruah, Professor, Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Western University

Speaker Program:

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Agenda:

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Thursday, October 2, 2025

Time 

Description

8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Jacquelyn Burkell, Associate Vice-President (Research)

Ryan Liss, WAFAR Program Lead

9:15 a.m.

Panel - Defining Peace 

Chaired by Ryan Liss (WAFAR Program Lead)

     Cecilia Bailliet (Oslo; UN Independent Expert on International Solidarity)
     Margaret deGuzman (Temple; Judge, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals)
     Valerie Oosterveld (WAFAR)

10:15 a.m.

Coffee Break

10:45 a.m.

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

Chaired by Masud Husain (WAFAR Program Team)

     Kim Prost (Judge, International Criminal Court)
     Norm Farrell (Department of Justice)

11:45 a.m.

Panel - Territorial Expansion and International Peace and Security

Chaired by Sabine Nolke (WAFAR Program Team)

     Kerry Buck (Ambassador (ret.))
     Chris Waters (Windsor)
     Frank Schumacher (Western)

12:45 p.m.

Break

1:00 p.m.

Lunch

Keynote Lecture by Payam Akhavan (Massey)

2:00 p.m.

Break

2:15 p.m.

Panel - Climate Change, Global Human Security and Peace

Chaired by Bipasha Baruah (WAFAR Program Co-Lead)

     Lina Brand Correa (York)
     Sheena Wilson (Alberta)
     Akola Thompson (Western)

3:15 p.m.

 Coffee Break

3:45 p.m.

Panel - Navigating Current Conflict with the Help of Forward-looking Storytelling

Chaired by Pascal Michelberger (WAFAR Program Team)

     Dara Vandor (Visual artist)
     Felipe Quintanilla (Western)
     Pascal Michelberger (WAFAR)

 

Friday, October 3, 2025

Time 

Description

8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

9:00 a.m.

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

Chaired by Kerry Buck (Ambassador (ret.))

     Peter Jones (Ottawa)
     Bessma Momani (Waterloo)

10:00 a.m.

Panel - Amid Deep Divides: How Can Religious Peacebuilding Lead?

Chaired by Bipasha Baruah (WAFAR Program co-Lead)

     Uzma Rashid (UN UPeace, WAFAR)
     Mariateresa Garrido V. (UN UPeace)

11:00 a.m.

Coffee Break

11:30 a.m.

Panel - The Challenge of Hybrid Warfare to Peace

Chaired by Valerie Oosterveld (WAFAR Program co-Lead)

     Leah West (Carleton)
     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 Remarks 

 Event Sponsors:

 

                

 

           

 

Contact

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