February 12, 2025: The Western Academy welcomes former ambassadors

Visiting Fellows Sabine Nolke and John Holmes stand in front of the Western Academy bannerA team of experienced diplomats will be joining the Exploring Possibilities for Peace in the Twenty-first Century research theme.

"Our project is both timely and necessary," says Visiting Fellow John T. Holmes, who served as Canada's ambassador to nine countries, including Iraq, Philippines, and Timor Leste.  "As conflicts proliferate, polarization spreads, and cynicism and pessimism permeate our public discourse, now is not the time to give in."

Sabine Nölke, who was Canada's ambassador to the Netherlands and who holds an honorary doctorate from Western University, adds, "If successful, [the project] can and will provide Canadian civil society and policy-makers with the necessary legal and historical guidance, as well as the relevant cognitive tools and vocabulary to cut through the rhetoric of fascism."

Earlier this month, Holmes and Nölke visited Western's campus for a three-week long residency. As part of their visit, Holmes and Nölke met with students from the School for Advanced Studies in the Arts & Humanities. Western Academy Postdoctoral Scholar Pascal Michelberger recognizes the lasting impact of these connections on the broader campus community:

"Our Visiting Fellows create spaces for students to envision possible futures and consider their own role in shaping our world as emerging scholars and professionals. It is precisely these kinds of encounters that serve not just to communicate the Academy’s work but to leave a mark on the Western community that can outlast the duration of any given theme," says Michelberger.

Holmes and Nölke will return again later in the year, when they will be joined by former Director General and Deputy Legal Adviser at Global Affairs Canada, Masud Husain.

 

Written by Lindsey Bannister