When Purpose Calls - Re-Engaging One's Expertise To Address the Ukraine Invasion ...and Beyond

When Purpose Calls - Re-Engaging One's Expertise To Address the Ukraine Invasion ...and Beyond

George Lopez, Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at Notre Dame and a leading expert on economic sanctions and peacebuilding, will join ILI Founding Director, Tom Schreier, to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the role and impact of economic sanctions in a conflict such as this. This conversation should be particularly rich as George is re-engaging as he felt called to, given his expertise on sanctions, having written five books and more than 25 articles and book chapters. This re-engagement, driven by a sense of purpose, is central to the ethos of the Inspired Leadership Initiative which George has been involved with from the very beginning.

Meet George Lopez

(Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

George A. Lopez is the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, where he was a founding faculty member. He is a leading expert on economic sanctions, peacebuilding, and various peace-related issues. During over 36 years of affiliation with the Kroc Institute, Lopez has engaged in a diverse set of policy and public roles. He served as interim executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1997 and chaired its Board of Directors (1998-2003), presiding over changing the hands of the Doomsday Clock in 2002. As a senior research associate at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York City from 2001-2002, he assisted with the Council’s post-9/11 public programming throughout the U.S.  

Lopez held a Senior Jennings Randolph Fellowship at USIP from 2009-10. From 2013-15, he was the Vice President of the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C.  In fall 2019, he was named as one of the inaugural non-residential fellows of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Since 1992, Lopez has advised the United Nations, various international agencies, and governments on economic sanctions issues, ranging from assessing their humanitarian impact to the design of targeted financial sanctions. He has written more than 40 articles and book chapters and authored or edited six books (often with Kroc Institute faculty member David Cortright) on sanctions. Lopez and Cortright’s research detailing the unlikely presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was published before the 2003 Iraq War as “Disarming Iraq” in Arms Control Today and after the war as “Containing Iraq: the Sanctions Worked” in Foreign Affairs. He is a frequent media commentator regarding sanctions issues, writing often for The Hill and Responsible Statecraft.

Lopez has a deep commitment to nurturing the development of high-quality peace studies and peacebuilding education at the collegiate level. He is founding director of the Kroc Institute’s annual Summer Institute on Teaching Peace in the 21st Century. This program has assisted the development of peace research and studies programs in more than 100 higher education institutions across five continents. While at USIP, Lopez led the creation of the Global Campus online peacebuilding education platform. Most recently he has accompanied the development of university-level peacebuilding programs in Poland, Colombia, and Ecuador, the latter as a Fulbright Senior Specialist.

Additional Resources

Below you will find selective media appearances and articles written by George A. Lopez to provide background context regarding the use of economic sanctions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine– January – February 2022. 

George A. Lopez, As Russia braces for battle, sanctions can still be a deterrentThe Hill, January 21, 2022.

David Cortright, George A. Lopez, “How to mix sanctions and diplomacy to avert disaster in Ukraine,” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 1, 2022.

David Cortright, George A. Lopez, “US-EU sanctions will pummel the Russian economy – two experts explain why they are likely to stick and sting,” The Conversation, February 25, 2022, Updated February 27, 2022

Nuclear Politics and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” The Kroc Cast, Peace Studies Conversations, March 3, 2022.

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Presented by Inspired Leadership Initiative

Monday, April 11, 2022 6:00 pm

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1522528/11566342-journey-towards-purpose-part-3-when-purpose-calls-re-engaging-one-s-expertise-to-address-the-ukraine-invasion-and-beyond.mp3?download=true

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Featured Speakers:

  • George A. Lopez , Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

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