Forum 22-23: ND Perspectives: Pathways to Peace – Catholic Peacebuilding Around the World

What are the pathways to peace in a world that is fraught with conflict, violence and suffering? We look to Catholic peacebuilding efforts. 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the papal encyclical On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty, that Pope Francis wrote still stands as “a permanent commitment” to peace. 

Join us for a timely discussion on how peacemaking and peacebuilding viewed through the Catholic lens can guide us through the tumultuous challenges ahead. Featured experts work as practitioners in national security, diplomacy and conflict prevention. 

Notre Dame Perspectives: Pathways to Peace is the culminating event in the 2022-2023 Notre Dame Forum with the central theme of war and peace, and was recorded at Reunion 2023. To enjoy more programming from this and past Reunions, please visit https://think.nd.edu/series/reunion/.

Moderator: Laura McAleer ‘98 is the University of Notre Dame’s Associate Vice President for Federal and Washington Relations, responsible for the development and execution of the University’s priorities in the nation’s capital. In this capacity, she seeks to strengthen Notre Dame’s strategic impact with key research and policy thought leaders and constituencies, as well as provide campus leadership with advice and counsel related to federal policies and regulations that may affect the University. She brings more than twenty years of civilian and military experience to this current position.

Prior to joining Notre Dame, McAleer served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Senate Affairs and acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, leading the Department of Defense’s strategic engagement and advocacy with the U.S. Congress. In addition to serving as a principal representative and spokesperson on defense legislative priorities, her responsibilities included managing the Senate confirmation process for over 50 senior civilian leaders of the Department.

Previously, McAleer worked as a senior legislative advisor on Capitol Hill for more than a decade, holding staff positions in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Beginning on the Majority Staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she subsequently served as a national security and foreign policy advisor to four U.S. Senators, leading legislative and appropriations portfolios pertaining to defense, homeland security, intelligence, veterans and foreign affairs.

Panelists:

Michael Desch, is Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame and Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center. He served two terms as chair of the Department of Political Science. He was also the founding Director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs and the first holder of the Robert M. Gates Chair in Intelligence and National Security Decision-Making at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University from 2004 through 2008. From 1993 through 1998, he was Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate at the Olin Institute. He spent two years (1988-90) as a John M. Olin Post-doctoral Fellow in National Security at Harvard University’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, among other positions. He received his B.A. (With honors) in Political Science (1982) from Marquette University and his A.M. in International Relations (1984) and Ph.D. in Political Science (1988) from the University of Chicago. He is the author of When the Third World Matters: Latin America and U.S. Grand Strategy (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), Civilian Control of the Military: The Changing Security Environment (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999), Power and Military Effectiveness: The Fallacy of Democratic Triumphalism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), and Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018); co-author of Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2012); co- editor of From Pirates to Drug Lords: The Post-Cold War Caribbean Security Environment (Albany: State University Press, 1998), and editor of Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena: Professors or Pundits? (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016) and Soldiers in Cities: Military Operations on Urban Terrain (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, 2001). He has published numerous scholarly and broader interest articles. He has worked on the staff of a U.S. Senator, in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State, and in the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service.

Ken Heckel ‘96 is Notre Dame’s director of military and veterans affairs. In this capacity, he provides strategic direction on behalf of the provost for the University’s national defense, military, and veteran-related programs. Heckel works closely with students, faculty, administrators, staff, and external partners to create, manage, and coordinate defense, military and veteran-related initiatives across the academic enterprise. 

As a 23-year veteran and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, Heckel served in operational organizations and assignments across the world. While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Heckel served as a commander in the 82nd Airborne Division and the 82nd Sustainment Brigade, as well as a staff officer in the 3rd Special Forces Group. During his initial overseas deployments, Heckel served as a staff officer during peace-keeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1999, and during the early phases of operations in Afghanistan in 2002 with the 3rd Special Forces Group. Heckel also served as a commander during his two deployments to Iraq in 2003 and 2010, as part of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.  

When not serving overseas or in operational assignments, Heckel spent the balance of his military career as an Assistant Professor of Economics and the Director of Academy Advancement at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Heckel holds an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a distinguished military graduate and scholar in the Army Reserve Officer Training Program. Heckel also holds an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia, and is currently pursuing a doctorate of higher education administration from Northeastern University.

Emilia Justyna Powell is a Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. She has written extensively on international law, international courts, international dispute resolution, the Islamic legal tradition, and Islamic constitutionalism. Her prominent publications include a book published in Oxford University Press (2020) entitled Islamic Law and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes, a Cambridge University Press (2011) book, Domestic Law Goes Global: Legal Traditions and International Courts (with Sara McLaughlin Mitchell). Her new book, The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes (with Krista E. Wiegand) is forthcoming in Oxford University Press in 2023.

She has been a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Durham University, and at the University of Copenhagen Law School, icourts Centre for International Courts. Born in Toruń, Poland, Emilia Justyna Powell received education in the University of Nicholas Copernicus (Poland), Jean Monnet Center for European Studies, the University of Cambridge, and the Florida State University.

Mark Rincón ‘98, of Baytown, Texas, has been a career diplomat with the U.S. Foreign Service since September 2001. He is currently serving as Deputy Executive Director at the Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training (ADST), a non-profit organization dedicated to capturing, preserving, and sharing the rich history of America’s diplomats. Previously, Mark was Principal Officer in Toulouse, France. He also served in Amman, Jordan, as the Cultural Attaché before joining an Embassy interagency team as the State Department lead for providing non-lethal assistance to Southern Syria. Before that Mark served in Washington, D.C. as a Special Advisor in the Office of European Security and Political Affairs (EUR/RPM). Other overseas assignments include Political Chief at Consulate General Basrah, Narcotics Affairs Director in Brasília, Peace Process Officer in Tel Aviv, Public Diplomacy Officer in Jerusalem, and Economic-Consular officer in Bogotá. Mark speaks Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and French from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of International Relations degree in European Affairs from the French Institute d’Études Politiques. He and his wife, Edith, have a son, Mateo.

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