FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 5, 2006
Contact: Holly Milledge, Truman Presidential Museum & Library, Media Relations, 816-268-8245;
Michelle Hopkins, Assistant Director for Public Relations, UMKC, 816-235-1592
Event: Symposium, "The Future of United Nations Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping Operations"
Date and Time: January 23, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Location: Pierson Auditorium, UMKC

As U.N. Turns 60, Kansas Citians and National Speakers Get Chance
to Ponder Organization's Future as International Peacekeeper

KANSAS CITY, MO - On Monday, January 23, 2006, Kansas Citians will have a unique opportunity to confront American history, examine the present global situation and envision how to create a future of world peace.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, the Truman Presidential Museum & Library and the University of Missouri - Kansas City are presenting a slate of leading national speakers and an opportunity to discuss what role the U.N. should have in international peace keeping. A symposium, "The Future of United Nations Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping Operations," will be held in Pierson Auditorium, 51st and Rockhill Rd., from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. It is free and open to the public, but reservations are needed by calling Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222.

In 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman told international delegates to the conference that drafted the U.N. Charter, "If we had had [the United Nations] Charter a few years ago-and above all the will to use it-millions now dead would be alive. If we should falter in the future in our will to use it, millions now living will surely die."

The United Nations' peacekeeping mission has become steadily more important in recent years, as different areas of the world have experienced terrible outbreaks of ethnic and religious strife. If the United Nations is to fulfill its peacekeeping mission, it must undergo serious reform in order to meet the challenges of an era much different from that in which it was founded.

Four speakers will present their views on what reforms are necessary for the U.N. to realize its global peacekeeping vision:

• Stephen Schlesinger, author of Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations;
• Susan Manuel, chief, Peace and Security Section, Department of Public Information, United Nations;
• Janet Beik, senior advisor, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, Department of State; and
• Lt. Col. David Last, participant in UN peacekeeping missions and professor of politics and economics, Royal Military College of Canada.
  

"This symposium is intended to explore ways in which the United Nations can become a stronger proponent of peace in a world which has not yet forsworn violence and war," Michael Devine, director of the Truman Library.

A free reception will follow the event. For more information about the program, visit www.trumanlibrary.org.

The Truman Library is assisted in presenting programs such as this one by its non-profit partner, the Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs.

The Truman Presidential Museum & Library is one of eleven Presidential Libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It is located at U.S. Highway 24 and Delaware in Independence, Missouri. For more information on the Museum and programs, call (816)268-8200 or visit www.trumanlibrary.org.

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