David Cortright

President Obama is fulfilling his campaign pledge to end the war in Iraq, and for that we are deeply grateful. He is holding to the letter of the Iraq security agreement, with combat troops gone now, and all remaining troops scheduled to be out by the end of next year. This is a remarkable achievement, which goes against what many military experts had assumed, that the U.S. would retain forces in Iraq for many years to come. Given our overly militarized foreign policy, it takes political courage to stay with a commitment to demilitarize.

My message to the White House: “Thank you for acting decisively and boldly to end the misbegotten war in Iraq. Now do the same with Afghanistan. It’s encouraging to hear you reiterate the commitment to begin withdrawing troops next summer. You could start sooner. And you should combine this with support for political reconciliation within Afghanistan, increased aid for development and human rights, and a diplomatic compact among neighboring states for military neutralization.”

Hopefully in a couple of years we will hear the President give another speech from the Oval Office, announcing the end of another war. Hopefully too our nation can turn decisively away from the folly of waging war in other countries, toward a greater reliance on diplomacy and development to enhance security.

Yes, it’s hard work, and I’m nervous when I first enter the classroom with a new group of students, but I can’t deny a tremendous sense of excitement and joy as the academic year begins. I consider it a high honor and privilege to be able to help young people understand the complexities of building peace and transforming conflict, and to expand their professional horizons and capabilities.

This year I begin class with a powerful example of how ‘a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world,’ to borrow Margaret Mead’s famous phrase. I tell the tale of Resolve Uganda, a small nongovernmental organization created by recent Notre Dame graduates, which helped to win government passage of historic legislation to end the war in Northern Uganda. In May President Obama signed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The law requires the United States to produce a strategy within 180 days to end the Lord’s Resistance Army’s reign of terror in east and central Africa. The legislation commits the United States to taking a more vigorous stance against the murderous policies of the LRA and assisting the people of the region to build peace.

Check out their website and the picture of President Obama signing the legislation, … Standing behind the president in the Oval Office, second from the right, is the co-founder of Resolve Uganda, Michael Poffenberger, along with others who helped to make the legislation possible. Michael graduated from Notre Dame five years ago, as did Peter Quaranto, who also played a key role in getting the legislation approved. Both took my course and concentrated in peace studies at the Kroc Institute.

My message to the new students this semester: a few years ago Michael and Peter were sitting where you are, taking this course and others like it that provide guidance and lessons on how to achieve strategic nonviolent change. Study hard, commit yourself to change, and learn how you too can make history.

As professors we like to think we can take some of the credit for the achievements of our students, but that’s a foolish conceit.  Michael and his colleagues deserve all the credit for the success of their campaign. All we can say as teachers is that we shared knowledge and insight, and hopefully offered a bit of inspiration, to empower bright and dedicated students to help create a more just and peaceful world.

Not bad that, the opportunity to shape the leaders of tomorrow, a blessed profession for which I am grateful every day, especially in this season of fresh beginnings.