Conflict Prevention

The Berlin airlift, the Cuban missile crisis, an accidental misreading of an antiquated radar station on the Baltic Sea - each could have commenced the final chapter in human civilization. And then, one winter night in November of 1989, the world watched as a gloomy fog lifted over the East and triumphant celebrations began. East German refugees, who only days before had climbed over the walls of the German Embassy in Budapest in a desperate bid for freedom now waltzed into Das Kaufhaus des Westens. West Berlin was once more their city again.

Germany's leading political scientist, Professor Karl Kaiser remembered a euphoric book that came out soon afterwards detailing the final chapter of the Cold War, When the Guns Fell Silent. The title struck him as foreboding and erroneous: "The Cold War was when the guns were silent; perhaps now the shooting will start?" About this time, a debate broke out concerning the future of the EastWest Institute. Should EWI be shut down, its mission considered accomplished through luck, persistence and hard work?

Meanwhile, our Fellows and members of our network were deluging EWI with requests for assistance and action. In 1991, for the third time this century, violence was breaking out across Eurasia. In the Balkans a devastating civil war erupted in Yugoslavia, conflict in Chechnya reached a crisis point, and Tajikistan edged toward civil war as fighting deepened in neighboring Afghanistan. Taking into account changing times, the Institute that has often been called "the best tugboat in the harbor" had begun to transform itself. The collapse of the communist monolith meant that previously restrained conflicts were finding violent outlets. The process of privatization produced very mixed results, sometimes leading to disproportionate poverty and illicit new sources of wealth. Nationalism, long suppressed by Marxism's ideological grip and the force of the State, once again emerged as a specter to haunt Europe.

The troubles that resurfaced following the dismantling of the Stalinist system demanded new responses. The challenges were real and the stakes remained high. From Yugoslavia to Chechnya, the shooting had indeed begun. The guns were no longer silent, and suddenly, the presence of EWI was crucial to the peace and prosperity of Europe and Eurasia more than ever.

The idea of bringing young leaders from Eastern Europe to work in partnership with a new generation of Western leaders inspired a revolutionary idealism. The extent of that idealism and the seeds of subsequent controversy, were revealed in full during an unusual conversation one afternoon some twenty years ago. As Dr. McArdle Kelleher remembers it, "I was sitting in a club in New York having lunch when I was approached by a man I had never met before. He was quite angry and demanded to know why I was working for an organization that was helping the communists? He was adamant that our Fellows were all spies and we were endangering our national security by partnering with these people." These days such scenes seem straight out of a dark comedy, but back then, such remonstrations were very serious business.

A generation later, the success of the Resident Fellows Program clearly speaks for itself. From its inception, the agenda was to build new ties, break down East-West stereotypes and open doors for Easterners to speak freely, outside the confines of the state security apparatus. The list of EWI alumni is both long and distinguished. Dr. Ion Pascu was a researcher in a government think tank in Bucharest when he became an EWI Fellow in 1985. In January of this year, he became his country's Minister of Defense. The first civilian Minister of Defense of democratic Poland, Andrzej Karkoszka, was also a Fellow. From London or Paris to Washington D.C., Kyiv or Moscow, the list of EWI alumni now in important government or public positions is long.

The philosophy behind the Resident Fellows Program is straightforward: exposing the future leaders of tomorrow to diverse ideas would enable them to decide what way of life is best for themselves and their nations. By emphasizing openness, the Institute will help minimize misunderstandings, which in the long run creates a far more peaceful world. The passions swirling around the controversies of providing an all-inclusive education to our "enemies" has long since dissipated. The tangible benefits remain for all to see. The products EWI Fellows produced were important; the process equally so.

At the time of this unexpected conversation in 1981, the realities of a deepening Cold War had set in and the possibility of ending the Cold War was amongst the most distant of dreams. The détente period was slowing down and the rhetoric on both sides was heating up. The Third World was a frequent battlefield for the two superpowers and new instabilities from Afghanistan to Mozambique were dangerously destabilizing the East-West balance of power. Other forces, both sectarian and nationalistic, were appearing to endanger the peace. In Iran, the revolutionary turmoil of 1979 encouraged the ruinous Iraqi invasion. Lebanon was engulfed in violence, and Beirut was one of the most infamous of cities on earth.

Life in Lebanon in the early 1980s was not for the weak at heart. Incoming phone calls could generate deadly explosions and casual drives down winding dirt roads turned into fatal ambushes. The bullets of professional assassins killed their targets, and stray bullets killed at random. To John Edwin Mroz, a young scholar who devoted much of his time to the Middle East working on UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts, the horrors of Lebanon provided an urgent sense of mission, and this adversity forged the character of EWI.

A headline in a newspaper in Ceaucescu's Romania posed the theoretical question, "Who are You Really, John Mroz?" The inference was that he was an agent of a neighboring country. Mistrustful minds for years have sought to understand the "real agenda" behind the EastWest Institute. During the course of countless interviews in Europe and the U.S., John Mroz and EWI were labeled "Polish partisans," "Hungarian nationalists," or supporters of other nationalities that the speaker viewed as opponents. Some questioned whether John and EWI were agents of the U.S. government or a furtive subordinate of the USSR. It seemed impossible that a group of European and American citizens could come together and set out to build confidence and promote fundamental change.

What lies behind the "real motives" of EWI however, can be found in the tragic cityscape of war-torn Lebanon. Here the ambitions and aspirations of the EastWest Institute were ultimately forged. Of the wide range of potential responses to this human tragedy, the Institute conceived by John Mroz and Ira Wallach that day in Amman was born on the road less traveled. A decision was made soon after that afternoon in Jordan to engage the struggle directly, fighting back for peace and to give a chance for the people and nations in the region to know freedom and prosperity. This has set the agenda of EWI, and after twenty years of working in a world in transformation this cause remains as sacred today as when the Institute was born.

In 2008, she demonstrated her continued confidence in EWI’s work by offering a five-year grant that matches all new and increased donations up to $500,000 every year for the next five years. That will translate into $5 million for EWI over the period covered by her extraordinary gift.

“My challenge to you is to bring about new ideas for preparing for peace instead of preparing for war,” she told the Institute’s board of directors when she accepted EWI’s 2006 Peace and Conflict Prevention Prize in Potsdam, Germany. “Not long ago a duel—by sword or gun—resolved a private dispute. That’s gone forever. We think it’s an absurdly ridiculous approach to resolve conflict. We need to see the use of weapons of mass destruction as an even more absurd, even more preposterous approach!" Her generosity will allow EWI to implement programs that help bring that day a little closer.

Kathryn Davis passed away on April 23, 2013, at the age of 106. She is deeply missed by all at EWI.