(NECN) - A recent journey to Iraq may have possibly changed the future of the country. It all began with a program known as "Institute for Global Leadership" at Tufts University. Part of the "Iraq Project"

The Tufts Daily
Dan Pasternack
Issue date: 7/1/08 Section: News

Tufts took on a major role in helping to heal the war-ravaged nation of Iraq as Iraqi leaders met late last month with officials from South Africa and Northern Ireland at a forum in Helsinki, Finland.

The private forum, known as Helsinki II, examined how diverse members of Iraq's post-Saddam Hussein government can coexist and bring about change without the use of violence. It sought, at the very least, to hold peaceful discussions.

By Khalid al-Ansary
Reuters / July 6, 2008

BAGHDAD - Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister and a former top IRA guerrilla, urged Iraqis yesterday to learn from the experience of his homeland, which suffered decades of sectarian conflict, then found peace.

McGuinness was addressing a conference on national reconciliation in Baghdad that brought together politicians from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide.

Reconciling Iraq Following up on "Iraq Moving Forward" from January 2007, The Institute for Global Leadership, IGL External Advisory Board Chair Robert Bendetson, and University of Massachusetts/Boston Professor Padraig O'Malley gathered leading senior Iraqis in Helsinki for three days of discussions on principles of future engagement.

Over the last weekend in April, 36 Iraqis -- senior figures in their respective political parties and tribal communities -- convened in Helsinki, Finland to discuss principles of future engagement. After three days of intense discussions, the conferees adopted a set of principles for joint national action in addition to a set of implementation mechanisms with the aim of advancing national reconciliation in Iraq.

TUFTS JOURNAL

Giving Peace a Chance
An initiative to solve the intractable conflict in Iraq brought the warring sides together in Helsinki recently for talks-thanks in part to critical Tufts connections

More Info: http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2008/06/features/01/