Inclusive Post-Conflict
State Building Processes

Day four of the summer school includes interviews with experts on topics including power sharing arrangements, the importance of human rights in a post-conflict state, navigating minority rights and religious protections, and the role of civil society in state building. Interviews will offer specific lessons learned from the Sudan and Kosovo contexts. This page includes the schedule for the day, details on the experts who presented, additional resources and a recording of the July 10 zoom session.

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Schedule:

  • Introduction

  • Power-Sharing and Representation (Dr. Paul R. Williams)

  • Human Rights and State Building (Ambassador Keith Harper)

  • Break

  • Minority Rights and Religious Protections (Knox Thames)

  • Lessons Learned from Sudan: the Role of Civil Society and Women Groups (Dr. Mai Mamoun)

  • Case Study: Rebuilding Kosova (Dr. Alush Gashi)

  • Closing

Additional Resources

Experts:

  • Ambassador Keith M. Harper is a Partner at Jenner & Block where he is Chair of the Native American Practice and Co-Chair of the Human Rights and Global Strategy Practice. From 2014 to 2017, he served as United States Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council. From 2010 to 2014, Ambassador Harper served as Commissioner on the President’s Commission on White House Fellows. He has taught law as an adjunct at both American University Washington College of Law and Catholic University Columbus School of Law.

  • Dr. Mai Mamoun is a Senior Researcher (Associate Professor) in forest ecology and a prominent advocate for women's rights and gender justice in Sudan. She is the co-founder of the Sudanese Women in Science Organization (SWSO), the Sudanese Women’s Movement, and the Together Against Rape and Sexual Violence campaign.

    Dr. Mamoun serves as the coordinator for the platform on rape and sexual violence within the Women’s Coordination Platform to Stop the War and Build Peace, where she plays a central role in documenting violations and advancing survivor-centered responses. She is also an expert in the implementation of the SAGA (STEM and Gender Advancement) project, promoting gender equity in scientific research and academia.

    She has delivered presentations at international conferences including Accelerating Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment (WASD) and The Role of Women in Transitional Societies (AGYA). Her contributions to workshops have covered critical issues such as access to justice for victims of sexual violence in Sudan (OHCHR), monitoring and evaluation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, mapping women-led peace initiatives, and integrating gender into transitional justice processes.

    Dr. Mamoun’s work bridges science, advocacy, and policy, and reflects a deep commitment to building a just, inclusive, and peaceful Sudan.

  • Ryan J. Westlake is the Director of Peacebuilding Strategy and Policy at the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), where she leads PILPG’s capacity-building initiatives to support parties’ engagement in peace negotiations and post-conflict state building processes. She also directs the organization’s strategic communications and has helped launch the annual summer school initiative. At PILPG, Ryan has worked closely with peace process teams focused on Syria, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen and Southern Cameroon, and has co-authored scholarship on international law and peace processes. She received her BA in International Politics with a Concentration in National Security and an enhanced minor in the Arabic Language at The Pennsylvania State University.

  • Dr. Paul R. Williams holds the Rebecca I. Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and at the Washington College of Law. Dr. Williams is also the co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and the prosecution of war criminals. As a world renowned peace negotiation lawyer, Dr. Williams has assisted over two dozen parties in major international peace negotiations and has advised numerous parties on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. Several of Dr. Williams' pro bono government clients throughout the world joined together to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • Knox Thames was the Special Advisor for Religious Minorities in the Near East and South / Central Asia at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The first to serve in this capacity, he received a civil service appointment in September 2015 and leads State Department efforts to address the situation of religious minorities in these regions.

    For over a decade and a half, Mr. Thames has worked in various U.S. government capacities, including at two different U.S. government foreign policy commissions, and is an expert on a range of international affairs issues, including human rights, religious freedom, counter extremism, and international organizations. His country expertise covers the Middle East and South and Central Asia. Before joining the State Department, he was the Director of Policy and Research at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Prior to that, he served in the Office of International Religious Freedom at the State Department and was Counsel for six years at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission). In addition, the U.S. Army War College appointed him as an Adjunct Professor from 2013-2016 and the State Department appointed him from 2004-2012 to the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

    Mr. Thames holds a Bachelors of Arts from Georgetown College, a Juris Doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law, and a Masters in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service. He also studied at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. An author of numerous articles, his writing has been featured in the Yale Journal of International Affairs, ForeignPolicy.com, and Small Wars Journal. He has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Agence France Presse, the Christian Science Monitor, CNN, FOX News, and the Washington Post.

  • Dr. Alush Gashi is a professor of Anatomy and a Specialist in General Surgery. Dr. Gashi was a professor of Anatomy at the University of Prishtina (Kosova) from 1974 - 2017, served as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at University of Prishtina from 1988 - 1992, and was a visiting scientist at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine from 1981 - 1984.A signatory to the Declaration of Independence of Kosova (2008), Dr. Gashi served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic League of Kosova, Senior Advisor to President Ibrahim Rugova, Majority Leader of the Parliament of Kosova, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, and the first Minister of Health of the Republic of Kosova. Dr. Gashi later served as a Political and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister from 2020 - 2021.As a well-known human rights activist, Dr. Gashi has documented and published inhumane actions of the Serbian regime. When the Serbian regime closed schools and organized the systematic firing of Albanians in all sectors, Dr. Gashi was highly active in the organization of the so-called “parallel system”, which enabled the continuation of education and services in private homes. For decades, Dr. Gashi was the face of Kosova in Washington D.C., establishing a strong connection between the United States and Kosova, and testifying about the crimes of the Serbian regime in Congressional Hearings. After Kosova gained independence, he continued his support for people seeking freedom and justice.He is the founder of the Institute on Foreign Relations (IFR) in Kosova and serves as the Chairman.

  • Heba Bawaieh is the Director of Policy and Innovation at the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), where she leads initiatives on peace negotiations and the inclusion of civil society in conflict-affected contexts, with a particular focus on Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

    Her professional experience includes serving with multiple United Nations entities. At the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, she contributed to the development of international legal frameworks for counterterrorism in the MENA region. At the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, she worked on civilian protection strategies in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

    Heba has also worked directly with refugee populations in both Moria and Zaatari camps, where she addressed critical issues such as legal representation, access to information during asylum procedures, and family reunification across EU Member States.