In honor of the late Dutch Ambassador Robert Milders, CEU hosted the inaugural Milders Lecture Series at CEU, featuring Dutch professor Jan Pronk. The May 8 lecture “Preventing Conflict Escalation. Hearts & Minds. Boots & Brains” highlighted Pronk's extensive experience as a politician and diplomat and included lessons learned from his UN mission in Sudan.
CEU President and Rector John Shattuck called Milders a “wonderful friend to CEU” and remembered him as a “man of deep values, strong diplomatic talent, and intellectual curiosity.” Milders frequently visited CEU and worked with faculty and students on issues that were of great importance to him, from threats to freedom of speech to preventing or minimizing mass atrocities and conflict.
Pronk, who Shattuck called a “rare leader who is both a visionary and a very practical

person who can actually get things done,” served as special representative of the secretary-general and head of mission for the United Nations Mission in Sudan, and as deputy governor of the World Bank.
“I feel honored to be here and to deliver the first Milders lecture,” Pronk said. “There are two types of diplomats: those who follow instructions and those who are independent intellectuals who think for themselves. The latter are the really good diplomats. I am honored, too, because Milders belonged to the second category.”
As a seasoned diplomat, Pronk worked in and tried to bring peace to one of the world's most dangerous and desperate conflict zones: Sudan and South Sudan (South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011). Development and peace are intertwined, according to Pronk. The process of development is complex and can be wrought with conflict, brought on by disputes over resources, cultural and linguistic differences, as well as financial status. He noted that, in planning a development path for a country, the key is that it is both inclusive and sustainable.
“Choosing the right development path requires social cohesion, establishing an integration of cultural identities, design of good governance, democratization, agreement on decision-making, reform of institutions or the establishment of new ones,” Pronk noted. “All of this has to be built on domestic values, not imported ones in order to be sustainable. It must come from within; peace cannot be imported.”
Bad international development or foreign assistance can have harmful effects, he said. He offered a number of ways that aid organizations can get better operations in the field, including first acknowledging that “there are no general guidelines that are uniformly applicable for each situation.” All countries and regions are different and policies should be tailor-made, he noted.
To prevent conflict or minimize it, Pronk recommended that the highest priority be given to multilateral relations. He believes a comprehensive approach that goes beyond diplomacy and defense and tends to human rights, human security, and human development is of utmost importance. In the event that prevention fails and a peacekeeping mission is activated, Pronk said that sticking to the UN's R2P (Responsibility to Protect) procedure is best. During a peacekeeping mission, the goal should be to save people and win hearts, he stressed. “That means listening to people, looking them in the eyes, and noting body language.” Pronk underscored the importance of working side by side with domestic peacekeepers.
“Peacekeepers and development workers, in order to be accepted, should understand that they are guests, not new occupants of the house,” Pronk advised. “Peacekeepers come and go but the people of the country stay – it's their country. Show respect for their values, pay decent salaries to local staff, and don't violate their laws.”
In the final part of his lecture, Pronk emphasized the importance of negotiations and how external partners should not be the ones to decide who is at the negotiating table. He also noted that ample space should be left for humanitarian and relief workers who are providing food, shelter, and healthcare. “Sometimes NGOs wish to provide these services without military protection. For example, some affected people might trust a nurse, but not if he or she is surrounded by armed soldiers.”
Pronk quoted a list of so-called fragile states that are plagued by civil wars and fraught with human rights violations. The list includes Mali, Libya, Central African Republic, and Ukraine. He warned of the risk to international security as conflicts in countries such as Algeria and Pakistan cross borders and said the international community has missed an opportunity to prevent conflict escalation there. “Lasting peace requires justice, he stressed. “And justice requires an end to impunity.”
Pronk is currently a professor at the United Nations University for Peace (Upeace) in Costa Rica. The event – part of a new annual series – was co-created and is co-sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Budapest.






