Inaugural Andrew Mack Lecture at SFU

Simon Fraser University is hosting the inaugural Andrew Mack Lecture on 26 September at 5 pm. The lecture will be presented by award-winning Afghanistan journalist, Lotfullah Najafizada, with an introduction by Nurjehan Mawani.

Register here!

Andrew Mack Dialogue - 13 September 11:30 (EST)

Sponsored by Pathfinders, SIPRI, Igarape and SFU.

On 13 September, 11:30AM (ET), join us for a moderated discussion during which the world's leading researchers will speak about trends in violence, and prospects for real prevention and violence reduction by 2030.

The event honors the life and legacy of Andrew Mack, a giant in the peace and conflict field, who worked tirelessly to advance insight and action on human security. As a part of Andrew's legacy, we hope to accelerate the international momentum to prevent conflict and deliver peace while inspiring researchers, practitioners and policy makers to halve violence by 2030.

We encourage you to donate to the Andrew Mack Memorial Fund by visiting: https://give.sfu.ca/ways-to-give/fund/andrew-mack-memorial-fun

Andrew Mack Dialogue on Peace & Security

Watch this space, Igarape, SIPRI and the Pathfinders (NYU/CIC) are putting together an exciting (virtual) dialogue event to discuss trends in violence and peace in honor of Andy. We’re looking at September 13 with a number of notable speakers, more details, soon!

Progress Report Andrew Mack Memorial Fund

Thank you all so much for your generous donations in remembrance of Andy!

We’ve reached nearly $8,000 for the memorial fund, which puts us nearly a third of the way to our target of $30,000, the threshold necessary to make this a lasting bursary at Simon Fraser University.

A reminder that you can contribute electronically by clicking on this link:

Professor Andrew Mack Memorial Fund

Or

Donate by cheque:

Pay to Simon Fraser University,

Memo: Professor Andrew Mack Memorial Fund

Mailed to:

Professor Andrew Mack Memorial Fund

c/o Ellen Yap

School for International Studies

Simon Fraser University

515 West Hastings Street, Suite 7200

Vancouver BC Canada V6B 5K3

Andy, We the People and the MDGs

Andy had a strong hand in We the peoples (https://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/We_The_Peoples.pdf), which led to the MDGs, and the SG’s Annual Report on the Work of the Organization, which had in 1999 a focus on prevention and basically was Andy’s baby - contribution from Henk-Jan Brinkman

Reflections from Steven Pinker

Andy was one of my greatest intellectual influences. After I wrote a short blog post citing a few historical declines of violence, he got in touch and sent me the 2005 Human Security Report. I saw the graph he adapted from PRIO and UCDP on the decline of battle-related deaths since 1946 and was stunned — like many before and since, I had been ignorant of this major development in human history. It was perhaps the biggest inspiration for my book The Better Angels of Our Nature, which in turn led to Enlightenment Now, and a major turn in my career.

Andy also tutored me in the ideas, methods, mores, and gossip in the field of international relations, commented on drafts, coauthored an article with me in Slate (“The world is not falling apart,” during the rise of ISIS), and shared his analysis of trends in war, peace, and human security. I am grateful for all of these.

Andy was not just intellectually stimulating, but was good natured and good company, and was driven by a strong moral purpose: making “human security”—the well-being of women, men, and children—the focus of international relations as an academic field and a global priority. The world should be grateful for his scholarship, writing, and influence.

- Steven Pinker, 3 March 2021

Response to 9/11

Andy wrote this piece 2 weeks after 9/11, stressing that it is too simple and an insult to blame the terrorist attacks on poverty or, worse, poor people (even if ignoring the fact that the terrorists of 9/11 were clearly middle class) - contribution from Henk-Jan Brinkman