Reconstructing National Identity Post-Conflict

Following a conflict, whether it be brought on internally or externally, a nation-state must begin to build community, institutions (political, economic and social), housing and businesses to join geopolitical dialogues and the global market economy. But, how does a nation do this without transmitting the conflict down through generations or alienating parts of their population, leaving an opening for continued conflict? The Society of Public Diplomats’ conference will examine six countries, in various geographic regions, to discuss methods used to reconstruct a country’s national identity that has been previously branded by war and the role public diplomacy plays in recasting that image globally.

Panels will include:

• Collective Remembering: Explore the collective historical memory of conflict and its effects on societies, and how memory and national identity are symbiotic.
• Moving Forward, Constructing a New Identity: Examining how recent post-conflict countries and deeply divided societies move past conflicts to reconstruct their national identity and how they work through traumatic, conflict-ridden pasts to mend their social fabric.
• Identity Transcending Borders: The importance of placing public diplomacy at the heart of the rebranding and the restructuring process to reassert post-conflict countries’ presence in the international arena.

RSVP here.

This event is sponsored by USC Center on Public Diplomacy, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Masters of Public Diplomacy program, and USC Graduate Student Government.

Parking is available at USC for $12 per day. Downey Way parking structure is the closest to the venue and can be found here.