Robert Ricigliano, author of “Making Peace Last”

Robert Ricigliano is the Director of the Institute of World Affairs and Center for International Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Not only does he teach a course on peacebuilding (one word — the details matter), but he has written a book called Making Peace Last: A Toolbox for Sustainable Peacebuilding.

Ricigliano’s work in Peacebuilding has taken him all over the world, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Cambodia and The Philippines. He has worked with USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense on the planning and analysis of maintaining peace.

In our conversation, we discussed the United States’ approach to peacebuilding, Ricigliano’s work overseas, the Arab Spring, and the last decade of armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the role of the military is changing.

“People ask me am I optimistic about peace and peacebuilding in the future,” said Ricigliano. “And I say, I’m probably more optimistic now than I’ve ever been. One of the main reasons is that the main advocates for the kind of peacebuilding work that I talk about in the book is the U.S. military.”

Listen now:

[audio:https://urbanmilwaukeedial.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/TCDPODCASTMarkMetcalfRobRicigliano.mp3|titles=Backstage with Mark Metcalf: Robert Ricigliano, author of “Making Peace Last”]

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“Backstage with Mark Metcalf” is recorded at the ThirdCoast Digest office in the Shops of Grand Avenue.