RIT PROFESSOR TO AID IN PEACE-MAKING EFFORT
Matthew Daneman – Staff writer
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
Feb 18 2007
(February 18, 2007) – HENRIETTA – The nation of Georgia, on the
Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, has seen more than its share of
suffering and strife.
Roughly half the size of New York state, its history since the collapse
of the Soviet Union has included a coup, a revolution, a bloody civil
war and ethnic cleansing.
But next month, a Rochester Institute of Technology faculty member
is heading there in a peace-making attempt that he hopes could have
broader implications for ending fighting across the Caucasus region.
Spencer Meredith, assistant professor of international relations,
will spend four months in Georgia studying the role and influence of
clergy and then trying to enlist them in peace-making efforts.
The nation is overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian "and yet they’re
killing each other," said Meredith. "So what’s the role of the
priests in all this – are they fomenting conflict or are they trying
to resolve it?’
The second step in the project will be trying to recruit members of
the clergy to engage with Muslim leaders among the refugees from
neighboring Chechnya, to "see if it’s possible … for priests to
lead the effort to help these people," Meredith said.
He also will spend part of his four months teaching U.S. foreign policy
and international relations at International Black Sea University or
Tbilisi State University.
Close to 800 faculty members and professionals each year go to 140
different nations to lecture and do research under the Fulbright
Scholar Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. State Department. The
Council for International Exchange of Scholars, which oversees the
Fulbright program, receives roughly 2,000 applications a year, said
spokesman Nancy Gainer.
The idea, if it works, could resolve some of the ethnic strife in
Georgia, particularly involving Chechen refugees there. And ultimately
it could have implications for other conflicts in the region, such
as those between the Armenians and Turks and between the Azerbaijanis
and Armenians, Meredith said.
"It’s not going to solve the war on terror, but it might help this
one troubled region," he said.