The inaugural annual conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition will take place in Mitrovica, from 3-8 May 2010.



In April 2009, at a conference held at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and where the Forum for Cities in Transition was established, the delegates from Mitrovica volunteered to host the first annual conference. They are living up to their promise.



The attending cities will be from the founding cities: Derry/Londonderry and Belfast (Northern… Continue

CYPRIOTS’ VOICE addresses the following announcement to the authorities and the people of Cyprus:



CYPRIOTS’ VOICE: Joining efforts towards solution

Decision of Meeting: 21-22 Nov. 2009



The Cypriots’ Voice Bi-communal Forum, having convened (21-22 Nov. 2009) and having… Continue

Kirkuk between Kurds and successive Iraqi governments



Awad Mohammed Ameen (Member of Kirkuk Provincial Council)

23 July 2009



When looking at the problem of Kirkuk, from modern political and historical perspectives, there should be a return to 1920 when the Iraqi state was founded after the First World War. The British appointed Prince Faisal bin Al-Sharif Hussein (member of the Hashemite dynasty in the Hijaz) king of the new state to honor and reward their… Continue

A wreath laid in Iraq



15 July 2009

Farah Stockman (Boston Globe)



UMass Boston professor Padraig O'Malley laid a wreath today at the site of a bombing in Iraq that killed at least 72 people last month which appeared to be aimed at fomenting ethnic tensions in the volatile Kirkuk region.



Kirkuk is one of five “divided” cities… Continue

From Basra to Brandeis: An interview with Ban Al-Mahfodh



T. Michael Sullivan (Joiner Center UMass Boston)

June 2009



Your personal journey has taken you from Basra to Brandeis, where you recently obtained an M.A. in Sustainable International Development. It seems an improbable route for a journey. Can you comment on… Continue