Exploring Ways To Improve Global Security

Susan Penksa, Westmont associate professor of political science, will draw on her extensive consulting work with the U.S., NATO, EU and the U.N. in a free lecture, “International (In)security: U.S. and EU Approaches to Fighting Terrorism and Crime,” Thursday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St. Penksa will highlight the security challenges confronting the United States and Europe and recommend ways to improve the success of rule of law and security reform efforts.

“The security challenges facing both the U.S. and Europe – failing states, poverty, terrorism, insecure borders, proliferation, HIV/AIDS – require joint problem-solving and integrated, comprehensive solutions,” Penksa says.

Penksa will identify lessons from efforts to stabilize international conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Pakistan. She received a prestigious U.S. Fulbright Award for 2007-2008 to Bosnia and Herzegovina where she evaluated post-conflict police reform and strategies to fight organized crime and corruption.

“The EU is becoming a more mature global power, implying both a greater European participation in international politics and a more reliable power to count on,” Penksa says. “The U.S. and Europe must rapidly improve cooperation in Afghanistan and elsewhere if international efforts are to succeed. The problem is not identifying the lessons of the past, but implementing them in the present.”

The lecture is part of the Westmont Downtown lecture series, sponsored by the Westmont Foundation, reaching out and engaging the larger Santa Barbara and Montecito communities.