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Speakers' Biographies
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United States
January 23, 2002 |
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Dr. Thomas Walsh is Secretary General of the IIFWP. With academic training in the field of Religious Ethics, Dr. Walsh has been a teacher, author and editor, with specialization in areas of theology, character ethics, social theory, and religious studies. He has served in a number of administrative capacities and serves on the board of several non-profit organizations that work to promote international understanding and peace. His current responsibility as Secretary General of the IIFWP has him involved in guiding and supervising its worldwide activities. Among other works, he is the executive editor of Renewing the United Nations and Building a Culture of Peace and The Millennium Declaration of the United Nations: A Response from Civil Society.
Dr. Noel Brown is President of Friends of the United Nations. Previously, he served as the Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), North American regional office. Dr. Brown also currently serves as Chairman of the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism and is Vice Chairman of the International Council of the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations. He is a founding member of the Aspen Global Change Institute and the International Council for Local Environment Issues, is Chairman of the Rene Dubos Center for Human Environments, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Rivers Environmental Educational Network, the Climate Institute, the Earth Communications Office, the Rainforest Alliance, Global Education Associates, Trust for the Americas, and other environmental and educational organizations. Dr. Brown holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Seattle University, an M.A. in International Law and Organization from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in International Law and Relations from Yale University. He has been a Visiting Professor at both U.S. and foreign universities, and has a number of publications to his credit, including editing a recent volume titled Ethics and Agenda 21: Moral Implications of a Global Consensus. Among the numerous awards acknowledging Dr. Brown=s service to the environment is his being honored with the 1998 World Academy of Arts and Science for Distinguished Public Service.
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Session I: The U.S., the U.N., and International Conflicts |
H.E. Murari Raj Sharma is Ambassador and Permanent Representative from the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the United Nations. Currently, he is also serving as a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly. Previously, he served as the Foreign Secretary of Nepal. Other posts which Amb. Sharma has held include Acting Foreign Secretary, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the latter as head of its United Nations, International Organizations and International Law Division. He was also responsible for the North-East and South-East Asia and the Pacific Division, and served as Under-Secretary with the Ministry of General Administration. Amb. Sharma holds a Master's Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Law degree from Tribhuvan University of Nepal, and a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. Amb. Sharma was also a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at The American University in Washington, D.C.
Hon. Ben Gilman (R-NY) has served for 29 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds the position of Chairman Emeritus on the House International Relations Committee, having served many years on the Committee, including as Committee Chair until recently. Currently, Congressman Gilman serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. Congressman Gilman's long and distinguished career includes notable leadership on foreign affairs, world hunger, and legislating against narcotics abuse and trafficking. During the 1981 session of the United Nations, he served as Congressional Delegate to the United Nations under U.S. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. He was also Congressional Advisor to the Law of the Sea Conference.
Dr. Shireen T. Hunter is the Director of the Islam Program at the Center for Strategic Studies. She previously served as Director of the Mediterranean Studies program with the Centre for European Studies in Brussels (1994-1998), Deputy Director of the Middle East Program at CSIS (1983-1993), as a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and Research Fellow at the Harvard Center for International Affairs. Dr. Hunter is the author of many books, including The Future of Islam and the West: Clash of Civilizations or Peaceful Coexistence?, Central Asia Since Independence, The Transcaucasus in Transition: Nation-Building and Conflict, Iran and the World, and the Politics of Revivalism, as well as numerous chapters in edited volumes. Her articles have appeared in leading journals, and she is a frequent guest commentator on television shows. Dr. Hunter holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Institut Universitaire des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and an M.A. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Dr. Neil A. Salonen (moderator) is President of the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University. Dr. Salonen has a distinguished record of accomplishment in managing non-profit organizations. He headed the International Cultural Foundation since l973, a group that has organized and promoted international conferences focusing on academic, scientific and cultural exchanges. As ICF President, he has traveled widely, organizing conferences from Moscow to Beijing - on virtually every continent - all with the aim of promoting international and intercultural cooperation. His work gave him the opportunity to interact with many world leaders, including the top leaders of the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and the Republic of Uganda, to name just a few. He also had the pleasure of working with Nobel prizewinners Sir John Eccles and Professor Eugene Wigner. He served as political advisor to a delegation of American gymnastic coaches during their exchange visit hosted by the Chinese Olympic Committee in l989. He also helped oversee the worldwide establishment of the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA) in 132 different countries. He currently serves as Vice President of the IIFWP. Dr. Salonen graduated in Political Science from the University of the State of New York. He received a Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, from Han Seo University in Seoul, Korea.
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Session II: The U.S., the U.N., and International Agreements and Initiatives |
Mr. Alan J. Kreczko was appointed Acting Assistant Secretary of State in the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration on January 20, 2001. Prior to his current position, he was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau. Mr. Kreczko joined the U.S. Department of State in 1976, serving in the Office of the Legal Adviser. His initial primary responsibilities included United Nations Affairs, followed by serving as Legal Adviser to Sol Linowitz in the Camp David autonomy talks from 1979 until 1981, Legal Adviser to Philip Habib and Donald Rumsfeld in the Israel/Lebanon Negotiations from 1981 until 1983, and subsequently the Assistant Legal Adviser for Near East and South Asian Affairs, and then the Assistant Legal Adviser for Oceans, Environment and Science. In 1993, Mr. Kreczko was appointed Special Assistant to the President and Legal Adviser for the National Security Council. Mr. Kreczko has been the recipient of the Presidential Executive Award, two Presidential Meritorious Executive Awards, among numerous other awards. Mr. Kreczko is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and he is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
H.E. Dr. Mirza Kusljugic is Ambassador and Permanent Representative for the Permanent Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations. He has also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tuzla. Dr. Kusljugic holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sarajevo, where he also received his B.Sc and M.Sc degrees. He also completed studies in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in Business Management for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr. Patrick F. Fagan was named William H.G. Fitzgerald Senior Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues at the Heritage Foundation in May 1995. In this position, he examines social trends that have negatively affected American society. Fagan served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services in the George H. Bush administration, where he focused on family, community, and long-term care issues. Fagan previously served as a legislative analyst for Senator Dan Coates (R-IN). He also served as Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Executive Vice President and Director of the Child and Family Institute at the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. A native of the Republic of Ireland, Fagan completed his bachelor's degree in social science and his master's degree in psychology at the University College of Dublin.
Ms. Roberta Cohen (moderator) is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, an influential think tank based in Washington, D.C. Ms. Cohen also serves as Co-Director of the Brookings Institution-City University of New York Project on Internal Displacement, and serves as Senior Adviser to the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons. Roberta Cohen is a specialist in human rights, humanitarian and refugee issues, and a leading expert on the subject of internally displaced persons - persons forcibly displaced within their own countries as a result of civil wars, ethnic strife, and violations of human rights. Together with Dr. Francis Deng, she co-authored the first major study on internal displacement, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement. In 1998, Ms. Cohen served as a Public Member of the Unites States Delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. She has also served as Senior Adviser to the Refugee Policy Group and the National Academy of Sciences, and as a consultant to international organizations and governments on refugee and human rights issues, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Bank. During the Carter Administration, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Department of State, where she participated in the formulation and implementation of US human rights policy, and served as Senior Adviser to the Unites States Delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights and General Assembly. She also served as Honorary Secretary of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, London, and as Executive Director of the International League for Human Rights, New York. She is past Chair of the United Nations Association Task Force on Human Rights, past Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Law Group, and a current member of the board of numerous organizations, including Human Rights Watch/Africa, the International League for Human Rights, and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Ms. Cohen is the author of numerous books and articles, and has received a number of awards for her work, including the U.S. Information Agency Superior Honor Award for reopening US educational, cultural, and information programs in Ethiopia. She is a graduate of Barnard College (New York) and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (Washington, DC and Bologna, Italy).
H.E. Mokhtar Lamani serves as Ambassador and Permanent Observer for the Office of the Permanent Observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference to the United Nations. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OLC) is the world's second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, comprising 56 Member States and 4 Observer States. Covering about 1.3 billion people, or roughly one-fourth of the world's population, OIC aims at promoting solidarity and cooperation among its Member States in the political, economic, social, cultural and other spheres and supports international measures to promote peace and justice in the world. Ambassador Lamani has served as Ambassador for the OLC since January 1998. Previous to this position, Ambassador Lamani occupied several posts with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, including serving from 1995 to 1997 as the Deputy Permanent Observer to the United Nations. He also served in Cairo from 1991 to 1995 as an Officer in Charge of the Iraq-Kuwait dispute, and mediator in the prisoners of war exchange issues; from 1984 to 1988 as Deputy Permanent Observer to the European Community in Brussels; and from 1980-1984 as Coordinator of the Euro-Arab Dialogue and the Afro-Arab Cooperation. Amb. Lamani has written extensively on issues related to Arab States and the United Nations. He holds a Master in Law from Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco, and also graduated in European Studies from "Universite Catholique de Louvain" in Belgium.
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar is one of the most respected, influential and well-known leaders in the United States Congress. First elected to the United States Senate in 1976, he is the longest serving Senator in Indiana history, and holds all Indiana statewide election records. Senator Lugar currently serves as a senior member on the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select Committee on Intelligence, and is the Republican leader of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Widely known for his expertise in foreign affairs, Senator Lugar had previously gained international renown and widespread respect in his role as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he earned the moniker of "Most influential Republican voice in foreign policy on Capital Hill@ from New York Times journalist R. W. Apple, Jr. Lugar has been instrumental in Senate ratification of treaties that reduce the world's use, production and stockpiling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In 1991, he forged a bipartisan partnership with then-Senate Armed Services Chairman, Sam Nunn, to destroy these weapons of mass destruction in the Soviet Union. To date, the Nunn-Lugar program has deactivated more than 5,500 nuclear warheads. They were nominated in 2000 for the Nobel Peace Prize. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Lugar continues to play an instrumental role in backing democratic reforms in various countries, speaking out against tyrannies of both the left and the right that suppress the growth of democratic freedoms. Highly respected for his integrity, intelligence, dedication and accomplishments, Senator Lugar ran for President of the United States in 1996. In recognition of his many achievements, Senator Lugar has been the recipient of innumerable awards and recognitions, including being the fourth person ever to be named "Outstanding Legislator@ by the American Political Science Association and 34 honorary doctorate degrees.
Mr. Tageldin "Taj" Hamad (Master of Ceremonies) is Secretary General of the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO), assuming this position in 2001. Previously, this post had been held by Dr. Wally N'Dow, former United Nations Assistant Secretary General and the Secretary General of Habitat II. Prior to becoming Secretary General, Mr. Hamad served as WANGO's International Executive Director. Mr. Hamad has also served as Secretary of the Executive Committee of DPI-NGOs at the United Nations, Executive Director of the Interreligious Leadership Seminar, and Executive Director for the Interdenominational Christians for Unity and Social Action. He also serves as Chair of the Middle East Alliance for World Peace.
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Session III: U.S. Politics and the United Nations |
Dr. Edward C. Luck is Director of the Center on International Organization of the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University. Previously, he served as Founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of International Organization, a research center jointly established by the School of Law of New York University and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University. For 10 years (1984-1994), Dr. Luck served as President and CEO of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), America's principal center for public education on the world organization, and he subsequently served four years as President Emeritus of the organization (1994-1998). From December 1995 through July 1997, Dr. Luck played a key role in the United Nations reform process as a Senior Consultant to the Department of Administration and Management of the United Nations and as Staff Director of the General Assembly's Open-ended High-level Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System. A frequent media commentator, Dr. Luck has published and testified before Congress on arms control, defense, foreign policy, Russian and East Asian affairs, as well as on United Nations reform and peacekeeping. His most recent book is Mixed Messages: American Politics and International Organization: 1919-1999. Dr. Luck holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College with High Distinction in International Relations, and a series of graduate degrees from Columbia University, including an M.I.A. from the School of International Affairs, the Certificate of the Russian Institute, and M.A., M.Ph., and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Mr. Brett D. Schaefer holds the post of Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at The Heritage Foundation, one of the nation's premier public policy research institutes. Mr. Schaefer specializes in such areas as international economics, international treaties, global warming, and the proper role of such international institutions as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, as well as their relationship with the United States. He is a senior policy analyst in the Center for International Trade and Economics (CITE) in the Kathryn and Shelby Collum Davis International Studies Institute at The Heritage Foundation. Schaefer holds a M.A. in international development and economics from The American University. He has published extensively on such issues as Reforming International Financial Institutions, Terrorism, U.S. International Policy, the International Criminal Court, and Environmental Treaties.
Dr. Thomas J. Ward (moderator) is Vice President for International Programs and Dean of the International College of the University of Bridgeport. Dr. Ward has been a guest lecturer on comparative political systems at institutions of higher learning in Latin America and Asia. A member of the International Studies Association, he has twice been awarded grants by the State of Connecticut's Distance Learning Consortium for developing online courses on regional political economy. He assisted Dr. Stoyan Ganev, 47th President of the United Nations General Assembly, in creating the University's New England Center for International and Regional Studies.
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Session IV: Renewing the United Nations and the Future of U.S-U.N. Relations: Opportunities, Obstacles, Options |
Dr. Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. He is also co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project and editor of Global Governance. Since arriving at The Graduate Center in 1998, Dr. Weiss has also been research director of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (2000-2001) and academic fellow at the Carnegie Corporation of New York. As Research Professor at Brown University's Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies (1990-98), Dr. Weiss held such posts as Director of the Global Security Program, Associate Dean of the Faculty and Associate Director, and was the Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System. He also directed the Humanitarianism and War Project. He previously served as Executive Director of the International Peace Academy, Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Senior Aid Coordinator at the Office of the UN Commissioner for Namibia, and Assistant Director of the University Program at the Institute for World Order. Dr. Weiss received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and his BA from Harvard University. He has written extensively about international organization, conflict management, peacekeeping, humanitarian action, and North-South relations. He is currently working on an oral history titled United Nations Ideas: Views from the Trenches and Turrets. He has authored or edited more than 25 books, including Ahead of the Curve? UN Ideas and Global Challenges, The United Nations and Changing World Politics, Military-Civilian Interactions, The Responsibility to Protect, and NGOs, the UN, and Global Governance.
Mr. Samir Sanbar has served at the United Nations with five different Secretaries-General, between 1964 and 1998. Most recently, he served as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and head of the Department of Public Information, positions that he held from January 1994 to March 1998. Previously, Mr. Samir held the posts of Special Representative of the Secretary-General to head the UN Observer Mission to Verify the Referendum in Eritrea, Director of the United Nations Information Centers (63 Centers around the world), Chief of the United Nations Centers Services, and Director of the United Nations Information Center in Beirut. In 1996 and 1997, Mr. Samir organized and chaired the first and second UN World Television Forum, a gathering of prominent communications personalities from all regions and cultures. Mr. Samir has also served as Chief of Information Services of the Economic Commission for Western Asia, and Coordinator of the United Nations public information activities in the Gulf countries. From 1973 to 1987, Mr. Samir accompanied United Nations Secretaries-General on all their visits to the Middle East, serving as Spokesman to the Gulf countries for U.N. Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar in visits to Baghdad and Tehran and Kurt Waldheim in a visit to Tehran. Mr. Sanbar has also served as Chairman of the United Nations Appointment and Promotion Board, Chairman of the Joint United Nations Information Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of the UN International School.
Dr. Frank Kaufmann is the Executive Director of the World Peace Institute and the IIFWP. He also serves as advisor to several interfaith and religious freedom organizations, including Religion-Crisis Task Force and the International Coalition for Religious Freedom. His involvement in interfaith work for over 20 years has taken him to more than 60 countries, at times in dangerous circumstances. Dr. Kaufman has consulted with national governments during the Gulf War and the Ayodhya Mosque controversy, and has involved his organizations in negotiation and relief work in such places as Bosnian refugee camps, the Eritrea-Ethiopia border conflict, Kashmir and the Middle East. Dr. Kaufman is the author of Foundations of Modern Church History, and editor of several works on religion and peace, including: Religion and Peace in the Middle East, Christianity in the Americas: Ecumenical Essays, and the scholarly journal, Dialogue and Alliance.
Ms. Karen Judd Smith (moderator) serves as Director of the Office of United Nations Relations for the IIFWP. Since 1997, Ms. Smith's focus has been on linking the work of various international NGOs and the UN agendas in an endeavor to make these UN-NGO partnerships more productive. Previously to her position with IIFWP, she served as the United Nations Representative for the Women's Federation for World Peace, an international membership organization for women with chapters in each nation. Ms. Smith is also know as Captain Smith, having earned a US Coast Guard captain's license in the midst of directing an international ocean-based youth leadership and character development program for ten years. Ms. Smith holds a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Melbourne, Australia and completed the Masters of Divinity Course at the Unification Theological Seminary in New York.
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Evening Banquet & Program |
The Honorable Curt Weldon has served in the United States House of Representatives since 1987. A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Weldon served six years as Chairman of the Military Research and Development Subcommittee, overseeing the development and testing of key military systems and technologies that fulfill military needs. He now serves as Chairman of the Armed Services Procurement Subcommittee, overseeing $83 billion of defense spending. He also serves on the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism, and has become a frequent commentator on national television shows since the September 11 terrorist attacks. As a member of the Science Committee, Congressman Weldon is one of the most outspoken advocates for the environment and protection of our oceans. His "Oceans Agenda" legislation passed the Congress in 1995, increasing funding for oceanography research projects. He also champions environmental concerns as the only House Republican on the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which approves funding for wildlife refugees and wetlands preservation. He is also a member of Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), where he serves as Chairman of the Oceans Protection Task Force. Congressman Weldon is also United States Vice President on the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the Sea (ACOPS). Congressman Weldon majored in Russian Studies in college and has made improving relations with Russia one of his major efforts in the House. He has worked with Russian leaders on a variety of issues, including efforts to improve Russia's energy supply, correct environmental damage, and protect both nations from ballistic missile attack. Congressman Weldon is founder of the Duma-Congress Study Group, a parliamentary exchange that helps coordinate legislative efforts in the Russian Duma and the Congress.
Dr. Jones Kyazze serves as Director of the New York Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and as UNESCO Representative to the United Nations and its Funds, Programs and Funding Institutions based in New York and Washington. UNESCO, which was established in a London conference in November 1945, was the culmination of more than 25 years of attempts to establish international cooperation in education and culture and is a successor to the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. In 1946, UNESCO became a specialized agency of the United Nations. Dr. Kyazze has been with UNESCO since 1972. Among positions he has held with the agency at the Headquarters in Paris are Director of the Division of Relations with African Member States and Chief of the Section for Science and Technology Education in the Education Section. He has also served as Head of Office and UNESCO Representative for the UNESCO Office in Lagos (Nigeria), UNESCO Chief Technical Adviser for the Dissemination of Innovative Primary School Curriculum in Sierra Leone, and Coordinator of Operational Programs at the Regional Office for Education in Dakar (Senegal). Dr. Kyazze holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom), as well as a B.A. in English, French and History from Makerere University (Uganda), a License es Lettres from the University of Besancon (France), and a Postgraduate diploma in Education from the University of London (United Kingdom).
Rev. Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak holds a number of prominent positions in the worlds of academia and media, as well as in non-profit and religious organizations. In academia, Rev. Kwak serves as Chairman of the Board for the University of Bridgeport (Bridgeport, CT), Chairman of the Board for the World University Federation, and Chairman of the Professors World Peace Academy, an international association of university and college scholars. Previous to these positions, he served as Secretary-General of the Professors World Peace Academy. In the media realm, Rev. Kwak is the former Publisher and President of the daily newspaper Segye Times of Seoul, Korea. He is also former Chairman of the Segye Times daily of New York City, and former Publisher of The New York City Tribune. More recently, he became Chairman of the Board of News World Communications, the parent company that publishes The Washington Times. Rev. Kwak serves as Chairman of the IIFWP, Chairman of the Citizen's Federation for the Unification of North and South Korea, and Chairman of the Board for both the International Cultural Foundation and for the International Religious Foundation. Since 1978, he has served as President of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. Rev. Kwak completed his B.S. in Law from Kyungbuk University and Sangui University in Korea, and his M.A. in Western Philosophy at Kungook University in Korea. He has been widely recognized for his distinguished career and charitable work, receiving a number of Honorary Doctorates from universities in the United States and Asia.
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