I.P.O. ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Vienna, 31 December 2012 P/RE/23676c   40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE I.P.O. In 2012, the International Progress Organization celebrated the 40th anniversary of its foundation. The organization was legally established on 11 July 1972. The first General Assembly was held in Innsbruck (Austria) on 30 October 1972. The declaration issued by the President of the I.P.O. on this occasion concludes with the following words: "Only if human rights are established as the guiding principles of international law can we credibly proclaim a "New World Order" of peace and justice. This is the message of the International Progress Organization for the multipolar order of the future.."   DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS In the follow-up to the Doha Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the United Nations Department of Public Information invited the President of the International Progress Organization to write an op-ed article for the special issue of the UN Chronicle (No. 3/2012) that is devoted to the 10th anniversary of the UN General Assembly's declaration of 2001 as the "Year of Dialogue among Civilizations." The article is entitled: "Unity in Diversity: The Integrative Approach to Intercultural Relations." Other contributors to the commemorative volume are Seyed Mohamnmad Khatami, former President of Iran, Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, and Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Strategic Planning.   UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL On 27 April 2012 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a statement on "The Dilemma of Leadership in the UN Security Council" at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, Korea. On 18 May 2012 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a statement on "The International Criminal Court and the Security Council" at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London, UK.   RELIGION AND SOCIETY On 25 March 2012 the President of the I.P.O. delivered in Vienna a lecture for Turkish religious officials in Austria on "The Relationship of Religion and Politics in Austria and Europe." The conference was organized by the Austrian Foreign Ministry in co-operation with the Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey (Diyanet). On 25 December 2012 the President of the I.P.O. held meetings in Qom, Iran, at the University of Qom, the University of Religions and Denominations, and at the International Institute for Islamic Studies to discuss the possibility of co-operation in the field of inter-religious dialogue.   CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST On 27 March 2012 the President gave an interview to the Turkish newspaper ZAMAN on the Syrian crisis. The interview was republished by the Turkish magazine AKSIYON on 2 April 2012. On 8 June 2012 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a public lecture in Bregenz, Austria on the topic: "Was the Libya War Just?" On 23 August 2012 the President of the I.P.O. issued a statement on the crisis in Syria. On 14 September 2012 the President of the I.P.O. issued a statement on Islamophobia and the escalation of violence in the Middle East. 6 October 2012: Interview for Raiffeisen Magazine Austria on the Syrian crisis. On 1 November 2012 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a public lecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration in Zurich, Switzerland, on "The 'Humanitarian' Intervention in Libya and International Law." From 13 to 14 December 2012 the I.P.O. participated in the meeting of the New Policy Forum in Istanbul, Turkey on "The Middle East and the Mediterranean: Is a Big War ahead?" The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, and adopted an Appeal for Peace in the Middle East. THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE The International Progress Organization participated in the International Conference on Jerusalem, which was jointly organized by the League of Arab States and the Islamic Cooperation Organization in Doha, Qatar (26-27 February 2012). The President of the I.P.O. delivered a lecture on "The Evolution of the Palestine Problem and the Status of Jerusalem: Force of Law or Law of Force?" On 20-21 November 2012 the I.P.O. attended the Palestine hearings of the International War Crimes Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On 29 November 2012 the International Progress Organization, on behalf of the network of non-governmental organizations on the question of Palestine, delivered a statement on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The meeting was organized at the United Nations Office at Vienna by the United Nations Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The meeting coincided with the admission of Palestine as non-member observer state by the General Assembly of the United Nations.   SPECIAL LECTURES BY THE PRESIDENT "The 'Clash of Civilizations': A Self-fulfilling Prophecy?": 50th International Affairs Symposium, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Or., USA, 9 April 2012. "The Lockerbie Trial and the Rule of Law": Keynote speech, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh, UK, 11 August 2012. "Economy and Honesty: Remarks on the Global Pursuit of Economic Interests": 10th Annual Conference, Globalization for the Common Good Initiative, Oxford, UK, 4 September 2012. "Transformations of Dialogue": Keynote speech at the opening of the 10th Anniversary Session of the Rhodes Forum, Rhodes, Greece, 4 October 2012. "Hubris of Power and the Geopolitics of War": Perdana Global Peace Foundation, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19 November 2012. "The United Nations - Overwhelmed by Current Challenges?": Keynote lecture, New Policy Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, 14 December 2012. INFORMATION VISIT BY THE PRESIDENT At the invitation of the Tajik Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the President of the I.P.O. visited the Republic of Tajikistan (3 to 6 May 2012).  He met, among others, with the former President of the Parliament, Mr. Saidullo Khairullov, the President of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Mamadsho Ilolov, the Director-General of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. M. A. Jalolov, and with the Chairman of the Association of Political Scientists, Dr. Abdugani Mamadazimov.   SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT 30 January 2012: Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, on the occasion of the award ceremony for the Vernon Smith Prize, in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. 9 February 2012: Mr. Seyfi Bozkuş, President of the Islamic-Turkish Union in Austria (ATIB), in Vienna, Austria. 5 March 2012: Ms. Yumiko Kaneko, Director-General of the Nomura Center for Lifelong Integrated Education, in Tokyo, Japan. 15 April 2012: Mr. Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, in Yerevan, Armenia. 27 April 2012: Ms. In-ho Lee, Chairman, Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul, Korea. 13 May 2012: Dr. Ferdinand Gjana, Rector of Bedër University, Tirana, Albania. 7 October 2012: General (rtd.) Jaime de los Santos, former Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces, in Rhodes, Greece. 19 November 2012: Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 14 December 2012: Meetings in Istanbul, Turkey, with Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union; Mr. Mesut Yılmaz, former Prime Minister of Turkey; Lord David Owen, former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. 25 December 2012: H.E. Ramzi Garmou, Archbishop of the Chaldean Church, in Tehran, Iran. 25 December 2012: Dr. M. A. Shomali, Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies, in Qom, Iran. CO-OPERATION WITH NGOs The International Progress Organization agreed to co-operate with Friede - Institut für Dialog (Vienna) on issues of inter-cultural dialogue and multiculturalism in Europe. On 4 March 2012 the President of the I.P.O. took part in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Nomura Center for Lifelong Integrated Education in Tokyo, Japan. On 5 October 2012 the I.P.O. attended the session of the Advisory Committee of JUST - International Movement for a Just World. ***