I.P.O. Information Service

Volgograd, Russia, 2 November 2018
RE/27057c-is

In a speech at the International Forum of People’s Diplomacy, held in Volgograd (Russia) in conjunction with the General Conference of the Brussels-based International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC), the President of the International Progress Organization, Dr. Hans Köchler, called upon political leaders to consider a global realignment on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and cultural identity of all nations. In this period of transition from a unipolar constellation towards a new multipolar balance of power, a sustainable policy of peace means acknowledging global interdependence and redefining the “national interest” of each and every nation in view of the global common good, i.e. on the basis of mutuality, the President of the I.P.O. explained in his speech at the Forum on “Global Politics in the Age of Instability.” Referring to the unilateral uses of force after the collapse of the bipolar balance of power and the large-scale destabilization, including the worldwide migration crisis, triggered by these interventions, Dr. Köchler said that the United Nations Organization can only fulfill its mandate of collective security if a multipolar balance of power emerges that – unlike the one among the Allied Powers upon the end of World War II – includes all regions of the globe.

Key speakers of the Forum icluded Dr. Jiří Maštálka, Member of the European Parliament (Czech Republic), Mr. Bill Boerum, Chairman (ret.) of the Board of Directors, Sister Cities International (United States), Dr. Vasily Tarakanov, Rector of Volgograd State University (Russia), Mr. Roland Methling, Lord Mayor of Rostock (Germany), and Dušan Stojanovič, Deputy Secretary-General, International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (Slovenia). Other sessions and roundtable meetings at the Forum dealt with “Cities as Peace Messengers: Municipal Peace-Making Practices in the 21st Century,” “Youth Policy and People’s Diplomacy: Overcoming Social Stereotypes,” and “Culture and International Relations in the 21st Century.”

Representatives of civil society, experts, parliamentarians, and representatives of municipalities and local governments from 20 countries, including Russia, China, United States, Germany, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Macedonia, and Serbia attended the two-day conference.

Prior to the conference, the delegates attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Square of the Fallen Fighters and visited the Stalingrad War Memorial on Mamay Hill, in commemoration of the victims of the Battle of Stalingard during World War II.

Upon conclusion of the deliberations, the delegates of the IAPMC General Assembly and of the International Forum of People’s Diplomacy jointly adopted a resolution that will be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

END/International Progress Organization/News Release/Peace in an Era of Global Instability/2018-11-02/P/RE/27057c-is