I.P.O. ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Vienna, 2 January 2020

P/RE/27528c

NEW PUBLICATIONS

  • The Saint Petersburg Lectures: Civilization and World Order. Studies in International Relations, Vol. XXXIV. Vienna: International Progress Organization, 2019. ISBN 978-3-900704-26-1, viii+120 pp.

  • Schweizer Vorträge: Texte zu Völkerrecht und Weltordnung (Swiss Lectures on International Law and World Order). Zurich: Verlag Zeit-Fragen, 2019, ISBN 978-3-909234-23-3, 169 pp.

NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS

On the basis of consultations with the NGO community and academic experts from all continents, the International Progress Organization will focus on issues related to reform of the international system, in particular:

  • Responsibility in International Affairs;

  • National Interest and the Global Common Good;

  • The United Nations Organization in the Web of Power Politics.

UNITED NATIONS

The International Progress Organization took part in the International Forum of People's Diplomacy, "Dialogue on the Volga: Peace and Mutual Understanding in the 21st Century," in Volgograd, Russia, 31 October 2019. In a presentation on "The Future of International Relations," the delegation of the I.P.O. outlined the principles for a reform of the United Nations Security Council, especially as regards the composition of the Council and decision-making procedures.

 

30th Anniversary of the Fall of the BERLIN Wall

The President of the International Progress Organization moderated the final session of a four-day conference in Berlin on the theme, "Berlin Wall 30 – From the Divided to the City of Freedom," organized by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) on 9 November 2019.

 

MIGRATION CRISIS

On 3 January 2019 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a speech on "Mass Migration and State Failure," with special focus on the United Nations' Global Compact for Migration, at a public meeting in Sirnach (Sankt Gallen), Switzerland.

Law and Power in International Relations

On 1 November 2019 a book presentation was held at Volgograd State University (Russia), introducing the themes of the two comprehensive volumes "The Saint Petersburg Lectures" and "Schweizer Vorträge."

 

Developments in the Lockerbie Case (Scottish Court in the Netherlands)

The relatives of the only person convicted in the Lockerbie case have requested the resumption of the appeal before Scotland's High Court of Justiciary. The International Progress Organization attended the trial and appeal proceedings in the Netherlands (2000-2002) and issued two analytical reports. In its decision of 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) had suggested the referral of the case to the High Court of Justiciary. Several of the reasons for appeal listed by the SCCRC were similar to the points raised in the reports of the I.P.O. After the withdrawal of the appeal by the only person convicted in the case, and the death of the convict, a new appeal is under consideration by the High Court of Justiciary.

 

TALK ON GEOPOLITICS

On 20 December 2019 a meeting was held with PhD students at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of Eötvös Lórand University in Budapest, Hungary, on trends of geopolitics and major issues of European Union reform. 

 

DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

On 15 July 2019 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a special lecture on "Global Civilizations, Identities and Violence" at an interational roundtable meeting jointly organized by the Regional Council of Veneto and the University of Milan in Venice, Italy.

On 18 October 2019 the President of the I.P.O. delivered the keynote address on "Nation and Civilization in the Global Age" at an international interdisciplinary seminar at Palazzo Feltrinelli, Gargnano, Italy.

 

TOBACCO PREVENTION

The I.P.O. took part in a press conference on 5 March 2019 in Vienna on the reinstatement of the tobacco law in Austria.

 

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

  • Fourth Belgrade Strategic Dialogue: “Twenty Years from the Bombing of Yugoslavia – Lessons for European Security in the 21st Century,” Belgrade, Serbia, 18 March 2019.

  • International Conference "Courage for Ethics" on the theme "Alternatives to Globalism," Sirnach, Switzerland, 30 August - 1 September 2019.

  • International Forum of People's Diplomacy, "Dialogue on the Volga: Peace and Mutual Understanding in the 21st Century," organized by the Municipality of Volgograd, Russia, 31 October - 1 November 2019.

  • International roundtable on "The Future of People's Diplomacy: The EU and Russia," organized by Volgograd State University in Volgograd, Russia, 1 November 2019.

  • Annual meeting of the Conference of Non-governmental Organizations (CONGO), United Nations Office at Vienna, 11 December 2019.

SPECIAL LECTURES BY THE PRESIDENT

  • "The Principle of Non-interference and the UN System of Collective Security": IV Belgrade Strategic Dialogue, Belgrade, Serbia, 18 March 2019.

  • "The NATO War of 1999 and the Impotence of International Law": International Institute of Politics and Economics in co-operation with Faculty of Security Studies, University of Belgrade, Serbia, 22 March 2019.

  • "Geopolitics and the Law of Unintended Consequences: The Risks of Unilateralism in the Emerging Multipolar Order": XIXth International Likhachov Scientific Conference, St. Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, 23 May 2019.

  • "Globalism, Democracy and the Rule of Law": Readers' Circle of the newspaper "Zeit-Fragen" / Current Concerns, Sirnach (Sankt Gallen), Switzerland, 22 July 2019.

 

Information visits of the President

15-24 January 2019: Information visit to Argentina.

5-9 June 2019: Republic of Turkey, southern border area with Syria.

10-13 September 2019: consultations in London, University of Westminster, United Kingdom, on forthcoming projects of the I.P.O.

 

SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT

  • 22 January 2019: Dr. Maria Paula Cicogna, Department of Political Science, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

  • 20 June 2019: Prof. Ramchandra Byrappa, Eötvös Lórand University, Budapest.

  • 15 July 2019: Mr. Piero Bassetti, founding President of Lombardy Region, President of "globus et locus," Italy.

  • 31 October 2019: H.E. Jean-Arthur Régibeau, Ambassador of Belgium to the Russian Federation.

  • 1 November 2019: Mr. Mustafa Özuslu, Deputy Mayor of Izmir, Turkey.

  • 2 November 2019: Dr. Alexander S. Neu, Member of the German Parliament.

  • 9 November 2019: Mrs. Michčle Alliot-Marie, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence of France.

  • 9 November 2019: Lieutenant General (rtd.) James B. Peake, M.D., former United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

SELECTED MEDIA INTERVIEWS

  • Exclusive interview for Odbrana Magazine, Serbia, on international law and peace (March 2019).

  • German newspaper DIE WELT / on developments concerning the Lockerbie trial (Pressehaus, Berlin, 7 May 2019).

  • Kronenzeitung daily newspaper, Vienna, Austria, on developments in the Lockerbie case (25 November 2019).

 

CO-OPERATION WITH NGOs AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

The International Progress Organization continued cooperation with the Swiss civil society initiative Mut zur Ethik / Courage for Ethics; the NGO Committees on Peace and on Development at the United Nations Center in Vienna; Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin); and the Nomura Center for Lifelong Integrated Education (Japan).

The International Progress Organization established cooperation with the international non-governmental organization "globus et locus," based in Milan, Italy; with the Department of International Relations of Volgograd State University, Russia; and with the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of Eötvös Lórand University in Budapest, Hungary.

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