The Moscow School of Political Studies celebrates its 20th anniversary
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Moscow School of Political Studies is oraganising the seminar "Moscow School: 20 years", which will take place on 25-27 April 2013 in Golitsyno near Moscow.
20 years ago, on 4 April 1993, the Moscow School of Political Studies held its first seminar on "Politics, economics and national relationships". For the past two decades, the School has contributed to the objective of transforming Russia into a truly open and democratic civil society which functions effectively.
The School’s seminars, which focus on the most important and complex problems of modern times, offer young leaders a unique platform for open debates and free-thinking.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Moscow School of Political Studies invites its Alumni from all over Russia to the seminar "Moscow School: 20 years", which will take place on 25-27 April 2013 in Golitsyno near Moscow. The connection between power and society, power and personality as well as the question of morality in politics will be the key topics of the event. The School’s Alumni will debate with prominent national and international personalities.
Catherine Lalumière, President of the European Association of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe, will deliver a speech on "Power, Personality and Political Institutions".
For more information and the programme, please visit the website of the Moscow School.
Watch
interview by Secretary GeneralThorbjørn Jagland
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Second debate on European Identity, 9 April
What are the roots of European identity? What does
European identity mean today and how is it related to European integration?
How can the Council of Europe help foster positive European identities?
Organised by the Council of Europe and Ecole Nationale d’Administration
(ENA), the various Debates on European Identity
which will be organised until July 2014, will provide a
conceptual basis to explore the ways in which the Council of Europe and
ENA can contribute to building constructive European identities and to promoting
integration through their activities. By inviting eminent personalities
from politics, civil society and academia, the Debates on European Identity
will examine current thinking and dynamics behind the concept of European
identity and explore how such ideas can help stimulate European integration.
Yuri ANDRUKHOVYCH, a Ukrainian poet and essayist,
co-author of
‘My Europe" introduced the second session of this series with a
presentation on "Europe: Culture at the edge of the world or who
are our losers?' at the Council of Europeon 9 April.
The presentation was followed by a discussion with the audience. Text of speech
The inaugural debate, on 12 March, had been introduced by
Karsten ALNAES, a Norwegian historian, author of
‘The History of Europe’ inaugurated with a presentation on ‘Roots
of European identity – challenges and threats’(see
Video
of the conference,
Text of speech,
Post-debate interview.
The next debate will take place on 28 May, with
Victor Erofeev, Russian writer, on "Russian and European Souls - Can
they walk together?"
Moroccan
School - Launching
conference
The inauguration of the School of Political Studies of Morocco took place on 14 March 2013 in Rabat.
Mr Pietro MARCENARO, Chairperson of the Committee on Political Affairs
and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr
Eneko LANDABURU, European Union Ambassador to Morocco, as well as Mr
Zoltán TAUBNER, Director of External Relations of the Council of Europe
took part in the ceremony. The inauguration ceremony was followed by a
conference on the theme “Challenges and limits of deliberative
democracy”. The School of Political Studies of Morocco, the second such
School in a non-member State of the Council of Europe, was created with
the financial support of the EU/CoE Joint Programme “Strengthening
democratic reform in the southern Neighbourhood” and the Norwegian
Government.
The inauguration of the Tunisian School of Politics
had taken place on 8 January 2013 in Tunis, in the presence of the Deputy
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who delivered a
speech on this occasion. The inauguration was preceded by the signing of
the Memorandum of Understanding about the Council of Europe’s presence
in Tunisia by the Council of Europe and the Tunisian authorities.
Both Schools are being set up in the framework of the Council of Europe
new neighbourhood policy. Independent NGOs like the sixteen existing
Schools in Central and Eastern Europe, the new Schools’ objective will
be to train new generations of political, economic, social and cultural
leaders. Through annual series of seminars related to democracy, human
rights and the rule of law, the new Schools will make a concrete contribution
to the ongoing transitional processes in their countries.
Open-ended
Debate Series The second conference of the series took take
place on 14 February. It was introduced by Professor Philippe Breton, a
laureate of the Institut de France, University Professor at the University
Centre of Media Studies, University of Strasbourg. Professor Breton addressed
the theme ‘The City by the Yardstick of great Anthropological Changes’.
He started his presentation from a recognition that the invention of the
city is perhaps at the exact intersection of three major anthropological
changes in the history of humankind. The first concerns the shift from the
tool to the machine, the second the transition from traditional societies
to individualistic societies. And finally, the third change concerns the
establishment of a process of de-legitimisation of violence and civilising
of behaviour. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion with
the audience.
Think tanks meeting
On Tuesday 4 December 2012, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland hosted a
meeting of directors and representatives from 27 major European
think tanks in Strasbourg. The meeting was part of the Council’s
efforts to enhance its impact by strengthening the collaboration with all
relevant actors having a role in broad conceptual and political debates.
Think tanks have become important actors in many policy fields and can provide
access to new ideas and innovative approaches.
(Read more)
Policy Planning in brief
The Directorate
of Policy Planning (DPP) was set up in 2010 in order to provide
the Secretary General, the Committee of Ministers and Major Administrative
Entities (MAEs) of the Council of Europe with conceptual and strategic
analyses about relevant political and societal developments in Europe
and beyond. Its work is based on research and on topical exchanges
with internal and external networks. The objective is to enhance
the Organisation’s ability to anticipate major trends and challenges
facing member states and to offer coherent short- and long-term
responses within its statutory mandate.
Does European identity already exist? How could
European identity be defined and characterised? How could a
common European identity contribute to strengthening the practices
and processes of European integration within a wider Europe?
These and many more questions will be addressed in the
new series of Debates on European Identities initiated by the
Council of Europe jointly with the French Ecole Nationale d'Administration
(ENA). Building on the format of the previous Democracy debates,
and enlarging the thematic scope, this series, which will associate
eminent personalities from politics, civil society and academia,
aims to provide an intellectual framework to stimulate reflection
amongst diplomats, Council of Europe staff and experts.
It intends to act as a catalyst of ideas and concepts for
the development of a European future.
This series of debates was initiated by the Secretary General
in order to stimulate reflection and discussion on the developments
and challenges affecting European societies, thereby fostering
innovative thinking and action within the Organisation and helping
to forge the role of the Council of Europe as a laboratory for
new concepts and ideas on democracy. From April 2011 to June
2012, the Democracy Debate series allowed member and observer
state Delegations and Council of Europe staff to attend a number
of debates introduced by renowned speakers on issues related
to the challenges to democracy in Europe and beyond.
Democracy Debates web site Democracy Debates Collection:
'Democracy
on the Precipice'
Meetings of Directors of Policy Planning
In order to analyse member States' European and trans-European
policies, the Directorate of Policy Planning organises meetings
bringing together Directors of policy planning from Ministries
of Foreign Affairs of Council of Europe member states. The first
such meeting took place in February 2011 on the general policies
in members States followed by a second meeting in September
on "Europe and its Arab neighbours: common or compatible
values?". The third meeting on 'Central Asian Neighbourhood:
Europe's Outpost or Trans-Asian Bridge?' took place in Bucharest
in March 2012. The next meeting is foreseen in early 2013.
The ALER-T
(Awareness Laboratory for early response - Team) in house meetings
bring together representatives of all Major Administrative entities
(MAES), seeking to enhance the Council of Europe's capacity to provide
coherent short-and long-term responses within its statutory mandate
to challenges facing member states and the Organisation. Since February
2011 more than twenty five meetings have taken place on themes as
varied as intercultural dialogue, migration, political extremism,
freedom of expression, youth participation, rule of law, financial
crisis and social cohesion, corruption and human rights, concentration
of power, anti-piracy law, the use and abuse of history in times
of crisis, gender balance, elderly people and ageism.
These meetings offer an opportunity to Council of Europe staff
members who work on activities relating to a specific country
to discuss the actual and potential role of the Council of Europe
in helping to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in that
country.
At each
meeting, the political context is introduced by a recognized
expert specialising in a country or region, followed by a discussion
raising issues relevant to the Council of Europe’s work with
the country or region in question.
Since October 2011, a number of closed informal brainstorming
meetings have taken place, including on Turkey (October 2011),
Ukraine (February 2012), Bosnia and Herzegovina (March 2012)
and Azerbaijan (June 2012).
Co-operation with think-tanks
The Directorate of Policy Planning is building contacts with
major European think tanks and reviews academic work on relevant
topics, such as climate change, demographic changes, robotics
and ethics, in order to provide Senior Management with strategic
expertise and background information.
The Schools
of Political Studies are aimed at training future generations of
political, economic, social and cultural leaders in countries in
transition. With the participation of national and international
experts, they organise annual series of seminars and conferences
on topics such as European integration, democracy, human rights,
the rule of law and globalisation.
Group of Eminent Persons on "Living
together in the XXI Century"
At the initiative
of Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
a Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) was convened in 2011 to prepare
a report in the context of the project ''Living together in 21st
century Europe'', on the challenges arising from the resurgence
of intolerance and discrimination in Europe. The Directorate of
Policy Planning implements follow-up action to the report. Against
this background, a High Level Meeting on 'Diversity in Europe:
an asset for the future' took place in Tirana
in November 2012, at the initiative of the Albanian Chairmanship
of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
In 2011, the Council of Europe commissioned the study ‘The Council
of Europe and the OSCE: Enhancing Co-operation and Complementarity
through Greater Coherence’. This study was finalised in March
2012 and includes a number of practical proposals on how the
two organisations could achieve greater synergies and ensure
better coherence and complementarity. It was brought to the
attention of all Delegations to the Council of Europe and through
the OSCE Secretary General and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to
the Delegations at the OSCE.
Yuri ANDRUKHOVYCH, a Ukrainian poet and essayist,
co-author of
‘My Europe" introduced the second session of this series with a
presentation on "Europe: Culture at the edge of the world or who
are our losers?' at the Council of Europeon 9 April.
The presentation was followed by a discussion with the audience.
The second conference of the series took take
place on 14 February. It was introduced by Professor Philippe Breton, a
laureate of the Institut de France, University Professor at the University
Centre of Media Studies, University of Strasbourg. Professor Breton addressed
the theme ‘The City by the Yardstick of great Anthropological Changes’.
He started his presentation from a recognition that the invention of the
city is perhaps at the exact intersection of three major anthropological
changes in the history of humankind. The first concerns the shift from the
tool to the machine, the second the transition from traditional societies
to individualistic societies. And finally, the third change concerns the
establishment of a process of de-legitimisation of violence and civilising
of behaviour. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion with
the audience.
