Memocracy

Join MEMOCRACY for our first public event on 8 April 2022 at the University in Cologne in Germany.

We will discuss Putin’s abuse of history in his obscure reasoning for invasion of Ukraine and ask how Europe can preserve not only its past but core values and international order.

Description

In his escalating speech of 21 February 2022, three days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Putin made clear: In his view, Ukraine is “an inalienable part of [Russia’s] own history, cultural and spiritual space” that needs to be “de-nazified” which gives Russia the right to subjugate it. This narrative, a complete distortion of historical facts, is central to Putin’s claim that its brutal drive for expansion and restoration of the Soviet Union is politically and morally justified. If the rewriting of history, including by legal means, has been part of many States’ foreign strategy for a long time, the weight given to an official narrative of the past and the effects created have rarely been so huge. The questions arising at this beginning of a new era of international relations are numerous: Which factors have contributed to the fact that such a detachment from historical reality could be formulated and are believed by some today; what does it mean – for Ukraine, its neighbors and beyond – when memory governance is no longer limited to serving ontological security interests but openly pursues expansionist purposes; and what can the European States do to preserve not only their past but also their core values and an international order that is based on law?

              Panelists:

Dr. Uladzilau Belavusau

T.M.C. Asser Institute (The Hague), University of Amsterdam

Dr. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias

Institute of Legal Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences

Prof. Dr. Fabian Klose

Chair for International History and Historical Peace and Conflict Research, University of Cologne

Dr. Maria Mälksoo

Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen

Chair:

Prof. Dr. DDr. h.c. Angelika Nußberger M.A.

Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne

We invite you to follow the event via Zoom or in person. Please note that the number of seats in the room is limited.

Please register here ([email protected]), indicating whether you wish to participate via zoom or in person.

We are looking forward to see you and would appreciate if you shared this invitation with others.

Kind regards,

The MEMOCRACY Team

Academy for European Human Rights Protection, University of Cologne

T.M.C. Asser Institute (The Hague), University of Amsterdam

Institute for Legal Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen