Madrid Conference Research Articles

From Belgrade to Madrid Conferences

Between the Belgrade and Madrid conferences, the main political organisations of the movement for the liberation of Lithuania acting in the West – the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK), Lithuanian American Council (ALT) and World Lithuanian Community (PLB) – acting both separately and jointly to seek a new quality of liberation activity, kept the case of Lithuanian liberation relevant in the West. The Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, in the wake of a positive US Congress resolution concerning the Baltic States, changed its leadership and carried on fulfilling its promise to speak on behalf of the Lithuanian nation about its inalienable and unconditional right to restore sovereignty. Thus, with the Madrid conference approaching, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania deemed it important to use the final Helsinki Act to show the rest of the world that the rights of national self-determination of the Baltic nations were being trampled on, and that human rights were being infringed; they also wished to raise specific requirements with the Soviets: withdrawal of the oppressive administrative apparatus of the Soviet Union from Lithuania, the freeing of political prisoners and exiles, and respect for human rights and freedoms. The main target of the programme for the liberation of Lithuania by the American Lithuanian Council became the implementation of the principles of the final Helsinki Act. With the Madrid conference approaching, the American Lithuanian Council, having conceived those principles as “a new international legislative foundation” was determined to seek full rather than partial restoration of the freedom of Lithuania. Recognising its auxiliary role in the liberation process of Lithuania, the World Lithuanian Community foresaw that the deciding events would take place in Lithuania itself. As confirmation of this, the programme considering the issues of the order of the state of a liberated Lithuania, its borders and relations with its neighbours, was created. With the concept of liberation activities shifting, they focused on political actions, spreading information, and writing studies on events in Lithuania. Due to persistent disagreements between the Lithuanian American Council and the US Lithuanian Community, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania and the World Lithuanian Community, no general liberating conference to include all relevant parties was organised in the period between the Belgrade and Madrid conferences. But the free Lithuanian community, with assistance from the Lithuanian diplomatic service, agreed on a joint Lithuanian delegation to the conference held in the Spanish capital, Madrid. The unions of emigrant political organisations from the Baltic countries, reinvigorated by US Congress resolution No 200 adopted in 1979, which reiterated that the case for the liberation of their countries remained relevant, adopted a united position and deemed it necessary to continue political lobbyism and to act in a unified manner in both the West and during the conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Madrid.

VLIK from Madrid to Vienna: the Search for a New Political Direction in the Liberation of Lithuania

The Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (Vyriausiasis Lietuvos išlaisvinimo komitetas, VLIK), relying on its right to speak on behalf of the subjugated nation and its belief in the meaning of the Helsinki Accords, emphasised the importance of the Madrid conference for the liberation activities of Lithuania. One more aspect of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, specifically the territorial integrity principle applicable to the liberation process of the Baltic States, was raised in the Spanish capital. Starting in 1981, the VLIK sought to draw international attention to the situation of Lithuanian dissidents in the Soviet Union and drafted memoranda on the situation in Lithuania. After it was ascertained that there was no possibility to raise the case of Lithuania’s freedom at the United Nations, focus was shifted to the situation evolving in Europe. A permanent VLIK representative for maintaining contacts with the European Parliament (EP) was therefore appointed. In co-operation with the Lithuanian diplomatic service and political organisations, the VLIK operated consistently and saw the passing of an EP resolution on the situation in the Baltic States in 1983. Observing signs of a new political trend in the liberation process of Lithuania, the VLIK sought to ensure that the ‘passive position of non-recognition of the occupation of Lithuania’ would become ‘an active and effective campaign’. To this end, expanding the geographical scope of its political activities, the VLIK established and strengthened its representative offices in North and South America, Australia, and Europe. The earlier strategy of cooperation between Lithuanians in the free world and those in the occupied country remained. Having established its intention to restore the ‘execution of the sovereign powers of Lithuania’, VLIK urged political figures at the Vienna conference to hold ‘a broader campaign in Europe’.

The HepHIV 2023 Madrid conference: A call to action for political leadership in reaching the sustainable development goals on earlier testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

The HepHIV 2023 Conference, held in Madrid in November 2023, highlighted how Europe is not on track to meet the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals and Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) targets. This article presents the outcomes of the conference, which focus on ways to improve testing and linkage to care for HIV, viral hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted infections. HIV-related stigma and discrimination, a major barrier to progress, was a key concept of the conference and on the agenda of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union. The HepHIV 2023 organizing committee, alongside the Spanish Ministry of Health, oversaw the conference organization and prepared the scientific programme based on abstract rankings. Key outcomes are derived from conference presentations and discussions. Conference presentations covered the obstacles that HIV-related stigma and discrimination continue to pose to access to services, models for data collection to better monitor progress in the future, and examples of legislative action that can be taken at national levels. Diversification of testing approaches was also highlighted, to reach key populations, (e.g. migrant populations), to increase testing offered in healthcare settings (e.g. emergency departments), and to account for different stages of epidemics across the region. With a strong call for intensified action to address the impact of HIV-related stigma and discrimination on testing uptake, the conference concluded that strengthened collaboration is required between governments and implementers around testing and linkage to care. There is also an ongoing need to ensure sustainable political commitment and appropriate resource allocation to address gaps and inequalities in access for key populations and to focus on the implementation of integrated responses to HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

Una nuova idea di museo tra passato e futuro

The Madrid Conference of 1934 sanctioned the affirmation of a new idea of the museum with an enhanced educational and social scope, which was shared internationally. The main objective of the reform, already underway in the first decades of the 20th century, was to enable the general public entering museums to understand the value of history, of the arts and of sciences in the ‘construction’ of the present. This process of profound transformations involves various design and theoretical concerns, which are explored in this issue of the Journal in three sections and in a photo album. The first section highlights the role of some of the decisive figures in the development of contemporary museography and then moves on to the theoretical debate and the relationship between exhibitions and museums. The second section focuses on education and communication, both within the museum and in the development of methodologies for designing its spaces. Finally, the third part investigates the museum from a formal and functional point of view. The volume closes with a photographic ‘story’ of the evolution of some of the Uffizi’s most important exhibitions and a tribute to the memory of Delfín Rodríguez Ruiz.

Uprise of the Shrinking Violets: Cancel Culture in Media

We are greatly indebted to two unusually active and insightful referees whose comments have enabled us to greatly improve this present paper. It goes without saying, but we will say it anyway, the usual provisos prevail. We, not they, are responsible for all remaining errors, omissions, infelicities, not they. Furthermore, we have to thank the participants of the 6th Annual Madrid Conference on Austrian Economics for discussing the topic as well as the organizers for awarding a previous version of this paper with the 2nd Macrotrends Prize for the development of Austrian Economics.

NO FEAR–Better Integrating Healthcare Into Crisis Management Structures

Introduction:Since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic, the EU-funded project, NO FEAR collected lessons observed from the response. One of the issues raised in the retrospective “lessons observed” exercise, was the need to better integrate health care into “crisis management structures” (e.g. Civil Protection).Method:Lessons observed from the COVID-19 response were collected and analyzed by the NO FEAR project, through a questionnaire, discussion with consortium partners, and a large conference in Madrid, with a high-level briefing for policymakers.Results:During the Madrid conference, different speakers pointed out the lack of training for healthcare professionals in crisis management (processes and procedures)–except those with military training or EMS officers who are part of Fire and Rescue Services. In a same manner, crisis managers have very little (if any) training in health. This was identified as a gap in future preparedness.Conclusion:Looking into the future, healthcare professionals who will be called to take part in crisis management systems have to be trained in this task, as well as basic awareness of crisis managers to health issues in emergencies.

INTERFAITH OUTREACH OF THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE: TRENDS, CAUSES, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The Muslim World League is a nominally non-governmental Islamic organisation based in Saudi Arabia. From its founding in 1962 until relatively recently, it mainly focused on promulgating the archetypal Islamic fundamentals and practices across the Muslim world in line with the vision of the Saudi state. An early indicator that this mission was giving way to a more dynamic and, relatively, liberal position was an interfaith initiative by the league in 2008 that resulted in the Makkah Appeal; a landmark document that advocated, and set appropriate terms for, Islamic initiatives in interfaith dialogue. The league’s new interfaith programme was then introduced to the world ten days later when it convened the Madrid Conference, bringing together prominent figures from all major faith traditions. But it was not until 2016 / 2017 with the coming to office of its present secretary-general, Dr. Al-Issa, and the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, that the league radically expanded and diversified its interfaith dialogue initiatives. This article examines a mixed sample of these initiatives to give a sense of how the league’s interfaith programme has evolved in recent years. It then gives an analysis of the factors likely to be driving these changes, the aims they seem oriented to achieve, and what directions they might take in future. Special attention is paid to the league’s function and significance within the larger discourse of Saudi international relations and diplomatic interests on the world stage.

Konferans Diplomasisi Perspektifinde Antalya Diplomasi Forumu'nun Uluslararası İlişkilerdeki Rolü

Uluslararası İlişkiler disiplininin ortaya çıkış tarihi hemen hemen I. Dünya Savaşı’nın yaşandığı yıllara dayanmaktadır. Çünkü bu disiplin özelinde üniversitelerde kürsülerin açılması özellikle 1918 sonrası yıllara uzanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu disiplinin ülkeler arasındaki münasebetlere sirayet etmesi ve dünya üzerinde gözle görülür hale gelmesi şüphesiz diplomasi çabalarıyla mümkün olmuştur. Bir uluslararası siyaset, ilaveten bir uluslararası hukuk iletişim süreci olarak nitelendirilen diplomasinin özünde ülkelerin birbirleriyle varsa mevcuttaki problemleri hususunda münasebet kurmak ve bu bağlamda kendi ülke menfaatleri doğrultusunda kazanılabilecek maksimum kazancı elde etmek yatar. Dolayısıyla bu kazancın çabaları ise duruma ve ülkeler arası münasebetlerin boyutuna göre değişiklik arz etmektedir. Bugün uluslararası ilişkiler disiplininde sıkça kullanılan diplomasi çabalarını; zirve diplomasisi, ikili diplomasi, çoklu/çok boyutlu diplomasi, kültürel diplomasi, parlamenter diplomasi, konferans diplomasisi yani kamu diplomasisi şeklinde sıralamak mümkündür. Bu bağlamda bu makale bahse konu diplomasi çabalarından biri olan konferans diplomasisinin bir yumuşak güç unsuru olarak kamu diplomasisi boyutunu tartışmaktadır. Bu diplomasi türünü önemli kılan husus iki dünya savaşı arasında sıkça kullanılmasıdır. Dünya savaşları sonrasında her ne kadar bu diplomasi türüne başvurma sıklığı azalsa da günümüzde özellikle problemli coğrafyalarda halen daha etkin bir şekilde kullanıldığı görülmektedir. Öte yandan dünya savaşları sırasında sıkça büyük devletler tarafından başvurulan bir diplomasi türü olan konferans diplomasisinde genellikle büyük devletler çıkarları doğrultusunda kazançlar elde etmiştir.
 Buradan hareketle bu çalışmada ilk olarak kamu diplomasisi çerçevesinde konferans diplomasisinin diplomasideki yeri ve önemine dair bir tartışma yapılmıştır. Daha sonra konferans diplomasisinin uluslararası ilişkiler disiplini çerçevesinde dünyadaki örnekleri irdelenmiştir. Ardından ise Türkiye Cumhuriyeti devletinin bir konferans diplomasisi örneği olarak uluslararası ilişkiler disiplinine kazandırdığı Antalya Diplomasi Forumu’nun bu disiplin özelindeki konumuna dair bir açıklama getirilmiş ve sonuç bölümünde ise bu Forum’un sahip olduğu role dair bir değerlendirme yapılmıştır.

The <i>Vox</i> Phenomenon in the Culture of Contemporary Spain

Collective monograph published in Barcelona in 2019 under the title Las respuestas a las 10 grandes preguntas que todos nos hacemos sobre Vox (Answers to the 10 biggest questions we ask about Vox) was edited by John Müller, journalist of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. John Müller gathered a powerful team of nine researchers and journalists competent in the issue to provide answers to the major questions about the right-wing populist party Vox, which derives its name from the Latin word for voice. The book written in scientific-journalistic style comprises ten chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion. It opens with a sociological image of Vox partisans. The party is traditionally supported by the region of Andalusia where it first made itself known and widely recognized, as well as by the right-wing Spanish electorate. These voters are conservative-minded and disillusioned with the socialists and the People’s Party. The second chapter discusses the history of the Party, starting from its creation on December 17, 2013, by the former members of the People’s Party and its public presentation at a press conference in Madrid on January 16, 2014. Chapter 3 is devoted to the portrayal of the political leadership of the Party with an emphasis on its leader Santiago Abascal Conde. Born in Bilbao in 1976 into a family of prominent politicians, Santiago Abascal followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and joined the People’s Party, then in opposition. Because of the political work, namely their staunch position against the separation of the Basque Country and Catalonia from Spain, the family was threatened by the terrorist group ETA. The feeling of an imminent threat might account for another vein of Abascal’s political aspirations – the right to defensive gun use and ownership for the Spaniards. In this part of the book, Abascal is depicted as ultra-right and xenophobic, though Abascal denies such allegations. Chapter 4 analyses the reasons for the split in the People’s Party that gave rise to the Vox party. The intraparty struggle revolved around Basque separatism, terrorism, and taxation issues. Further on the authors investigate the ideology of right-wing populism in Spain and explain the reasons for its wide support, the economic policy of neoliberalism, similar to Franco’s one, and tax cuts for large businesses among them. The book is based on Abascal’s public speeches and taps into the works of prominent political scientists.

Public Opinion about Climate Change in United States, Partisan View and Media Coverage of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid

The research examines the news on climate change in different media, through the analysis of agenda setting and framing, in the context of a construction of media discourse. The role of the media has been relevant in the symbolic struggle of climate change images. The polarized public opinion on climate change in the USA, which has led the Trump government to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, as well as the revocation of environmental policies, is analyzed by the coverage that media with Republican and Democratic political tendencies gave to the climate crisis during the 12 days of the 2019 Climate Summit. The 189 news articles broadcast by Fox News, Breitbart, CNN, and the New York Times were identified, analyzed, and contrasted. The results reveal that media with a Republican political tendency were the only ones that broadcast denial news of climate change. Breitbart reported the largest number of news items throughout the sample, mostly denialists, at 71%, using tactics related to the spectacularization of the climate phenomenon, ad hominem attacks on ecologists and politicians, the connection between environmental initiatives and “eco-fascism” or the “radical left”, as well as use of the half-truth fallacy and questionable sources associated with the fossil fuel industry. Fox News practically did not address the issue during the summit. The Democratic political tendency media did not report any kind of denial news; their information and opinions communicated environmental initiatives and climate change consequences.

Z badań nad białostockim epizodem w biografii Rafała Lemkina

Rafał Lemkin became famous in historiography as the creator of the concept of genocide (genocide). This Polish lawyer of Jewish origin, graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Jan Kazimierz in Lviv and was a pupil of the outstanding Polish criminal lawyer Juliusz Makarewicz. From his student days, he became interested in the lack of legal regulations in the field of criminal liability for committing mass murders on a specific national or ethnic group. An important impulse for the development of this thought for the young Lemkin were the famous trials of the assassins Talaat Pasha, responsible for the slaughter of Armenians during the Great War, and Symon Petlura, charged with the responsibility for pogroms against Jews in Ukraine. Before the outbreak of World War II, Rafał Lemkin, as part of his activity in the Polish section of the International Criminal Law Association, presented at a conference in Madrid in 1933 the first visions of the concept of international criminal jurisdiction of genocide offenses. After the outbreak of World War II and his escape to the United States, he started working in the War Department and as a university lecturer. In 1944, he published his opus magnum – “The Axis Rule in Occupied Europe”, where he formulated and accurately described the concept of genocide as a crime of international law. Lemkin’s idea was quickly appreciated. As early as December 1946, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing genocide as a crime of international law, and two years later it adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. He described his extremely interesting life in the autobiography entitled “Totally Unofficial”, which was translated and published in Poland in 2018. Rafał Lemkin describes many details of his life, but omits the period of his residence in Białystok, where he allegedly passed his matriculation exams in 1919, and his student days at the Jagiellonian University, when he gained the necessary experience and knowledge in legal fields to help him develop the concept of criminalisation of genocide.

Issues in Australian Foreign Policy July to December 2019

Issues in Australian Foreign Policy July to December 2019

ASLO 2020 Award Winners

<scp>ASLO</scp> 2020 Award Winners

Introduction and Editorial

I am delighted to introduce a new edition of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, and to thank our colleague on the editorial board, Dr Samantha Broadhead, for her sterling work in bringing this wide-ranging collection to publication. As Sam suggests in her editorial, the articles, reports of innovative practice and book review demonstrate a lively and buoyant interest across the sector in access to higher education and the value of learning opportunities for adults. I am lucky to have just returned from a conference in Madrid at which there was much discussion amongst European colleagues of inclusive teaching and personalised support to enable more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in their studies. This edition of the journal makes a significant contribution to those debates.

IEEE RAS Standards Strategy Update [Standards

On 30 September 2018, the Industrial Activities Board (IAB) of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) organized a Standards Strategy Meeting in conjunction with the IEEE/Robotics Society of Japan Intelligent Robots and Systems Conference in Madrid, Spain. The purpose of the meeting was to review and refine an overall robotics standards landscape with the goal of determining areas in which the RAS should focus on robotics standards development and areas in which the Society should partner with other standards development organizations. Attendees included many RAS working group chairs; representatives from the International Organization for Standardization, the Robotics Industries Association, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and experts in various robotics fields, including autonomous vehicles and industrial robotics.

Palliative care in primary care: European Forum for Primary Care position paper.

The aim of this position paper is to assist primary health care (PHC) providers, policymakers, and researchers by discussing the current context in which palliative health care functions within PHC in Europe. The position paper gives examples for improvements to palliative care models from studies and international discussions at European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC) workshops and conferences. Palliative care is a holistic approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with terminal illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and diligent assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial, or spiritual. Unfortunately, some Europeans, unless they have cancer, still do not have access to generalist or specialist palliative care. A draft of this position paper was distributed electronically through the EFPC network in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Active collaboration with the representatives of the International Primary Palliative Care Network was established from the very beginning and more recently with the EAPC Primary Care Reference Group. Barriers, opportunities, and examples of good and bad practices were discussed at workshops focusing on palliative care at the international conferences of Southeastern European countries in Ljubljana (2015) and Budva (2017), at regular conferences in Amsterdam (2015) and Riga (2016), at the WONCA Europe conferences in Istanbul (2015), Copenhagen (2016), and Prague (2017), and at the EAPC conference in Madrid (2017). There is great diversity in the extent and type of palliative care provided in primary care by European countries. Primary care teams (PCTs) are well placed to encourage timely palliative care. We collected examples from different countries. We found numerous barriers influencing PCTs in preparing care plans with patients. We identified many facilitators to improve the organization of palliative care.

P4c after auschwitz: on immanence and transcendence in education

In this paper, I provide a response to papers that were written in response to the keynote I presented at the 2017 ICPIC conference in Madrid and to the written version of this keynote, published in this journal. I try to clarify what was ‘at stake’ in the paper, namely an attempt to respond to Adorno’s question about the (im)possibility of education ‘after Auschwitz,’ and highlight that the main theme underlying my arguments concerns the difference between immanence and transcendence and how this ‘reflects’ upon education. I try to show why (the possibility of) transcendence matters, educationally and for our existence as subject. I try to clarify that the interest in what it means to exist as subject and what education may have to do in relation to this is not meant as another normative blueprint for education but rather tries to engage with the ‘experience of freedom,’ the experience that we can act and can act differently. And I try to clarify that all this is not an attempt to determine what the subject is , but an attempt to come to terms with the question -- which is there for each of us – as to what it might mean to exist as subject.

Jazzing philosophy with children. an improvising way for a new pedagogy.

This paper is based on the content of the talk held at the ICPIC Conference in Madrid, titled “Improvising as a way of inquiring and inventing” in which the jazz metaphoe for education and philosophy is introduce. The arguments proposed are adapted to respond also to some critical issues put forward by Gert Biesta in his paper about philosophical work with children and the related experience in schools through Philosophy for/with Children programmes. My contribution to the discussion deals with two main foci. The first one is theoretical and considers improvisation as expression of human cognitive constructivism and form of adaptive/exaptive human agency in the environment. Improvisation is interpreted as a privileged form of “complex thinking”, in which the three components identified by Lipman - critical, creative and caring thinking - are integrated and mutually implemented. The second focus is pragmatic and proposes eight “jazz” doors to embody education in the dimension of improvisation, opening teaching to the authentic experience of changing implied in growing/aging, in which the stability of identities are always at risk. A jazzing way to Philosophy for/with Children is proposed as antydote to the risk of learnification of education and capitalization of human skills to which – according to Biesta – Philosophy for/with Children seems to be exposed in its school application, while proposing a jazz framework for a new “poor pedagogy”.

Philosophy for children, learnification, intelligent adaptive systems and racism – a response to gert biesta

Gert Biesta presented at the 2017 ICPIC conference in Madrid and published his paper in this Special Issue. In this short paper I attempt to bring into conversation his presentation, P4C practice, and work on racism and the Community of Inquiry. I do so by asking two main questions: 1) Is P4C an example of what Biesta terms ‘The Learnification of Education’? 2) Does the Community of Inquiry produce ‘Intelligent Adaptive Systems’? In so doing, I attempt to open up for further contributions an inquiry into the responsibilities of the teacher, particularly in conditions of continuing racial inequality and the extent to which the Community of Inquiry approach encourages participants to ask ‘is this an environment worth adapting to?’ I consider this question with reference to Matthew Lipman’s notion of ‘reasonableness’, Nicholas Burbules’ phrase ‘the hegemony of reasonableness’ and Gert Biesta’s notion of ‘grown-up-ness’.

Grown-upness or living philosophically?

This article addresses a particular element of Gert Biesta's presentation to the International Council for Philosophical Inquiry with Children conference in Madrid, 2017: the notion of grown-upness and how this might be problematic in practising Philosophy with Children (PwC). Biesta's grown-upness seems to imply a deficit view of children. It is proposed here that the idea of grown-upness demands that children are positioned by others - adult others - which further denies their agency. Biesta's suggestion that grown-upness is about a way of being in the world is discussed in relation to how PwC positively encourages participants to engage with others by attending to a range of views and perspectives without situating themselves at the centre. The article concludes that emphasis on the philosophical element of the practice rather than on the children who engage in it, may address the deficit view thrown-up by Biesta, and that it may be more helpful to talk about practical philosophy or community of philosophical inquiry.