| About SPS | Funding opportunities | Calendar | Publications | Grantees | Contact us |
| |||||||
| [ HOME ] |
|
||||||
|
Page Updated:
25-Sep-2006 Workshop analyses Tensions in Society Advanced
Research Workshop
An Advanced Research Workshop entitled “Tensions in Society” took place in St. Petersburg, Russia on 17-20 April 2004. The ARW was within the Priority Research Topic of Human and Societal Dynamics, and treated the following six major themes:
Pervading these themes was recognition that the elevated threat of terrorism and the response to terrorism by nations were now major causes of tension. The workshop was co-directed by Dr. Raymond Seltz, General Secretary of Euroscience, Strasbourg, France, and Prof. Irina Eliseeva, of the St. Petersburg Association of Scientists and Scholars. Opening Remarks were given by Prof. Eduard A. Tropp, General Academic Secretary of the St. Petersburg Scientific Center, Prof. Eugeniy I. Stepanov, Director of the Conflictology Center of the Institute of Sociology in Moscow, Prof. A. D. Victorov, for the Government of St. Petersburg and Dr. Paul Rambaut, member of the NATO Advisory Panel on Science and Technology Policy. An informative talk was given by former U.S. Ambassador John McDonald, a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, former Deputy Director of the International Labor Organization and presently Chairman of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington, DC. Ambassador McDonald described the approaches he and others had used to resolve conflicts in various parts of the world including Cyprus and Georgia and he outlined the social tensions that can arise from globalisation and regionalization. Among other presentations may be noted those given by Professor Stepanov who spoke of globalisation and regionalization as causative factors for much of the conflict in Russia, and Professor Feodor O. Alexandrov, of the Department of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University, who discussed the development of scientific models of conflict dynamics. Additional talks analysed problems in Ukraine, the Chechnian region of Southern Russia, the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and social tensions resulting from the diverse national communities in Estonia and Lithuania. There was also an interesting talk by E. Rezvan of Russia on the efforts being made to win the hearts of Muslim societies Dr. William F. Lincoln, founder and president of the Lincoln Institute for Collaborative Planning and Cooperative Problem Solving, and Executive Director for the Conflict Resolution, Research and Resource Institute in Tacoma, Washington, provided on excellent overview of approaches that might be used to mitigate tensions in urban environments. He drew examples from his experience in Nicaragua, Sudan, Cuba, Russia and the United States. Dr. Gérard Toulouse of the Laboratoire de Physique of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris spoke of the individual and collective responsibilities of scientists and pointed to efforts of individual scientists (Russell, Einstein, Sakharov) in affecting the use of science by their governments in the development of weapons. Prof Miron Ya Amusia, associated both with the Racah Institute of Physics in Jerusalem and the Joffe Physical Technical Institute in St. Petersburg also discussed the responsibility of intellectuals for the development of their societies. One session was given over to a consideration of conflicts in society caused by scientific progress itself. Biotechnology, genetic-based diagnostic tools, gene therapy, pharmacology and energy supply were highlighted. The role of pseudo-science with its false and misleading promises was also discussed. It is intended that the workshop discussions will be published in a volume of the NATO Science Series in a few months’ time. |
||||||||||||||||||||
top