Public Lecture about Hybrid Threats
Department of Political Science would like to announce a public lecture Hybrid threats: is it reality or fiction? How are European Union institutions and different countries protecting against hybrid threats?
Lecture will be held by Eitvydas Bajarūnas, Ambassador – at – Large for Hybrid Threats of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Member of Steering Board of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki.
All students are welcome to public lecture, which will take place on 12th of February, at 11.15 am., in 311 room, Putvinskio 23, at Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy.
Irish Ambassador to Lithuania D. Noonan visited VMU
His Excellency David Noonan, Irish Ambassador to Lithuania, visited the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy (VMU). During his visit, the Ambassador donated books, lectured at the University, and met with university staff and students.
This visit is valuated as strengthening cultural and academic ties between Lithuania and Ireland. We believe that this cooperation will evolve into other great joint initiatives.
THE DIRECTOR OF NATO LECTURES IN THE FACULTY
The director of NATO Arms Control, Disarmament, and WMD Non-Proliferation Center William Alberque is going to visit Vytautas Magnus University’s Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy on the 16th and 7th of November, 2017. William Alberque is going to give public lectures as well as interact with students.
William Alberque is an expert on arms control, international relations, and national security who has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of strategic planning and strategic communication. Before becoming the director of NATO Arms Control, Disarmament, and WMD Non-Proliferation Center, Mr. Alberque was the director of European Security in the United States Department of Defence and the U.S. Department of State as an expert on disarmament.
| Time | Place | Event |
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November 16th 17:30 |
Putvinskio g. 23-311 | Lecture “Role of Multilateral Diplomacy in Contemporary World“ |
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November 17th 14:50 |
Putvinskio g. 23-313 | Lecture “NATO‘s Dynamics after Ukraine Crisis“ |
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November 17th 17:30 |
Donelaičio g. 52-403 | Lecture “NATO‘s Role in Interregional Cooperation“ |
The events are held and lectures are given in English.
Dr. Peck and Dr. J.D. Mininger will present their book
Dr. Jason Michael Peck (University of Rochester, U.S.A.)
“The Poetics of Debt: a Genealogy”
Following the lecture and subsequent discussion, Dr. Peck and Dr. J.D. Mininger will present their book German Aesthetics: Fundamental Concepts from Baumgarten to Adorno (2016, Bloomsbury).
Dr. Peck is a scholar of German-Jewish philosophy and comparative literature, formerly a professor in the department of Modern Languages and Literature at the University of Rochester, now a Research Fellow at the Center for Faith and Human Flourishing at LCC International University for 2017-2018. He is co-editor of German Aesthetics: Fundamental Concepts from Baumgarten to Adorno, author of articles on (among other topics) Kantian philosophy, Jewish contributions to German Idealism and early Romanticism, and political theology in the works of Paul Celan and Jacob Taubes. His lecture is drawn from a forthcoming book entitled The Poetics of Debt: Political Theologies From TheMerchant of Venice to the Occupy Movement (Brill).
Friday, Nov. 10, 3:30pm, Room 106, Putvinskio str. 23
Public lecture about Ukrainian political tradition
Department of Political Science is inviting to public lecture Hard ways to Ukrainian independence. The lecture will be given by Iurii Perga from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
I.Perga – Ukrainian historian, was born in Kyiv and finished Historical Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University. Prepared and finished Ph.D. thesis at the Department of History in Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Currently working as a senior lecturer in this Institute. Main field of academic interests – history of Ukrainian-Polish relations in the interwar period, history of civil initiations.
The public lecture will be held in English, on 13-th of November (Monday), at 11.15 am. (310 room, Putvinskio 23).
Public Lecture About Day-To-Day Issues in UE
What are the main actualities of the European Union institutions ? Which main jobs are working EU leaders in this moment? Is it possible to solve all problems of the EU in quick way? This and other questions will be answered during public lecturer Dealing with day-to-day issues in UE: consumer protection, food safety, double food standards, border protection and others.
Visiting lecturer of Department of Political Science will be Laimutė Pilukaitė, Deputy Head of Representation of European Commission in Lithuania, Team Leader – Political Reporting &Policy Analysis in the Representation
Lecture will take place on 23-th of October, at 1pm., Putvinskio 23, room 311.
Prof. M. Holmila Public Lectures on Alcohol’s Harm Issues
We are pleased to invite to the lectures on alcohol’s harm to children and protection issues to be held by research professor Marja Holmila on 20th-22th of September, 2017 at Vytautas Magnus University (Putvinskio Street 23-312, Kaunas).
Professor Marja Holmila is one of the leading researcher in the field of alcohol’s harm to others, and currently work in The National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland. She has an expertise on Community-based prevention of alcohol related harms; Family and alcohol Harms to children of alcohol abusing parents; Alcohol and violence; Women’s drinking.
20th – 21st September from 2pm till 5pm. V.Putvinskio St . No 23, room 312.
Themes:
Epidemiological knowledge on harms to children related to parental alcohol use
The discussion and action developed for child protection (emphasis on children’s’ individual rights, support to the whole family, the role of child welfare organisations, strengthening local health care and social services, national alcohol and drug policies.)
Child protection and child custody services – dilemmas and solutions
22st September from 11am till 1pm. V.Putvinskio St . No 23, room 311..
Theme:
Changing the culture and educating the parents, information campaigns, listening to the children
Please register or/ and for further information contact Birute Jogaite by email: birutejogaite@yahoo.com
Visiting Lecturer about Czech Republic Elections
On September 26 th, 2017 (Tuesday) at the Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy (Gedimino st. 44 – 203) a public lecture was given by Vladimír Naxera, Ph.D. of Department of Political Science and International Relations, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia on the subject „Czech Republic on the Way of Parliamentary Elections“.
Vladimír Naxera, Ph.D. is a lecturer and researcher on the Department of Politics and International Relations at University of West Bohemia. His dissertation thesis was focused on the corruption and its perception in the post-Communist Czech Republic. His current field of interest lays in the instrumental politicization of history and field research of public political ceremonies and their role in the processes of re/enactment of specific form of discourses. He also deals with politics in Central Europe, contemporary Russian society, Russian Orthodox Church and (geo)politics.
Public lecture was organized by Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy.
Interview with Esref Kenan Rasidagic Visiting Professor
Interview with Esref Kenan Rasidagic visiting professor from the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Professor was visiting Vytautas Magnus University under the bilateral Erasmus+ agreement with the University of Sarajevo
Interview was conducted by Virginija Balčiūnaitė
To begin with, could you introduce the overall situation of the civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina: its formation and current threat from ‘fake NGOs’?
NGO and civil sector in Bosnia wasn’t born out of experience of the people, it was born as a response to available donor funds. NGOs and people in the NGO sector are viewed by the general population as an elite. As a resul to it, the agenda of the civil sector was compromised, because people viewed it as something imposed on them by the international donors.
However, NGO sector at the moment is undergoing a huge transformation in Bosnia: a genuine civil sector is developing now. It’s the beginning of a civil sector, where people are passionate about issues they are fighting for. This is crutial, because we have people in the governments who exchange for money will give a lisence to build anything. The only people who act as a balance to this is the civil sector.
The ‘fake NGOs’ are really dangerous. Because they are not politically identifiable as such. On the face of it, they appear as genuine NGO, but they have an agenda. Moreover, it’s not only political parties, recently Turkey has sponsored a number of these NGOs. I know 2-3 these NGOs in Sarajevo and Zenica who are now organizing massive demonstrations in support for the president Erdogan. These kind of people are dangerous, they can easily pursuave the public opinion.
Talking about public opinion, why do you think people keep on voting for the same nationalistic parties? If they are so frustrated and annoyed with the government, then why the same parties keep on winning?
There are two reasons. One is the compartmentalization of the political space – you always vote for someone that is going to protect the national interest. You have divided or compartmentalized into Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. Thus, it was made meaningless for us to vote for any other party but national party that protects our interest, because everything – all the political dynamics in Bosnia – is about fighting for national interest. You can be a social democrat, you can be a green party member, but the moment you are elected, you go to the parliament and your vote is counted as a vote of a Bosniak, Croat or a Serb. So you can’t fight for social democrats, you can’t vote for environment, because everything translates into a struggle between three political groups.
The second this is, Bosnia has turned into a client state, because it’s the country with a highest number of electoral officials per capita in the world, officially. No country, of comparable size has 180 minsters, ministries, and agencies. Basically it has transformed Bosnia into a country, where everyone hopes to get their peace of a cake. How do you get that? By being connected to the right party that can get you a job once you are in power.
Then, is there a possibility of change?
Initially, it is very easy to change the system: just remove the veto power (currently, representatives of the three constituent people have the power of veto), turn this into proper democracy, majority voting. It’s only a few things, nothing else, no huge investments. But no one cares about Bosnia. US, if they decide to come back, could pull these few moves that need to be pulled to turn this country into a proper, functional democracy. But until that happens, nothing is going to work, because we are stuck with this veto powers, we are stuck with this composition of government. It cannot be solved, because it requires changing the Dayton Agreement (Dayton Peace agreement put an end to the Bosnian war in 1995). But you cannot change the Dayton unless all three sides agree. Who is going to agree to this? Who is going to agree himself getting rid of the veto power? That is impossible.
Do you think another ethnical war might happen in order to change the current system? What is the situation of the radicalization process?
No. All of the wars and conflicts in Western Balkans and Former Yugoslavia happened on the fringes of a larger conflicts. It didn’t happen on isolation. 1990s’ conflict happened because Yugoslavia was collapsing. People were unemployed, they were jobless, went on the streets and were trying to find culprits. Culprits are easier to find in a multi-ethnic state. Who is the culprit in Estonia? Russians! Who is the problem in Lithuania? There’s not so many Russian, then you cannot blame yourself.
Now we hate each other, but don’t fight. Why we are not fighting? Because there is no external power, why did Serbs start fighting in Bosnia? Because they had tens of thousands of Yugoslav army soldiers stations in Bosnia. While Bosniaks and Croats had nothing. Right now, we are all equal.
Regarding radicalization process, people have been getting radicalized for a really long time, I’ve stopped counting. The worst has already happened, Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks were at maximum of their radicalization during the war. They were killing and slaughtering each other, there were consentration camps, people were being raped. How radical can you get to do this? So now sometimes they hold demonstrations, they have these funny caps and they sing stupid songs in football games, but they don’t slaughter each other at night.
Finally, the country is known for ratifying and signing major treaties and documents of human rights, but implementation is a difficult issue. What is your perception on this? What do you think is the current situation of human rights in Bosnia?
The biggest issue is that we don’t allow non-constituent people (e.g. Roma or Jew and etc.) to run for the office on the state level. There are two offices (Presidency and House of People) that you cannot be elected to if you are not Bosniak, Croat or Serb – and that is not because everybody is prohibited, but because when Americans were writing the consitution and Dayton, they forgot to mention ‘the others’. They said, there are three members of the Presidency: one is Bosniak, one is Serb and the other is a Croat. These are the people who were fighting, these are the constituent peoples.
Considering the Roma people, they are poor, their community has been neglected, but the government is doing as much as they can to build houses for them and run a lot of projects, trying to find employment. This is not a matter of accommodating Roma and the others, but it’s a matter of changing the constitution, which will fault one of the sides.
Another issue conserns education, which is a matter of cantonal affairs. Croats want their kids to go to school and follow Croatian national curricula, Bosniak want Bosnian national curricula and you end up unable to resolve this issue. It’s a disaster. I remember, slipping through the geography book from the Croat national curriculum and kids are being taught that their capital city is Zagreb. While they live in Bosnia. We are teaching kids to hate each other. For instance, Serbs are the majority in Srebrenica and they are discriminating the Bosniak kids.
I think it’s disaster, I think we should all follow one curricula. It doesn’t make any sense, that kids who live next to each other in the same street, believe in three different versions of history. But that is the nature of the political settlement in Bosnia where there are three different competing narratives living next to each other.
Discussion: Can We Create Stable Europe?
The increasing challenges to the stability of Europe from the Russia’s aggression on the Eastern part of the continent, the decreasing respect to democracy and rule of law in the neighbouring regions, intensive migration and lack of stability on the Southern neighbourhood of the European Union, as well as uncertainty about the EU after BREXIT forces to discuss – Can We Create Stable Europe?
The discussion was organized by the Department of Political Science at Vytautas Magnus University, with participation:
Ms Rasa Juknevičienė, member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, former Minister of Defence, Vice – president of NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Deputy Chair of the Committee on National Security and Defence at Seimas of RL.
Mr. Matthieu Grandpierron, political analyst, junior researcher at Ecole Polytechnique (France) in international relations and lecturer in geopolitics and comparative politics at ICES – Catholic University of Vendée;
Moderator – Mr. Giedrius Česnakas PhD, lecturer of Department of Political Science.
The discussion took place on 3rd of May.
