VGL Forum

28 April 2022 | VGL Forum

In a recent Virtual VGL Forum on Ukraine Crisis, the Limitations of International Law and Our Responsibility, our featured speaker Lord John Alderdice, moderated by Dr. Bijan Khajehpour discussed the limitations of international law as highlighted by the Ukraine crisis, different approaches in understanding what drives people on an international level, strategic thinking, civil society and what could be done differently to promote a more peaceful world order.

Conversation guide

1. 00:00 Welcome and about VGL
2. 01:00 Introducing Lord John Alderdice
3. 02:19 Introducing Dr. Bijan Khajehpour
4. 03:13 Session starts
5. 03:30 About International Dialogue Initiative (IDI)
6. 04:20 Hot confrontation between Russia and the West
7. 05:07 John, help us understand what is happening now with Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and its global consequences
8. 07:20 The humiliating defeat for historic Russia: Some people in Russia had never accepted the breakup of the Soviet Union
9. 08:45 What could have been done differently by the West: a different world order
10. 10:05 Wrong judgement calls: A rationalistic understanding vs an emotional understanding of what drives people
11. 11:27 International law as a consequence of our danger
12. 16:33 The Responsibility to Protect and no way of implementing it clearly — the end of the United Nations system?
13. 18:48 Has the notion of strategic thinking been forgotten in the Western world, which caused them to forget emotional, psychological, etc. dimensions? What should Western governments be doing in the future?
14. 22:55 Why can’t we predict such crises? About complexity theory, arrogance and pluralism.
15. 26:12 Civil society: What is it that we as citizens can do?
16. 30:34 Addressing the world as it actually is, not the one we wish or fear it is
17. 32:32 The business environment looking forward
18. 34:18 How does post-colonial guilt feed into the decisions or world views of certain European countries?
19. 36:57 What’s the antidote to arrogance and how do we strengthen different approaches when arrogance and exploitative behaviour are still very much rewarded?
20. 39:45 What would your advice be to Western politicians in how to approach Russia in the current crisis? Should they continue to open to communication lines, but sanction Russia, or do something else? – Sanctions vs. economic warfare
21. 44:44 What could business organisations do to make the call for a peaceful settlement louder?
22. 47:57 Does the Ukraine war mark the end of globalisation?
23. 50:28 What can we do to familiarise people around us with complexity theory?
24. 52:52 Closing the session

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