December 3, 2008
Hotel InterContinental Berlin
Roundtable on "Cultural Autonomy" with the Advanced Research Assessment Group (ARAG), UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, UK, 28-29 February, 2008
NEWS
Foundation joins UK Defence Academy for Culture Roundtable
The New Security Foundation will join the UK Defence Academy to stage a high-level roundtable conference on ‘cultural autonomy’ on the 28th and 29th February at the Defence Academy’s headquarters in Shrivenham, United Kingdom.
“Culture is currently at the top of the security agenda,” says New Security Foundation Chairman, Dr Harold Elletson. “Every day, the headlines show the importance of cultural issues in the new security environment and, together with the UK Defence Academy, we’ll be looking in detail at cultural aspects of national security.”
The joint NSF / UK Defence Academy conference will try to provide an answer to a key question for modern, multicultural democracies: “What rights to cultural autonomy should a democracy confer?”
The event is the first in a number of planned discussions of cultural aspects of national security and will focus on a range of topics including legal and philosophical issues, the media and education. Presentations will be given by participants including Professors John Hiden, Gareth Stansfield and Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y Prado, Nobel Peace Prize Winner the Right Honourable Lord Trimble, BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, Dr Ali Fisher, Dr Shafiq Qazzaz and Karl von Habsburg.
“This will be a fascinating conference,” says Dr Elletson. “Anyone with an interest in culture, the new media and education will want to be kept informed.” Presentations by keynote speakers, together with the proceedings of the conference, will be available from the New Security Foundation at a later date. Please click here if you would like us to send you full details.
New Initiative on Cultural Minorities
The New Security Foundation will host a joint roundtable with the UK Defence Academy on the subject of cultural autonomy on February 28th and 29th.
The event, which will take place at the Defence Academy’s headquarters in Shrivenham, will be "a serious attempt to assess the nature of the relationship between a state and its cultural minorities," according to New Security Foundation Chairman Dr Harold Elletson.
"In societies, which are increasingly multicultural and ethnically diverse, we need a new social contract between the state and cultural minorities, "said Dr Elletson. "There has to be a clearer understanding and acceptance of the duties and responsibilities that cultural minorities and the State have to each other.
"This debate, which raises all sorts of issues and has many important implications, is vital to the continued existence and viability of multicultural societies."
Dr Elletson revealed that the February roundtable was part of a joint programme, the aim of which was to focus research and debate on issues relating to cultural autonomy. The programme, which will cover such topics as legal issues, foreign policy, the role of the media and education, will involve academics, policy experts and community leaders from several countries.
