TORONTO, April 8, 2003 -- The war in Iraq is creating divisions in Europe and North America, a realignment of traditional allies, and a fundamental shift in universal values about the shape of the new world order.
To discuss these changes, Greek Ambassador to Canada Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, and Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Canada Eric Hayes, join international scholars at York University in a symposium, Multilateralism and Unilateralism: The Role of the European Union in Global Politics, April 11-12.
"Greece holds the presidency of the European Union at a time of great strain in relations on the continent, and Canada is equally torn between its traditional support for the United States and its desire for multilateralism," said Prof. Kurt Huebner of the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies (CCGES) at York. "We are at the threshold of a tectonic shift in international relations. At issue is whether we live in a world where conflicts are settled through global negotiation, or the biggest military power sets the agenda and makes decisions on its own."
Media are invited to attend a short news conference at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 1l, at York’s Osgoode Hall Law School conference centre downtown (1 Dundas St. West, Suite 2602), just prior to the symposium.
Keynote speakers on Friday are Andreas Andrianopoulos, Greece’s former minister of industry and trade, and French scholar of international relations Zaki Laïdi of the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Internationales (CERI) in Paris. Laïdi will address the issue of governance versus hegemony in relations between Europe and the United States.
On Saturday, York professor of international law, Michael Mandel, will examine the role of the World Court, and Joyee Gupta of the Free University of Amsterdam will address divisions on global climate change. The sessions on international law, global governance, the global economy, and environmental policy, will convene at York University’s Keele Campus, Founders College Assembly Hall, Room 152.
The symposium is sponsored by the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York University, the Consulate General of Greece, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair at York, the Consulates General of France, Spain, the Netherlands, the Delegation of the European Commission to Canada, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Italian Cultural Institute. The full program is available at http://international.yorku.ca/fyi/events/euconf.htm.
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Kurt Huebner | Prof. Thomas Gallant | Susan Bigelow |
| CCGES | Hellenic Heritage Foundation Chair | Media Relations |
| York University | Dept. of History, York University | York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 40090 | 416-736-2100, ext. 30415 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 |
| khuebner@yorku.ca | 416-629-6687 (cell) | sbigelow@yorku.ca |
| tgallant@yorku.ca |
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