Trust does not tolerate hesitations rooted in uncertainty. The global security system cracks under its own incapacity to call things by their proper names. Inability to face the reality and to call wars – wars, and the aggressors – aggressors, undermines the trust of people towards international security institutions. Without this trust security agreements become meaningless, alliances depreciate, and guarantees do not have power.
Without trust, the legitimacy of the international security order will melt away. Disintegration processes within the EU, partiality charges against the OSCE, chronic deep concern of the UN are all consequences of the institutional legitimacy inflation.
It is inevitable that a new model of international security will replace the current one, which was supposed to protect people from the spectre of the world war. The resilience or fragility of this new model is subject to the level of trust it will enjoy by people who remain trapped by uncertainty and fear.
Lviv Security Forum is a platform for discussion in pursuit of finding the answer to question what the new international security order wood looks like.
09.15 – 10.00 Welcome coffee
10.00 – 10.30 Introduction speeches
10.30 – 12.30 DISCUSSION #1 WHETHER THE WAR IN MODERN EUROPE WAS INEVITABLE?
Unresolved legacy of WWII – was the distribution of responsibility after WWII just? Were the international security order instruments resilient to the breakdown of the bipolar world and are they still relevant to the current realities? Did ‘Russia admiration’ influence the fate of the post-soviet countries? Is the international community ready to discuss the true reasons for Russian troublemaking in Europe?
12.30 – 14.00 Lunch
14.00 – 15.45 DISCUSSION #2 TAKING WAR SERIOUSLY
Who is the true enemy in a hybrid war and why is this question important to answer? How the legal status of combat operations influences combat effectiveness of an army and motivation of a soldier? How the legal status of combat operations influences the legitimacy of the state leadership and state institutions? War and budget – how to assure sufficient resources and accountable spending? Civil control over defence and security in a time of war.
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee break
16.15 – 18.00 DISCUSSION #3 HOW NOT TO EMPOWER THE AGGRESSOR?
Who is eligible to take part in the negotiations on conflict settlement? Does trade with an aggressor legitimize its actions? Are sanctions a self-sufficient instrument to deter military aggression? How to ensure the balance between human rights and security in a time of war? Will fulfilment of the positive obligations under international humanitarian law bring justice or will it freeze the conflict?
19:00 Dinner for forum participants
09.30 – 10.00 Research presentation: The Ukrainians and Russian aggression
10.00 – 10.30 Coffee break
10.30 – 12.00 Discussion of research results
12.00 – 13.30 Lunch
13.30 – 15.15 DISCUSSION #4 SOVEREIGNTY AND RESPONSIBILITY
Identifying the moment when no further fights are possible and the moment when the sovereignty could be restored. Do these moments coincide? What does the conflict settlement imply when a war is a hybrid? Mechanics of de-occupation, demilitarization, and reintegration Is reconciliation after the end of foreign aggression possible without punishment of perpetrators and their accomplices? Who shall bear the responsibility for a war, which is not called a war?
15.15 – 15.45 Coffee break
15.45 – 16.15 Closing session