SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE
AT THE OSLO FREEDOM FORUM, AN EVENT ORGANIZED BY RUSSIAN DISSIDENT GARRY KASPAROV AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION,
Emil Constantinescu awards the “Václav Havel” International Prize for Creative Dissent to journalist Marina Ovsyannikova
Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, one of this year’s laureates, protested against the war in Ukraine on a live newscast of state-run television station Channel 1.
”I supported Ms. Ovsianikova’s bid through the judge panel debates precisely because I know how hard it really is to speak the truth when facing an oppressive regime. During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the first detainees released were the imprisoned journalists, sentenced to rot for having protested against the Ceausescu dictatorship. And to those that might still be asking themselves: “What did Marina ultimately change through her symbolic gesture live on Russian State television in Moscow?”, I will answer in Vaclav Havel’s own words: “Hope is not the conviction that things will take a turn for the better, but rather the conviction that what you are doing makes sense regardless of the turn things take, for better or worse””, president Constantinescu stated during the ceremony.
SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINIAN ACADEMIA
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization condemns the invasion of Ukraine, calls for an increase in the support offered refugees, and stands in solidarity with those within the Russian Federation protesting the ongoing war
Romania shares the longest border with Ukraine among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Romanians have lived through their own historical suffering, and we cannot remain indifferent to the plight now experienced by the Ukrainian people. It is time to show solidarity with the refugees arriving in our country and support those continuing to fight in Ukraine. We salute the decision of the Romanian authorities of harbouring students and professors from Ukraine, and we are launching an appeal to intensify cooperation with the academic environment in our neighbouring country. At the same time, we stand in solidarity with those that are currently facing repression in Russia, by protesting the ongoing war.
Scientific Research Programmes
RECENT HISTORY AND THE ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE
Projects
The World Post-COVID-19. A Humanist Vision for a Sustainable Development
The Levant – Recent History. From the Revolutions of Eastern Europe to the Arab Spring
The European Union between hope and anxiety. The Europe of the Future: a political, economic or spiritual union?
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND THE CULTURE OF PEACE
Projects
The Levant Initiative for Global Peace
Cultural diplomacy and the challenges of the 21st century
Cultural diplomacy – historical approaches, current trends, future perspectives
REDISCOVERING LEVANTINE SOURCES – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR 21ST CENTURY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Projects
The Levant – cradle of Abrahamic religions
The cultural history of the Balkans
Peace, governance and society in Levantine public and private law: from the Code of Hammurabi to Justinian and law treatises in the modern period
The civilization of the Lower Danube from prehistory to modernity
Jews in Romanian culture
The Levant in cartography
The ‘Levant’ bibliographic platform
DOBROGEA – WITNESS TO THE MILLENNIAL CIVILIZATIONS OF THE LEVANT
Projects
Natural and cultural heritage – a source of the sustainable development of the Dobrogean regions
The multiculturalism of Dobrogean ethnicities
THE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Projects
The relationship between minerals and biology in a holistic approach to natural research
Fundamentals for the creation of a UNESCO geopark in Dobrogea
Educational Programmes
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF BYZANTINE AND POST-BYZANTINE STUDIES
THE ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE, ORIENTAL STUDIES AND EGYPTOLOGY
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF ARABIC LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
INFO
THE BLACK SEA UNIVERSITIES NETWORK: EXPLORATORY WORKSHOP ON THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN THE PROMOTION OF PEACE
Intervention by President Constantinescu focusing on the priorities for peace and security in the broader Black Sea region, highlighting the importance of the academic milieu in the crystallization and promotion of a culture of peace through education, drawing attention to the University’s unique mission of not only shaping characters, but also inoculating the fundamental values of democracy and peace.
March 14th, 2025
RETHINKING WORLD ORDER
The President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Professor Emil Constantinescu, was invited to attend the twelfth edition of the Global Baku Forum organized by the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Centre, a long-term partner of the Levant Institute, with the theme “Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities”.
March 13th-15th, 2025
THE BERLIN ECONOMIC FORUM. PERSPECTIVES FOR PEACE AS SEEN FROM THE BALKANS. THE BERLIN INITIATIVE FOR A DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Between the 3rd and 5th of March, the Berlin Institute for Cultural Diplomacy – a longstanding partner of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization – organized the 2025 edition of the Berlin Economic Forum, focusing on “International Business, Sustainable Investments and Environmental Projects for Advancing Global Development, Democracy and Peace”, in partnership with the Club of Skopje and the International Centre “Alliance of Civilizations.”
At the event, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization was represented by the President of its Scientific Council, Professor Emil Constantinescu, and the Vice-president of the Scientific Council, Professor Vlad Nistor.
3rd- 5th March 2025
RECENT HISTORY
JIMMY CARTER, THE MODEL OF A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT. A PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Emil Constantinescu
Following the 1992 presidential elections, in which I qualified to the run-off and was nominated as the sole candidate of the democratic opposition for the next elections, I was often asked overseas what my model of a democratic president was. I had no hesitation in answering: it was Jimmy Carter, because of his moral rectitude before his presidency, during his time in office and especially after his term.
However, no one in Romania asked me this question, and the elections that preceded and succeeded those of 1996 showed quite clearly that, in fact, the majority of voters often cast their ballots in favor of people who were proposed to them precisely because they were susceptible to blackmail, and later re-elected them in full knowledge of that fact. There are also plenty of heads of state who have no need of a role model, regarding themselves as a deserving model for others to emulate.
As we live at a time when the model of authoritarian presidents seems to be prevailing over that of a democratic leader - not only in dictatorial regimes, in shopfront democracies, but even in established democracies such as the United States, I have decided to forgo my own disengagement from domestic politics, which I have observed for over two decades, and to draw upon the all too fleeting emotional impact of President Carter's recent passing to evoke why, and since when, he had become my model of a truly democratic president, who was driven throughout his life by moral principles and by the national interest, rather than by personal, political or financial gain.
January 9th, 2025
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES IN LEVANT CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION ATTENDS THE 16TH CONFERENCE OF RECTORS FROM THE BLACK SEA REGION
Between July 11th and 12th 2024, the President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Professor Emil Constantinescu, attended the proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference of Rectors from the Black Sea Region, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey.
July 15th, 2024
WAAS@64: SCIENCE DIPLOMACY TO SUPPORT HUMAN SECURITY & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The President of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Advanced Studies for Levant Culture and Civilization, Prof. Dr. Emil Constantinescu, spoke on the panel dedicated to Science Diplomacy in Support of Human Security and Sustainable Development at the Sixty-fourth Annual Conference organized online by the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS).
June 26th, 2024
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE “BRIDGING THE GAP: FROM BRAIN DRAIN TO BRAIN CIRCULATION
The President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Professor Emil Constantinescu, inaugurated the proceedings of the “Bridging the Gap: From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation” interdisciplinary conference held in a hybrid format at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest.by offering “a brief introduction of the context, impact and implications” of this phenomenon.
June 20th 2024
“SINGING AND DANCING NATIONS CLOSER”: THE BERLIN FORUM ON CULTURE & FOLKLORE DIPLOMACY 2024
Between May 16th and 20th 2024, a delegation of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, led by the President of its Scientific Council, Professor Emil Constantinescu, and comprised of the Director of the Directorate for the History and Culture of the Levant, dr. habil. Cătălin-Ștefan Popa and Maxim Onofrei, Communications Expert at the Levant Institute, took part in the proceedings of the 2024 Berlin Forum for Culture & Folklore Diplomacy organized by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) on the topic of “Dancing and Singing Nations Closer”.
THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC SUMMIT: “FROM CRISES TO STABILITY: BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE WORLD”
The 27th edition of the Eurasian Economic Summit, organised by the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation, partner of The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, was honoured by the participation of some of the most important state leaders of the past 30 years. The Summit was structured around the discussions regarding the long-term consequences of war and climate crisis. “Artificial Intelligence and the future of humanity” was another topic that occupied a prominent place on the agenda of the Summit.
THE LAUNCH OF THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION OF THE TWO VOLUMES OF “THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE” AT THE GLOBAL BAKU FORUM
As part of the eleventh edition of the Global Baku Forum, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, in partnership with the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Centre, launched the English-language edition of the two volumes titled The Post-Pandemic World between War and Peace. This joint effort, by which the works were redacted by the Levant Institute and typeset and printed in Baku, constitutes the culmination of the Institute's long-term research programme, The Post-Pandemic World: A Humanist Vision for Sustainable Development, undertaken between 2020 and 2024 in partnership with the World Academy of Art & Science, the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Centre, the Marmara Group Foundation for Strategic and Social Research, the Berlin Academy of Cultural Diplomacy and the Black Sea Universities Network.
March, 15th 2024
Emil Constantinescu, Oana-Elena Brânda (coordinators),
The Post-Pandemic World between War and Peace – Volume I – Debates
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Emil Constantinescu, Oana-Elena Brânda (coordinators),
The Post-Pandemic World between War and Peace – Volume II – Essays
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