An International Leadership conference on the topic "Europe and Russia - Partners in a Globalized World," was held in Vienna on October 12 and 13, 2012, organized by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in cooperation with the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and the Women's Federation for World Peace.
The conference was part of a series of European events held at the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna, UNESCO in Paris, National Parliaments in the United Kingdom and Norway, and the Presidential Palace in Malta. It was also the second in a series of "Russia – Europe Dialogue" conferences which began in Moscow in April 2012.
The first day was held at the Vienna International Centre (a UN building) and was attended by over 250 participants coming from several European countries and the Russian Federation. International and local guests were welcomed by Peter Haider, Secretary General of UPF-Austria, who explained Austria’s special potential and responsibility as a small country with a delicate role between Eastern and Western Europe after World War II leading to the fall of the Iron Curtain and developments afterwards.