A UPF conference in Moscow April 6-7, 2102 commemorated the visit by UPF Founders Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon to Russia in 1990, when they met with President Mikhail Gorbachev.
The first panel speakers represented the Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, and included the President of UPF International, Dr. Thomas Walsh from the United States.
Dr. Van Eekelen spoke about conditions for security in democratic societies: good governance, accountability and transparency, respect for human rights, “zero tolerance for discrimination.” He said, “Put governments before their responsibility towards their own people, before we talk of military intervention. In the end naming and shaming might be more effective in promoting mutual understanding and common values. And I encourage UPF to lead us in that direction.”
Dr. Stanislav Nikolaenko, former minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, introduced a vision of the “noosphere society,” where humankind’s current state of division and conflicts will be transcended by raising the human mind, through a process of intercultural communication and education. “Through the purification of humanity and a path of complete education, the noosphere society will allow us to enter into contact with other cosmic worlds,” he said.
Dr. Thomas Walsh, President of UPF, analyzed the concepts of peace, security and multiculturalism and noted their expanded meaning today: greater focus on human security; more inclusive meaning of peace-building, etc. He pointed to the challenge which multiculturalism can present to peace and the need for shared national values. “A family system, he concluded, that engenders respect for the role of the state and rule of law, on the one hand, and respect for the legitimate rights of other sub-cultures that inhabit the same state, is an essential component of peace and security in multicultural societies.”
Mr. Sergei Kuchinsky, Chairman of the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia, spoke about Russia’s 182 ethnic communities and 240 languages and dialects. Founded in 1998 to implement Russia’s state policy for nationalities, the organization has carried out projects for development and dialogue among nationalities: the Congress of Russian Peoples, the House of Nationalities, etc. He explained about their priorities of working with federal and local authorities, improving the status of nationalities, and creating an ”All Russian identity” to preserve spiritual and cultural unity in the post-Soviet world.