WHY SHOULD WE SPEAK ABOUT UNIVERSALISM

Foreword to Yury Senosokov’s book by Catherine Lalumière, Secretary General of the Council of Europe in 1989-1994

In 1989 Europe experienced a huge political shock with the fall of the Berlin Wall, an historic event which changed the the lives of Europeans and the face of the world.

It was then, with remarkable foresight, that Lena Nemirovskaya and her husband Yury Senokosov had the idea of setting up a School of Political Studies in Moscow which would later lead to the creation of some 20 similar schools in other countries

At the time I was Secretary General of the Council of Europe and I backed this initiative enthusiastically. The Berlin Wall had fallen because of the failure of the political systems of the Eastern Block, the failure of communism and dictatorship of the proletariat as well as the failure of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Pluralist democracy based on respect for human rights and freedoms had seemingly triumphed.

A majority of people in the Eastern Block and their new leaders were in favour of making this radical change. One of the first signs was Mikhail Gorbatchev’s visit to the Council of Europe and his concept of a common European home.

In the West, our leaders welcomed these revolutions and were even ready to take these newcomers in.

For my part, I spared no effort to make the Council of Europe pursue that course. Hence my enthusiastic support for the idea propounded by Lena Nemirovskaya who, to my great joy, had become a real friend

But obviously the question which came to mind was how to achieve this radical paradigm shift successfully?

To this day there are intellectuals and politicians who question whether such a profound change can be achieved in a population with such a long history of ideology and political systems so incompatible with these new values. These are questions which Yury Senokosov’s book sets out to answer so skilfully.

I, for my part, just want to underscore one point: the need for education to achieve a successful transition and consequently the great value of the Schools of Political Studies.

I don’t believe you are born a democrat or a humanist, but you can become one through education, training and thinking and that is why the Schools of Political Studies are so useful.

Ignorance is the greatest enemy of democratic and humanist values. Ignorance of history, geography, philosophy, theology, etc.

Left to one’s own devices human beings would no doubt become, in the words of the old adage, “a wolf to man”. Knowledge and thought are able to transform the “wolf” into a citizen who respects other people and human rights.

Some have argued and continue to argue that these values are not universal and that it is neither desirable nor possible to impose them on a population that has known nothing other than diametrically opposed values.

Initially, in spite of these concerns we had some undeniable successes in countries of Eastern Europe and the European family appeared to be united in the Council of Europe on a bedrock of shared universal values.

But today there are a growing number of dissenters in countries such as Hungary, Poland, Russia....... One of the arguments they use is that these values, contrary to what humanist democrats maintain, are neither universal nor consonant with the aspirations of their fellow citizens whom, they claim, remain wedded to more authoritarian political systems.

This question is at the heart Yury Senokosov’s book, and I have often asked myself the same thing only to reach the following conclusion: yes, it is both desirable and beneficial to preserve and even to promote diversity, for instance in areas such as the fine arts, folklore or other branches of culture for which diversity is a precious asset which it would be highly regrettable and often impossible to destroy.

But when it comes to fundamental philosophical or theological values which affect both humanity as a whole and all of us as individuals, diversity is no longer appropriate and we need to speak about universality.

As human beings we all have our dignity and whatever the forms political systems may take there is a hard core of basic values which must or which ought to be respected

That is why we speak about universality. Countries can choose different political systems. But while such differences are completely understandable and normal they must respect essential values.

Unfortunately in today’s world, including Europe, we are witnessing a resurgence of authoritarianism in too many countries. This risks turning into the totalitarianism which brought Europeans such terrible suffering in the XXth century. Racism, xenophobia and extreme nationalism are cropping up all over the place. We must make young people aware of the harm these concepts have wreaked throughout history.

There can be no doubting that the Schools of Political Studies, and of course the Moscow School which paved the way 30 years ago, still have a major role to play.

Catherine Lalumière
Secretary General of the Council of Europe in 1989-1994