Watch the recording:
On September 18, 1973, following the unanimous recommendation of the Security Council, the General Assembly approved the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany (West-Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East-Germany) to the United Nations.
Both the late date and the joint accession of both German states must be understood in the context of the Cold War and the policy of détente that existed at the time, culminating in the Helsinki Conference in July of the same year. Earlier this year, the upcoming director of RLS NYC, Stefan Liebich, spoke with Gregor Gysi about the relationship between the left and international law.
In this panel, we will discuss the historical significance of this event and the processes that led to it. Of course, we also want to discuss what, if anything, can be learned from these events that is relevant today.
WHEN: Monday, September 18, 6:30-8:00 pm (followed by light refreshments)
WHERE: 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 2114, New York and live on YouTube.
The speakers in this panel will be:
- Barbara Adams, Chair of the Board and Senior Policy Advisor, Global Policy Forum
- Wolfgang Grieger, retired Director of the Division for Palestinian Right in the Department of Political Affairs of the UN Secretariat
- Stefan Hartman, board member of DIE LINKE, member of its International Commission, and co-chair of the party’s state branch in Saxony
Moderator: Andreas Guenther Aguayo, Executive Director, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung New York Office
Speakers Bios:
Barbara Adams has long worked with and inside the UN. In her long career, she served (amongst a lot of other appointments) as Deputy Coordinator of the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) and as Chief of Strategic Partnerships and Communications for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Trained as an economist, she is a part-time faculty member at The New School and Chair of the Board and Senior Policy Advisor at the Global Policy Forum, a long-term partner of RLS NYC. Together GPF and RLS just published a report on the UN and democratic governance.
Wolfgang Grieger was born and raised in Leipzig, GDR. After studying international law at the Moscow Institute for International Relations, he joined in 1981 the United Nations Department of the GDR Foreign Ministry. During this time, he was part of GDR delegations to the General Assembly in New York, the Human Rights Commission in Geneva and numerous other conferences. In 1989, he became a Political Affairs Officer in the Palestinian Rights Division of the UN Secretariat. He worked in various functions in that Division until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2015.
Stefan Hartmann was born in Erfurt. For many years, he has been one of the important figures behind the scenes of Germany’s LINKE and one of their important strategic thinkers. Since 2019 he is co-chair of the party in the state of Saxony. He is member of the national board of DIE LINKE and member of its International Commission.
