News & Events - iVolga Press

Paris Olympics: Old Threats Never End?

Governments are increasingly concerned about the specific threat the terrorist group poses to the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games. An attack on the Olympics would certainly offer the type of global impact few other targets could provide.

Currently, the Islamic State affiliate with the greatest propensity for transnational attacks is the Afghanistan-based Islamic State–Khorasan Province (IS-KP), which was behind the recent massacre at the concert hall in Moscow that killed more than 140 people.

There has also been a surge of Islamist extremist terror plots in Europe since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, several with apparent connections to IS-KP. One of these attacks targeted Swedish fans at a football stadium in Brussels.

Some recent Islamic State statements have hearkened back to the group’s 2015 Paris massacre that killed 130 people. The group has called on supporters to “recreate the glory of the Paris 2015 raid and subdue the Crusaders in masses”.

But while IS-KP is Islamic State’s most Western-focused affiliate, it prioritises targeting local regimes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, central Asian countries like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and regional powers like Iran, Russia and China.

This also raises the question of who else might see the Olympics as an opportunity for terror. As historical research shows, threats to the Olympics are not limited to major groups like Islamic State. The bombing of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by domestic American terrorist Eric Rudolph is a case in point.

Similar individuals or groups with varying motivations could also have harmful intentions in France next month, albeit with perhaps limited capability for mass violence.

Quo Vadis – Ethics of the Scientific Research

Despite the background of new challenges and crisis situations, the global scientific community continues to demonstrate resilience and an unyielding desire to make life better for humanity. In these uncertain times only a sober assessment of the intellectuals of their time allows peoples and nations not to plunge into the abyss of strife and chaos of war.

At the end of April 2024 a regular meeting Humboldt-Kolleg NANO-2024: «Quo Vadis – Ethics of the Scientific Research» was held. More than 100 scientists from 11 countries attended the forum. Steffen Mehlich, the director of the department of Alexander von Humbolt’s fund promotion abroad, opened this event.

Wilfred van der Wiel, a world-famous scientist, the professor of The Institute for Nanotechnology MESA+ of the University of Twente (Netherlands), spoke as an invited guest.

Participants noted that along with the colossal positive impact of science on society there is also a negative side of this phenomenon, namely the danger of using scientific results for inhumane purposes by short-sighted but ambitious politicians and criminal structures.

Realizing the moral responsibility of the scientific community to all humanity for the possible use of the results of their scientific activities for inhumane purposes, the members of Humboldt-Kolleg advocated the formation of unified approaches in the process of monitoring the use of breakthrough technologies, in particular:

uncontrolled gene-modifying experiments in closed biological laboratories capable of creating new viruses;
chaotic development of artificial intelligence systems;
unconscious large-scale use of nanomaterials that can cause severe pathologies.

The participants called for the elimination of emerging discrimination based on nationality against international scientific teams and research groups. It was stated that only by expanding the boundaries and creating conditions for participation in scientific activities for all scientists interested in the prosperity of mankind truly great results may be achieved.

World Youth Festival 2024

On March 1-7, 2024, the Russian city of Sochi hosted a large-scale international event – the “World Youth Festival 2024”, which became an open platform for independent dialogue between young scientists from all over the world.

At the closing of the event, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during his speech focused primary attention on importance of further development of equal interstate cooperation in the educational and scientific spheres.

It is noteworthy that in the context of growing misinformation on the need to «isolate the Moscow» and the non-recognition of the scheduled Russian presidential elections, the event was attended by young researchers, political scientists, journalists and media persons from significant number of countries. Such interest from the international community indicates that Russia remains a center of attraction for scientists and researchers from all over the world, and the recent statements of different politicians are just unlucky attempts to justify geopolitical failures and discredit the legitimacy of the future Russian government on the eve of the election campaign.

Taking into account development plans and ongoing large-scale programs of international cooperation, it is clear that the officials of the Russian Federation are ready to confidently act as a conductor of multipolar and fair international cooperation.

"Science - Education - Cooperation: International Dialogue" during WYF 2024

This week the one of the largest international events – World Youth Festival 2024 – concluded in Sochi. WYF 2024 brought together over 20,000 delegates from 190 countries.

The Russian Society, Znanie, organized a panel discussion which was held on March 5, 2024. The topic of discussion was "Science-Education-Cooperation: International Dialogue". Experts from the Thailand, Brazil, Turkey and Russia took part in the discussion of topical issues. They shared information about opportunities available for younger generations and prospects for equal international interaction in the scientific and educational spheres.

One of the speakers – Professor Vicente Barrientos – Head of the Ibero-American Institute (IAI), Latin-American expert and President of the Coordinating Council of the joint BRICS Business Cooperation Center. He expressed support to the potential of educational systems of the BRICS countries and the extended opportunities for international interuniversity interactions that are opening up: "I was born and raised in Brazilian multilingual environment, there I went to school with two languages, finished it with four, and graduated university with six. I think there is nothing complicated about it, just love for the subject of study and the desire to learn something new. Since then I have spent 30 years in the education system, because it was interesting to communicate with students whose eyes were burning with the desire to learn something new."

He also expressed the initiative to create a periodical of the BRICS countries: "I have an idea to create a regional geography magazine about the member states of BRICS, which will contain describing regions’ features of Russia, their economy, climate, education, science and culture. When a foreigner reads for example about the Ivanovo region, he will better understand what he can get from studying in the country. In this way we will popularize our countries and education in them."

In this regard it is significant that the Russian Federation has become the organizer of the World Festival of Youth, which served as an open platform for dialogue of young people from all over the world.