Presented
by the University of Louisville’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute in
collaboration with the Filson Historical Society.
This
lecture will focus on dramatic changes since the end of the Cold War, rise of
China and Russian aggression against her neighbours.
The Iron Curtain, that Communist Soviet Union had built in Europe, crumbled
within weeks in 1989. Western Allies have extended "hand of friendship”
over the ruins of the Berlin Wall, while welcoming nations in the world of
democracy. For three decades we were building a new type of relationship based
on respect to international law, sovereignty, and individual pursuit of happiness.
Part of this new relationship was understanding that international security is
not a zero-sum-game but a collaborative effort where all sides are winning. On
9/11 we had to adapt to the fact that not everybody shared the same vision of
good a tolerance, while powerful non-state actors became a crucial terrorist
threat. In Russia, revisionist psychology, lack of post-imperial reckoning and
slow clampdown on freedom, including freedom of press, started to turn the
tables. Ultimately, Moscow decided to enter Georgia in 2008, invade and
illegally annex Crimea in 2014 and launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine in
2022. On the global scene, China pursued vigorously her own interests,
including through control of critical minerals, advanced technologies, and
malign handling of social media. Rules of globally intertwined economy and
international legal order, as defined since World War II, are challenged. The
future of "doing business globally” is uncertain, isolationists provide
easy, but dangerous solutions to protest the way of life. To understand the
trends and keep up with speed of information – views from most trusted Allies
are important for leading through the muddy waters of divided nations, regions
and averting the bad scenarios.
Radovan
Javorcík has most recently served as Slovak Ambassador to the United States
since January 2021. Prior to his current role he served as Slovak
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to NATO from April 1, 2017 to December
2020.
Previously,
he served as Chief of Staff of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign and
European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (2011-2015) and Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Israel (2015-2017). He also served as
Deputy Head of Mission and chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Slovak Republic
in the United Kingdom (2005-2009). He held various senior positions at the
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic. In 2010-2011
he was Director of Security Policy Department, in 2009-2010 Director of North
America, Middle East and Australia Department, and in 1997-1998 he was Deputy
Director of the Policy Planning Department. After his posting at the Slovak
Permanent Mission to NATO (1998-2002), he continued to work on NATO files. He
was part of a team preparing Slovakia’s accession to NATO, mainly in capacity
of the Head of PRENAME (Preparation for NATO Membership Programme).
Before
joining the Slovak Foreign Service in 1995, he worked at the Office of the
President of the Slovak Republic in the Press Department and later Foreign
Policy Department.
He
graduated from the Slovak Technical University (Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering) in 1993 and Institute of International Relations at the Comenius
University (Faculty of Law) in Bratislava in 1995. He speaks fluent English,
Czech, and Russian as well as basic French, German and Spanish.