BERLIN.

AuthorSilverglate, Spencer H.
PositionInternational Association of Defense Counsel's annual meeting

Spencer H. Silverglate

BERLIN

By Spencer H. Silverglate

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears."

-Nelson Mandela

IADC members are wondering if the 2022 Annual Meeting in Berlin, Germany will go forward. The answer is yes, that is our strong expectation. But if the meeting is cancelled, registration fees will be refunded, so there is no reason not to register now while the room block is still available. We already have more than 350 members and guests registered!

Like the rest of the world, we are carefully monitoring the situation in Ukraine, where Russian armed forces have launched a full-scale military invasion on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. As of this writing, thousands of Ukrainian citizens have been killed, many more have been injured, and millions have been displaced. Thousands of Russian troops have died as well.

The invasion of Ukraine was an assault not just on the country's citizens, it was an assault on an idea. When elected, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "Let's build a country of opportunities, where everybody is equal before the law and where the rules of the game are honest and transparent, and the same for everyone." The invasion of Ukraine was an assault on the rule of law--the very foundation on which the IADC stands.

In the scheme of world events, perhaps IADC meetings don't rank near the top. Yet, the irony is palpable. Amid the current geopolitical unrest, the IADC--protector and defender of the rule of law--is hosting its Annual Meeting at the site of the Cold War-era physical and ideological wall separating East from West. Like Ukraine today, the eyes of the world were once on Berlin. As President Kennedy famously said, "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'"

Considering Berlin's central role in European unification and peace, it's not surprising that the city's most famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, is lit up in blue and yellow--the national colors of Ukraine. Today, all free people...

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