Page 200 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

The year 1920 saw the establishment of the first organization of
international cooperation, the League of Nations, in Geneva, and since then
the city's role as a center of world diplomacy has received official recognition.
On 7 September 1929, the first stone of the Palais des Nations was laid down.
The building, located in the Ariana Park, which Gustave Revilliod bequeathed
to the city of Geneva in 1890, was opened in 1937. In 1946, the Palace was
handed over to the United Nations.

After the Second World War, the spirit of Geneva was revived. New
international organizations settled in the city. Within a few years, Geneva once
again became the largest center of diplomatic negotiations. Negotiations
became more intense, and in the 1950s Geneva became the venue for a number
of international conferences that consolidated its prestige such as the
Indochina Conference of 1954, the Conference of Heads of Government held
in July 1955, and the meetings of foreign ministers of the four powers in 1955
and 1958. Later, in November 1985, a meeting of the presidents of the United
States and the USSR, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, was held in
Geneva, and here it is also worth recalling the negotiations on Afghanistan and
the settlement of the Iran-Iraq conflict, which were held in the Palais des
Nations. In 1993, the Palais des Nations in Geneva made headlines yet again in
connection with the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia.

The purpose of this brief excursion into the domain history is only to
emphasize that "the spirit of Geneva, as the famous Swiss writer and publicist
Robert de Traz rightly noted, is the spirit of openness by which it spreads
throughout the world", the spirit of responsibility, tolerance, mercy and
humanity, and the promotion of harmony among peoples. These examples
from history, the number of which can be easily multiplied, eloquently testify to
the fact that Geneva remains the leading city of diplomacy. But why are those
meetings taking place in Geneva?

Is it not because this small city, which is not tied to any major political and
economic center and has been famous for its openness and tolerance for
centuries, is destined to play an indispensable role of a place where everyone
can feel at ease, without feeling pressure, even if indirect and friendly pressure,
from a major power? A decision to meet in Geneva, among other practical
considerations, perhaps means that the opposing parties have decided to
overcome old hostilities and seek a peaceful settlement of their dispute.

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