Dr. Hans Koechler

Biodata

Born 18 October 1948, Austrian. Doctor of Philosophy sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae (1972), "Habilitation" 1977, Doctor of Humanities h. c. (2004); Professor of Philosophy, University of Innsbruck/Austria (1982-); Visiting Professorial Lecturer at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila (2004-); Head of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Innsbruck (1990-2008); Life Fellow, International Academy for Philosophy (2006); Chairman, Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Wissenschaft und Politik (1971-); Founder and President, International Progress Organization (I.P.O.) (1972-); Founder and Secretary-General, Euregio Alpina (Study Group for the Alpine Region) (1973-1977); Coordinator, International Committee for Palestinian Human Rights (ICPHR) (1988-); Co-founder, European Ombudsman Institute; Vice-Chairman, Jamahir Society for Culture and Philosophy (1991-2004); Convenor (Austria) (1997-2004) and Member of the Advisory Council of the International Movement for a Just World (1997-); member of the International Advisory Panel of the Centre for Civilizational Dialogue at the University of Malaya (1997-2000); member of the Expert Group on Democratic Citizenship, Council of Europe, Strasbourg (1999-2002); member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Balanced Development (CBD) (USA) (2000-2003); member of the Board of the NGO Committee on Development (United Nations Office at Vienna); member of the Editorial Board of the Series "Neue Wege der Demokratie" (Luxemburg) (2000-); member of the Doctoral Grants Committee of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2000-2007); nomination by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as international observer to the Scottish Court in the Netherlands (Lockerbie Trial)(April 2000); member of the International Advisory Board, "Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative," Islamic Conference Youth Forum (ICYF) (2007-). Editor of the series Studies in International Relations. Author of more than 350 publications in the fields of philosophy, human rights, international law, theory of democracy: e.g. Philosophie - Recht - Politik, 1985; Foreign Policy and Democracy, 1988; Democracy and Human Rights, 1990; The Voting Procedure in the United Nations Security Council, 1991; Democracy and the New World Order, 1993; Democracy and the International Rule of Law, 1995; The United Nations and International Democracy (1997); Neue Wege der Demokratie, 1998; Global Justice or Global Revenge? International Criminal Justice at the Crossroads, 2003. Editor of volumes such as: The Crisis of Representative Democracy (1987); Terrorism and National Liberation (1988); The United Nations and International Democracy (1995); Civilizations – Conflict or Dialogue? (1999); Globality versus Democracy? (2000); Transplantationsmedizin und personale Identität, 2001; Human and Peoples' Rights – Asia and the World (2002); The Iraq Crisis and the United Nations (2004). Organizer of international conferences in the fields of democracy, human rights, terrorism, conflict resolution, civilizational dialogue, UN reform, etc. Honours/awards: Graduation (Ph.D.) "Under the auspices of the President of the Republic;" Doctor of Humanities honoris causa (Mindanao State University, Philippines) (2004); Honorary Professor, Pamukkale University, Turkey (2008); recipient, Honorary Medal, International Progress Organization; History Medal, Austrian College Society; "Apostle of International Understanding" (Unity International Foundation, India); Honorary Medal, International Peace Bureau, Geneva; Royal Datoship of the Sultanate of Marawi (Muslim Mindanao, Philippines).