page_title: Hans Köchler
section_title: International impact
hierarchical_section_title: Hans Köchler / International impact
caption_attribution_description: Austrian Chancellor Dr. Bruno Kreisky (right) with Dr. Hans Koechler
context_page_description: Hans Köchler is a retired professor of philosophy at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and president of the International Progress Organization, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations. In his general philosophical outlook he is influenced by Husserl and Heidegger, his legal thinking has been shaped by the approach of Kelsen. Köchler has made contributions to phenomenology and philosophical anthropology and has developed a hermeneutics of trans-cultural understanding that has influenced the discourse on the relations between Islam and the West.
context_section_description: Köchler has been the organizer of major international conferences in the fields of transnational co-operation, democracy, human rights, terrorism, and conflict resolution, among them the "International Conference on the European Vocation of the Alpine Region" in Innsbruck (1971), which initiated transborder co-operation in Europe and the development towards the "Euro Regions" within the EU; the "International Conference on the Question of Terrorism" in Geneva (1987); and the "Second International Conference On A More Democratic United Nations" (CAMDUN-2) at the Vienna headquarters of the United Nations (1991). In 1996 he acted as Chairman of the final session and co-ordinator of the Drafting Committee of the "International Conference on Democracy and Terrorism" in New Delhi. In March 2002 he delivered the 14th Centenary Lecture at the Supreme Court of the Philippines on "The United Nations, the International Rule of Law and Terrorism." On 1 September 2004 he delivered the Foundation Day Speech at Mindanao State University, Islamic City of Marawi, on "The Dialogue of Civilizations and the Future of World Order."
  Through his research and civil society initiatives, Professor Köchler made major contributions to the debate on international democracy and United Nations reform, in particular reform of the Security Council. This was acknowledged by international figures such as the German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel in 1993. In 1985, he organized the first colloquium on "Democracy in International Relations" on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the United Nations in New York. 
  In the framework of his activities as President of the International Progress Organization, he co-operated with numerous international figures such as the Founder President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, on the issue of civilizational dialogue; Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan and Cardinal Franz König of Austria on Islamic-Christian understanding; Leo Mates, Secretary-General of the first Non-Aligned summit in Belgrade in 1961, on the principles and future of the non-aligned movement (N)i; 
  During the Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy, he wrote in a commentary: "In his lecture preaching the compatibility of reason and faith, Benedict XVI, the scholar,  deliberately overlooks the fact that the insights of Greek philosophy – its commitment to the λόγος – have been brought to medieval Christian Europe by the great Muslim thinkers of the Middle Ages. What he calls the 'encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought' ... was, to a large extent, the result of the influence of Muslim philosophers – at a time when European Christians were totally ignorant of classical Greek philosophy."
  Köchler is also an outspoken critic of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and has condemned its inception and practice by citing provisions of international law.
  He came to prominence in the world of international politics when he was nominated, on 25 April 2000, by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as an observer at the Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie) bombing trial. His critical reports on the trial and appeal proceedings contributed to a global debate on the politicization of international criminal justice.
caption: Hans Köchler, left, and Austrian Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, right, at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna, November 1980
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