[TYPES] R: ETAPS bars Russian researchers from attending

[Sergiy Bogomolov]

Let me start by saying that I strongly support the ETAPS decision to
ban the participation of Russian affiliated scientists at the
conference.

The rationale is the as follows:

*  The ongoing war in Ukraine is at least partially due to the weak
response of the Western countries to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
in 2014 and Georgia in 2008. In fact, the Western countries introduced
very targeted sanctions which, e.g., banned some Russian officials
from entering the US (which they did not care about anyway). At the
same time -- exactly in line with the arguments proposed by the folks
who want to overturn the decision of ETAPS organisers -- the broad
Russian population did not bear the burden of the sanctions. Have
these sanctions helped? No, they have not. In fact, these only
reassured the Russian regime that the West is "weak" and they can go
ahead with a fully-fledged war in Ukraine without fearing any
implications. In other words, all the efforts to change the course of
actions of the Russian government without negatively impacting the
Russian population have failed.

* At the same time, upon the commencement of the war in Ukraine, the
Western governments seem to have learnt the lesson and have devised
the sanction regime which should hurt the Russian population as a
whole and make them finally give some thoughts about the decisions of
their government and the fact  that these might be in fact
counterproductive to their prosperity. This is an unfortunate reality
that the West has to resolve to this kind of approach, but I believe
there are only a limited number of ways to stop the war without ending
up in a direct military confrontation between the West and Russia.

* To everybody who suggests overturning the decision of ETAPS
organisers I suggest the following thought experiment. Imagine you go
to bed without knowing you are going to be alive in the morning (as
Russian army pursues indiscriminate bombing of residential areas;
including the city of Kharkiv where I grew up). Imagine getting up in
the morning and calling your relatives to check out whether they are
still alive. If you were in such a situation, would you still be
willing to allow the Russian affiliated scientists to participate in
the conference? This is the reality myself and all the Ukrainians are
living through. Now, consider whether prohibiting the participation of
Russian affiliated scientists -- who did not participate at ETAPS en
masse anyway -- which could bring the end of war a step closer
outweighs the arguments to let the Russian affiliated scientists
participate in the conference.

Thanks, Sergiy





On Wed, 9 Mar 2022 at 09:50, Alejandro Díaz-Caro
<alejandro at diaz-caro.info> wrote:
>
> [ The Types Forum, http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list ]
>
> Dear Marino, dear all,
>
> El mié, 9 mar. 2022 05:05, Marino Miculan <marino.miculan at uniud.it>
> escribió:
>
> >
> > Of course, I am sure that there are many colleagues there against the
> > invasion. But then, we have to distinguish between the responsibility of
> > the single, and that of the institution.  For instance, I would have no
> > problems if a researcher from a Russian university  registers and presents
> > their results at ETAPS (or any other conference) without any affiliation.
> > That would be already a strong signal, as in "I'm here on my own, and I
> > dissociate from my rector's opinions".
> >
>
> That would be even worst than the decision of banning a country by their
> war politics. What you are proposing there is to ask the researchers about
> their political personal opinion in order to be admitted to a conference. I
> find this completely wrong.
>
> Shall we also inquire Cubans if they support Fidel Castro or Americans if
> they support the blockade? Shall we ask Israel or Palestinians what side of
> the conflict they support, and let them register according to the personal
> stand of the organisers at the venue?
>
> I think that mixing politics with the scientific community at this global
> level is very dangerous and ultimately wrong.
>
> I hope this line of actions do not prosper, or we will damage the
> scientific community for many years.
>
> Best,
> Alejandro
>
> >