7th International Symposium Czech Foreign Policy

Partner: Institute of International Relations
Event date: Sep 23, 2015 - Sep 24, 2015
Deadline for registering: Sep 21, 2015
Venue: Czernin palace of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Category: Conference

7th International Symposium "Czech Foreign Policy"

The Future of the Global Order: The Challenges for Small Democratic Countries

Ever since World War II, the way world affairs have been managed displayed a tendency towards a rule-based, multilateral "world order". Owing to this general tendency (and contributing to it themselves), small democratic countries in Europe and throughout the world have enjoyed an unprecedented level of stability, security, influence and perhaps even prestige. For decades, there has been a capacity of the world order to reform itself without shifting its fundamental principles. However, this adaptability also led to the increasing fragility of the order as a whole. As a result, there is a growing number of those who argue that the adequacy and legitimacy of the present arrangements and institutions of the international order are rapidly weakening. The tendency towards multilateralism and rule-based order slowed down significantly during the past decade or so, and it even seems to have come to a complete halt – if not to a reversal of its former course – quite recently. The small democratic countries are those which have most to lose if the international society turns its back on the norms and rules that have co-defined world affairs for the past 70 years.

The 7th symposium thus aimed to tackle some of the most pressing questions of today:

• Will the new rising power become a part of a solution of the problem of the present liberal order or a part of the dissolution thereof?
• What can the small democratic countries do to tackle this challenge and infuse more credibility into the multilateral global order?
• How should they live, communicate and even cooperate with countries that have the status of major international or regional players but refuse to adhere to the norms and even the values cherished by democratic countries?

You can download the programme here.

You can watch the videos from the conference at our web or at our youtube channel.

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Keywords: Global Security, USA, Russia, EU, United Nations, Middle East, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Syria, Democracy, Media, Education, Human Rights, V4, Africa, Asia, Europe, Migration