Democracy and Its Discontents: A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain and Tiananmen

What kind of democracy did we expect, when the Iron Curtain crumbled? When demonstrations at the Tiananmen Square in China were forcefully suppressed? When the Chileans voted in their 1988 referendum? What type of democracy do we have today? And perhaps most importantly, what do we aspire to? These will be the central questions of this year’s conference. These questions are directly connected to the worries of Václav Havel, who grew increasingly concerned about the quality of democracy evolving in our societies.

 

Discussions will compare the developments in different parts of the world, from Central and Eastern Europe and traditional Western democracies to Latin America, Africa and East Asia. Other issues, including the role of religion, the growth in extremism and fundamentalism, declining trust in democratic processes, as well as the varying views on such issues among different generations are also part of the program.

 

First confirmed participants include José María Aznar, former Prime Minister, President, Foundation for Social Studies and Analysis, Spain; Ivan M. Havel, scientist, Czech Republic; Suat Kınıklıoğlu, Executive Director, Center for Strategic Communication, Turkey; Michael McFaul, former Ambassador to Russia, political scientist, Stanford University, USA; Sari Nusseibeh, Professor of Philosophy and President, Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Palestine; Iveta Radičová, sociologist, former Prime Minister, Slovakia; Guy Sorman, philosopher, economist, France; Jan Švejnar, Director, Center on Global Economic Governance, Columbia University, USA/Czech Republic; Enrique ter Horst, politician, former UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Venezuela; Yang Jianli, dissident, President and Founder, Initiatives for China, USA/China.