13th Forum 2000 Conference on "Democracy and Freedom in a Multipolar World"

Prague (Pressweb) - Held traditionally under the auspices of Václav Havel, the thirteenth annual Forum 2000 Conference will take place in Prague on October 11-13, 2009. This year’s theme is "Democracy and Freedom in a Multipolar World".

Attended by a number of prominent delegates from around the world – former and current heads of government, leading religious, spiritual, and cultural personalities, directors of international institutions, famous writers and thinkers, media representatives, managers of multinational companies, analysts and diplomats – the Conference is expected to welcome up to 3,000 observers and visitors – scientists, students, government officials, Czech and Central European business representatives, politicians, media companies and the interested public.

Delegates who have already confirmed their attendance include: Izzeldin Abuelaish, Doctor and Peace Activist, Palestine; Riprand Graf Count Arco, Founder and Chairman, American Asset Corporation, USA; Ehud Barak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Israel; Pepper de Callier, Chairman, Bubenik Partners, Czech Republic/USA;  William R. Cook, Professor, State University of New York College at Geneseo, USA; Oldřich Černý, Executive Director, Forum 2000 Foundation, Czech Republic; Vladimír Dlouhý, Economist, International Advisor of Goldman Sachs, Czech Republic; Doris Donnelly, US religionist, USA; Davood Feirahi, Associate Professor, University of Tehran, Iran; Yegor Gaidar, Former Prime Minister, Russia; Bob Geldof, Musician and Political Activist, Ireland/United Kingdom; Misha Glenny, Journalist, Author, United Kingdom; André Glucksmann, Philosopher, France; Michael Green, British theologian and author, UK; Václav Havel, Former President, Czech Republic; Tomáš Halík, Member of the Program Committee, Forum 2000 Foundation, Czech Republic; Helena Houdová, Model and Founder, Sunflower Children Foundation, Czech Republic; Pavel Chikov, Chair of the Interregional Human Rights Association "AGORA", Russia; Sandra Kalniete, Former EU Commissioner, Latvia; Ella Lazarovna Kasaeva, Co-Chair, Voice of Beslan, Russia; Ján Kubiš, UN Economic Commission for Europe, Slovakia; Sir Frank Lampl, Life President of Bovis Lend Lease, UK; Bernard-Henri Lévy, Philosopher, France; Chao-shiuan Liu, Former Prime Minister, Taiwan; Javier Loaiza, Consultant and Political Analyst, Colombia; Sergey Lukashevskiy, Director, Museum and Social Center of Andrey Sakharov, Russia; Sir James Mancham, Founding President of the Republic of Seychelles, Seychelles; David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, United Kingdom; Alyaksandar Milinkevich, Opposition leader, Belarus; Festus Mogae, Former President, Botswana; Jan Mühlfeit, Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation, Czech Republic; Harsha Kumara Navaratne, Chairman, Sewalanka Foundation, Sri Lanka; Luděk Niedermeyer, Former Vice Governor, Czech National Bank, Czech Republic; Michael Novak, Theologian and Political Scientist, USA; César Pérez Vivas, Governor of Tachira State, Venezuela; Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General, ASEAN, Thailand; Tomáš Pojar, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affaires, Czech Republic; Lev Ponomaryov, Politician and Human Rights Activist, Russia; Jorge Quiroga, Former President, Bolivia; Iveta Radičová, Sociologist and Politician, Slovakia; Sigrid Rausing, Publisher and Philanthropist, United Kingdom; Chief Rabbi David Rosen, Chairman, International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), Israel; Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman, The Nippon Foundation, Japan; Tomáš Sedláček, Chief Macroeconomic Strategist, Czech Republic; Anna Sevortyan, Deputy Director, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Russia; Toshimitsu Shigemura, Professor of International Relations, Waseda University, Japan; Camilla Schippa, Senior Vice President, Global Peace Index, Institute for Economics and Peace, Australia; Jiří Schneider, Program Director, Prague Security Studies Institute, Czech Republic; Ady Schonmann, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel; Karel Schwarzenberg, Member, Senate of the Parliament, Czech Republic; Prince Norodom Sirivudh, Politician and Chairman, Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, Cambodia; Trudy Stevenson, Zimbabwean opposition leader; Zimbabwe; John Suárez, Human Rights Director, Cuban Democratic Directorate, Cuba/USA; John O'Sullivan, Political Commentator, Radio Free Europe, United Kingdom; Tamara Sujú Roa, Attorney, Human Rights Activist, Venezuela; Petr Šmída, Member of the Board of Directors, Alfa-Bank, Russia/Czech Republic; Radek Špicar, Director, External Affairs, Škoda Auto, Czech Republic; Jan Švejnar, Professor of Business, Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan, Chairman, CERGE-EI, Czech Republic/USA; Alexandr Vondra, Member, Senate of the Parliament, Czech Republic;  Grigory Yavlinsky, Economist and Politician, Russia; Catherine Zennström, Zennström Philanthropies, UK; James Zogby, Founder and President, Arab American Institute, USA; John Zogby, Founder, President and CEO of Zogby International, USA and Michael  Žantovský, Ambassador, Czech Republic.

The opening ceremony will be held on October 11 in the hall of Prague Crossroads, an international spiritual and cultural centre in St. Anne’s Church in Old Town. On October 12-13, the Conference discussions and debates will be divided into thematic blocks (panels) and round tables accompanied by a series of events.
“This year the Forum 2000 conference will focus on the twenty years since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the bi-polar world in 1989. The euphoria about the “end of history” and the prospect of a family of nations living together in freedom has dissipated. Certain parts of the world gained enormously from the benefits of the subsequent increase in globalization, but other parts have suffered from globalization’s adverse side. In those twenty years we have witnessed a revolution in information technologies, but also a great deal of nationalistic and ethnic strife and an alarming increase of international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS and global climate change. By discussing the events of the past twenty years we will strive to learn from them and to prevent these trends from happening again in the future,“ says Executive Director of the Forum 2000 Foundation Oldřich Černý.

Taking place in the Žofín Palace, the main part of the Conference will be divided into the following panel discussions:
Metamorphosis of Democracy after Cold War
Multi–polarity and Values
The Instruments of International Influence
What the Current Economic Crisis will Lead to?
The Conference business and economy round tables will focus on:
“Shifting Values in Capitalism“ and „Sustainable Business“.
 
Interfaith Dialogue

The second day of the Conference (October 13) will be dedicated to Interfaith Dialogue – a discussion between prominent philosophers and representatives of various faiths. “Once I came up with an idea to form some “large spiritual coalition” that would encourage co-operation of the world religions and their struggle for respecting human lives and nature, and developing the right attitude for the future. I am happy to see such a small spiritual coalition emerge every year - an interconnection of people of good will sharing the basic ethical values,” says Václav Havel. 

Accompanying Events

Hosted at the Žofín Palace, Laterna Magika, Goethe Institute and other places in Prague, the Conference will be accompanied by a series of events, panel discussions, round tables, seminars and workshops, for example roundtable The State of Civil Society in Today´s Russia with Former Prime Minister of Russia Yegor Gaidar, panel discussion Current Situation in Latin America or roundtable The Role of Private Philanthropists in Addressing Global Challenges with Czech topmodel and Founder of Sunflower Children Foundation Helena Houdová.  “Another topic that is often discussed here – and this year will be no exception – is the issue of human rights. I am pleased that the depth of the debates and discussions taking place within Forum 2000 show that this term is not taken in vain but has a clear notion behind it for everybody to be constantly reminded of. I believe that human rights, human responsibility, moral order and our conscience are probably the most important political issues of our days affecting our deeds,” explains Václav Havel.

For more information, please visit: www.forum2000.cz

The conference is open to the public. If you wish to participate in the conference as an observer, please contact us at registration@forum2000.cz.