The 24th Forum 2000 Conference, titled “A New World Emerging? Restoring Responsibility and Solidarity”, will be held online from October 12 – 14, 202. This year’s conference will discuss the need to restore responsibility and solidarity in a rapidly transforming world. The Center on Global Economic Governance at Columbia University will cosponsor a panel on October 14th at 8:45am (EDT), featuring Jan Svejnar and Jeffrey Sachs.
Forum 2000 will be updating the program, as well as the ways to access the online discussions, on their website here and via social media. Watch the session on our website here.
About the conference - As the ongoing pandemic shows, the international community seems tragically unprepared to jointly address the growing global challenges. Transatlantic cooperation has been weakened and global democracies have been divided by individual interests and domestic political concerns. A number of countries have still not overcome the wave of populism, radicalism, and self-centered nationalism, which may only worsen as economies falter. Meanwhile, authoritarian regimes are either sowing disorder, ruthlessly pursuing their long term power goals at the expense of everyone else, or both. The rapid technological developments create an additional layer of uncertainty and are ever more deeply affecting our societies, while providing authoritarians with a new set of useful tools.
In spite of the aforementioned, the growing civic – and particularly youth – activism, demonstrated on many occasions in different countries during the COVID crisis, offers hope for more solidarity and perhaps even for a democratic renewal. What are the most responsible approaches towards tackling the global challenges and imminent threats when it comes to the dramatic post-pandemic fallout, the erosion of the rules-based international order, potential environmental breakdown, or major social and political disruptions caused by the emerging technologies? How to mobilize responsibility? How can we strengthen solidarity and global cooperation?