Liberal Democracy
EVENT: The Future of Democracy: Strengthening Liberal Values, Institutions and Procedures at Global, European, Regional and National Levels
The Hungarian Europe Society cordially invites you to its online conference The Future of Democracy: Strengthening Liberal Values, Institutions and Procedures at Global, European, Regional and National Levels.
DATE: Thursday, March, 17, 2022 (10:00 - 18:15).
REGISTRATION: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAofuCppzMuH939pFoxujL-mw34faRiBph7
The Hungarian Europe Society has previously organised webinars and conferences about major social and political problems which have recently emerged in our new, uncertain times. Most significantly, liberal democracy has been under attack worldwide in national and regional public arenas as well as through the increasing international geopolitical race between the democratic Western world and strengthening (semi)-authoritarian regimes. The beginning of the twenties of the 21st century has brought up new risks and threats to the surface: environmental emergency, an unknown pandemic, migration, growing economic inequalities, the contradictions of a post-truth era, ideological/cultural as well as social/geographic polarisation and fragmentation, extreme right-wing identity politics, and soon.
The conference has two particular focuses which comprehensively incorporate the above mentioned themes. First, the Conference on the Future of Europe that was launched in May 2021 works with an open agenda and its settings let participants discuss all kinds of policy issues as well as legal and institutional renovations. Second, the Summit for Democracy, invented by the Biden administration, goes beyond transatlantic relations regarding its more ambitious, global scope in order to bring together democratic states for action worldwide. Both big exercises give civil groups, think tanks and citizens the chance to interfere and influence conceptual considerations and practical outputs before the end of the deliberations.
Program
10.00 – 10.15 Participants Connect to Online Platform
10.15 – 10.30 Welcome Address
- István Hegedűs, Chairman, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
- Detmar Doering, Head of Prague Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Prague
10.30 – 12.30 MORNING SESSION: THE EUROPEAN UNION: FAST FORWARD OR A NEW SCLEROSIS?
- Moderator: István Hegedűs, Chairman, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
10.30 – 11.00 Do We Have an East-West Divide inside the European Union? From the Perspectives of the Ongoing Debates about the Future of Europe and the Forthcoming French Presidential Elections
- Jacques Rupnik, Research Professor at CERI-Sciences Po in Paris and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges
11.00 – 11.30 New German Perceptions on the Future of the European Union
- Linn Selle, Chairperson of the European Movement Germany, Berlin
11.30 – 12.00 Alternative Ideas on the Reform of the European Union from Central Europe
- Wojciech Przybylski, Editor-in-chief, Visegrad Insight, Warsaw
12.00 – 12.30 The Conference on the Future of the European Union: A Fresh Exercise for Democratic Participation and Citizens’ Inclusion?
- Richard Youngs, Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, based at Carnegie Europe, Brussels
12.30 – 14.00 Break
14.00 – 16.00 EARLY AFTERNOON SESSION: A NEW ERA FOR THE GLOBAL CO-OPERATION OF DEMOCRACIES?
- Moderator: István Hegedűs, Chairman, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
14.00 – 14.30 The Summit for Democracy: Objectives, Progress and Problems
- Jonathan Katz, Senior Fellow and Director of Democracy Initiatives, The German Marshall Fund of the United States; former Deputy Assistant Administrator, Europe and Eurasia Bureau, US Agency for International Development, Washington DC
14.30 – 15.00 Security and Geopolitical Considerations for our Decade
- Jamie Shea, Senior Adviser on Security and Defence Policy, European Policy Centre; former Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO, Brussels
15.00 – 15.30 How and Why Russia Challenges and Undermines Liberal World Order and What can the West Do against the Threat?
- Maria Domańska, Senior Fellow, Centre for Eastern Studies, Warsaw
15.30 – 16.00 Dealing with Assaults on Democracy within the Dynamics of Relations between the EU, USA, Russia and China
- Imants Lieģis, Senior Fellow, Latvian Institute for International Affairs, Former Ambassador, Former Minister of Defense, Riga
16.00 – 18.00 LATE AFTERNOON SESSION: WILL POPULISTS TAKE OVER WORLDWIDE?
- Moderator: Erik Uszkiewicz, Vice-chairperson, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
16.00 – 16.30 Mapping Populism and Nationalism in Leader Rhetoric across North America and Europe
- Erin Jenne, Professor at the International Relations Department at the Central European University, Budapest-Vienna
16.30 – 17.00 Liberal and Populist Media Discourses and the Transformation of Media Systems
- Ruth Wodak, Emeritus Distinguished Professor and Chair in Discourse Studies, Lancaster University/University Vienna
17.00 – 17.30 Right- and Left-Wing Illiberalism
- Helena Rosenblatt, Distinguished Professor of History, Political Science and French, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
17.30 – 18.00 The Significance of the Hungarian Parliamentary Elections on 3 April 2022
- István Hegedűs, Chairman, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
18.00 – 18.15 Closing Remarks
- Erik Uszkiewicz, Vice-chairperson, Hungarian Europe Society, Budapest
The Hungarian Europe Society is a non-governmental and non-partisan organisation based in Budapest (Hungary). It intends to be involved in the ongoing international dialogue on the future of liberal democracies and wishes to promote Hungary’s ever-deeper integration into Europe.