Tackling populism, illiberalism, threats to media freedom, and democratic backsliding is the focus of the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy 2024 which will take place in September.
The Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy is an annual event, organized by the London School of Economics think tank, LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum, a joint initiative of the Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation, the Ratiu Centre for Democracy, and the LSE IDEAS Central and South-East Europe Programme (CSEEP).
Now in its fifth year, and hosted by the Ratiu Centre for Democracy in Turda, northwest Romania, the aim of the dialogues is to strengthen discussions and visions of democracy within Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkan region.
This year, proceedings will be opened by British Ambassador to Romania, Giles Portman.
Other speakers will include Professor Alexander Evans OBE, former Strategy Director in the Cabinet Office and Director Cyber at the Foreign Office; Professor Michael Cox, a Founding Director of LSE IDEAS and Dr. Mary Martin, Director of the UN Business and Human Security Initiative.
Dr. Sandra Pralong, a State Advisor and member of the Cabinet of the President Klaus Iohannis, Peter Watkins CB CBE, former Director General Security Policy in the UK Ministry of Defence and Wojciech Przybylski, Editor-in-Chief of Visegrad Insight are also speakers.
There will be a series of six sessions at the September 9-10 event.
• Pessimism in the face of overlapping crises
• How stable is democracy in the US?
• The view from the Global South
• Will the ‘Year of Elections’ be good for democracy?
• Europe’s struggle to present a united front towards foreign policy challenges
• War and order, a reflection on historical insights from the career of the late Professor Christopher Coker, former Director of LSE IDEAS
Underpinning each of these sessions is the theme of whether the current liberal democratic order can survive in the face of military conflicts, growing support for populism, and threats to globalization.
“2024 has become known around the world as the ‘year of elections’. But true to the inquiring spirit of the Ratiu Forum Dialogues on Democracy, we decided to go behind the headlines to see how the multiple challenges facing the world are going to shape people’s choices, and how in turn those choices will shape the future,” Professor Michael Cox said.
„With a wonderful array of speakers from both sides of the Atlantic – from the policy world to academia – this year’s Dialogues promises to be the most exciting ever,” Professor Cox, Co-founder of the LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum and Event Director of the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy added.
For those interested in attending, you can contact Pamela Ratiu on [email protected] or +40 728 989 086.
