Havel hopes to welcome Liu Xiaobo to the conference, Bauman compares Havel to a world-changing butterfly

The first day of the Forum 2000 Conference at the Žofín Palace was introduced by the former president Václav Havel who highlighted the importance of persistent support for dissidents throughout the world. “My hope is that Liu Xiaobo (dissident Nobel Prize Laureate), Aung San Suu Kyi (imprisoned Burmese politician) and Oswaldo Paya Sardinas (Cuban human rights activist) will be released and will attend the conference soon,” he said.

 

The panelists of the opening session outlined their ideas about the world we want to live in, the conference’s subtitle. Whereas the philosopher Roger Scruton expressed slight disillusion over the evolution of European cities, the prominent sociologist Zygmunt Bauman pointed to the fact that even small acts can result in positive changes in the world. “Our problems are global but we only have local ways of dealing with them,” he said citing the well-known ‘butterfly effect’. “Don´t neglect the butterflies and let them fly their wings,” appealed Mr. Bauman, giving an example of Havel being such a ‘butterfly’ that can change the world.

 

Fareed Zakaria, the editor-at-large of Time Magazine, believes that we are nowadays experiencing an extraordinary period in history marked by rare but optimistic phenomena: peace among the great powers, the creation of a global market economy and technological revolution. On the other hand, Mr. Zakaria perceives that the current crisis of western democracies could have a major impact on the rest of the world.He talked ofthe diminishing faith in democracy in western countries that leads to what he calls ‘circus democracy.’ “Power of the West and its universal values might get lost this way,” he pointed out.

 

The Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, pointed out that governments do not get their legitimacy merely from the ballot box. Many legally-elected governments in the world lack respect for a framework of democracy that includes human rights.

 

Charles D. Ferguson, President of the Federation of American Scientists recognized the threat of nuclear weapons as a symptom of underlying diseases. According to Masashi Nishihara, president of the Research Institute for Peace and Security in Japan, mistrust between nations is the major obstacle to disarmament.

 

Religion as the main source of intolerance and xenophobia was highlighted in the interfaith dialogue session. According to one of the delegates,the former Chief Rabbi of Norway from Israel Michael Melchior, there is a great danger that fear turns into hatred when dealing with different religions. “Hatred is the cancer of all human relations, and hatred disguised as religious superiority jeopardizes any noble aspect of religion,” he cautioned. “There cannot be a dialogue between deaf people. We must open our ears and listen to others,” concluded Surendra Munshi, Indian sociologist.

 

The business perspective was represented by the discussion on the integration of ecological standards for private enterprise. The panelists agreed that a strong renewable energy sector is crucial for new investments in green solutions. Most of them call for governmental support when considering the costs. Martin Bursík, the former Czech Minister of Environment, also stressed the importance of the renewable energy sector as a way to lessen the EU’s energy dependency.

 

The dayconcluded with the opening of the Hiroshima – Nagasaki 1945–2010 Exhibition at the New Town Hall. Hiroshima survivor Shigeko Sasamori shared her moving experience of the bombing and reminded us of the horrendous and lasting after-effects of nuclear weapons.

 

The conference continues on Tuesday with sessions on the limits of urbanization, business ethics and interfaith panels.

More information about the conference can be found here.