Dear Friends,
The year just coming to an end has been full of important events – the outcome of the US election; the results of the British, Italian and Dutch referendums; the continuing bloodshed in Syria; the despicable terror attacks all over the world, including the most recent one in Berlin; the gradual but dramatic transformation of the way we receive information; the rise of populism and xenophobia; and many other significant and worrying developments. One day, we may look back at 2016 as an historic milestone of our time.
Forum 2000 held its 20th annual conference in 2016, reflecting many of these developments and discussing the courage to take responsibility, the weakening leadership of democratic politicians, and the confusion we feel across the democratic world. Philip Zimbardo, the famous US psychologist and the coordinator of the Stanford Experiment, expressed the feelings of many when he said, “democracy today is under a greater threat now than it has ever been since the 1940s”. He may be right. Yet the courage to take responsibility for making things better does not lie with our political leaders alone – it lies with each of us individually. We at Forum 2000 hope that 2017 might be the year we start realizing this.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a peaceful 2017!
Jakub Klepal
Executive Director
5 Big Ideas of the Forum 2000 Conference
Read through the five major ideas that have emerged from the 20th annual Forum 2000 Conference entitled “The Courage to Take Responsibility“.
Explore Our Website!
We have launched our new website in the fall of this year. We are very proud of it. Browse the website and let us know your what you think!
20 Years Anniversary since the signing of Czech-German Declaration
In 2017, join us for the conference of the Czech-German Discussion Forum. The conference is set to take place in Prague on January 30, 2017. More information will soon be available on our website.
