Forum 2000 Conferences

About the project

The idea for the Forum 2000 Conference originated in 1997, when former Czech President Václav Havel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, and philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa invited world leaders to Prague to discuss the challenges humanity was facing on the threshold of a new millennium. Since then, Forum 2000 evolved into a successful and widely recognized conference series, where distinguished guests continue to address a diverse international community on topics ranging from religious dialogue to human rights and national security.

According to former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, “The best way to turn philosophy into action is to bring together the philosophers and actors as President Havel does at Forum 2000.” Over the years, Forum 2000 has also become a true Prague tradition, followed closely by the media, political, intellectual, and business elites, and the interested public.

Distinguished Participants

Among the hundreds of personalities who have so far taken part in the Forum 2000 Conferences have been Madeleine Albright, Ales Bialiatski, Elie Wiesel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Lech Wałęsa, Maia Sandu, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Henry Kissinger, Aung San Suu Kyi, Zygmunt Bauman, Garry Kasparov, Luis Almagro, Mary Robinson, Rabbi Michael Melchior, Tsai Ing-wen, José Ramos Horta, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Felipe González, Vladimir Kara-Murza, George Soros, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Richard von Weizsäcker, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Immanuel Wallerstein, Francis Fukuyama, Tawakkol Karman, Andrej Kiska, Vartan Gregorian, Prince Hassan bin Talal, Grigory Yavlinsky, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Goal of the Conferences

Since the beginning, the aim of the Forum 2000 Conferences was to map the globalization process and to note its positive results as well as the perils encountered by an increasingly volatile, accelerated and interconnected world. It has always striven to maintain an up-to-date dialogue about important and complex issues that are key to the future of civilization. The current discussions at the Conference explore and analyze the democracy and human rights developments around the world, the rise of authoritarianism and illiberalism, the impact of technology on society, the competition for global tech dominance, the global cooperation of democracies, and the role of civil society, among other topics and specific themes.

The Forum 2000 delegates also discuss how to handle the global variety of cultures, ideologies and religions; how to strengthen and promote the liberal order as an answer at the global level; and what the role of the media and the big tech companies (mostly related to information and social media) is in the conflict of perceptions.

The goal of these discussions is to achieve a better understanding of our globalized and uncertain world and of the key challenges facing mankind.

Forum 2000 provides global political, intellectual, spiritual, and business leaders with the proper venue to voice their concerns as well as to look for ways to address them.


28th Forum 2000 Conference

The 28th Forum 2000 Conference will be held in Prague on October 13–15, 2024.


A selection of photographs from previous years

More photographs can be found at each conference page


Previous years of the Forum 2000 Conference

2023
27th Forum 2000 Conference
October 15, 2023 - October 17, 2023
2022
2021
What Now? Building Back Democratically
October 10, 2021 - October 12, 2021
2020
2019
Recovering the Promise of 1989
October 13, 2019 - October 15, 2019
2018
Democracy: In need of a critical update?
October 7, 2018 - October 9, 2018
2017
Strengthening Democracy in Uncertain Times
October 8, 2017 - October 10, 2017
2016
The Courage to Take Responsibility
October 16, 2016 - October 19, 2016
2015
Democracy and Education
September 13, 2015 - September 16, 2015
2014
Democracy and Its Discontents
October 12, 2014 - October 15, 2014
2013
Societies in Transition
September 15, 2013 - September 17, 2013
2012
Media and Democracy
October 21, 2012 - October 23, 2012
2011
Democracy and the Rule of Law
October 9, 2011 - October 11, 2011
2010
The World We Want to Live In
October 10, 2010 - October 12, 2010
2009
Democracy and Freedom in a Multipolar World
October 11, 2009 - October 13, 2009
2008
Openness and Fundamentalism in the 21st Century
October 12, 2008 - October 14, 2008
2007
Freedom and Responsibility
October 7, 2007 - October 9, 2007
2006
The Dilemmas of Global Co-Existence
October 8, 2006 - October 10, 2006
2005
Our Global Co-Existence
October 9, 2005 - October 10, 2005
2004
Civil Society in a Globalized World
October 17, 2004 - October 19, 2004
2003
Bridging Global Gaps
October 15, 2003 - October 17, 2003
2002
Searching For Global Consensus
October 18, 2002 - October 20, 2002
2001
Human Rights – Search for Global Responsibility
October 14, 2001 - October 17, 2001
1999
Process of World Integration – Alternative Visions
October 10, 1999 - October 13, 1999
1998
Globalization – Experiences, Instruments, Procedures
October 11, 1998 - October 14, 1998
1997
Concerns and Hopes on the Threshold of the New Millennium
September 3, 1997 - September 6, 1997