Theme

The 10th annual Forum 2000 Conference will be held in Prague on October 8-10, 2006. Last year, a series was launched that was dedicated to the nature and meaning of the current conflicts preventing peaceful coexistence of the international community. This year's conference will continue as part of that series. The conference takes place over three days. The opening ceremony takes place on the evening of October 8 at Prague Crossroads, the former St Anne’s church in Prague’s Old Town. The working program of the conference will begin on the following day. The plenary session will be divided into three panels. This part of the conference will take place at Zofin Palace.

Panel 1
Handling the Global Variety of Cultures, Ideologies and Religions

"The diversity of global civilization is one of its greatest assets - a pool of experience, knowledge and alternatives. Protecting different forms of governance and cultural expression as well as different religious faiths and lifestyles, especially those that are small, weak or in the minority - is therefore an imperative for global society. The right to be different should apply everywhere as long as it does not give an opening to intolerance or violation of other human rights." (Prague Declaration, October 2001)

• Global communication and interaction – Does the instant availability of information presume a global society?
• Do different societies in a globalized environment grow increasingly intolerant of each other? Why?
• Are there differences in the perception of tolerance between Western and non-Western societies?
• Is the era of multiculturalism over? What are the options?

Panel 2
Is Democracy an Answer on a Global Level?

"There has been a dramatic decline in the number of armed conflicts since the early ‘90s. A decline of some 80%, in fact, in the case of conflicts with a thousand or more battle deaths a year." (Gareth Evans, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Forum 2000 Conference, October 2005) "Democracies, at least since the second war, have not gone to war with each other. Eighty percent of all interstate conflicts are instigated by autocracies. They are more vulnerable to civil war. There’s never been a famine in a democracy – a free country with a free media." (Mike Moore, former Director General of WTO, Forum 2000 Conference, October 2005). And yet, terrorists attack the centers of western cities, beach resorts, the public transportation systems. Despite living in an ever more peaceful and democratic society, we feel more and more fear.

• Are democratic societies by their nature creating a stable and secure internal environment or rather the opposite?
• What is the role of democracy in seeking solutions to the key conflicts of today?
• Is democracy an answer to terrorism?
• Populism and democratic culture – Is democracy a welcome stage for irresponsible leaders?
• Democracy, freedom and security – How do they mix together?

Panel 3
Human Rights Revisited

"If we grant that human rights are in theory universal, how do we act on this knowledge, and in particular, do we demand the implementation of these universal human rights everywhere, and at all times, and do we seek to impose this sense of rights on culturally different people?" (Francis Fukuyama, Forum 2000 Conference, October 2001)

• How are human rights affected by cultural differences?
• What is the role of religion in the perception of human rights?
• Human rights and legitimacy of international law
• Human rights: global visions, local applications
• Human rights and national security
• The role of economic interests in the perception of human rights?
• Human rights – a pastime for intellectual elites?
• Has the present human rights discourse already alienated itself?