24th Forum 2000: “A New World Emerging? Restoring Responsibility and Solidarity”

 "Of course, after this crisis, there will be thousands of theorists who will try to describe precisely how and why it happened and how to prevent it next time. But this will not be a sign that they have understood the message that this crisis has provided." - Vaclav Havel, Forum 2000, 2010

Over the past 24 years, Forum 2000 has organized an annual gathering to focus on pressing international issues. This year's Forum 2000 Conference theme “A New World Emerging? Restoring Responsibility and Solidarity” will be a virtual conference held from October 12 - 14, 2020.

It coincides with the United Nations General Assembly voting several dictatorships with terrible human rights records onto the UN Human Rights Council, and takes place in the midst of a pandemic that was made worse by one of these candidates, the People's Republic of China that has been aided and abetted by the dictatorship in Havana.

Therefore it is no small coincidence that Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), will be opening the Forum 2000 Conference. The Conference kicks off on Monday, October 12, at 2 PM (CET). This is a courageous stand rooted in truth challenging a powerful dictatorship at a time of crisis. Communist China has threatened retaliation against the Czech Republic for their solidarity with Taiwan.

We are honoured that the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Tsai Ing-wen @iingwen will open the #Forum2000 Conference on Monday, Oct 12. Join us for the live stream at 2 PM (CET)! #NewWorldEmerging
👉https://t.co/XpHXRTyUbf pic.twitter.com/tHgc63Da9p

— Forum 2000 (@Forum_2000) October 9, 2020

This act of defiance is very much in the spirit of the founders of Forum 2000.  Forum 2000 is a joint initiative of the late Czech President Václav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and the late Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel. In 1990 in his book, Disturbing the Peace, President Havel presented a definition of hope that is relevant to the moment the world is traversing today.

“Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more unpromising the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

This is why Forum 2000 will be taking place later today and pushing for the restoration of solidarity and responsibility in the world that is emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ten years ago at Forum 2000 Vaclav Havel spoke of the financial crisis that had shaken the international community, but his words were not heeded and unfortunately are even more relevant for today. 

 The former Czech president observed that "the crisis is a call to humility. We should not take things for granted." This was true when he said it in 2010, and even more so today in 2020.

Recovering the Promise of 1989: Take part in the 23rd FORUM 2000 CONFERENCE October 13–15

"If we take the widest and wisest view of a Cause, there is no such thing as a Lost Cause because there is no such thing as a Gained Cause." -  T. S. Eliot (1927)

Forum 2000 started today and this 23rd gathering in Prague will focus on "recovering the promise of 1989." Some of the ways to do that are to attend this gathering in person, virtually over social media, and to revisit the writings and thoughts of those who led the struggle that saw freedom spread around the world in 1989.  One of them is Václav Havel and he is also a founder of Forum 2000. 

If you haven't heard of him, then shame on you. He is an important figure to know, to understand how Eastern Europe was liberated in 1989.

Václav Havel was a Czech playwright, who became a dissident, a prisoner of conscience, presided over the Velvet Revolution, became president of Czechoslovakia, resigned in protest over the Velvet Divorce, then became president of the Czech republic and finally citizen and playwright once again. All the while he demonstrated his solidarity with victims of repression in his own country and around the world.

The fruits of his legacy can be seen in the work of Forum 2000, this annual gathering of politicians, philosophers, artists, scientists, and the public to reflect on important issues challenging civilization that is currently underway. 

Ten years ago on October 12, 2009 at another Forum 2000 conference Václav Havel offered the following reflection on President Barack Obama's decision to back out of meeting with the Dalai Lama due to an upcoming trip to China:

I believe that when the new Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize postpones receiving the Dalai Lama until after he has accomplished his visit to China, he makes a small compromise, a compromise which actually has some logic to it. However, there arises a question as to whether those large, serious compromises do not have their origin and roots in precisely these tiny and very often more or less logical compromises.

Ten years ago on the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Václav Havel also warned of the dangers of appeasement. In an address to the European Parliament in Brussels, Havel issued a challenge to the European Union and warned of the consequences of failure:

"Above all, clear and unequivocal solidarity with all those confronted by totalitarian or authoritarian regimes wherever they are in the world. And economic or other particular interests should not hinder such solidarity. Even a minor, discreet and well-intentioned compromise can have fatal consequences– even if only in the long term, or indirectly. One must not retreat in the face of evil, because it is in the nature of evil to take advantage of every concession. Besides, Europe has already had its own unfortunate experience of appeasement policies. 

The "Velvet Revolution" achieved profound non-violent change without wholesale slaughter and violence associated historically with revolutions. A cursory look would claim that the "revolution" took 11 days in November for the Communists to relinquish power. 

In reality, it began at least in 1976, after the beatings and arrests of the members of the rock band the Plastic People of the Universe, led a number of intellectuals, Vaclav Havel, among them drafting and signing Charter 77.  Charter 77 challenged the Czechoslovak communists to honor the rights outlined in their own constitution and in the Helsinki accords that the communist government had signed in 1975.

This small moral act had big consequences over the long term, and immoral acts such as engaging with Communist China without conditioning relations to improved human rights is now having a great impact in both Europe and America.


On December 9, 1996 President Bill Clinton met with Chinese General and Defense Minister Chi Haotian, in the Oval Office. General Haotian was the military leader who oversaw the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.  President Clinton did not raise the issue of Tiananmen Square in his meeting with the Chinese general. This further empowered the hard line elements in China.

In 2017, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a high ranking center right politician, went to Trier to honor Karl Marx, and celebrate the unveiling of a statue of the communist philosopher paid for by the communist regime in China. The European Commission President also excused and downplayed in his remarks the responsibility of the author of the Communist Manifesto for the 100 million lives lost to impose Marx's ideological project.

Václav Havel 5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011

Havel passed away on December 18, 2011 but in the final months of his life he continued to speak out and take action for human rights.

For example, too many remain silent about the human rights situation in China because of its increasing economic might, claiming that nothing can be done, but Vaclav Havel never held that view. In fact, he protested Western silence. On January 7, 2010, Vaclav Havel walked over to the Chinese Embassy in Prague and rang the doorbell on three occasions before posting a protest letter through the outdoor embassy mail slot defending human rights in China, and the plight of Chinese dissidents. The former Czech president turned to reporters present and explained what he was doing:

“We are here now because we are asking the Chinese president and Chinese government not to repeat what happened to us 33 years ago, where fighters for freedom were pursued and persecuted.”

On January 19, 2010 Havel met with the Executive Director of Human Rights in China, Sharon Hom, and engaged her in a dialogue/interview about Liu Xiaobo, Charter 08 and the struggle for democratic reform in China. When asked about the similarities between China today and Czechloslovakia in 1977 he explained that:

The similarities, I would say, are in the basic structure of human rights reflected in a democratic system, which of course the regime doesn’t want. The regime wishes for the dictatorship of one party. I think this is where Charter 08 and Charter 77 are similar: they have similar targets and similar messages to deliver to the [respective] regimes.

The lessons are clear. There is no end of history, and there are no permanent victories. Liberty and respect for human rights are fragile and require constant attention and care. The threat of tyranny whether through external or internal threats is a constant challenge that requires the vigilance and prudence of free peoples.

Oswaldo Payá and President Václav Havel (2002)

Sadly, these lessons and the legacy of Václav Havel are under assault in the Czech Republic.  In 2014, Czech deputy foreign minister Petr Drulák argued that a "foreign policy with its stress on human rights was wrong and harmful." This abandonment of human rights was not solely confined to Cuba. In February of 2015 the European Union lifted sanctions on the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. This was followed in February of 2016 with lifting sanctions on the Alexander Lukashenko regime in Belarus. 

The European Union's Common Position on Cuba was ended on December 12, 2016 when in a unanimous vote (including the Czech Republic) the European Union claimed to "open a new chapter" in relations with the Cuban dictatorship that dropped human rights as a condition of normalization.

Under the pretext of "normal relations" Cuban dissidents and independent civil society are no longer welcome at events at European embassies, as they were under the old policy. Incidentally in the rest of Latin America European embassies invite dissidents, members of the political opposition to their events. The Cuban government in Washington DC invites opponents of the US government to their embassy functions.

However, these dissidents have not been abandoned, Václav Havel is no longer physically with us, but his legacy and institutions such as Forum 2000 live on and continue to stress human rights and solidarity.

Dissidents and human rights defenders from around the world, including Cuba and China, will be heard at Forum 2000 by world leaders in a space that defends the values and promise of 1989, and seeks avenues for strengthening and expanding them.

True, this is a small moral act by a Czech NGO, but as Vaclav Havel demonstrated back in 1989, in both word and deed, they can change the world for the better.  Whether it succeeds or not  we must continue to hope. In 1990 in his book, Disturbing the Peace, Havel explained a powerful definition of hope that is rooted in truth.

“Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more unpromising the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Tonight, we listened to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman deliver a powerful speech at Forum 2000 that painted a negative, but accurate picture, of the challenges facing the international community today.

"Bad choices are made between tyranny and terrorism. We will fight both. Any war against terrorism is also a war against dictatorship. Every dictator is a terrorist and every terrorist is a dictator."

Freedom of expression, of thought, belief in the freedom of travel and solidarity with victims of repression are at the heart of Forum 2000 and are among the values to be defended to preserve and expand free societies.

Hope you will join us in attending Forum 2000, and sending them a donation.

Havel at 82: Celebrating Václav Havel's living legacy of hope

"The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle." - Václav Havel

Václav Havel born on October 5, 1936

Václav Havel was that rarest of statesmen, a great and good man. In his first New Year's Message in 1990 as President he addressed the country with a candor and truthfulness both rare and needed stating: "I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you." 

Today, we observe the 82nd anniversary of his birth. The Czech play write, who became a dissident, defended artists, a prisoner of conscience, president of Czechoslovakia, resigned in protest over the Velvet Divorce, then president of the Czech republic and finally citizen and play write once again. All the while he demonstrated his solidarity with victims of repression in his own country and around the world.

This was done not out of a sense of optimism, but out of hope.  Consider for a moment how Havel responded to the invasion of his homeland.

In 1968, after Soviet tanks crushed the Prague Spring, an effort by Czechoslovak communist reformers to build socialism with a human face, Havel wrote the following to the Czechoslovak President Alexander Dubcek who had been one of the reformers later purged: "Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance." 

Václav Havel's signature card for Charter 77

Havel believed that moral actions, no matter how small or futile they may appear at the time can have profound consequences for both freedom and a just society. It is because the world is not a puzzle to be solved but incredibly much more complex that decisions of right and wrong made by each person have such great importance.

President Havel, in a November 11, 2009 address to the European Parliament in Brussels issued a challenge to the European Union and warned of the consequences of failure:

"Above all, clear and unequivocal solidarity with all those confronted by totalitarian or authoritarian regimes wherever they are in the world. And economic or other particular interests should not hinder such solidarity. Even a minor, discreet and well-intentioned compromise can have fatal consequences– even if only in the long term, or indirectly. One must not retreat in the face of evil, because it is in the nature of evil to take advantage of every concession. Besides, Europe has already had its own unfortunate experience of appeasement policies. 

On the other hand he understood that living up to the challenge of unequivocal solidarity with those resisting totalitarian regimes would have unexpected positive consequences, not only in those countries living under dictatorship, but also lifting up the moral values of those true to themselves by practicing the values preached.

"Our support can help open-minded people or outspoken witnesses to the situation in North Korea, Burma, Iran, Tibet, Belarus, Cuba or anywhere else, much more than we think. But it will help us too. It will help us build a better world and also to be more true to ourselves; in other words, to put into practice the values that we proclaim in general terms."

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and President Václav Havel in Prague (2002)

At the same time, he did not link hope with success but rather the certainty that what one is doing is both good and coherent. In 1990 in the book, Disturbing the Peace, Havel explained how he viewed hope.

“Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more unpromising the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

The fruits of his legacy can be seen in the work of Forum 2000, an annual gathering of politicians, philosophers, artists, scientists, and the public to reflect on important issues challenging civilization. The topic on the twentieth gathering of Forum 2000 was "The Courage to take Responsibility." In two days the 22nd gathering will focus on "Democracy: In need of a critical update?"  Václav Havel was born 82 years ago today and passed away seven years ago, but his legacy of good works live on. Take part in his legacy attending Forum 2000, in person if you are in Prague, or via social media and live stream video if you are elsewhere.

2017 Oslo Freedom Forum: Honoring Vaclav Havel

"Human rights are universal and indivisible. Human freedom is also indivisible: if it is denied to anyone in the world, it is therefore denied, indirectly, to all people. This is why we cannot remain silent in the face of evil or violence; silence merely encourages them." - Vaclav Havel

The ninth edition of the Oslo Freedom Forum has been underway since May 22, 2017 and tomorrow on the last day the organizers will be presenting the 2017 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent at 10:00am CET the Oslo Nye Theater. Be sure to catch it live streamed below:


Human rights have been in retreat around the world over the past two decades and activists from around the globe need  to network, exchange information, and better coordinate joint actions and strategies to turn the tide.

Nevertheless, this requires questioning assumptions and the course taken over the past twenty five years in the human rights community.

Gatherings such as the Oslo Freedom Forum, Forum 2000 in Prague and the Geneva Summit for Human Rights are forums where this important conversation can and should take place.

This blog has served as a platform to discuss the crisis and possible solutions. It has also called on conservatives to recall their own roll in the development of the idea and language of human rights centuries before the French Revolution of 1789, its roots not in the Enlightenment but in the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages, and the first recognition of universal human rights in the 15th century in the Salamanca school.

Let us take the long view back to inform the conversation on the present situation and future prospects.

Remembering Havel: An Unfinished Dialogue Between Oswaldo Payá and Václav Havel

"A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clear-sighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerally of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action." - Vaclav Havel

 Václav Havel 5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011

Five years ago on December 18, 2011 Vaclav Havel passed away but his legacy and memory live on today with activities commemorating his life. Charter 77 the document that initiated a call for change in 1977 still reverberates in Czech society today. Prague's Archbishop Cardinal Dominik Duka celebrated a requiem mass for Havel in St Vitus Cathedral on fifth anniversary of his passing. Streets are still being named after the late Czech dissident. Forum 2000 is a living legacy that gathers together politicians, artists and intellectuals to focus on particular problems threatening the world today and seeking solutions. There is also a tradition that celebrates Vaclav Havel's humor and sense of the absurd called the "Short Trousers for Vaclav Havel" initiative. 

 Havel is held in high esteem by free Cubans everywhere who remember his message to the Cuban people and his unfinished dialogue with Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas. Earlier this month the FIU’s Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy unveiled a documentary that featured this friendship.

Forum 2000 Conference: The Courage to Take Responsibility

20th Forum 2000 Conference remains as relevant as ever

Forum 2000 asks a central question for participants to reflect on the 20th edition of the Forum 2000 Conference and it is a question that I often ask myself and others when surveying the political landscape today:

The life and work of Václav Havel, an intellectual, an author, a political prisoner, a human rights defender and a president of a country, is an amazing example of democratic leadership and of taking personal responsibility for the state of public affairs and the world as a whole. Nevertheless, today´s democratic leadership seems to be in crisis, contending with a lack of vision, responsibility, and perhaps even courage to lead. Are the current democratic systems unable to generate true leaders? Is the growing authoritarianism in the world a result of the weakness of democratic leadership? Where are the Havels, Churchills, or Mandelas of today?

The gathering officially opened last night in Prague with a keynote address by Andrej Kiska, the President of the Slovak Republic, and archived video of the event is available online here. This morning  the conference gets underway and can be watched live below.


Representing Cuba at this conference are former prisoner of conscience and activist Jorge Olivera Castillo, pro-democracy activist Rosa María Payá of Cuba Decide, former prisoner of conscience and independent lawyer René Gómez Manzano of the Corriente Agramontista. Representing Venezuela is Lawyer and President of New National Awareness Foundation Tamara Suju.  Also long time friend of free Cubans and Venezuelans Gabriel Salvia, of CADAL from Argentina is attending. 

Please use the hashtag #Forum2000 when commenting on the Forum 2000 conference.

Today at 11:15am Central European Time there was a panel on Latin America at Forum 2000 with a distinguished panel outlined below.

 

11:15 - 12:45 Panel (European House) 
LATIN AMERICA: TWO GENERATIONS, ONE VISION?
 In cooperation with CASLA Institute

Panel discussion:
Oscar Arias Sánchez, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Former President, Costa Rica
Mauricio Alarcón Salvador, Human Rights Lawyer, Executive Director, Fundación Ciudadanía y Dessarrollo, Ecuador
Axel Kaiser Barents von Hohenhagen, Co-founder and Executive Director, Fundación Para el Progreso, Chile
Alejandro Medinaceli Avila, Activist and Leader, National Unity Front, Bolivia
Rosa María Payá Acevedo, President, Latin American Youth Network for Democracy, Coordinator, Cuba Decide Campaign, Cuba
Mario Lionnet Valenti, Politician, Nicaragua

Moderator: Tamara Sujú, Human Rights Lawyer, Venezuela

Havel at 80: Remembering Václav Havel's legacy of truth telling and freedom

"I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you." - Václav Havel, New Year's Message, 1990

Václav Havel was that rarest of statesmen, a great and good man. Today, we observe the 80th anniversary of his birth. In Washington D.C. the National Endowment for Democracy has spent the day reflecting on the Czech play write, who became a dissident, a prisoner of conscience, president of Czechoslovakia, resigned in protest over the velvet divorce, then president of the Czech republic and finally citizen and play write once again. All the while he demonstrated his solidarity with victims of repression in his own country and around the world.

The fruits of his legacy can be seen in the work of Forum 2000, an annual gathering of politicians, philosophers, artists, scientists, and the public to reflect on important issues challenging civilization. The topic on the twentieth gathering of Forum 2000 is "The Courage to take Responsibility."

When some Cuban democrats falsely claim that they are alone in the world confronting the Castro dictatorship, one need only remind them of Václav Havel who exchanged letters with Cuban opposition democrats Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Oscar Elías Bicet. The same Havel that on his last trip as president of the Czech Republic traveled to Florida International University and addressed the Cuban people in 2002. Havel invited Cuban dissidents and exiles to the Forum 2000 in Prague a practice that has continued until the present.

These are difficult times with the passing of moral exemplars, such as Elie Wiesel earlier this year. All the more reason to remember the words and deeds of individuals such as Václav Havel.

In 1968, after Soviet tanks crushed the Prague Spring, an effort by Czechoslovak communist reformers to build socialism with a human face, Havel wrote the following to the Czechoslovak President Alexander Dubcek who had been one of the reformers later purged: "Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance." 

Havel believed that moral actions, no matter how small or futile they may appear at the time can have profound consequences for both freedom and a just society. It is because the world is not a puzzle to be solved but incredibly much more complex that decisions of right and wrong made by each person have such great importance.

In 2009, President Barack Obama had backed out of meeting with the Dalai Lama due to an upcoming trip to China, Havel offered the following reflection on October 12, 2009 at the Forum 2000 conference:

I believe that when the new Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize postpones receiving the Dalai Lama until after he has accomplished his visit to China, he makes a small compromise, a compromise which actually has some logic to it. However, there arises a question as to whether those large, serious compromises do not have their origin and roots in precisely these tiny and very often more or less logical compromises.

It is also important to remember that Havel had a great sense of humor especially about the absurd. This is another legacy that is observed on December 18th of each year the “Short Trousers for Václav Havel” initiative started in 2012.

Short Trousers is a reference to Havel stepping into political life in 1989 and his inauguration to the presidency in visibly short trousers. He explained vainly that rather than a tailor’s mistake it was his habit to pull his pants up at every dramatic situation. To this, one might say global mythology of his short trousers, he added with a smile: "I must say that I am glad of it, more or less. From my point of view it’s a pretty gentle way of mocking myself."

Let us remember and honor this man passing on his ideas and what he did to new generations while at the same time heeding his prophetic warnings for our civilization. On February 21, 1990 in an address to the U.S. Congress he warned of catastrophe if there was not profound change:

Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our Being as humans, and the catastrophe toward which this world is headed, whether it be ecological, social, demographic or a general breakdown of civilization, will be unavoidable. If we are no longer threatened by world war or by the danger that the absurd mountains of accumulated nuclear weapons might blow up the world, this does not mean that we have definitively won. We are in fact far from definite victory. 

Remembering the meeting with Václav Havel and Oldřich Černý at Forum 2000 in 2009

"The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility."- Václav Havel IHT (21 February 1990) 

Six years ago in October of 2009 together with former prisoner of conscience José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Czech journalist Carlos González Sháněl, political analyst Javier Loaiza, Tamara Suju Roa and  Former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga met President Václav Havel and Forum 2000 Executive Director Oldřich Černý at the Forum 2000 on the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

It was at this event that President Havel made some profound observations that now and hindsight speak volumes at the challenges currently faced in a deteriorating international atmosphere.

At the time President Barack Obama had backed out of meeting with the Dalai Lama due to an upcoming trip to China, Vaclav Havel explained the importance of such "small compromises" on October 12, 2009 at Forum 2000:

I believe that when the new Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize postpones receiving the Dalai Lama until after he has accomplished his visit to China, he makes a small compromise, a compromise which actually has some logic to it. However, there arises a question as to whether those large, serious compromises do not have their origin and roots in precisely these tiny and very often more or less logical compromises.

Both Václav Havel and Oldřich Černý have passed away and are greatly missed, especially in these difficult times when moral clarity and discernment are greatly needed. The video below was made by journalist Carlos González.


At the gathering above President Havel signed a petition calling for the release of 305 Cuban political prisoners. Cuban democrats should honor and remember the dissident who became a prisoner of conscience who became a president and later a private citizen and through out this trajectory maintained his solidarity with the victims of repression around the world. On the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution the legacy of Václav Havel and Oldřich Černý lives on in the free society they struggled to bring into being.

19th Forum 2000 Conference: Democracy and Education

“Democracy is no genetic information. It is not a mere social system. We need to learn democracy.” - Jakub Klepal, Forum 2000

19th Forum 2000 opening ceremony

English philosopher Roger Scruton addressing the opening panel of the 19th gathering of Forum 2000 titled "Are we naturally un-democratic" and addressed the question of democracy and education:

When we ask questions like this, are we naturally democratic? And what is the place of the democratic ethos in education? We realize that we are pulled between two competing forces. “Competition it seems to me has two different forms, one the natural form, the other the artificial form that we are all hoping for. The natural form of competition is that in which one person strives to dominate the rest and that person, if he succeeds, will then impose upon the rest his view of things.

However, we hope for another form of competition, a non-natural form of competition in which the person who succeeds doesn’t want to dominate but simply to be heard. That you compete in politics for example in order that your voice should be heard and then you make room for the voices of others, that it seems to me is what the democratic instinct is.

I don’t think it is a natural thing. It is something that is acquired by civilization. That the instinct not just to succeed, but having succeeded to allow a voice to those who didn’t. Now that is a very difficult state of mind to achieve and I think it is one that we have to learn in the classroom, but we are never going to learn it if we think that competition is inherently a bad thing. It’s not its inherently neutral, but it is something we need to use so that the voice of the other can be heard in our decision making. 

19th Forum 2000 Conference
September 13–16, 2015, Prague and other Central European cities

There is a growing sense that democracy has entered a period of discontent and is facing new and serious challenges. Has democracy exhausted itself? Are authoritarian regimes gaining an upper hand? Or, could it be that liberal democracy runs counter to human nature and its preservation requires constant effort? Can education help us meet the challenge of maintaining and expanding democracy? The discussion was held amongst a number of distinguished guests from around the world. The conference took place between September 13–16, 2015 in Prague and other Central European cities. A portion of these conversations were filmed and are available on youtube in the playlist above.

Remembering and Honoring Laura Inés Pollán Toledo

“I have read somewhere that in a totalitarian system martyrdom does better than thought.” - Václav Havel

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo (1948 - 2011)

Three years later and the forces of repression still tremble before the memory of the 65 year old wife, mother and school teacher. Watching Laura Inés Pollán Toledo in the video below and one begins to understand the existential threat she and the Ladies in White represent to the totalitarians in Cuba.

She was a former school teacher turned human rights defender and international pro-democracy figure who courageously and nonviolently confronted Castro's half century old totalitarian dictatorship and paid for it with her life.

Today at 12 noon at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity (Ermita de la Caridad) located at 3609 South Miami Ave. Miami, Fl. 33133 will have a special Mass for Laura Inés Pollán Toledo and one can expect activities around Cuba in her honor.

Human rights trends in Cuba remain troubling with violence against activists on the increase. Women in Cuba continue to be targeted with violence for expressing their opinions and often times around the world, people who should know better, are unaware of what is taking place and celebrate the regime's treatment of women.

The third anniversary of Laura's passing coincides with the Forum 2000 gathering in Prague and listening to the voices of courageous activists from China, Cuba, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela and elsewhere demonstrates that her cause of freedom spans the world.

At the same time tonight at Casa Bacardi at 7pm Ángel Carromero will be presenting a book on the events surrounding the deaths of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero on July 22, 2012.

Forum 2000: Democracy and Its Discontents A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain and Tiananmen

"I really do inhabit a system in which words are capable of shaking the entire structure of government, where words can prove mightier than ten military divisions." - Václav Havel, Speech of October 1989

Tomorrow begins the 18th Forum 2000 Conference in Prague which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe and the brutal crackdown in China that killed scores of nonviolent demonstrators. Therefore it should come as no surprise that the title of this conference is "Democracy and Its Discontents A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain and Tiananmen."

Delegates meet Forum 2000 co-founders Oldřich Černý and Václav Havel in 2009

Having physically been present at Forum 2000 as a presenter in 2009 and later as an attendee in 2013 I can affirm that it is a gathering and program worth attending and supporting. In addition to engaging in the great exchange of ideas there are also opportunities for activists to obtain support for causes from the international dignitaries in attendance. At the same time when not able to travel to Prague following it over the internet on a live video stream has also been incredibly worthwhile and highly recommend it to others.

Forum 2000 delegates in Prague in 2013 at H.H. Dalai Lama event

Please consider becoming a friend of Forum 2000 with concrete and regular support by following Forum 2000 on Twitter, watching the Forum 2000 events between October 12th through the 15th, and letting others know about this treasure trove of accumulated wisdom. Forum 2000 is one of the many positive legacies of  Václav Havel and Oldřich Černý.

Below is the video program for 2014 of Forum 2000 reproduced from their web page.

Watch the Forum 2000 Conference, “Democracy and Its Discontents,” Live Online

Venezuelan prisoner of conscience Leopoldo Lopez at Forum 2000

We invite you to watch the live video broadcast of the panel discussions held during this year’s Forum 2000 Conference, “Democracy and Its Discontents: A Quarter-Century After the Iron Curtain and Tiananmen,” which takes place October 12–15, 2014 in Prague and 12 other Central European cities.

 

On Sunday, October 12 you can watch a live stream of the Opening Ceremony at Prague Crossroads with the keynote speech by Russian businessman and former prisoner of conscience Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

On Monday, October 13 and Tuesday, October 14 you can follow the live broadcast of the sessions held in the main hall of Žofín Palace (Forum Hall). Speakers include Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Belarusian writer and activist Ales Bialiatski, Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration Lobsang Sangay, Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq Falah Mustafa Bakir, Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, and former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar.

You can watch these proceedings in the Video section of our website. Recordings of these discussions as well as other events will be posted there shortly after the conference. The live broadcast will be held in English.

Online reporting from the entire conference can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ via #Forum2000.

More information about the conference and its program can be found here.

  

Broadcast Program

Sunday, October 12

19.00–21.00

Opening Ceremony

Jakub Klepal, Ivan M. Havel, Jürgen Hoffmeister, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Igor Blaževič

  

Monday, October 13

09.30–11.00

Democracy and Its Discontents

Jacques Rupnik, Iveta Radičová, Karel Schwarzenberg, Zhang Qianfan, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Michael Novak

11.15–12.45

The Significance of Václav Havel’s Value Based Foreign Policy

John Shattuck, Lobsang Sangay, Carl Gershman, Ales Bialiatski, Andrew Schapiro, Yoani Sánchez

14.00–15.30

Is Democracy in Decline? Reflections from the Fall of the Berlin Wall to the Euromaidan

Christopher Walker, Marc Plattner, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Tarek Osman, Yoani Sánchez, Yevhen Hlibovytsky

15.45–17.15

Russia: A Non-Democratic Power on the World Stage?

Petr Kolář, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vytautas Landsbergis, Andrey Zubov, Daniel Baer

17.30–19.00

Systemic Change, Economic Reforms, and Democracy: What Have We Learned? What Lessons for the Future?

Danilo Türk, Jan Švejnar, Grigory Yavlinsky, Ivan Mikloš, Mauricio Pozo 

  

Tuesday, October 14

10.00–11.30

3 Years After Arab Spring: Middle East at a Crossroads

Shlomo Avineri, Salam Fayyad, Falah Mustafa Bakir, Tarek Osman, Youssef Amrani, Gilles Kepel

 

11.45–13.15

Priorities and Aspirations for Democracy in the 21^st Century

Jiří Schneider, José María Aznar, Yogendra Yadav, Murong Xuecun, Juan Requesens, Šimon Pánek