Скачать или смотреть The Athens Democracy Forum: a video essay (a preview)

With emerging democracies backsliding into authoritarianism and others falling prey to populism, there has never been a more urgent need to assess the evolving state of democracy and its impact now, amid rapid global change.

The 2019 Athens Democracy Forum was held on October 9-11 in Athens. It brought together senior New York Times journalists together with international business leaders, policy makers, academics and experts to discuss the state of democracy. It was varied, diverse. The Good, the Bad, the Ugly about democracy.

There were also four special 3 hour immersive "deep-dive discussions" on the topics of artificial intelligence, climate change, migration, and social media platforms.

I had the opportunity to hear (and in some cases chat with) such speakers as Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Prime Minister of Greece), Alvin Carpio (Chief Executive, The Fourth Group), Laura Chinchilla (former President, Republic of Costa Rica), Stephen Dunbar-Johnson (President, International, The New York Times Company), Kassem Eid (Human Rights Activist and Author), Nathan Law (political activist who started the Hong Kong protests two years ago), Sergey A. Karaganov (Honorary Chairman, Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, expert on disinformation), Bernard-Henri Lévy (Philosopher, Filmmaker and Activist), Donald Tusk (President, European Council), Margrethe Vestager (European Commissioner for Competition, European Commission) ... and many, many more.

There were over 400 of us, from more than 30 countries. We enjoyed not just a rich program of sessions (and magnificent breakfasts and lunches provided every day), but a rich program of cultural events and networking opportunities, including a welcome reception at the Acropolis Museum, cultural tours throughout Athens, an interactive discussion with senior New York Times journalists ... all ending the last night with a wonderful dinner and concert hosted by the Mayor of Athens at the open air theatre of the ancient Roman Agora.