Conference
Freedom and Democracy -
19 November 2004
9.00 – 20.00
Library of Congress, Washington
Civilization and Power
America has become the leader of the world, and Thomas Mann’s dream, a federation of European states, is coming true. At the same time, there are many, both inside and outside of the West, who feel today that Western culture is untrue to its own ideal of civilisation, and that its universalism has degenerated into mere globalism. To these critics, the notion of freedom, which was central to Western democracy and which has become increasingly arbitrary, is no longer the fullest expression of human dignity. The question is: what is it that Europe can learn from America, and vice versa?
Speakers
Gilles Andréani
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Anne Applebaum
Ronald Asmus
Michael André Bernstein
Christoph Bertram
Ladan Boroumand
Mark Danner
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Hillel Fradkin
Francis Fukuyama
Moshe Halbertal
Willem van Hasselt
Ágnes Heller
Ramin Jahanbegloo
Mark Juergensmeyer
Robert Kagan
Charles Kupchan
Farid Laroussi
Anatol Lieven
Thomas L. Pangle
Diana Pinto
John Ralston Saul
Karl Schlögel
Peter Schneider
Aleksander Smolar
Bassam Tibi
John Vinocur
Richard Wolin
