Jean-Christophe Bas, CEO of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, spoke on the topic “The World of Common Values. Does It Still Exist?” at the 29th Krynica Economic Forum, the largest conference of its type in Central and Eastern Europe.
Other speakers on the plenary session included former Polish Prime Minister and current MEP Beata Szydło, Romania’s Minister for Communications and Information Society Alexandru Petrescu, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Social Policies Mariyana Nikolova, and Dirk Niebel, former Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in Germany. The session was chaired by Polish MEP Zdzislaw Krasnodebski.
“The topic of shared global values is of critical importance in today’s increasingly fractured world if we are to shape a global order that will ensure a peaceful future. It is indeed urgent to reflect on what keeps us together as humanity, and on if and how we can forge truly universal values ” Jean-Christophe Bas said. “The DOC is establishing itself as a recognised centre of expertise in this field by fostering dialogue among cultures and civilizations. Events such as Krynica and the DOC’s own Rhodes Forum are vital platforms where such crucial questions can be debated and engaged with in an atmosphere of mutual respect.”
Shared global values will be one of the central themes of next month’s Rhodes Forum, the DOC’s annual ideas driven global affairs conference. The 17th edition of the Rhodes Forum – titled “Global (dis)order: Towards dialogue-based worldviews” – takes place on the Greek island of Rhodes on 11-12 October 2019. This year the Forum takes the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall to examine the deep changes our societies and our world are undergoing, under three headings:
- Sustainable economic development;
- Global architecture and global (geo)politics; and
- Digitalised lives, ethical standards, and the revival of civility.
During the Krynica forum Jean-Christophe Bas also took part in a session titled “Will the World Order Turn into Global Chaos?” chaired by Maurizio Caprara, Senior Foreign Affairs Commentator at Italy’s Corriere della Sera. Panellists included Dirk Niebel; Karel Schwarzenberg, Vice-Chairman of the Czech parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee; Marija Risteska, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Research and Policy Making in North Macedonia; and David Earnshaw, Associate Vice President for European Public Policy at MSD in Belgium. During the discussion, Jean-Christophe Bas stressed the importance of strengthening multilateralism in order to avoid chaos.