Chair: Jody Jensen (senior researcher, iASK)
10:00-12:00 Panel Discussion: Challenges to and Opportunities for Democracy: is Western Civilization capable of Renewal?
While the social and political reactions to the root causes of global change have transformed the functioning of democracies globally, those appearing in the space of Central and Eastern Europe have experienced a particular type of development. Their specificity has been mostly explained in terms of the proliferation of “illiberal democracies” characterized by the politics of Euroscepticism. The panel aims to address three main questions: 1) What factors have contributed to the specific populist developments within the region? 2) What explains the particular importance of “Euroskepticism” in the formation of regional populisms? 3) How has regional populism addressed the COVID-19 pandemic and has populism itself “mutated” in the context of this novel socio-political situation?
10:00-10:20 Keynote: Philippe Schmitter (European University Institute, San Domenico di Fiesole) – On FACEBOOK!
10:20-12:00 Panel Discussion – Only in ZOOM!
Invited Panelists: Emil Brix (Director, Diplomatic Academy of Vienna), Manuela Caiani (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa/Firenze), Marko Lovec (University of Ljubljana), Pavel Palazhchenko (Gorbachev Foundation), Rafal Smoczynski (Polish Academy of Sciences), Igor Stipic (Research fellow, iASK). Ravid Taghiyev (iASK fellow)
11:15-12:00 Q&A Session Only in ZOOM!
14:30-15:30 Panel Discussion: Understanding the Root Causes of Corruption, State Capture, Radicalization, Resilience, and Emigration in Central and Southeastern Europe – Only in ZOOM!
The panel will present research conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia by the Democratization Policy Council from Berlin and the Center for European Strategies Eurothink from Skopje. The starting point of the report is Sarah Chayes’ book “Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security” and seeks to answer whether systemic corruption and state capture fuel popular resentment that feeds into radicalization, including (but not limited to) violent extremism. The research strongly reflects the voices of ordinary people in localities that are often ignored in political discussions. A set of 18 community snapshots provides a deeper look at lived impact on a generation of upheaval and stagnation, reflecting on issues of polarization, corruption, migration, opportunity, dignity, solidarity and vision.
Chair: Dimitar Nikolovski (Eurothink – Center for European Strategies, Skopje, Research Fellow iASK)
Invited Panelists: Valery Perry (Democratization Policy Council), Sasa Kulenovic (Democratization Policy Council), Kurt Bassuener (Democratization Policy Council – Sarajevo), Ljupcho Petkovski (Eurothink – Center for European Strategies – Skopje)
15:30-16:00 Q&A Session – Only in ZOOM!
