30 Years of Democratic Transition in CEE: Unfinished Business?

GLOBSEC is a global think-tank based in Bratislava committed to enhancing security, prosperity and sustainability inEurope and throughout the world. Its mission is to influence the future by generating new ideas and solutions for a better and safer world. We believe we can change the world by putting together the right stakeholders at the right time for free exchange of ideas. During the past 15 years, GLOBSEC has grown into the biggest think tank in Central Europe. GLOBSEC supports strong transatlantic ties and ruled-based world created by the West.

DISCUSSING SOLUTIONS TO STRATEGIC CHALLENGES FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF CENTRAL EUROPE
On 30th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and establishment of democracies in Central Europe, GLOBSEC will organise an exclusive GLOBSEC “30 Years of Democratic Transition in CEE: Unfinished Business” Conference and Gala Dinner on 20 September 2019 in New York City.
The conference will focus on assessing the current state of U.S. – Central European relations, the challenges Central Europe is facing in the disrupted global environment, and on bringing together public and private actors around the ideas to address these challenges. A generation of achievement after 1989 may have led to a complacent sense that the work was done – but today, CE’s future is far from settled.

•  Appraising the transformation of the region, the conference will look at the role that civil society has played over the past 30 years, how the U.S. helped it succeed in 1989, and the urgent need to again bolster Transatlantic investments into strengthening civil societies in Central Europe.
• American investments and business partnerships have contributed to the tremendous economic transformation of the region. Today, the potential to expand business ties in industry, services but also in digital and new tech domains is immense. If realized, it will not only bring further economic growth in the U.S. and the region but will also help ensure global economic and technological leadership of the Western world.
•  Against the backdrop of the growing Chinese ambition, revanchist Russia, the challenges and opportunities of the new technologies, we will aim to revitalize the US - Europe partnership for the next decade.

The conference aims to bring together key governmental decision-makers, top business representatives and experts from Central Europe and the United States. To encourage open and lively discussions, only alimited number of representatives is invited to participate. Three panels discussions will focus on identifying challenges of the future as we need to understand the complex of disruptions we are facing and then proactively get ahead of them.

Gala Dinner
When it comes to democracy, nothing can be taken for granted – neither freedom, nor institutions or systems. We will celebrate 30th anniversary of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe at a Gala dinner. The event would feature a presentation ceremony of the Freedom Medals. Medals will be bestowed upon personalities who have significantly contributed to freedom and democracy in Central Europe. These are the people who inspire us with their wisdom and vision.

The event will be covered and mentioned in media outlets across Europe and the United States. GLOBSEC believes that in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, cross-sector collaboration and debate is needed more than ever before. During this event GLOBSEC will promote public-private dialogue and bring together leaders from multiple sectors to shape the agendas for the future.

Over the years, GLOBSEC‘s guest list has included Emmanuel Macron, David Cameron, John McCain, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Steve Forbes, Madeleine Albright, Donald Tusk, Jens Stoltenberg, Kristalina Georgieva, Ursula von der Leyen, Ángel Gurría, and many others.
GLOBSEC flagship conferences, events and projects are being covered in the global media such as POLITICO, Euronews, New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, Newsweek, CNN, BBC, Le Parisien, Buzzfeed, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Times of India, Sky News Arabia.

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