Events | Reflecting on 1989: What the past three decades can tell us about the future

Berlin | November 8, 2019

Thirty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, ending the division of an entire continent. The bipolar system of the Cold War dissolved and a new optimism about the future took hold in the West and around the globe. Liberal democracy was on the march and Francis Fukuyama’s thesis of “the end of history” pointed the way ahead. Today, the hopeful mood of 1989 has been replaced by gloom. The West is no longer unified in its support for liberal democracy and a new geopolitical competition is reshaping the international system. What lessons can we draw from 1989 to face current challenges? How should we handle today’s uncertainty to protect democracy tomorrow?

 

Keynote

Francis Fukuyama, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

Joining a panel discussion with

Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, Vice President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Professor of Democracy Studies, The Hertie School

 

This event is part of the series “The Backlash Against Liberal Democracy” launched by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., and the Robert Bosch Foundation. The series brings together influential voices from Europe and the United States to shed light on different aspects of the challenges that liberal democracies face. Speakers so far have included historian Timothy Snyder from Yale University as well as political scientist Daniel Ziblatt from Harvard University. This event is organized in cooperation with and generously supported by the Hertie School.


A cooperation with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Hertie School

Location
Hertie School, Forum, 1st floor, Friedrichstraße 180, 10117 Berlin

How to register:
Please send an e-mail to events[at]hertie-school[dot]org

Please include the following:
- full name
- title (optional)
- organisation (optional)

Please note that this event is by invitation only.

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