Growing threat of populism in society to be addressed at LSE event

Tackling populism, illiberalism, threats to media freedom, and democratic backsliding is the focus of the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy 2024.

The Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy is an event held annually, organised by the LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum: a joint initiative of the Ratiu Family Charitable Foundation, the Ratiu Centre for Democracy, and the LSE IDEAS Central and South-East Europe Programme (CSEEP).

Now in its fifth year, and hosted by the Ratiu Centre for Democracy in Turda (Romania), the aim of the dialogues is to strengthen discussions and visions of democracy within Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkan region.

This year, proceedings will be opened by His Excellency Giles Portman, British Ambassador to Romania.

Other speakers will include:
• Professor Alexander Evans OBE, former Strategy Director in the Cabinet Office and Director Cyber at the Foreign Office
• Professor Michael Cox, a Founding Director of LSE IDEAS
• Dr. Mary Martin, Director of the UN Business and Human Security Initiative
• Dr. Sandra Pralong, a State Advisor and member of the Cabinet of the President of Romania
• Peter Watkins CB CBE, former Director General Security Policy in the UK Ministry of Defence
• Wojciech Przybylski, Editor-in-Chief of Visegrad Insight

A series of six sessions running from Monday 9th-Tuesday 10th September will cover:
• Pessimism in the face of overlapping crises
• How stable is democracy in the US?
• The view from the Global South
• Will the ‘Year of Elections’ be good for democracy?
• Europe’s struggle to present a united front towards foreign policy challenges
• War and order, a reflection on historical insights from the career of the late Professor Christopher Coker, former Director of LSE IDEAS

Underpinning each of these sessions is the theme of whether the current liberal democratic order can survive in the face of military conflicts, growing support for populism, and threats to globalization.

“2024 has become known around the world as the ‘year of elections’. But true to the inquiring spirit of the Ratiu Forum Dialogues on Democracy, we decided to go behind the headlines to see how the multiple challenges facing the world are going to shape people’s choices, and how in turn those choices will shape the future. With a wonderful array of speakers from both sides of the Atlantic – from the policy world to academia – this year’s Dialogues promises to be the most exciting ever,” says Professor Michael Cox, Co-founder of the LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum and Event Director of the Ratiu Dialogues on Democracy.

Participation details will be available soon on the Ratiu Forum website. In the meantime, the full agenda and list of speakers can be viewed here.

/ENDS

For more information, to contact the event organizers, or to speak to an expert, such as Professor Cox, contact Jamie Hose at BlueSky Education on jamie@bluesky-pr.com, or call +44 (0)1582 790 706.