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Forum 2000: A Gathering of Minds

Vaclav Havel

Elie Wiesel

Many of the world's leading thinkers, writers, Nobel prize winners, politicians and academics converged on the Castle in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, from September 3 to 6, 1997, to consider the prospects for the world after the year 2000. Czech President Vaclav Havel and writer and professor Elie Wiesel organized the international conference, called Forum 2000.

Leaders attending included the Tibetan Dalai Lama, former South African President Francis William deKlerk, Norwegian seafarer Thor Heyerdahl, Nobel Literature Prize winner Wole Soyinka, and former Chilean President Patricio Aylwin Azocar.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was the official media partner of the conference and offered daily coverage on this page. The three-day conference was devoted to the following themes:

Forum 2000 To Consider Humankind's Future

Forum 2000's Great Minds Will Meet In Great Halls

The Men Behind Forum 2000 --Havel And Wiesel

Explorer Heyerdahl Urges Humility

DAY ONE: THE WORLD WE HAVE INHERITED -- burdens, divisions, values, assets and visions

Forum 2000 Seeks New Approaches To Solving World Problems

Minister Talks About Country's 'Disintegration' At Forum 2000

End Old Thinking, Peres Tells Forum 2000

Activist Defines Human Rights At Forum 2000

Viewpoint: The Fall of the Wall

"If the fall of the Berlin Wall is to escape trivialization, it cannot and must not stand as the resolution of the skirmishes of West versus East or capitalism versus socialism, but plainly as a permanent rebuke of closure and exclusion, a repudiation of mental shackles and an affirmation of the virtues that stamp the human mind: a hunger for knowledge, for experimentation and discovery, and a refusal to accept orthodoxies as unassailable, since the material world from which all theories and beliefs derive remains infinite and largely secretive, despite the greatest scientific advances of humankind."

Wole Soyinka
First African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1986)

Heard at the Castle...

"Technology doesn't need a visa."

Shimon Peres, former Israeli Labor Party prime minister, on the futility of preventing outside influences from entering a country.

"We worry about the color of a rag that hangs on a stick over a house -- whereas we should be asking: How are the people in that house living?"

Sergei Kovalyov, Russian human rights activist and Duma deputy, on the dangers of patriotism.

DAY TWO: OUR WORLD TODAY -- review of our main spiritual, intellectual, political and socio-economic harmonies, disharmonies and tensions

Religious, Environmental Issues Highlight Of Forum 2000

Historian Says Eastern Europe No Longer Exists

Forum 2000 Likely To End Without Final Document

Co-Organizer Wiesel Pleased With Forum 2000

Heard at the Castle...

"If we are to have Pushkins, we must have Russian, if we are to have Molieres we must have French, and if we are to have Havels we must have Czech."

John Silber, president of Boston University, denouncing the global influence of U.S. culture and the dominance of the English language.

"If we do not know what kind of capitalism is emerging out of the crisis in the West, I do not quite know how we can predict what will come in the East.

Timothy Garton Ash, historian and expert on Central Europe, on the current debate about the economic value of the various models of Western capitalism.

DAY THREE: HOPES FOR THE FUTURE -- options, responsibilities, and dilemmas in our quest for a better world

Forum 2000 Ends With Appeal For Global Responsibility

Forum 2000 Backer Assesses Conference

UN Failures Due To Lack Of Common Will

Explorer Heyerdahl Urges Humility

Heard at the Castle...

"We are here because I don't want my past to become your future."

Elie Wiesel, co-organizer of Forum 2000 and a survivor of the Holocaust, addressing future generations in his closing address.

"Instead of action we get hand-wringing. Instead of forthrightness we get equivocation."

Henry Louis Gates, a prominent professor of humanities at Harvard University, on U.S. society's reluctance to deal with racism and the black underclass.

"We have to respect nature or we will be punished for destroying it."

Thor Heyerdahl, explorer and archaelogist, urging human beings to assume more humility in the natural world.

PARTICIPANTS:
Oscar Arias Sanchez
	Former President of Costa Rica. Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1987 for his efforts to draft the peace plan between Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. One of the best-known peace activists in the region, he established the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress.
Timothy Garton Ash
	Political scientist and writer. Author of many books about revolutions in Eastern Europe and a regular contributor to "The New York Review of Books" and "The Times." [Photo courtesy of L. Carper.]
Patricio Aylwin Azocar
	President of Chile between 1990 and 1995. In the presidential elections, he defeated General Pinochet and contributed to the return of democracy into Chile. Currently he is the honorary president of the World Democratic Congress.
Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo
	Recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Peace, in acknowledgement of his work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor. [Photo courtesy of the Nobel Foundation.]
Ignatz Bubis
	Philosopher and moral and political authority. Representative of Jewish associations and the Chairman of The Central Council of Jewish Organization in Germany.
Fritjof Capra
	Physicist and system theorist. Director of the Berkley-based Center of Ecoliteracy. Author of several books, he has been engaged in a systematic examination of the philosophical and social implication of contemporary science in society.
Cornelius Castoriadis
	Director of "Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales" and author of more than 15 books, including "Philosophy, Politics, Autonomy."
Joseph Chan
	Professor at The University of Hong Kong. His recent writings focus on Confucianism, human rights and liberalism.
Tze-Chi Chao
	Leading intellectual and President of the World League for Freedom and Democracy.
Lord Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf
	Liberal political scientist and sociologist. Author of many theoretical works and publications about transformation of society including "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe."
The Dalai Lama
	Highest spiritual representative of Tibet. He was appointed Dalai Lama XIV, with all political rights, in 1954. He has lived in exile in India since 1956. He received the Noble Peace Prize in 1989 for his peaceful struggle for freedom and basic rights for the Tibet people. [Photo courtesy of John Stanmeyer - Saba.]
Francis William deKlerk
	Former president of South Africa. Together with Nelson Mandela, he made a decisive contribution toward the removal of apartheid from political life in South Africa, and established a process of reconciliation between the black majority and the white minority. Together with Nelson Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Riane Eisler
	Best known for her groundbreaking book, "The Chalice and The Blade," which brought a new perspective to the past, present, and the possibilities of our future. She is internationally known as a cultural historian and systems and evolutionary theorist.
El Hassan bin Talal
	Crown Prince of the Jordan Hashemite royal dynasty. Writer, philosopher and economist who urges for tolerant co-existence of Islam, Judaism and Christianity and as well as democratic processes in the traditional Islamic world. He also plays a prominent role in the Middle East peace process.
Gareth Evans
	Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia. Best known for his role in developing the UN Peace Plan for Cambodia and for founding the ASIA Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum.
Jostein Gaarder
	Made his literary debut in 1986 with a collection of short stories, which were soon followed by two novels about young adults. In 1990 he received the Norwegian Literary Critics' Award and the Ministry of Cultural and Scientific Affairs' Literary Prize for his book "The Solitaire Mystery."
Henry Louis Gates
	W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, as well as the Director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research. Also the author of many books, the latest being "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man."
Bronislaw Germek
	Historian and member of the Polish Parliament. Former adviser to Solidarity and Lech Walesa.
Norbert Greinacher
	Professor of Theology at Tubingen University. Ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1956.
John Hall
	Leading sociologist from McGill University. He studies social conditions for liberal societies, nationalism and civil society.
Vaclav Havel
	President of the Czech Republic. A playwright and political activist, he was incarcerated several times for his views and writings. One of the leaders of the Civic Forum opposition movement which helped bring about the overthrow of communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
Hazel Henderson
	Futurist and author of the well-known "Building a Win-Win World." Her articles appear in newspapers around the world. She is also a board member of the Worldwatch Institute.
Thor Heyerdahl
	Well-known ocean traveler, environmentalist and founder of the Kon-tiki museum in Oslo.
Takeaki Hori
	Advisor to the president of the Nippon Foundation, anthropologist and author of several books about South Pacific Islands and Oceania.
Jose Ramos-Horta
	Recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Peace in acknowledgement of his work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor. [Photo courtesy of the Nobel Foundation.]
Vyaceslav Vsevolodovic Ivanov
	Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. He studies the problems linked to ethnic and linguistic conflicts, and to the disappearance of the languages of indigenous peoples.
Claude Jasmin
	Professor of Oncology and founding President of the International Council for Global Health Progress. Recipient of several awards for AIDS and cancer research.
Ted Koppel
	Key presenter and Managing Editor of ABC "News Nightline" since it began in 1980. He has spent 31 years with ABC News as a presenter, foreign and domestic correspondent and bureau chief. Co-author with Marvin Kalb of bestselling book "In the National Interest."
Sergei Kovalyov
	Representative in the state Parliament of Russia. Well-known human rights activist and opponent of Russia's war in Chechnya. Chairman of the Committee for Human Rights, he was also imprisoned in 1974 for what were called "anti-Soviet activities" and spent ten years either in jail or in exile.
Jack Lang
	Member of the European Parliament. Former French Minister of Culture, Minister of State and Minister of National Education. Professor of law at Paris X University-Nanterre.
Joshua Lederberg
	Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1958. Well-known geneticist and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science.
Marguerite S. Lederberg
	Professor of Psychiatry at Cornell University. She is a member of several medical societies and widely-published in specialized journals.
Nikolaus Lobkowicz
	Philosopher, former rector of Munich University and former president of the Catholic University of Eichstatt in Germany, where, in 1994, he founded the Institute of Central and East European Studies.
James Lovelock
	Author of "Gaia" theory and of approximately 200 scientific papers. His main interest is the Life Sciences.
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger
	Archbishop of Paris and member of the French Academy.
Khotso Makhulu
	Archbishop of Central Africa. He has a deep concern for some of the major issues that face developing countries, such as the international debt.
Michael Mann
	Historian who deals with long term development of the European society and the problem of nation states. Author of well known "The Sources of Social Power."
Hans-Heinrich Nolte
	Professor of Eastern European history at the University in Hannover since 1978. Author of a number of works which deal with questions of peripheries and with the formation of one world.
Michael Novak
	Theologian and political scientist, recipient of the Templeton Prize in 1994, author of a number of works about the relationship of the liberal society (esp. capitalism) and Christianity, for example: "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism."
Raimon Panikkar
	Professor Emeritus at the University of California. Ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1946 and author of several books, including "The Silence of God."
Shimon Peres
	Leading Israeli politician. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, together with Yitzhak Rabin, he made a lasting contribution to the peace process in the Middle East, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.
John Polanyi
	Professor of chemistry at Toronto University. Deals also with the nature of scientists' responsibility, and democratic values that are attached to science.
Jacques Rupnik
	Political scientist based in Paris, he focuses on Central European events. Author of "The Other Europe" about the Communist bloc.
Yohei Sasakawa
	Renowned philanthropist and President of the Nippon Foundation. His foundation is heavily engaged in medical assistance programs in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. He is involved in the Leprosy Control Project and in Sasakawa Global 2000 agricultural programs in Africa and many other projects throughout the world.
Seizaburo Sato
	Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. Research Director of the Institute for International Policy Studies. Published many books and numerous articles on Japanese politics and foreign politics.
Leila Shahid
	Former journalist. Representative of Palestinian authority in France.
Helmut Schmidt
	German Chancellor between 1974 and 1982. Completed Brandt's doctrine of opening of a dialogue and signing of agreements with nations in Eastern Europe.
Haris Silajdzic
	Co-prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Bosnian Muslim, he shares the post with a Bosnian Serb. He also heads the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which supports the co-existence of all people in that country.
John Silber
	President of Boston University. Author of "Straight Shooting" and fighter for abolishment of death penalty in the USA.
Ren�-Samuel Sirat
	Grand Rabbi of French consistory and the President of the Council Conference of European Rabbis. Important Judaic theologian who is active in inter-religious dialogue and in reconciliation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Sulak Sivaraksa
	Important Buddhist thinker and author of "Seeds of Peace: a Buddhist Vision of Renewing Society."
Wole Soyinka
	First African to receive the Nobel Prize. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 for his existentialist-oriented work. He devoted his whole life to the struggle for human rights and democracy in Nigeria, and now lives in exile in the USA.
Magda Vasaryova
	Former Ambassador of the CSFR to Vienna and Founder and Chairperson of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.
Zdenik Vasieek
	Historian, archeologist, philosopher, political scientist and former dissident.
Richard von Weizsacker
	German President between 1984 and 1994. As a symbol of German reunification, he also encouraged Germany to reflect on World War II war crimes.
Abdurrahman Wahid
	Influential Indonesian intellectual. An open supporter of democratic reforms, he leads Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Moslem organization in that country, as well as Forum for Democracy.
Imanuel Wallerstein
	Current President of the International Sociological Association. Formulated well-known world theory system in his book "The Modern World System."
Cornel West
	Afro-American writer and Professor in Afro-American studies at Harvard University. A respected authority in the field of racial and social equality.
Elie Wiesel
	Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986. An Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, he is the author of more than 30 books. In 1987, together with his wife, Marion, he established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
Masakazu Yamazaki
	Playwright, critic and Professor at the Graduate School of Integrated Science and Art, University of East Asia. Recipient of the Kishida Kunio Drama Prize and the Yomiuri Literary Prize. His writings include "Mask and Sword" and "On the Art of Noh."
Zheluy Zhelev
	President of Bulgaria until early this year. Independent thinker and former dissident. Leading representative of democratic forces in Bulgaria.

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forum 2000: globalization