Plenary session: Western Liberal Order under Siege?

The concept of political West is simultaneously clear and complex and thus difficult to circumscribe in terms of geography, interests, governance, as well as economic and foreign policy preferences. It is also both surprisingly coherent and at times disconcertingly diverging. The West used to be defined both by the shared belief in and a readiness to defend a certain liberal order; at present, however, there are growing rifts and tensions between the West and its challengers, as well as within Western societies themselves. These are testing the Transatlantic link and the European unity. In a globalized world that is no longer unipolar not all challenges to the western liberal order are external. Some of the most difficult to address come from the rise of populism, nationalism and a return to the tension between short term political interest and value based policy choices. On the back of financial crisis and institutional failures, the EU is seeing a half century process of progressive integration being challenged by new sovereignist, nationalist and populist ideas. In the midst of serious external challenges and a US apparent disengagement from Europe, political leaders claim the rise of an illiberal democratic model. External actors also challenge the West not only in its influence and clout but also on its values. From Ukraine and Syria to East Asia the western liberal order is seeing its competitors on the move.

Panelists:
Constantin Ionescu, State Counsellor, National Security Department, Romanian Presidential Administration
Jan Techau, Director of the Richard C. Holbrooke Forum, American Academy in Berlin
Arkady Moshes, Programme Director of the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia Research Programme, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Sinan Ülgen, Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Europe

Moderator: Ivan Vejvoda, Senior Vice President, Programs, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Bucharest Forum 2016
Fifth Edition
A Fulcrum of Strategic Change: Ensuring Stability, Building Resilience, Harnessing Opportunity

For this year’s edition of the Forum the organizers suggest three main themes: the West’s strategic stability, resilience and opportunity, and three overlapping territorial angles: European, regional and transatlantic on top of the traditional East-West nexus that is the trademark of Bucharest Forum’s approach.

This geography and the mentioned objectives generate specific challenges: a Western societal crisis expressed by both Brexit and the rise of nationalist populism in Europe and the US; divided societies and a lack of answers to the profound economic, social and cultural changes in our societies including economic and social justice, territorial development, migration, intercultural and inter-confessional dialogue; a European institutional crisis showing the limits of the current integration model; external challenges from the east and south brought about by Russia’s current engagement strategy and continuous crisis in the Middle East.

There are also important opportunities: new possible openings created by the Iranian nuclear deal, the need for East-West strategic cooperation on the Syrian and anti ISIS files, an ambitious new European Global Strategy, the launch of an equally ambitious NATO-EU cooperation agenda.

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