On June 30, leading scholars, policymakers, and thought leaders from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Estonia will convene in Tallinn to discuss the current state of democracy. Populism, geopolitical tensions, and shifting global power dynamics are putting increasing pressure on the liberal international order.
The discussion will focus on a key question: Is the rise of populism a temporary phenomenon, or does it signal a deeper, more lasting transformation?
The international workshop, "The End of Democracy? Is the Populist Wave Unstoppable?" will take place at the Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The event is jointly organized by Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), Vabamu, and Stanford University Libraries.
According to Holger Mölder, associate professor at TalTech’s department of law, the event aims to bring together some of today's leading experts on democracy at a time when democratic societies are facing unprecedented challenges.
"We live in an increasingly volatile world where democracies have become vulnerable precisely because of their openness. The idea for this international workshop emerged three years ago at Stanford University during our first brainstorming event on the subject. It led to the idea of bringing together two of today’s leading democracy scholars: Larry Diamond of Stanford University and Steven Livingston of George Washington University." More recently, Michael McFaul, a professor at Stanford University and former U.S. ambassador to Russia, published his book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, which further broadened the circle of keynote speakers.
Throughout the day, participants will explore the future of democracy from global and Baltic regional perspectives. They will discuss whether democracies are losing ground to autocracies, the prospects for democratization in an age of populism, the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on the international order and global power relations, and the resilience of international law in the face of today’s geopolitical crises.
Estonian experts Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Raivo Vare, Holger Mölder, and Katrin Nyman-Metcalf will moderate the discussions. The final session of the program is dedicated to the memory of the late Estonian legal scholar Tanel Kerikmäe, who passed away last year.
For more information, visit the workshop website.