Entitled ‘Darkest Just Before the Dawn?: The war on trust and how to win it’ the Lennart Meri Conference 2017 will gather outstanding analysts and policy makers in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, from 12th to 14th May to consider the severe challenges facing the West and seek to identify the opportunities that may arise in these bleakest moments.
The organiser of the conference, Riina Kaljurand, explains this year’s choice of topic: “The past year will be remembered for dramatic, unprecedented and unforeseen events such as the UK’s decision to leave the EU and the election of the populist leader Donald Trump. Such episodes, reflecting the populations’ fatigue with the mainstream, have challenged the values of the Western liberal democratic order, caused fractures in our institutions and radicalised party politics. Estonia holds the Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2017 and the LMC 2017 is a perfect place to consider solutions.”
Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö will be among the high-level politicians and experts seeking answers to these challenges. They will be joined by Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, former Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta, Minister for European Affairs of Italy Sandro Gozi, Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Mehmet Şimşek, Lithuanian Minister of Defence Raimundas Karoblis, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller, former Indian Foreign Minister Kanwal Sibal and many others.
In addition to top politicians and think-tankers, civic activists from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine will join the discussions. Journalists Michael Weiss and Ahmed Rashid will help to bring sense to this era of post truth and information wars. Vice president of the Ford Motor Company Stephen Biegun and writer Sarah Kendzior will weigh up the new US foreign policy. Other topics to be considered at the conference include the future of Europe, the rise of populism and its impact on democracy, Russia’s growing militarism in the information and cyber space, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and China’s influence. The strategic challenges facing the West demand not just responses, but fundamental changes to the world order.
The updated programme of the Lennart Meri Conference is available on the website.