By Forum2000
The podcast currently has 59 episodes available.
“The right to protest is not an absolute right. You're not allowed to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, but the state should allow you to exercise that right peacefully and provide the conditions for that to happen”, says Tamara Taraciuk Broner in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat with Hernán Alberro. Ms. Taraciuk is the Acting Director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch, USA. Mr. Alberro is an Associate Fellow at the Forum 2000, Czechia. What do the protests in Latin America show us about the tensions between the right to demonstrate and the democratic order? How are the authorities responding? What are the most important concerns in the region?
According to Tamara Taraciuk, you will learn that:
👉 In the recent waves of protests in Latin America, certain patterns can be identified. The first one is that the protests tend to be related to very basic needs that have not been met and that are not being provided by governments. These protests bring together people with different types of requests that range from social democratic governance to social needs. Second, in some countries, security forces are unable to respond properly to the protests. The violence on the streets on the side of demonstrators requires a response by authorities, but it ends up being disproportionate.
👉 There are human rights that do not admit any type of "degree" or balance. For example, no one can torture a person. There are other rights that do require a delicate balance, such as the right to freedom of expression and association, which are enabled and guaranteed by the State, but are generally protected to the extent that they are expressed in peaceful demonstrations. There is where the tension begins, when demonstrators, for example, close roads and do not allow ambulances to go through and provide health care to the population or when they cut off an entire area in a city and prevent food to enter that area.
👉 The state should allow the people to exercise their right to protest peacefully and provide the conditions for that to happen, but at the same time has the obligation to respond with proportionate force when there are incidents of violence amid protests. - Another problem is that when there is a disproportionate response to protests but no accountability for abuses.
👉 There are accusations against authoritarian governments such as that of Cuba and Venezuela according to which they would be the instigators or even funders of protests in other Latin American countries. However, this should be investigated by independent judicial systems that observe both the crimes committed by some protesters and infiltrators and the abuses committed by security forces. Both things are wrong and should be investigated.
👉 Social networks and the internet play a very important role, for example, in countries where there are very limited – if any – independent media. In those cases, social media is a way to obtain information that is not otherwise available due to authoritarian controls. They can also help the population to mobilize. However, there is also a considerable risk of getting false or incomplete news.
👉 It is the responsibility of the people not to spread false news. And a certain level of control is important, but without undermining freedom of expression or falling into the authoritarian temptation of censorship. All strictly necessary control or regulation must be within the framework of the law. Arbitrary controls are not acceptable.
👉 The democratic backsliding in the region is worrying, not only the dictatorships in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, but also democratically elected leaders that come to power and once in power they turn their back on the most basic democratic guarantees like the judicial Independence and the free press.
👉 One of the main challenges moving forward is how we can protect democratic institutions and democratic guarantees in a context in which these authoritarian leaders are selling easy fixes to the problems that people genuinely have.
This interview was recorded on February 16, 2023.
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The study of kleptocracy as a global phenomenon typically focuses on individuals who steal money from the state for personal gain. In this week’s #Forum2000online Chat, John Zemko and Andréa Ngombet joined Jessica Ludwig, Director of Freedom and Democracy at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, USA, to look at a broader issue of kleptocratic behavior channeled through public institutions and foreign governments as well as through individual kleptocrats. They explain what kleptocracy is, what corrosive capital is, and what the main strategies used by kleptocrats are as well as their impact and consequences. John Zemko is the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) in Washington, D.C. Andréa Ngombet is the founder of the Sassoufit Collective, a Paris-based organization advocating for democracy, human rights, and anti-corruption in the Republic of the Congo and elsewhere in Africa.
After deep public dissatisfaction with the country's strict controls and mass protests against restrictions, the Chinese regime suddenly relaxed its zero-Covid policy steadfastly held throughout last three years. In this week’s #Forum2000online Chat, Xiao Qiang and Parsifal D’Sola joined journalist Kateřina Procházková, analyst at Sinopsis, a project of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Charles University in Prague, Czechia, to discuss the current situation in China, the significance of the protests and Beijing's actions, and the most likely scenarios. Xiao Qiang is a Research Scientist at the School of Information, UC Berkeley, and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of China Digital Times. Parsifal D’Sola is the CEO of the Andrés Bello Foundation–China Latina America Research Center in Bogotá, Colombia.
This interview was recorded on January 10, 2023.
“It's kind of a feminist revolution. I would say it's the first feminist revolution of the Middle East”, says Ramin Jahanbegloo in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Mr. Jahanbegloo, an Iranian political philosopher, professor at the Jindal Global University, and ICDR Member, joined Azerbaijani journalist and member of the Forum 2000 Program Council Arzu Geybulla, to talk about the situation in Iran. Is this the beginning of the end for the ayatollahs?
“You cannot have a successful physical reconstruction in any sustainable, durable way without having well-functioning pluralistic institutions”, says Richard Youngs in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Mr. Youngs, a Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at Carnegie Europe and an ICDR Member, joined Martin Ehl, journalist and author working at Czech Economic daily Hospodářské noviny, to talk about the democracy-related priorities from among the large number of issues that future support to Ukraine will need to encompass.
“Housing, education, and health care are particularly problematic right now”, says Masha Volynsky in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Ms. Volynsky, from the Agency for Migration and Adaption AMIGA, Czechia, joined Hrishabh Sandilya, a Senior Programme Manager with the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), to talk about the key issues that policymakers, philanthropy and civil society should consider as they continue to support Ukrainian refugees in Central and Eastern Europe.
According to Masha Volynsky, you will learn that:
The interview was recorded on November 29, 2022. For more information, you can read the policy paper “The Way Forward for Ukrainian Refugees in CEE”. It offers insight into the key issues that policymakers, philanthropy and civil society should consider as they continue to support Ukrainian refugees in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
“There is this legitimate fear against the reaction of the government because they are convinced the regime will crush you and they have succeeded at doing that in the past. Maybe it comes from a position of love but I also feel like it comes a lot from a position of lack of courage and a position of cowardice”, says Farida Nabourema in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Ms. Nabourema, Executive Director of the Togolese Civil League, Togo, joined Hasler Iglesias, a Venezuelan activist and a member of the Forum 2000 ICDR, to talk about oppression and the dangerous consequences of silence.
“The kind of AI [Artificial Intelligence] that we see in Terminator is nowhere near possible at present. We are very far from achieving any form of Artificial General Intelligence”, says Trisha Ray in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Ms. Ray, a Deputy Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India, joined Arzu Geybulla, a journalist and member of the Forum 2000 Program Council and the ICDR, to talk about technology, privacy, power and how to manage risks.
What Putin has created was essentially a sort of feudal system”, says Rostislav Valvoda in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Mr. Valvoda, Director of the Prague Civil Society Centre, Czechia, joined Jessica Ludwig, Director of Freedom and Democracy at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, USA, to talk about kleptocracy. Is kleptocracy the same as corruption? Why is it a security issue? How can kleptocracy be countered?
“Politics today is much more about the circus than about the bread˝”, says Péter Krekó in this week’s #Forum2000online Chat. Mr. Krekó, Director of the Political Capital Institute, joined Sascha Hannig, a journalist and Research Assistant at the Institute for Global Governance Research (GGR), Hitotsubashi University, Japan, to talk about Hungary, Viktor Orbán and the “informational autocracy”. Why are the losers of the regime the most enthusiastic supporters? Why is Orbán a model for illiberals in the world?
According to Péter Krekó, you will learn that:
The interview was recorded in Prague on September 1, 2022, at the 26th Forum 2000 Conference.
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The podcast currently has 59 episodes available.