
Foto: David Ausserhofer
Körber History Forum Retreat 2024
Historical Thinking, Future Strategies: Democracy in a New Geopolitical Era
Vom 27. bis 28. Mai 2024 fand zum dritten Mal in Folge das Körber History Forum Retreat auf Schloss Lübbenau statt. Experten und Expertinnen aus Geschichte, Politik, Diplomatie und Medien kamen im Spreewald zusammen, um sich mit den tiefgreifenden Herausforderungen zu befassen, vor denen Demokratien in einer Ära verstärkter geopolitischer Spannungen stehen. Im Zentrum des diesjährigen Retreats standen Diskussionen rund um das Erstarken autoritärer Kräfte und die zu schwinden drohende Verbindlichkeit internationaler Normen.
Die Anzahl und Qualität liberaler Demokratien sind in den letzten Jahren merklich zurückgegangen. Erstmals seit Ende des Kalten Kriegs ist der historische Trend einer fortschreitenden Demokratisierung rückläufig. Autoritäre Regime etablieren sich zunehmend als Gegengewichte zur westlich geprägten, liberalen Weltordnung und weiten ihren Einfluss durch neue geopolitische Strategien aus.
Mit Blick auf die Zeit nach 1945 standen beim diesjährigen Retreat folgende Fragen im Fokus: Welche Versprechen haben Demokratien und Autokratien innen- und außenpolitisch abgegeben, und wie haben diese ihre geopolitischen Strategien und Formen der Machtausübungen geprägt? Wie können Demokratien ihre geopolitischen Strategien effektiv anpassen, um diesen Herausforderungen zu begegnen?
Programm
Montag, 27. Mai
16:30 – 18:00
Welcome Reception
18:00 – 18:10
Welcome Remarks
By Dr. Thomas Paulsen, Member of the Executive Board, Körber-Stiftung
18:10 – 19:15
Looking Inwards: How can Democracies Defend Their Promises Against Autocratic Challenges?
By Jan-Werner Müller, Founding Director of the project in the History of Political Thought at Princeton University, and by Botakiz Kassymbekova, Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Basel. Followed by a moderated discussion with Gabriele Woidelko, Head of Department History and Politics, Körber-Stiftung
19:15 – 21:30
Festive Dinner
Dienstag, 28. Mai
09:00 – 10:15
History & Politics Roundtable I – Round 1
Looking Outwards: How do Democracies Counteract Autocracy and Revisionism?
Chaired by Beatrice de Graaf, Professor of History of International Relations and Global Governance at Utrecht University. Inputs by Knut Abraham, Diplomat and Member of the German Bundestag, and by Hal Brands, Henry, A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopking University in Washington DC
10:15 – 10:30
Break
10:30 – 11:45
History & Politics Roundtable I – Round 2
Looking Outwards: How do Democracies Counteract Autocracy and Revisionism?
Inputs by Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, and by Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History an St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford
11:45 – 12:15
Break
12:15 – 13:00
Parallel Deep Dives – Round 1
The New Germany: Can it Overcome its Russia Complex?
Chaired by Mirko Kruppa, Head of Unit for Domestic Communication and Citizens’ Dialogues, German Federal Office. Input by Jan-Claas Behrends, Professor for the 20th Century History of Germany and Eastern Europe at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder)
Conflict in Context: Ukrainian Societal Dynamics and Post-1991 Trajectories
Chaired by Joachim von Puttkamer, Director of the Imre Kertész Kolleg and Profesor of East European History at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena. Input by Georgiy Kasianov, Professor and Head of Laboratory of International Memory Studies at the Marie-Curie-Skłodowska-University of Lublin
From Cold War Non-Alignment to new Dynamics: The Global South and the Limits for the Euro-American West
Chaired by Faisal Devji and Galip Dalay, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and Senior Consulting Fellow at the Turkey Initiative, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Clatham House. Input by Adams Bodomo, Professor of African studies at the University of Vienna
13:00 – 14:30
Break
14:30 – 15:15
Parallel Deep Dives – Round 2
The New Germany: Can it Overcome its Russia Complex?
Chaired by Mirko Kruppa and input by Katja Hoyer, Historian, Journalist and Visiting Research fellow at King’s College London
Conflict in Context: Ukrainian Societal Dynamics and Post-1991 Trajectories
Chaired by Joachim von Puttkamer and input by Viktoriya Sereda, Head Coordinator of the Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanves Studies and senior fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin
From Cold War Non-Alignment to new Dynamics: The Global South and the Limits for the Euro-American West
Chaired by Galip Dalay and Faisal Davji, input by Sunniva Engh, programme on security in Asia at the Norwegian Defence College and Associate Professor of History at the University of Oslo
15:15 – 15:45
Break
15:45 – 17:30
History & Politics Roundtable II
Does Democracy Depend on Globalization?
Chaired by Cameron Abadi, Deputy Editor at Foreign Policy in Berlin and by Robert Gerwarth, Professor of Modern History and founding director of the Centre for War Studeies at the University College Dublin. Input by Richard Ghiasy, Senior Fellow at the Leiden Asia Centre at Leiden University, and by Aparna Pande, Research Fellow on India and South Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC
17:30 – 17:35
Closing Remarks
Impressionen

Fotos: David Ausserhofer 


