Explore
Search results
This session will inhabit a number of angles to examine the Syrian Civil War, a conflict that’s left one in ten Syrians wounded or killed since 2011. How did the tragedy build to its current point, and what were the global community’s greatest missteps? What factors and interests are at play in this volatile and bloody war? Who is most effectively helping the affected mill...
Through the rise of European populism — from Brexit in the West to Orban in the East, from the Swedish far right in the North to the Italy's Northern League in the South — European politics and economics have been completely altered by the emergence and strengthening of populist movements. But what are the economics behind the erosion of the centre in Europe and where is i...
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more.
With the accelerated US drawdown of forces in Afghanistan, what lies ahead for Pakistan? What remain the greatest threats to stability in Pakistan? How can the international community play a positive role in Pakistan’s economic development and political stability? Is there a substantial role for the United States?
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more. Doors open at 2 p.m.
Recent years have seen the wane of the threat of ISIS, even as white supremacists carry out more violent attacks across the globe, from Christchurch, New Zealand, to Charlottesville, VA. What leads someone down the path of political extremism, what causes them to become violent, and how do authorities or community leaders help stop — or reverse — extremism?
Some nations implode; others explode, and in the United States, we are witnessing unprecedented political turmoil in the recent primaries. There is one force that underlies these major disruptions: the change in the nature of change. Our world is moving faster than ever before, and these dynamics are affecting all societies. This session will explore the reasons, implicati...
The resignation of Theresa May and the subsequent victory of Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party in the EU Parliament elections paint a portrait of an extremely polarized United Kingdom, with deep divides between those who favor Farage’s hardline stance toward Europe and those who favor a re-do on Brexit. What’s at stake for the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the glob...
Eighteen months after a COVID-19 vaccine became available, high-income countries had administered more than 200 doses per 100 people; in low-income countries, the figure was almost 90 percent less. Access to diagnostics and therapies has been likewise constricted, underscoring the imperative of new approaches to global health equity. Investing in local manufacturing and sc...
Water is perhaps the world’s most precious and health-sustaining resource, and surely one most at risk. Microbes, lead, and other contaminants threaten access to clean and safe drinking water. Record-breaking droughts and catastrophic floods put burdensome pressure on agriculture and imperil crops. In the face of these challenges, leaders are stepping up to reimagine water...
Over the past 20 years, almost 200,000 children under age 18 have been shot. Nearly as many attend schools where a shooting has taken place. Mass casualty events receive much of the attention — 60 percent of high school students say they are concerned that a shooting will occur in their school or community — but these actually represent just a fraction of the damage caused...
Pick your issue: academic achievement, drug use, female empowerment, race relations, obesity, mental health, medical costs. Engaging young people in sports can help communities tackle all of these, and many more. What’s more, it can yield benefits like community cohesion, citizen engagement, economic productivity, urban development, and help foster social-emotional skills...
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and resulting geopolitical instability have caused many to draw parallels to the events preceding World War II. In the post-war years, the international community came together to establish institutions they believed would prevent worldwide conflict and genocide. Multiple conventions and treaties have since been ratified in an effort to stav...
The world faces many challenges—from climate change to political instability to widening inequality—that transcend borders and impact us all. If today’s young people are to be equipped with the imagination and skillsets to tackle these growing threats, educational excellence is key. How do we build successful education systems at scale and in every community? And what expe...
The US government misjudged the rise of China over the last decade — as the country has grown in economic power, it's become more rambunctious internationally, not less. Its Belt and Road Initiative is winning over countries that used to be US allies. It’s expanding its military power and reach in the South China Sea, attacking US companies in cyberspace, and advancing in...
What is trust? “A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” (We googled it). How much, not to mention who, we should trust is more complex now, given the technological tools we have at our disposal and the crafty creatives who might push the world’s next great product, or the next fake story, or — far worse — the hackers who can...
President Trump says he does not want a major war in the Middle East. But many allies and observers worry that hardlinders in the US and Iran are on a collision course toward conflict. The US exit from the Iran deal and the “maximum pressure” campaign have escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran in recent months. Iran has called the announced deployment of US troo...
Under Xi Jinping, China has become more authoritarian at home and more aggressive overseas. As China becomes increasingly economically dominant, what are the economic, political, and military realities of America’s most important “frenemy”? Panelists with unique insights into the world’s most populous country give us an in-depth look.