Please check themes of the current edition below.

The notion of a nation-state, whose government regulates social and economic life within well-defined borders, allows us to feel in control and relatively secure, but is progressively revealed to be an illusion. Power, formal and informal, is now diffused and can be found wielded by international organisations, global corporations, transnational social movement and Big Data analysts. Even organised crime and terrorist groups partake in power when they use fear and subterfuge to influence governments’ decisions and social processes. We invite you to a discussion on how can we find our footing in a world of a multidimensional web of power.

The End of History has failed to arrive and the liberal democracy has lost steam, facing an internal crisis, as well as challenges from authoritarian regimes. During World in Focus, we will discuss how to restore faith in democracy and reinforce its mechanisms. We will also talk about democracy in the European Union, its defence in member-states and about the importance of the European Parliament. Marking the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Poland will be a discussion on how women worked to gain full political rights.

Humanity has profoundly transformed Earth’s natural environment and cannot now deny the responsibility for its future. We now directly experience the consequences of climate change, forcing the question: are we capable of action quick enough , to stop them. We will discuss what are the limits of individual and local action and where political pressure and solutions are necessary. Food will be another topic, as we ponder who manages its production and think about the ways we can maintain control over what we eat.

What we are witnessing is the most heated dispute over Poland’s future since 1989. At stake is our understanding of democracy, while we argue over which socioeconomic model to follow and strive to answer challenges posed by our ever-changing world. We have invited intellectuals representin a wide variety of views to discuss the direction in which Poland is moving, relations between citizens and the state, and the place of our country in Europe and in the world.

Reacting to last decade’s crises, the European Union has begun a slow, painful, yet necessary, process of internal reform. Under intense discussion are issues of solidarity between member-states, the EU’s budget’s size and priorities, political integration of the Eurozone and – perhaps most importantly – values fundamental to the Union. In this year’s World in Focus we will talk about cases that warrant the EU’s intervention in member-states internal affairs and about the importance of next year’s European Parliament election. We also will close the conference with a debate on how Poland can find make its mark on a changing Europe.

Our life is increasingly shaped by global processes. As international corporations, social media, transnational actors and global governance structures grow in importance, more decisions are made outside government halls. Global warming, one of the fundamental challenges of our times, know no national borders. We will talk about changing our models of political activity in order for citizens to retain their agency and control over processes that impact them. We will also debate how to find an effective, global solution to climate change.

New technologies are an old story: the speed in which they change our world keeps us talking about them year after year. The topic du jour: our personal data, which are collected and automatically processed on an once unimaginable scale. We will ask the best Polish experts about the opportunities brought by the data revolution and how to retain control over our lives in a world where algorithms are omnipresent. We will also hear about the technical basis for these changes and about the future of artificial intelligence.

You are welcome to register to the event.