On October 9-10, thought leaders came together from around the
world for the 9th Forum 2000 Conferences. The topic under
discussion was "Our Global Co-Existence: Challenges and Hopes for
the 21st Century." Globalization was a key issue, and was debated
by thought-leaders from around the world. In addition to Vaclav
Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, and Yohei Sasakawa,
chair of The Nippon Foundation, this year's forum hosted the likes
of: Mike Moore, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and director
general of the World Trade Organization from 1999 to 2002; Sergei
Kovalyov, former member of the Russian Duma and first Commissioner
for human rights in the Russian Federation, and El Hassan bin
Talal, Prince of the Jodanian Hashemite Royal Dynasty.

As always, the forum provided a place for people from all sides of
the globalization spectrum, bringing together not only liberals and
conservatives, but people from the four points of the compass as
well.

The Forum, and it's guiding foundation, are best described in the
literature that was distributed in Prague:

The Forum 2000 Foundation's mission is to identify the key issues
facing civilization and to explore ways in which to prevent
escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity
as their primary components. We provide a platform to discuss
these important topics openly and to enhance global dialogue.
Through our activities, we also intend to promote democracy in non-
democratic countries and to support civil society, respect for
human rights and religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance in young
democracies.

The Forum 2000 was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of the
Czech President Vaclav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei
Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. The Forum
2000 conferences have over the past nine years attracted to Prague
a large number of renowned and respected thought-leaders from all
of the world to discuss acute issues of globalization. The Forum
2000 conferences belong to the most prestigious events of their
kind in Central Europe. Besides dealing with particular aspects of
global development, Forum 2000 also focuses on spiritual values
and intercultural dialogue.