Events

The Atlantic Dialogues International Conference - 10th Edition, Online

The Policy Center for the New South will host the 10th edition of its flagship Atlantic Dialogues International Conference on "The Wider Atlantic in a Challenging Recovery" in online format.

The topic is dictated by Covid-19, as the handling of the crisis becomes the new normal, posing a number of challenges to the South Atlantic region.  The crisis exacerbated pre-existent vulnerabilities and systemic dysfunctions, ranging from economic shocks to State-citizen friction and social unrest.  Despite resumption of international mobility enabled by vaccination campaigns, there is a considerable gap in recovery between societies North and South of the Atlantic.

The high-level conference's 20 plenary sessions are scheduled as webinars, planned between November 1 and December 20, 2021 and accessible online through the Policy Center's Facebook, YouTube and Atlantic Dialogues pages. 

Challenges of Governance in the face a Pandemic

The opening discussion on November 1 will focus on "The Challenge of Governance in face of a Pandemic" with Ana Palacio, Paulo Portas and Hubert Védrine, former foreign ministers of Spain, Portugal and France, respectively, as well as Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education of Nigeria, co-founder of Transparency International and senior economic advisor to the Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI).

Speakers will address two crucial questions: How can government pandemic responses be assessed in terms of governance and Why is governance crucial to overcoming the long-term effects of the pandemic?

Subsequent 19 Atlantic Dialogues sessions, to be held throughout November and December, will address post-Covid recovery complications from a variety of perspectives, including "Balancing the Technology-Human Rights Nexus", "Covid-19 and Debt for All" and "Are Classrooms Obsolete?"

Discussions will range from geopolitics to economics, looking at "ending the trade war between China and the United States", climate change and "public health imperatives in the global South."  Other topics include "rebuilding an inclusive post-Covid social contract", "global power competition: the new race to Africa" and "Europe's future in the geopolitical arena".

High-level experts and personalities from both South and North

A number of regular Atlantic Dialogues contributors will be present among leading experts attending the conference.  Hailing from all around the Atlantic basin - North, South and beyond (with a number of Indian experts in attendance), attendants, in keeping with the spirit of the conference, will represent different sectors and generations.

Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization, Anabel Gonzales (Costa Rica) will give insights with diplomats including former U.S. Special Envoy to the Sahel John Peter Pham (USA), as well as African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security Bineta Diop (Senegal), African Union Permanent Special Envoy to the DRC Michelle Ndiaye (Senegal), and former Egyptian Foreign Minister and former Secretary General of the Arab League Amre Moussa. Among international civil servants, Youness Abouyoub (Maroc), Director of Governance and State-Building in the MENA Region for the United Nations, will also be present. 

The intelligence and military communities will be represented in John Sawers (UK), former head of the British MI6, Francis Ofori (Ghana), Commander of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo (Italy), President of the NATO Defense College Foundation.

Research and think tanks also figure prominently, with Nathalie Delapalme (Mo Ibrahim Foundation), Paolo Magri (ISPI, Italy), Renato Flores (International Intelligence Unit, Fundaçao Getulio Vargas, Brazil), and Adam Posen (Peterson Institute for International Economics, USA), to name but a few prominent experts.

Frannie Léautier (Trade and Development Bank, Tanzania), Said Mouline (Amee, Morocco) and Sergio Suchodolski (Development Bank of Minas Gerais, Brazil) will represent institutional and economic decision makers.  A number of senior journalists will moderate the event, including Zeinab Badawi (BBC), Lourival Sant'Anna (CNN Brazil), and Andres Schipani (Financial Times), in addition to civil society figures and Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders (ADEL) graduates, who will fully contribute to discussions.

Providing fresh perspectives on the issues of the day

Since its launch in 2012, the Atlantic Dialogues Conference has sought to engage the South Atlantic in the global geopolitical debate.  The Atlantic Dialogues openly and candidly address the real issues, based on evidence and numbers, not just perception.

Beyond the facts, the Atlantic Dialogues seek to foster dialogue beyond complacency and sketch out innovative solutions, by confronting the points of view of political and economic decision-makers, academics, analysts and observers from North and South in a spirit of openness, transparency and mutual enrichment.

The "Atlantic Currents" report annually anticipating conferences reflections, will be presented during the online conference.  This collective work will be prefaced by Frannie Léautier, and signed by researchers from North and South, including a number of Policy Center Senior Fellows, and prominent guests such as Bineta Diop, Ana Palacio and Executive Director of Research at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Nathalie Delapalme.  

For more information visit the AD website: ad.policycenter.ma