Formation | 2008 |
---|---|
Type | Annual conference on global governance |
Official language | French, English |
Founder and President | Thierry de Montbrial |
Website | www |
World Policy Conference 2021 | |
---|---|
Date(s) | October 1, 2021 - October 3, 2021 |
Location(s) | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
Country | United Arab Emirates |
Founder | Thierry de Montbrial |
Previous event | October 12-14, 2019 |
Next event | To be announced |
Organised by | Institut français des relations internationales, WPC Foundation |
Website | www |
The World Policy Conference (WPC) is an independent organization [1] whose aim is to contribute to improving all aspects of governance, with a view to promoting a world that is more open, prosperous, fairer and more respectful of the diversity of States and nations. It was launched in 2008, by Thierry de Montbrial, Chairman and Founder of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). [2]
This annual conference revolves around debates gathering economic and political leaders, diplomats, representatives of civil society, experts and journalists from all over the world. It aims at reflecting, debating, and offering constructive solutions to major regional and international issues, in an atmosphere of respect and tolerance. [3]
In 2017, the World Policy Conference ranked 3rd best Think Tank Conference according to The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania '2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report'.
Launched in 2008 by Thierry de Montbrial, the Chairman and Founder of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), the World Policy Conference (WPC) is the first effort to foster systematic reflection on organizing global governance [4] tailored to 21st century realities, bringing together the highest-level decision-makers, experts and opinion leaders. [5]
The first edition of the conference took place in Evian (France), from October 6-8, 2008.[ citation needed ]
The World Policy Conference (WPC) was founded on three complementary ideas: [6] [7] [8]
- The nature of globalisation
The World Policy Conference falls within a context where globalisation and interconnections between countries have never been stronger, whether it is on a political, economic or environmental level. During its first edition in 2008, the conference has addressed the subprime crisis, which had just broken out in the United States and has spared no continents since then.
- International relations are still centered on relations between states
Despite phenomena of globalisation, the world is still organized around political entities, States. They are characterized by a territory, a population and a government. They also share common culture, values, institutions, and have delimited borders.
- The construction of the new international system – or rather of its governance – is not just a matter for states
In order to ensure good global governance, states must reform and cooperate. However, they cannot be the only ones to work to that end. NGOs and think tanks, including the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), have to take part in this process as well. Each member should be able to express his point of view and influence the choices made via a proper decision-making process. Finally, global institutions (UN), as well as regional (African Union, Arab League) and specialized institutions (IMF, World Bank, International Energy Agency, World Health Organization) have to adjust to the new global order and find adequate solutions.
The three meeting formats – namely, the plenary sessions, [2] workshops and lunch or dinner debates – are based on the concept of constructive public-private interaction at the highest level. During plenary sessions, each speaker has an exclusive and equal right to the floor, regardless of his home country's status on the world stage.
Each participant is individually chosen on the basis of a range of criteria, such as regional, functional and media-related factors. The number of participants at each conference remains limited to ensure that meetings are as productive as possible. On this basis and in a warm and welcoming setting, all the conditions are met for participants to speak their mind freely, thereby creating a very high-level yet informal meeting-place. [3]
As the conference proceedings are intended to fuel public debate, they are largely "on the record" and widely disseminated.
A report is published after each WPC conference. This report contains the most noteworthy excerpts from the presentations and the profiles of all the participants, as well as a description of all the WPC's partners. Each conference's highlights are illustrated with a large number of images. Thousands of copies of this bilingual (French-English) publication are distributed worldwide every year. The report can also be downloaded in PDF format from the WPC website. [9]
The WPC website provides access not only to all past conferences but also to the latest information on the forthcoming conference.
• WPC TV: WPC TV provides access to interviews with and statements by the participants in the conference. [10]
• Conference proceedings: The proceedings of each conference are published online, with all presentations entirely available in video and text formats. [11]
The WPC can be followed on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Flickr. Moreover, the whole intellectual content of the event is saved in video format and is available on YouTube.
Each year, the World Policy Conference gathers political, economic and social leaders: Heads of States and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, ambassadors, CEOs, experts, journalists and NGOs’ members. [1] [3]
Among distinguished guests, one can quote:
- Patrick Achi (Prime MInister of Côte d'Ivoire)
- Masood Ahmed (Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department)
- Martti Ahtisaari (Former President of the Republic of Finland) [12]
- Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah (then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar)
- Sheikh Abdullah bin Naser bin Khalifa Al-Thani (Prime Minister of the State of Qatar)
- H.R.H. Prince Turki Al-Faisal (President of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies) [13] [14] [15] [16]
- Yukiya Amano (Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency) [17]
- Youssef Amrani (royal cabinet, Morocco) [18]
- Yutaka Aso (President of Aso Group) [19]
- Jean-Marc Ayrault (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, France)
- Robert Badinter (Former Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, France) [20]
- Bertrand Badré (then Director-General and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank Group) [21]
- Ban Ki-moon (Secretary-General of the United Nations) [22] [23]
- Ehud Barak (Former Prime Minister of Israel) [12] [16] [24]
- Sébastien Bazin (Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels)
- Marek Belka (President of the National Bank of Poland) [25]
- Charles-Edouard Bouée (CEO, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants) [26]
- Nasser Bourita (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation)
- Ana Brnabić (Prime Minister of Serbia)
- Christian Bréchot (President of the Pasteur Institute) [27]
- Didier Burkhalter (Federal Councilor, Chief of the federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE), Switzerland) [3]
- Korn Chatikavanij (Former Minister of Finances of Thailand)
- Chey Tae-Won (Chairman, SK Group, Republic of Korea)
- Nelson Cunningham (President, McLarty Associates) [28]
- José Angel Cordova Villalobos ( then Minister of Health, Mexico) [29] [30]
- Amadou Gon Coulibaly (then Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire)
- Ahmet Davutoglu (Former Prime Minister of Turkey)
- Kemal Dervis (Vice-President of the Brookings Institution, Head of the Global Economy Department) [31]
- Bozidar Djelic (Managing Director, in charge of Central and Eastern Europe, Lazard) [32]
- Saeb Erekat (Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Palestine)
- Heinz Fischer (President of the Republic of Austria) [2]
- Fu Ying (then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Popular Republic of China) [33]
- Cheikh Tidiane Gadio (President of IPS, Former Foreign Minister of Senegal)
- Robert Gates (Former United States Secretary of Defense) [34] [35]
- Elisabeth Guigou (President of the French Commission of Foreign Affairs, French National Assembly) [36]
- Abdullah Gül (then President of the Republic of Turkey) [2] [16]
- Angel Gurría (Secretary-General of the OECD) [37]
- Richard Haass (President of Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)) [38]
- Han Seung-soo (Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea) [39] [40]
- Riad Hijab (Former Prime Minister, Syria)
- Maria van der Hoeven (then Executive Director of the International Energy Agency)
- Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (then Secretary-General of NATO) [41]
- Mo Ibrahim (Founder and President, Mo Ibrahim Foundation)
- Toomas Hendrik Ilves (President of the Republic of Estonia) [12]
- Mugur Isarescu (Governor of the National Bank of Romania) [42]
- Vuk Jeremic (President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD)) [43]
- Paul Kagame (President of Rwanda)
- John Kerr (Member of the House of Lords)
- Mari Kiviniemi (OECD Deputy Secretary-General) [44]
- Haïm Korsia (Chief Rabbi of France) [45]
- Haruhiko Kuroda (Governor of the Central Bank of Japan) [46]
- Bruno Lafont (Co-Chairman, LafargeHolcim) [47]
- Pascal Lamy (Former Director-General of the WTO) [48]
- John Lipsky (Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)) [49]
- Pauline Marois (then Premier of Quebec) [50]
- Peter Maurer (President of the International Committee of the Red Cross)
- Dmitri Medvedev (then President of the Russian Federation) [51]
- H.S.H. Prince Albert II (Prince of the Principality of Monaco) [52]
- Mario Monti (former President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic) [53]
- Miguel Angel Moratinos (Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain) [54]
- Igor V. Morgulov (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation)
- Amr Moussa (then Secretary-General of the League of Arab States) [16]
- Joseph Nye (Professor at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University) [55]
- Raila Amolo Odinga (then Prime Minister of Kenya) [12]
- Arkebe Oqubay (Minister and Prime Minister Advisor of Ethiopia) [56]
- Patrick Pouyanné (CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Total) [57]
- Alassane Ouattara (President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire) [58]
- Park Geun-Hye (President of the Republic of Korea) [59] [60]
- Edi Rama (Prime Minister of Albania)
- Guillaume Pepy (Chairman of SNCF's Executive Board and chairman and CEO of SNCF Mobilités)
- Didier Reynders (Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Belgium) [52]
- Mary Robinson (Former President of the Republic of Ireland) [2]
- Louise Mushikiwabo (Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie)
- Norbert Röttgen (Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Bundestag, Germany)
- Kevin Rudd (President of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York City, Australia’s 26th Prime Minister)
- Jin Roy Ryu (CEO of Poongsan Group) [61]
- Nicolas Sarkozy (then President of the French Republic)[ citation needed ]
- Boris Tadic (then President of the Republic of Serbia) [12]
- Nobuo Tanaka (former Executive Director the International Energy Agency) [62]
- Mostafa Terrab (CEO, OCP) [63]
- Jean-Claude Trichet (Former President of the ECB) [64]
- Hubert Védrine (Former French Minister of Foreign Affairs) [2]
- Wang Jisi (President of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University)
- Lionel Zinsou (Former Prime Minister of Benin) [65]
The World Policy Conference usually takes place at the end of the year.
Below, a chart summing up the different WPC editions [66]
Edition | Venue | Dates |
---|---|---|
1st edition | Evian, France | Oct. 6–8, 2008 |
2nd edition | Marrakech, Morocco | Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009 |
3rd edition | Marrakech, Morocco | Oct. 15–18, 2010 |
4th edition | Vienna, Austria | Dec. 9-11, 2011 |
5th edition | Cannes, France | Dec. 7-10, 2012 |
6th edition | Monaco | Dec. 13–15, 2013 |
7th edition | Seoul, Korea | Dec. 8-10, 2014 |
8th edition | Montreux, Switzerland | Nov. 20–22, 2015 |
9th edition | Doha, Qatar | Nov. 20–22, 2016 |
10th edition | Marrakech, Morocco | Nov. 3–5, 2017 |
11th edition | Rabat, Morocco | Oct. 26–28, 2018 |
12th edition | Marrakech, Morocco | Oct. 12–14, 2019 |
13th edition | Was not held. | |
14th edition | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Oct. 1–3, 2021 |
Foreign relations of Kazakhstan are primarily based on economic and political security consideration. The Nazarbayev administration has tried to balance relations with Russia and the United States by sending petroleum and natural gas to its northern neighbor at artificially low prices while assisting the U.S. in the War on Terror. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan established a customs union with Russia and Belarus which eventually became the Eurasian Economic Union. President Nazarbayev has prioritized economic diplomacy into Kazakhstan's foreign policy.
Since independence, with Jaja Wachuku as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, later called External Affairs, Nigerian foreign policy has been characterised by a focus on Africa as a regional power and by attachment to several fundamental principles: African unity and independence; capability to exercise hegemonic influence in the region: peaceful settlement of disputes; non-alignment and non-intentional interference in the internal affairs of other nations; and regional economic cooperation and development. In carrying out these principles, Nigeria participates in the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations.
The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997-2014. It had formed from incorporating Russia into the G7, and returned to its previous name after Russia was expelled in 2014.
The president of the Republic of Finland is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024.
Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the time; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. Previously she was the Mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006, the first female mayor in the city's history, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She also served as Minister for Culture of Greece from 1992 to 1993.
The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticized the United States and its allies while defending the Soviet Union's involvement in numerous conflicts.
The G4 nations, comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, are four countries which support each other's bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4's primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council. Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN's establishment. Their economic, political and military influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4's bids are often opposed by the Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic competitors or political rivals.
France has been a member of the United Nations (UN) since its foundation in 1945 and is one of the five countries, alongside China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, that holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
Foreign relations of Kosovo are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo. Kosovo operates 33 embassies abroad and is host to 22 embassies in Pristina. Kosovo has membership in several international organisations.
International governments are divided on the issue of recognition of the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, which was declared in 2008. The Government of Serbia does not diplomatically recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state, although the two countries have enjoyed normalised economic relations since 2020 and have agreed not to try to interfere with the other's accession to the European Union.
The Soviet Union and Pakistan first established the diplomatic and bilateral relations on 1 May 1948.
Strong foreign relations exist between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom. The Embassy of United Kingdom in Baku opened in 1992. The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in London opened in 1994. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Ruchira Kamboj is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1987 batch, who last served as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2022 to May 2024 until her retirement. She has previously served as High Commissioner of India to South Africa, first female Indian Ambassador to Bhutan and Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris.
During the Cold War (1947–1991), when the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in an arms race, the Soviet Union promoted its foreign policy through the World Peace Council and other front organizations. Some writers have claimed that it also influenced non-aligned peace groups in the West.
European Union–Kazakhstan relations are the international relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the common foreign policy and trade relations of the European Union.
Randa Kassis is a Franco-Syrian politician and a leading secular figure of the Syrian opposition. She was the President of The Astana Platform of the Syrian opposition and the founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society. She is a close friend of Sergey Lavrov.
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The General debate of the seventieth session of the United Nations General Assembly commenced on 28 September and ended on 3 October 2015. Leaders from a number of member states addressed the UNGA.
Since Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, international recognition of Kosovo has been mixed, and the international community continues to be divided on the issue. The Republic of Kosovo is member of some international intergovernmental and international non-governmental organisations.
Ukraine Recovery Conference is an annual international event dedicated to discussions on the rebuilding and reconstruction priorities of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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