“A Divided World” is the theme of the 6th Lisbon Conference organized by the Lisbon Club, which will take place on October 10th and 11th at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation with geopolitical experts from many countries.
For organizer Fernando Jorge Cardoso, the conference is a privileged moment to hear from world-renowned experts on the biggest issues of the moment, from the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) to the rivalry between China and the US. Conflicts in the Middle East.
Over two days, the conference will host panels on “The Geopolitics of Minerals and the Energy Transition”, Technological Innovation, Journalism in Wartime, and Nationalism and Globalization.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will take charge of the opening session, together with António Feijó, President of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and Francisco Seixas da Costa, President of the Clube de Lisboa. Lisbon Chamber President, Carlos Moidas.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel will discuss “diplomacy and power” at a panel on October 11, and former head of Portuguese diplomacy, Paulo Portas, will speak by invitation at a restricted dinner.
“It’s easy to explain the title of the conference because we live in a divided world,” the organizer explained to Lusa, adding that even though the US has retreated, it continues to be a force that helps us understand it more. The current world order.
At the same time, the conference focuses on confirming new powers such as China, or potential candidates such as Turkey or Egypt, Fernando Jorge Cardoso added.
“In fact, China is an economic developer. (…) Harm to China will affect our pockets”, commented Cardoso, who organized the panels with some of the people who are thinking about the main problems of current geopolitics.
Among the speakers were former Indian National Defense Secretary Sivashankar Menon – “a kind of Indian Henry Kissinger”, in Cardoso’s expression – Kathryn Glover Ashbrook, a CNN journalist and expert on the US presidential election.
Fidel Amaki, expert on conflicts in African regions; Franko Milanovic, economist specializing in globalization and inequality; Or Tsutomu Sato, a Japanese academic, climate change and conservation expert, among other speakers.
One of the most surprising themed sessions brings together first opera tenor Bruno de Menez Ribeiro and journalist and music enthusiast Conceo Lino to reflect on “Opera as a stage for crises and power plays”.