“WE NEED A PRESIDENT WHO CHOOSES HOPE OVER FEAR”

Transatlantica online

“WE NEED A PRESIDENT WHO CHOOSES HOPE OVER FEAR”

Eva Nowotny, former Austrian Ambassador in Washington, Curator of the Kreisky Forum
in conversation with
Steven Beller, Historian and Author

A stable transatlantic partnership, albeit never without problems and occasional frictions, used to be a reliable and fundamental factor in the EU’s external relations. In the last three years this has been challenged and we have been dealing with a transatlantic partner, fraught with internal rifts and divisions, which put into question rule of law, reliability of treaties, multilateral diplomacy, the whole structure of international relations and the institutions on which they are grounded. A few months before an important American presidential election, it is thus a good moment for a reality check.
What is happening inside the US, beleaguered as the country is by racism, deep political fractures, growing social injustice?
Is democracy really in danger, as some commentators argue, or are the democratic system and its institutions strong and solid enough to withstand authoritarian flirtations?
What will be the impact of these internal developments on the world at large and on the European partners in
particular?These and some other issues will be explored in a conversation with the distinguished American historian and political commentator Steven Beller.