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The international community faces unprecedented threats. What will geopolitical arrangements look like going forward? Is it time to rethink America’s relationship with China? What are NATO’s strengths — and vulnerabilities? How can we protect free and independent press around the world?
Populations around the world have been electing more and more autocratic leaders in the past couple decades, via supposedly free, fair, and democratic elections. The freedom of the press is being impinged upon in many places, and fear, outrage and misinformation are often taking the place of reasoned debate. Minority populations in some countries are increasingly oppressed...
At the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival, we dug into some of the most important and fascinating issues of our time, from rebuilding trust in our institutions and the promise and peril of A.I. to the ingredients of a good life and the emerging geopolitical order — plus so much more!
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. With heightened political tensions and an ongoing trade war, some experts argue that new ways of thinking about America’s relationship with China are necessary. Business leaders point out that we are deeply invested in China, such that n...
With the dream of the Oslo Accords long in the rear-view mirror and no prospect of an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians ahead, is it time to give up on the two-state solution?
In this new Aspen Ideas format, all attendees gather each morning to kick off the day by exploring a current issue of deep complexity. For decades, American policy regarding those who reach our borders has been the subject of intense political disagreement, reflecting economic realities and cultural divides. What would a policy look like that meets both our labor and se...
How fast can the world really move off hydrocarbons, and are we underestimating deep macroeconomic analyses of the energy transition in our policymaking? Two financiers delve into the complex dynamics surrounding the global shift toward more sustainable energy, including why Middle East economies that invest in renewable energy continue to depend on a robust oil trade, and...
The war in Ukraine has once again highlighted the importance of international alliances, and that is certainly evident on the African continent, where the world’s superpowers are actively engaged in a competition for support and resources. How will this contest play out, what are the stakes, and who stands to gain -- and lose?
As Israel marks its 75th birthday, the existential challenges it faces don’t only come from geopolitical vulnerabilities. How will the Jewish state confront internal divisions and divergent opinions about threats to its democratic institutions?
Hostage-taking presents nations with a conundrum: How can governments bring their citizens home while also preventing further captures? The United States’s top hostage negotiator, a leading scholar, and a former hostage discuss navigating the difficult waters of hostage diplomacy.
The Afternoon of Conversation is the Aspen Ideas Festival's pinnacle programming moment. Over 2,000 people gather in the Benedict Music Tent, an open-air venue with acoustics that mimic an amphitheater, to hear from global leaders, community change-makers, journalists, politicians, and more. Doors open at 2 p.m.
With renewed conflict on the international stage, India’s decades-long policy of nonalignment, together with its surpassing China as the most populous nation, have arguably positioned it to become the world’s newest superpower. To what ends is it harnessing its growing influence and geopolitical independence?
Ongoing war in Ukraine and the resulting tensions between the West, Russia, and China have made the NATO alliance all the more significant, and yet perhaps more vulnerable. What lies ahead as the alliance’s member nations assess each other’s commitments to their mutual security?
Since the dawn of the Olympics, sports have been a contest of global powers. Today, how are sports used as a means of conducting foreign policy — for better and for worse?
Across the globe, free and fair elections have given rise to autocratic regimes. Have we underestimated the fragility of democracy and overestimated its value? (Book signing with Shadi Hamid to follow.)
Does going electric mean buying lithium from Russia and Venezuela? What happens if the United States takes carbon action while competitors don’t? Experts weigh in on the geopolitical implications — and opportunities — of a global transition to cleaner energy.
The festival kicks off with thought leaders sharing fresh ideas about bridging divides, having better conversations, and encouraging creativity. A conversation with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States will follow, and the program concludes with a discussion on the late-breaking developments in Russia. Doors open at 4:30 pm.
We are in a golden age for organized crime and corruption, according to watchdog groups. Bad actors have spent decades building tangled webs of enablers and tactics, and they now have more resources and capital than ever to invest in new crime enterprises.
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and since then, the war has proven longer and costlier than what the Kremlin might have expected. Ukrainian resistance has been successful in its counteroffensives, pushing back Russian forces from their original goal of taking Kyiv, though much of the country has still been devastated by the fighting. How much long...
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, reporters bring us more and more heart-wrenching stories and images of suffering caused by the conflict. The scale of the damage can feel overwhelming, but a firsthand account can sometimes help us process the impact and ground us in what’s happening in the region. Yuliya Tychkivska is a longtime activist and the executive director...