Is the West in Decline? C. Miller-Idriss, Y. Varoufakis, and K. Kisin. The 2024 Holberg Debate.

Is the West in decline, and if so, what are the implications for the future of democracy and the global order? This is the central question for the 2024 Holberg Debate. The discussion will centre on the following issues: * The challenges facing Western democracies, such as instability, discontent, extremism, populism, disinformation and social fragmentation. What are currently the greatest threats to democracy and stability in the West? * The cultural and ideological shifts within Western societies. * The extent to which autocracies work to undermine the democratic world. By what means should they be opposed? * The decline of Western influence in global affairs, as the world becomes more multipolar. What are the implications for global stability and prosperity. Panel: Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). Yanis Varoufakis leads MeRA25 in Greece and is co-founder of the pan-European movement DiEM25 as well as the Progressive International. He is an academic economist who served as Greece’s Finance Minister in 2015. Konstantin Kisin is a Sunday Times best-selling author, comedian, satirist, social commentator and host of TRIGGERnometry, a free speech YouTube show and podcast, based on open, fact-based discussion of important and controversial issues. Moderator: Sara Montague is a British journalist and presenter. Since 1997, she has presented several of the BBC’s most popular radio and TV programmes, including HARDtalk, Today og The World at One. More information: holbergprize.org.