Is Democracy Still Rising?

Public lecture, followed by a moderated discussion, by Jeremy Kinsman - Former Canadian Ambassador to Italy, the United Kingdom, Russia and the European Union and, since 2007, director of the project the Handbook for Democracy Development Support, whose third edition, A Diplomat’s Handbook for Democracy Development Support, with a Preface by Václav Havel, has just been published, on

"Is Democracy Still Rising?"

As Russia narrows democratic space, China decries “the idea there are universal values such as human rights,” Egypt’s fledgling democracy goes down, and as Syria’s agony prolongs, the global landscape for democracy development has darkened. Are we in what Freedom House calls a “democratic recession”?

Jeremy Kinsman
From 1992-2006, Jeremy Kinsman was Canadian Ambassador or High Commissioner in Moscow, Rome, London and Brussels (EU). Following postings to Algeria, and as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, New York, he was Minister for Political Affairs at the Canadian Embassy, Washington 1981-85. Appointed Assistant Deputy Minister for Cultural Affairs and Broadcasting of the Department of Communications in 1985, he then served as Political Director of the Foreign Ministry in Ottawa from 1989 to 1992. Kinsman is also on the Advisory Board of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Board of Dundee Precious Metals Limited, and the Council for a Community of Democracies, Washington, DC.

Chair: Ondřej Horký-Hlucháň, Institute of International Relations

Monday, 7th October 2013 at 16:30

Working language: English

The invitation you can dowload here