Joining the program for the second time, Alex was invited to discuss with host Gavin Phipps and a further guest, Chieh-Ting Yeh of Ketagalan Media, current issues in regard to Taiwan. On this week's agenda are the amendment to the labor laws and the recent provocations by the People's Republic of China against the liberal democracy on the island. You can listen to the show here.
In his recent op-ed for the NYTimes "Is Angela Merkel Done For?" Alex lays out the state of the coalition talks in Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel has not yet managed to form a new government after the election in late September 2017. As she blew up the coalition talks with the Liberals and the Greens in late November, she was only repeating her mistakes from the last election 2013 where she was incapable of forming a government with the Greens. Now she trying to take refugee, again, in a so-called Grand Coalition. The voters are not enthusiastic about this. Therefore, Alex argues, Merkel's tenure is over and she should step aside sooner rather than later in order to give her party the opportunity to get itself sorted and ready for the future.
The NYTimes Homepage, displaying Alex' article
Alex will be a panelist at this year's DLD Conference in January in Munich. DLD is the digital conference by German publishing house Hubert Burda Media. The gathering of the "Who is Who" of the digital hemisphere has established itself as the leading conference on all things digital. Alex' will be participating in the discussion about "reconquering democracy".
Alex on the DLD website
Alex will be holding a lecture at the City University of Hong Kong on November 14th. Subject is the global rise of populist movements, most of which highlight religion as part of their exclusionist narratives.
In his op-ed for the Taipei Times Alex elaborates on the question whether China may be invading Taiwan at any point soon. In the verge of the Communist Party's Congress in Beijing these days there has been much debate about this in Taiwanese media. Alex provides a European view on the subject matter in his piece.
Taking the stance that Catalonia and Taiwan are not in the slightest to be compared with one another, Alex spoke to IRCT, Radio Taipei, about the independence movement that threatens the stability of the European Union. The movement in Catalonia has gained some sympathy in Taiwan. You find the interview here, starting at almost about 29'50".
Alex will be delivering his first lecture in the new capacity as affiliate professor in the "In Defense of Democracy"-program of the F. D. Roosevelt-Foundation at Adams House, Harvard University College on December 4th, 2017.
Alex kicks of his time as visiting scholar to the College of Social Sciences at National Taiwan University. The prestigious department is also home to the Center for East Asia Democratic Studies. Alexander will contribute to their work with a series of lectures and events, highlighting his work on politics and religion in a Western framework. While in Asia he seeks to learn more about liberal democracy in the region such as the one in Taiwan, but also in South Korea and Japan. He also aims to be diving into learning about Confucian influence on policymaking and societies in the region, mostly China.
Alex, who is a senior fellow to the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, participated in an online roundtable of the institution concerning ethics in the age of populism and an era of rising autocrats in all parts of the world. Alex is laying out in his statement why he thinks an increasing emphasis on ethics may help brining these movements to an halt (please scroll to the end of the page).
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Alexander was appointed visiting fellow to the Center of the Humanities at the University of Cambridge, UK. Founded in 2011, this Center is now one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary research institutions. Alex' work on narratives of identity fits splendidly in the Center's topics. He will be staying at the Center in the Easter term 2018, continuing to elaborate on his work on the concept of Abendland (Occident).
Alexander has been named "Defense of Democracy"-affiliated professor to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation. The Foundation is located at Adams House at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It aims to "highlight" Alex' work on liberal democracy as the chairman of the foundation, Jed Williard, noted in his appointment e-mail.
Alex delivers a lecture at Seoul National University on September 14th on the topic: "European Identity and Politics on the Verge of the Refugee Crisis":
Alexander Görlach, delivering his TEDxTalk on July 2nd in Berlin, at the Philharmonie (Photo: TEDxBerlin)
Link to the TEDxTalk: https://saveliberaldemocracy.com/2017/08/09/a-tedxtalk-how-narratives-of-inclusiveness-could-save-liberal-democracy/
Short description:
Save Liberal Democracy founder Alexander Görlach delivered a TEDxTalk in Berlin, elaborating on how to save liberal democracy. His take is that the authoritarians of today use a simple and easy rhetoric to target minority groups such as Muslims or migrants. By doing so, they cater to the oldest and meanest trick in political ideology — “us versus them” labeling, with the result of “scapegoating” these minorties.
By defining their own peers as righteous and drawing a picture of them being endangered by a common enemy, the self proclaimd strong-men and women give way to a superstitutious, archaic model of human interaction for the sake of their hunger for power.
Healing is only possible through narratives of inclusiveness that tackle the scapegoater and label his rhetoric as not only removing the voice of the people, but also creating social unrest.
Being a visiting professor to the University of th Basque Country for the summer of 2017, Alex delivered a lecture on values in Europe alongside with Basque philosopher Daniel Innerarity at San Sebastian's Palacio de Miramar on July 13th.
Alex kicked off his thoughts with remarks on the comparision French philosopher Francois Baudrillard drew between the United States and Europe in his book "America": "Utopia" as paramount for the identity of the New World, and "History" as crucial for understanding Europe.
also at the conference: Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian liberal and member of the European Parliament
Approximately 600 people gathered in the famous Berlin Philharmony on Sunday, July 2nd to debate the future of democracy, listening to practicioners and academics alike who shared their ideas with this outstanding crowd.
Alex returned to this series, hosted by his friend Stephan Balzer, delivering a presentation on how to save liberal democracy through narratives of inclusiveness.
The video of this TEDxTalk will be uploaded shortly.
Alexander Görlach, visiting scholar to the University of the Basque Country, spoke on Friday, June 16th 2017, about pluralism and religion in liberal societies. His keynote kicked off the work-shop of the Globernance Institute at San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián.
Debating Political Religion and the fatal impact of an "us versus them"-scapegoating
Alex is invited to speak at TEDxBerlin on July 2nd on how to save liberal democracy. Being the founder of the media-initiative www.saveliberaldemocracy.com, Alex looks into the challenges that the liberal order faces nowadays due to so called strongmen and -women throughout the Western hemisphere and beyond that choose populist rather than rational arguments for their policymaking.
With the withdrawal from the Paris Climate accord, Donald Trump isolates the United States. China on the other hand stand up and takes leadership, in environmental questions and as advocate for free trade. The Chinese Century is about to start, my op-ed for The Huffington Post Germany.
Read MoreAs populists gain ground all over the world, religions have a key role in fostering understanding and creating new narratives that flourish without an hostile "us versus them" rhetoric. Alex' op-ed in Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
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