The theme of this year's Vienna Humanities Festival was “Uncharted.” Navigating our way through the challenges climate change, new forms of warfare, global health crises, and artificial intelligence pose, will require more creativity, exploration, and experimentation than humans have ever demonstrated before. The Vienna Humanities Festival 2024 contributed to the discussion of these impediment and the questions they give rise to, by inviting the public to reflect with intellectuals, scientists, writers and artists.
A series of elections will take place in 2024 around the world. The outcome of the major ones—the US presidential elections, the EU parliamentary elections, the UK general elections, the Indian and Mexican general elections—could radically change the political landscape of the planet. In this Wiener Vorlesung as part of the Vienna Humanities Festival, the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, drew on her vast experience and current engagement in politics across the globe to elaborate on what impact these elections will have on a world already wracked by crises, from Ukraine to Gaza, and witnessing growing geopolitical tensions, like those currently mounting between China and the US. Following her lecture, Catherine Ashton was in conversation with IWM Rector Misha Glenny.
Catherine Ashton served as the European Union’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy between 2009 and 2014. Previously, she was the EU Commissioner for Trade and a minister in the Departments of Education and Justice. She has received many awards, especially for her work on the Iran nuclear deal, the Brussels Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, and support for Ukraine.
IWM Rector Misha Glenny moderated the discussion.
A Wiener Vorlesung as part of the Vienna Humanities Festival.
Please find the video recording of the lecture below.
