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The Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2018

 

The inaugural Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2018 took place at the scenic Royal Danish Playhouse, situated beautifully on the harbor front in central Copenhagen. The Summit highlighted important current issues facing the world’s democracies. As the Foundation recognizes the positive symbiosis between democracy and business and believes democratically elected leaders and global business executives will benefit from a greater level of personal interaction, the Summit successfully brought together more than 300 participants from over 40 different countries having a range of backgrounds from politics, business, academia and journalism. Offering a variety of viewpoints, the discussions highlighted both the challenges for the 20 elections facing world democracies, but also the opportunities brought forward by technology and trade.
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Agenda

The inaugural Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2018 focused on democracy and technology, as well as democracy and trade. A range of interesting topics were discussed during the Summit, including:

  • Building an Alliance of Democracies
  • Technology and democracy
  • Fake news and free speech
  • Cyber security and democracy
  • The future of global trade
  • Nurturing democracy through economic development

The Summit offered a strong line-up of speakers from both sides of the Atlantic representing viewpoints across the political spectrum.

Throughout the day, the message was crystal clear, whatever differences we may have, we all share the love for the democratic process that enables us to debate and discuss these viewpoints without fear and in the open.

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Speakers and Participants

The Summit successfully brought together political figures from the democratic world, including current and former heads of government, as well as leading business executives, academic experts, and dissidents.

Speakers at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit included former Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden; former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón; former President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves; former Prime Minister of Spain, José Maria Aznar; former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper; former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nick Clegg; American Economist and Entrepreneur, Professor, Carl Schramm; CEO of BenevolentAI, Joanna Shields; VP of Global Policy Solutions at Facebook, Richard Allan; CEO of Codewise, Robert Gryn; President of the Global Fairness Initiative, Karen Tramontano; VP of EU Government Affairs at Microsoft, John Frank; former US Secretary for Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff; former editor-in-chief of BILD, Tanit Koch; among many others.

Highlights from the Summit:

 

The next edition of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit will take place 13-14 May 2025.

Visit the 2025 Summit website for more information 

 

For any questions, please reach out to info@allianceofdemocracies.org.

 

Check out our previous editions: