Picking the right time, taking tips from social media, spotlighting both global bigwigs and civic groups and doing his best to rein Donald Trump back into the “community of nations”: these were just some of the ways that French President Emmanuel Macron tried to set the world straight on Nov. 11, Armistice Day, in Paris.
The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, but that was only an opener for Macron, whose message could have been roughly translated as, “Tribalism may be on the rise, but we need to work as a team or risk the future of the human race.”
Macron’s inaugural Paris Peace Forum pitted a strong conviction for people-centered multilateralism against resurgent nationalism and a languishing commitment by some major powers to global treaty and financial obligations.
Unlike the annual Davos World Economic Forum, where corporations predominate, or the annual Munich Security Conference, which emphasizes the world’s national security establishments, the Paris Peace Forum has fast become a premier “global meet-up,” where the voices of citizens and their organizations are amplified, their contributions to solving global problems better understood and opportunities for substantive partnerships explored, by:
- First, spreading news of innovative initiatives aimed at improving global governance and helping to put them on the global map. Examples include Together First: A Global System that Works for All, the Platform on Global Security, Justice & Governance Reform, Tech Peace Governance Model, Business for Inclusive Growth Platform and the UN2020 Initiative.
- Second, borrowing networking tools from social media platforms like Braindates, pitching-session tips from TED talks and face-to-face organizing skills from Meetup. With more than 100 carefully vetted civic initiatives from diverse regions grouped around five themes — peace and security, environment, development, new technologies and more-inclusive economy — the forum gave participants an extraordinary opportunity to reach representatives of every kind of private, government, service-delivery and advocacy group.
- Third, using the Armistice Day commemoration at the Arc de Triomphe, the forum was able to invite A-listers like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Secretary-General António Guterres. They would have drawn the world’s attention in any case, but once Donald Trump bowed out of parts of the commemoration — after his caustic America First rhetoric in the run-up to America’s midterm elections — that attention was magnified.
Given the star power, the atmosphere in the forum’s venue, the Grand Halle de la Villette, was at times electrifying. The many moving, nonstop presentations on powerful global themes by world leaders, activists and leading scholars and innovators created a positive vibe over three days.
From Chancellor Merkel’s stirring remarks against the rise of nationalism and the skillful facilitation of major plenary sessions by Trisha Shetty, a social activist and lawyer from India, to the prominent roles performed by many other women, the forum featured the voices of women from diverse cultural and political backgrounds.
This article was originally published in Pass Blue.
The Paris Peace Forum: A Davos for the People?
By Richard Ponzio
International & Regional Organizations
This article was originally published in Pass Blue.
Picking the right time, taking tips from social media, spotlighting both global bigwigs and civic groups and doing his best to rein Donald Trump back into the “community of nations”: these were just some of the ways that French President Emmanuel Macron tried to set the world straight on Nov. 11, Armistice Day, in Paris.
The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, but that was only an opener for Macron, whose message could have been roughly translated as, “Tribalism may be on the rise, but we need to work as a team or risk the future of the human race.”
Macron’s inaugural Paris Peace Forum pitted a strong conviction for people-centered multilateralism against resurgent nationalism and a languishing commitment by some major powers to global treaty and financial obligations.
Unlike the annual Davos World Economic Forum, where corporations predominate, or the annual Munich Security Conference, which emphasizes the world’s national security establishments, the Paris Peace Forum has fast become a premier “global meet-up,” where the voices of citizens and their organizations are amplified, their contributions to solving global problems better understood and opportunities for substantive partnerships explored, by:
Given the star power, the atmosphere in the forum’s venue, the Grand Halle de la Villette, was at times electrifying. The many moving, nonstop presentations on powerful global themes by world leaders, activists and leading scholars and innovators created a positive vibe over three days.
From Chancellor Merkel’s stirring remarks against the rise of nationalism and the skillful facilitation of major plenary sessions by Trisha Shetty, a social activist and lawyer from India, to the prominent roles performed by many other women, the forum featured the voices of women from diverse cultural and political backgrounds.
This article was originally published in Pass Blue.
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