Where the ideas for Aspen Ideas Festival come from
May Selby
Have you ever wondered how the programming is put together for the Aspen Ideas Festival? The organizers of the festival explain in a blog: http://www.aspenideas.org/articles/how-we-build-the-aspen-ideas-festival. Here, we’re serving up slices by the theme.
The blog posted Tuesday delves into this year’s themes to give a behind-the-scenes look at how they create the program tracks that will guide seven days with some 300 speakers, 150 sessions, and 3,000 attendees.
The themes this summer: “Age of Uncertainty: Imagining a New World Order,” “The Mind,” “Powering the Future,” “The Edge of Intelligence,” “Driving the Economy Forward,” and “We the People.”
These themes change every year in response to the news of the world, the emerging challenges local and global, as well as inspiring the cutting-edge ideas.
Age of Uncertainty: Imagining a New World Order
The blog states: “The international arena is highly-unsettled with no end in sight to the war in Ukraine; China and Russia flexing their muscles around the globe; and questions surrounding the stability of liberal democracy where once it seemed certain. We think it’s critical to examine how global alliances are shifting and how the United States should navigate these rough waters.
“Plus — a hands-on workshop with Karen Brunwasser of FeelBeit, a Jerusalem-based community center, will explore art as a force for peace.”
What we’re consuming
- Is Liberal Democracy Dying?, The New York Times
- Friends in Need: What the War in Ukraine Has Revealed About Alliances, Foreign Affairs
- How We Would Know When China Is Preparing to Invade Taiwan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Russian Influence and Activity in Africa, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Is This How a Cold War With China Begins?, The Ezra Klein Show
- A Spectacle of Scoundrels, The Atlantic
- Olympics Open Path for Russians to Qualify for Paris 2024, The New York Times
- The Future of Democracy in Israel, NPR
- America’s Top Hostage Envoy Pursues Freedom for Detained U.S. Citizens in Increasingly Hostile World, The Wall Street Journal
Questions we’re grappling with
- What can be done about democratic backsliding around the world?
- Is the global balance of power shifting or fracturing? What will new geopolitical arrangements mean for the U.S. and its allies?
- How should we approach competition with China and Russia around the globe?
- With no end in sight for the war in Ukraine, will our alliances and public support for U.S. engagement endure?
- What is our way forward with China? Should we be preparing for hostilities or are we overestimating the threat?
- How can cultural activities like sports affect foreign relations for the better and for the worse?
Aspen girls golf ties for second at 3A championship; Persson, O’Sullivan in top 10
Playing in the final group of the Class 3A girls golf state championship on Wednesday, Lenna Persson finally discovered the nerves that had been absent two days earlier in her practice round at Aspen Golf Club.
