Václav Havel European Dialogues - Human rights and values in international affairs

In the aftermath of 1989, Vaclav Havel thought that human rights, democratic values and foreign policy could advance hand in hand. Today the dominant trend seems, on the contrary, to favour power politics at the expense of Havel’s legacy. The language of human rights, spoken in the past by dissidents, and still used today by lawyers and advocates for victims’ groups, is rarely shared by diplomats and the wider public. In an international arena marked by brutal conflict and war, human rights discourse seems increasingly inadequate. What is left of Havel’s legacy is the possibility to formulate a foreign policy that does not ignore the defence of human rights.

The Vaclav Havel Library, in cooperation with the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University and supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, invited Michael Ignatieff, politician, academic and author, to address the issue of human rights in international affairs. He discussed this topic with Martin Palouš, Jiri Pehe and Jacques Rupnik, who chaired the event.