Today kicks off another year for heads of state on campus.
The annual World Leaders Forum is timed with global leaders’ United Nations visits and kicks off this year with a conference on the futures of London and New York featuring Mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Boris Johnson of London.
Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, president of Argentina, will speak the following Monday, followed by speeches from Serbian President Boris Tadic and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday. Columbia Global Fellow and former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan will speak on Wednesday. The forum will conclude with a lecture from Madhav Kumar Nepal, prime minister of Nepal.
“I was here when they had the Iranian president,” Gemma DiMatteo, BC ’11 said, referring to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial visit in 2007. “It’s a good idea … it’s good to be accepted in a place where people with different view [can debate].”
Occurring every year since 2003, the World Leaders Forum is a year-long University-wide initiative to engage in public discourse on current economic, political, social, and cultural issues.
“I went to see the Dominican president last year, and it was really cool,” Laura Kladky, BC ’12 said. “I am definitely interested to see the president of Argentina both because she was controversial and because she is a female leader in a Latin country. I am a Spanish major and I studied in the Dominican Republic, and I am thinking about studying in Argentina.”
The forum will touch on a variety of topics—global economic crisis, peacemaking, and climate change will be among the topics in the keynote addresses.
Bloomberg and Johnson will discuss issues that their cities must confront, such as the future of their financial sectors and the diversification of their economies. President de Kirchner will touch on economic issues as well, with her lecture providing a Latin-American perspective on the global crisis.
Ahtisaar will lead a discussion about peacemaking in the post-Cold War era by, and Tadic will speak about the future of the Western Balkans. Prime Minister Nepal will also discuss post-conflict challenges and development.
The forum will take a different direction with Kofi Annan’s speech on climate change and the challenges that result from it, concentrating specifically on leadership challenges.
For Biola Akinyemi, GS ’10, the forum is simply a chance to encounter those who have the power to influence politics—an opportunity embraced particularly by those who have an interest in this field.
“I think it’s a great part of my Columbia experience. It’s just a great way to meet people who have been in a position to influence policy, and I am interested in making policy.”
The forum will take place in the Low Library Rotunda and also in the Teatro of the Italian Academy. Online registration is required to participate in the events.
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