The Tocqueville Conversations 2020 · Georgetown University and a leading expert on Tocqueville; and with Vice President Damon Wilson, Ambassador Craig Stapleton and Former minister

The Tocqueville

Conversations 2020

2020 Edition

« The Future of Truth »

Under the auspices of Fondation Entreprendre

13/01/20

Who are we ?

The Tocqueville Conversations were born out of the convergence of four key elements: an acute political

understanding of the depth of the crisis Western democracies are facing, both in the US and in Europe; a urgent

civic need to move beyond the dogmatic comfort governing elites have entertained, to address our problems and

look for solutions; the renewed awareness of the immediate relevance of Alexis de Tocqueville, the great liberal

thinker of the Democratic age, who analyzed masterfully both the conditions, realities and risks inherent to

Democratic systems, on both sides of the Atlantic; and lastly, the foresight of the Tocqueville Family, who saw in

advance the symbolic significance of holding our Conversations at The Tocqueville Château, where the great

thinker wrote his Magnus Opus, Democracy in America.

In the fall of 2017, informed by her work on the « Trumpian popular revolt » during the Trump campaign, and then

by numerous trips throughout a Europe swept by similar rebellions, Laure Mandeville, Senior reporter with Le

Figaro, France’s oldest national daily, envisioned a grand-scale conference on the crisis of Democracy in the West.

Understanding the significance of the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville in our current crisis, she reaches out to Jean

Guillaume de Tocqueville, President of The Tocqueville Foundation, whose mission is to keep alive the work and

spirit of his renowned ancestor and to promote civil society initiatives. Concurrently, Le Figaro, which has become a

leading force in examining the causes of our democratic crisis, decides to bring its intellectual resources to the

project. On the other side of the Atlantic, they join forces with Joshua Mitchell, professor of political theory at

Georgetown University and a leading expert on Tocqueville; and with Vice President Damon Wilson, Ambassador

Craig Stapleton and Former minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Ana Palacio at the Atlantic Council. The region

Normandy and the Departement of La Manche, where the Tocqueville Château is situated, also become key

partners for the event. The Tocqueville Conversations are born.

The Tocqueville Conversations

Our goals

- Create « a Davos of Democracy » at the Tocqueville Chateau, to contribute to the protection and strenghthening

of our democracies.

- Create an international Tocquevillian network dedicated to reinvent the transatlantic relationship with strong

partners, strong democratic values and robust civic life.

- Get out of the failing opposition between « good globalists » and « evil nationalists » (or vice versa), by outlining

the contours of a new social and political consensus that protects the nation, reshapes Europe and defines

areas of cooperation on a wider international scale.

- Address the reality of problems that the popular rebellions reveal (disruption of globalisation, rise of

inequalities, challenge of immigration, tension between islamic fundamentalism and modernity, crisis of

identity…), and face the challenges of a world in disorder.

Tocqueville Conversations 3rd Edition, “The Future of Truth”, June 19-20,

2020

In this time of abysmal political divide and revolutionary technological change, suddenly, the future looks blurred

and very menacing. Revolution and rebellion are on our doorstep, or already at the heart of our institutions. Our

traditions, codes and political arrangements are being put to the test, making our democracies vulnerable. The

world balance of power is shifting away from the West. Authoritarian leaders are increasingly admired and listened

to even when they spell out blatant lies. In that challenging context, our capacity to defend the truth and agree on

what is truth, has become particularly endangered. The big noise of social media, made of real but scattered news

but also of “post facts”, “fake news” and partisan indignation, often cover the truth and paralyze our critical

thinking. How will our democracies handle “tomorrow” in such conditions? Can they even survive, if truth is lost?

For the third time, the Future will be at the heart of the Tocqueville Conversations which will hold their third annual

meeting at Tocqueville, Normandy on the 19 and 20th of June 2020. After taking a close look at the Future of

nations last year, our attention will be focused on “The Future of truth”. The stakes, the threats, the traps, but also

the ways and means to defend it.

The question of truth is nothing new of course. In troubled times somehow similar to ours, Georges Orwell and

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn warned us of its vital importance, the latter not hesitating to go against “common

socialist truth” at his own risk and peril to unveil the true nature of communism. Tocqueville, whose intellectual

heritage is an important inspiration for the Tocqueville Conversations, warned us too, as he was observing the

birth of the Democratic age, pondering its grandeur and its traps. In Volume Two of Democracy in America, the

French philosopher already foresaw with striking clarity the future we would face: as the authority of families and of

other mediating institutions collapsed or were undermined, modern citizens would become isolated, form ideas in

the solitude of their imagination, or bow down to public opinion and to those who shape it.

Today, this sociological fact is exacerbated by advances in technology, which strain democratic regimes to the

breaking point. When public opinion rules, how is independent thought possible? When citizens build worlds in

their imagination, on what basis can they build a world together? When technology frees us from the discipline

and concern that face-to-face communications require, how can civility be cultivated and maintained, political

divide breached, and compromise reached? When the instant gratification that technology offers shortens our

attention spans, how can we have sustained and difficult conversations? When entertainment is available “on

demand,” what happens to politics? If authority disappears, how can we distinguish “fake news” from the real

thing? Are advances in Artificial Intelligence threatening truth in ways it never was, with the advance of deep fakes

and other vertiginous discoveries ? When technology makes cross-border penetration instantaneous and

effortless, what stops one nation from overwhelming another nation with propaganda? What responsibility for

journalists, intellectuals and other observers of reality in this difficult time? Has political correctness of the

mainstream media accelerated the embrace of “alternative news” by significant segments of the population? How

do we ponder the need to give everyone a voice without empowering dangerous discourse, lies and conspiracy

theories? These questions and more will occupy our attention as we ponder “The Future of Truth.”



The Tocqueville Conversations Co-organizers

The Tocqueville Foundation

Le Figaro

The American Interest

The Atlantic Council

The Tocqueville Conversations Partnerships

Already on board :

La Manche Department

Normandy region

Cherbourg Cotentin

French American Foundation

The Fund for American Studies

Members of the Steering CommitteeCo-chairs : Ana PALACIO, former Minister of foreign Affairs of Spain and

Laure MANDEVILLE, Senior Reporter with Le Figaro

BEUCLER Pascal, International Consultant

GEDMIN Jeffrey, Editor in Chief of The American Interest

HADDAD Benjamin, Director, Future Europe Initiative, Atlantic Council

LAUGEE Jean-Christophe, Partner Hystra

MELONIO Françoise, Senior Tocqueville Scholar

MITCHELL Joshua, Professor of political theory at Georgetown University, Tocqueville Scholar

TOCQUEVILLE (de) Stéphanie, Tocqueville Foundation

TOCQUEVILLE (de) Jean-Guillaume, Chairman of the Tocqueville Foundation

VEIT François, PRK Partners

WHITE Dana, Former spokeswoman for the US Secretary of Defense

Organizers and partners

Pre-programThe Tocqueville Conversations 2020

Roundtable 1 – The Future of Truth in our divided societiesThe popular insurgencies sweeping the West have challenged mainstream political ideas and behaviors,

bringing a harsh criticism of intellectual elites and political correctness. How do we integrate these visions

without empowering dangerous ideas when they arise? Can we still agree on what is true in our ultra-

divided societies? If everyone has his own truth, and lives in his own solitary identity and imaginary world,

how can we still build a world together with shared truths and shared values? What is necessary to recreate

a common ground and a civic conversation?

Moderator : Alain Finkielkraut, French Philosopher (confirmed)

Yasha Monk, American Political Scientist, Harvard University (confirmed)

Svetlana Alexeïevitch, Nobel Prize of Literature

Opening of the conferenceAlain Juppé (confirmed), Condolezza Rice

Day ONE : Truth challenged or endangered : what’s happening

in our democracies ?

The big battle of (dis) information has started. Are Western Democracies ready?

Lunch – « Fake News » and Political correctnessThis discussion would tackle the question of “illiberal liberalism”, a dangerous trend in the liberal elite to

excommunicate any attempt to discuss questions of religion, faith, reproduction, gender and migration in a

more conservative way. Is the culture war, waged on the left, crushing free speech and open debate, generating

as a boomerang a radicalization of the right, and “its flight” to the realm of fake news and conspiracy theory?

How do the media return to a conversation which is not name shaming and excommunication of the people we

disagree with?

Moderator : David Azerrad, Hillsdale College

Tucker Carlson

Matthieu Bock Côté (confirmed)

Nicolas Baverez

Mishiko Kukatani, Author, “The Death of Truth”




Roundtable 2 – The Future of information in the Age of

social media

Information has become a battlefield, but its traditional “warriors” - journalists, - have been weakened and

in many ways questioned, pressured and even threatened. What are their responsibilities and challenges in

the age of social media, political correctness and fake news ? Should they be supported and how? How do

we avoid hyper partisanship and manipulation of news? What kind of oversight, scrutiny and accountability?

Also, are social media destroying facts and critical thinking? Or are they helping democracy and pushing

journalism to be better? When the instant gratification that technology offers shortens our attention spans,

how can we have sustained and difficult conversations? What will happen to information in a world where

90% of the ads have been absorbed by the big providers of news like Google and Facebook? Will

independent press survive in the 21st century?

Moderator : David Goodhart

Josh Hawley, Senator of Arkansas

Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy

Elliott Higgins, Bellingcat Agency,

Carole Cartwalladr, The Guardian

Van Dyke, Scott Carpenter, Google

Conversation : Different cultures, Different Truths ?

(to be confirmed)Moderator : Pascal Bruckner

Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, Kishore Mahbubani, Singaporian Scholar

Cocktail




Dinner – Can technology kill (or change) truth

Keynote Gary Kasparov (confirmed), former chess Champion, author of “Winter is

coming”, and of a new book to be published “Machines”.

Technological advance has created extreme sophistication in the art of manipulation. Fake news and now

deep fakes can « highjack » our brains by feeding them with false information. What we take for our most

intimate belief could just be the result of a Russian operation, playing with our thinking. How dangerous is

technology for the future of truth, and what is being done to contain the damage ? Can democracies

prevent such manipulation ? What are they doing to prevent mass manipulation via social media ? What

really happened in 2016 ? Was the Cambridge Analytica scandal the tip of an iceberg ? Are Google,

Facebook and twitter part of the problem or part of the solution?

Plus discussion :

Moderator : Laure Mandeville (confirmed)

Jean-Dominique Sénard, CEO, Renaud Nissan (confirmed)

Rusty Reno, First Things Magazine

Tim Bernes Lee, MIT, Oxford

Day TWO : How can we defend Truth?

The Defense of Truth and the Future of DemocracyKeynote speaker : Suzanna Caputova

Introduced by Augustin de Romanet (confirmed)

Roundtable 3 – The Truth of our screensEveryone is talking, and rightly so, about « saving the earth ». But shouldn’t also we « save our kids » ?

Aren’t they in danger of becoming the slaves of their screens, and of the « truth » that comes with them ?

How will School and university help ? The 1960s brought unprecedented upheaval in Education. Before

the upheaval, the task of education in the humanities was to convey ancient wisdom. After it, the task

became to critique and dismantle. The ancient institutions – family, municipality, university, the nation –

although shaken, remained however the venues where citizens argued about truth and perhaps even

came to establish it. The internet and its attendant the social media have brought about a new upheaval.

Now our connections to others have become virtual rather than actual. The family, municipality, university

and nation are disappearing. Our connection to the world is through our fingertips. This has meant the

reality check those institutions produced is no longer available. What must we expect education to

accomplish in order to help reestablish this link with reality while the clock cannot be turned back ?

Moderator : Chantal Delsol

Peter Sloterdijk, German Philosopher

Josh Mitchell, Professor of Political Theory, Georgetown University (confirmed)

Denis Olivennes, President of CMI France, Author of “Mortelle transparence”

Bruno Patino, Journalist, Author of “La civilisation du poisson rouge”


Lunch - Conversation – How to defend Truth?Keynote speaker : Donald Tusk, Former President of the European Council, Former Prime

Minister of Poland

Conversation with Ana Palacio (confirmed), Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain,

Peter Pomerantsev, expert on disinformation, LSE, and Charles Davidson (confirmed),

Founder of The American Interest and the Kleptocracy Initiative.

Day TWO : How can we defend Truth?


Roundtable 4 – Foreign Powers, info-wars and digital warfare

When technology makes cross-border penetration instantaneous and effortless, what stops one nation from

overwhelming another nation with propaganda? This roundtable will aim to address how Foreign Powers like

Russia or China use the advance of technology to wage a psychological and subversive war designed to

destabilize political adversaries, sow divide and gain political advantage (Meddling in the 2016 electoral

process). Are we talking about propagation of patent lies, or are we facing an ideological adversary

defending an ideological agenda? Both? How do we face these information wars? Was there a Russian hand

in the Brexit Campaign? Should we fear Chinese 5G technology?

Moderator : Dana White (confirmed)

Tomas Ilves, Former President of Estonia

Pierre de Villiers, Former Chief of the Defense Staff of France

General Mike Vance, Former Head of Cyber-Command, United States

Clément Beaune, Europe Advisor to the French President

Conclusion of Debates : Vincent Trémolet

Musical Interlude at the Château

Alexis de Tocqueville Prize Award CeremonyAlain Juppé (confirmed), Jean-Claude Casanova

Diner-Conversation with Peter Thiel, American Entrepreneur, Palantir Technologies, Clarium

Capital. Followed by a conversation with Kai Fu Lee, Chinese scholar, author of “Why the

Chinese are winning the race on artificial intelligence”. Moderated by David Goldman,

Essayist and Investor, Asia Times.

Annexes- 2018 Program « Democracy in the West »

- 2019 Program « The Future of Nations »

- Presentation of The Tocqueville Conversations co-organizers


Annex 1

Tocqueville Conversations 1st Edition, « Democracy in the West in the

21st century », June 8-9, 2018

In June 2018, the Tocqueville Foundation, le Figaro, and the Atlantic Council, launched « The Tocqueville

Conversations », an intellectual event designed to be a forum for in-depth discussions of the challenges

facing our democracies. For two days, under the auspices of the great French Philosopher Alexis de

Tocqueville, 150 prominent thinkers, politicians and representatives of business and civil society discussed

the nature of the popular rebellions sweeping the West, in the beautiful and symbolic setting of the

Tocqueville Château, in Normandy.

No difficult topics were avoided, and the debates took place in an atmosphere characterized by civility and a

willingness to listen, in the hope of establishing the higher ground positions that distinguish the Tocquevillian

approach. The growing and worrying gap between the elites and the people was analyzed, and Former

French Primer Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned of a crisis very much alike the one Tocqueville had

warned about, in front of a « sleeping » National Assembly in 1848. The crisis of globalization was discussed

in great details, socio-economic and cultural tensions underlined, the question of identity and the challenge

of islamism for our Western societies addressed by many speakers and members of the audience with

differing opinions. The Digital Revolution and its mutiple traps were examined. Director of the US National

Intelligence Dan Coats and Former political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovski scrutinized the Russian Challenge

to our democracies. During two days, fruitful intellectual links were established and, to paraphrase the

formula of the British historian Roger Scruton, “conversation produced civilization”. The overall conclusion

was that we are currently sitting on a volcano, very much like Europe in 1848.

2018 Program

First Roundtable – Democracy and populism: crisis of representation or existential challenge to our existing understandings? Speakers : Ana Palacio, Pierre Manent, Joshua

Mitchell, Hubert Védrine

Lunch – A Chinese look at western DemocracySpeakers : Hongtu Li, Claude Martin

Second Roundtable – Democracy and globalization: is inclusive growth possible? Speakers : Damon Wilson, François-Xavier

Bellamy, Clara Gaymard, David Goodhart, Joel

Kotkin, Augustin de Romanet

Dinner-debate – Democracy in the West: threats and challenges, a vision from AmericaSpeaker : Dan Coats

Conversation: Europe in a time of crisisSpeakers : Jeffrey Gedmin, Dan Coats, Pavel

Fischer

Third Roundtable – Democracy and religious fundamentalism: what challenges?Speakers : Laure Mandeville, Gilles

Kepel, Mathieu Bock-Côté, Hakim El

Karoui, Shadi Hamid, Malika Sorel-

Sutter,

Lunch-Conversation – A Russian look at western DemocracySpeakers : Celestine Bohlen, Mikhail

Khodorkovski

Fourth Roundtable – Democracy and the digital revolution.Speakers : Benjamin Haddad, Alina

Polyakova, Alexis Brézet, Scott Carpenter,

Thomas Evans

Friday, June 8

Saturday, June 9

« Democracy in the West »

Welcoming remarks : JG de Tocqueville ;

Marc Lefèvre, Chairman of La Manche ; Alexis

Brézet, Editor in chief of Le Figaro

Opening : Former Prime Minister Bernard

Cazeneuve

Conclusion

Vincent Trémolet de Villers

Annex 2

Tocqueville Conversations, Second Edition, « The Future of

Nations », June 28-29, 2019

Given the enthusiastic support expressed after the first event for a continuation of the Conversations, and

in light of the growing ideological and geopolitical crisis unravelling worldwide, we decided to continue this

transatlantic adventure, and held the second edition of the Tocqueville Conversations on the 28-29 of

June 2019, just after key European parliamentary elections.

In our first edition, we had focused on Western Democracy in the twenty-first century, and on the various

internal and external threats posed to it. Our concern was whether elites were so out of tune with the

citizenry that a « populist » revolution might be right around the corner – an idea confirmed by the sudden

revolt of the French Gilets Jaunes a few months later. This theme would still be on our minds.

But in 2019, we wanted to address the crisis of democracy from a different perspective, by focusing our

gaze on « The Future of Nations ». For years, nations seemed condemned to become ever weaker. The

nation was a dying concept, destined to melt away. The emergence of supranational institutions and

transnational structures undermined the very sovereignty of the nation states. Nations, however, seem to

be making a comeback these days as the « Home to defend » from the disruption of globalization. We need

look no further than the America First, Italy First, and « Brexit » Movements for confirmation. Nations are

suddenly being seen as a protective structure in a world where nothing seems stable.

Our purpose, therefore, was to evaluate the relevance of nations in tackling the multiple challenges facing

our democracies, giving a special focus to the big issue of the moment, immigration and borders. Coming

just after the results of the European elections, this concern was particularly relevant. We also devoted

attention to the role of nations in the international system, and the limits to that role, in our new and

growingly abrasive multipolar world. We took a special look at the relationship between nations and global

business. We also addressed the relevance of the Western world and the transatlantic relationship, as their

position and democratic systems are becoming more and more challenged by rising authoritarian regimes.

2019 Program

« The Future of Nations »

First Roundtable – The Nation and the Crisis of Western Democracies : should the Nation be protected ?Speakers: Mathieu Bock-Côté, Harvey

Mansfield, Ben Rhodes, Pierre Manent

Lunch – The German nation and the European uncertainty Speakers: Joschka Fischer, Jean-David Levitte,

Jeffrey Gedmin

Second Roundtable – Nations and the challenge of mass immigrationSpeakers: Laure Mandeville, Mo Ibrahim,

Stephen Smith, Josh Mitchell, Saad Amrani

Dinner-debate – Eternal Russia, CurrentRussia, a Conversation with Boris Akounine

Theatre Interlude – What Solzhenitsyntold us about the Western crisisSpeakers: Hervé Mariton

Third Roundtable – “Nation First” and the future of the international systemSpeakers: Benjamin Haddad, Dana White,

Justin Vaïsse, Pierre-André de Chalendar,

Mathieu Bock-Côté

Conversation – Business and NationsSpeakers: DeDe Lea, Scott Carpenter,

Ana Palacio

Lunch – The Future of EuropeSpeakers: François-Xavier Bellamy, Pavel

Fischer, Vincent Trémolet de Villers

Fourth Roundtable – Nations, democracy and Foreign PolicySpeakers: Dana White, David Goldman,

Walter Russel Mead

Conclusion

Bernard Cazeneuve

Friday, June 28 Saturday, June 29

Annex 3


Co-organizersThe Tocqueville Foundation

The Tocqueville Foundation is an international operating and prize awarding foundation, registered in France

under the auspices of the Fondation Entreprendre. Its mission and vision are deeply rooted in Alexis de

Tocqueville’s social and political thought, and particularly his belief in the fundamental contribution of civil society

to democratic and economic development.

The programs of the Tocqueville Foundation include the Tocqueville Conversations, the Tocqueville Challenge

which builds bridges between the corporate, nonprofit and academic worlds, and the Prince's Roundtable on

Philanthropy and Prince's prize, co-organized with the Prince Albert II foundation, which gather yearly major

philanthropists in Monaco.

Le Figaro

The American Interest

The Atlantic Council

Le Figaro is a French daily morning newspaper founded un 1826 and published in Paris. It is the oldest national

daily in France and is the second-largest national newspaper, with an online circulation of more than 10 million

unique visitors, a fast growing TV channel and many additional publications. With a center-right editorial line, the

newspaper is owned by Le Figaro Group wich is part of the Dassault group since 2004.

The American Interest (AI) is a bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on political philosophy, society, foreign

policy, international affairs, global economics, and military matters. It is available in print on newsstands and in

bookstores, and has a fast growing online edition. The magazine was founded in 2005 by Francis Fukuyama and

Charles Davidson, on the model of the French Intellectual journal « Commentaire ». A fraction of the editorial

board of the National interest, joined the project at its onset.

The Atlantic Council is an American think tank specializing in international affairs. Founded in 1961, it considers

the defense and deepening of the transatlantic relationship as a key mission, and has also developed expertise

on most regions of the world. It also provides advice to policymakers and a forum of debate on foreign policy

and national security for world leaders, intellectuals and the business community. It manages ten regional

centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosperity. It is

headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Contact us:

Anne-Céline Ribadeau Dumas

Chief Executive

[email protected]

+ 33 6 61 65 22 90


Documents

The Tocqueville Conversations 2020 · Georgetown University and a leading expert on Tocqueville; and with Vice President Damon Wilson, Ambassador Craig Stapleton and Former minister