Cline Center: Public Engagement: Northern Trust ForumNorthern Trust Forum on Democracy, Globalization, and Societal Welfare
The inaugural Northern Trust Forum held November 3 & 4, 2005 was the first in a long series of thought-provoking events dedicated to addressing the important political concerns facing our world today and in the future. The other two cornerstones of the Cline Center for Democracy’s public engagement activities, the Cline Symposium and the Lincoln Symposium, are general purpose affairs that will range across a wide range of topics. In contrast, the Northern Trust Forum is intimately connected with the Cline Center’s signature research initiative, the Social Infrastructures and Development Project (SID). Both the Forum and the SID are rooted in three important trends defined the end of the 20th century and promise to define the 21st century: democratization, the spread of free market economies, and globalization.
Each of these trends, by themselves, has important implications for various aspects of societal welfare in nations throughout the world, including peaceful coexistence, economic development, trade, environmental protection, basic human rights and freedoms, literacy rates, and income levels. But the confluence of these trends poses both exciting opportunities and formidable challenges to an array of actors who must deal with issues that arise in their wake. These actors include international organizations, nation states, non-governmental organizations, business corporations, and citizens.
Both opportunities and challenges arise from the confluence of democratization, marketization and globalization. While this confluence can produce mutually reinforcing developments with the potential to enhance societal welfare, they can also generate tensions that impede progress. The importance of taking advantage of these opportunities while meeting these challenges is why the Cline Center focuses so many of its research energies on these issues. The generosity of the Northern Trust Corporation makes it possible for the Center to integrate its research activities with its public engagement mission. The Northern Trust Forum is a lively annual event that engages and enriches active civic leaders as well as future leaders. Its format is patterned after the Cline Symposium.
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