Forum 2000 is a foundation and conference of the same name held in Prague, Czech Republic. The Forum 2000 Foundation was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of the Czech President Václav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. Mr. Havel based his idea for Forum 2000 on the principle that, “it would be good if intelligent people, not only from the various ends of the earth, different continents, different cultures, from civilization's religious circles, but also from different disciplines of human knowledge could come together somewhere in calm discussion.” The main objective of the Forum 2000 conferences is “to identify the key issues facing civilization and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components.” Forum 2000 aims to provide a platform to discuss these important topics openly and to enhance global dialogue. Through its activities, the Forum 2000 Foundation also intends to promote democracy in non-democratic countries and to support the civil society, respect for human rights and religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance in young democracies. Forum 2000 Annual Conferences The annual Forum 2000 Conference, along with other events organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation, are held in Prague. The mission of these conferences is to “map the globalization process and to note its positive results as well as the perils encountered by an increasingly interconnected world.” Since 1997, the Forum 2000 Conferences have attracted a number of prominent thought leaders, Nobel laureates, former and acting politicians, business leaders and other individuals, whose common denominative is experience with bearing responsibility. Prince Hassan bin Talal, Frederik Willem de Klerk, Bill Clinton, Nicholas Winton, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Dalai Lama, Hans Küng, Shimon Peres, Madeleine Albright, Mário Soares, Hanna Suchocká, Sergey Kovalyov, Jorge Castaneda, Alyaksandar Milinkevich, and Wole Soyinka are just a few of those who have attended the Forum 2000 events. Video recordings of the conference discussions and Conference Reports are available on the Forum 2000 website (www.forum2000.cz), as well as photo-galleries, transcripts, summaries and other information from each of the annual conferences. The conferences generally open with a speech by former President Havel and then host a series of panels that discuss topics relating to the conference theme, business and the economy, interfaith dialogue, or specific regional issues. List of Previous Conferences 1997: "Concerns and Hopes on the Threshold of the New Millenium",