From the relief of the center-right in the European elections to the heavy defeats of Emmanuel Macron in the legislative elections that he himself decided to call in France and the conservatives in the United Kingdom, and also the recent victories of the far right in Germany (regional) and Austria (national), in 2024, the future of democracy is being decided at the ballot box. With the U.S. presidential elections in the final stretch, will this be the year of democracy? To talk about these challenges, FLAD will host Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of the think tank New America, for the conference ‘2024: The Year of Democracy?’ on October 15.

No election occupies as much media space – and for so long – as the presidential elections in the United States. With basic democratic norms at stake in an election that offers a contrast between two opposing worldviews, and polls without naming a favorite, FLAD invited Anne-Marie Slaughter for a conversation with journalist Márcia Rodrigues, RTP’s international editor. Anne-Marie Slaughter was the first woman to be appointed Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State (in 2009, by Hillary Clinton), was a Professor at Harvard University, Princeton University. She is the author of nine books, and writes regularly for the Financial Times and Project Syndicate. Currently, he leads the think and action tank New America, one of the most reputable organizations that has been producing not only thought, but concrete proposals for solving the problems that affect American society. This will be the second session of a cycle of conferences dedicated to the U.S. presidential elections that FLAD will develop in the coming months with U.S. experts, on topics relevant to the domestic and foreign policy of that country and to the Euro-Atlantic community, with the aim of promoting the debate on current American politics and the implications of this election inside and outside the U.S. With these sessions, we want to contribute to a greater knowledge of the American political and electoral system, at a time when in European countries, and certainly in Portugal, so much attention is devoted to the American political reality. This cycle is an opportunity for researchers, students, policy makers, diplomats, media, analysts and the general public to have closer contact with leading international authors and experts in the field. The sessions will be moderated by RTP journalist Márcia Rodrigues, current international editor of the channel and former RTP correspondent in Washington D.C., where she covered, among others, the administration of Donald Trump. The session with Anne-Marie Slaughter will take place on October 15, at 6:30 pm, in the FLAD Auditorium in Lisbon. Admission is free, upon confirmation of attendance through this link.