On October 22, 2013, the AICGS Society, Culture & Politics Program hosted a conference on “Political and Societal Leadership in Encouraging Reconciliation: A Comparison of Japanese and German Foreign Policies in their Neighborhoods” with the generous support of the Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (EVZ). Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman, Director of the AICGS Society, Culture & Politics Program and Harry & Helen Gray Senior Fellow, noted the long-standing efforts of AICGS to address reconciliation issues by focusing on four different key topics in reconciliation: historical issues and the role of embedded history, the role of civil society, the role of political and societal leadership (the human face to reconciliation), and the supportive role of multi-lateral institutions, such as the European Union, and third parties such as the United states. Reconciliation is a long-term, messy process of turning enmity into amity.
Panel 3: Young Leaders and Reconciliation
Tomáš Jelínek, Czech-German Future Fund: Presentation