World Public Forum Promotes Statements Defending Russia On MH17

A number of times now, I’ve written about a Russian “soft power” initiative called the World Public Forum: Dialogue of Civilizations. The WPF was co-founded by Vladmir Yakunin, a devoutly Orthodox member of Putin’s inner circle and the head of Russia’s railways, and it has made links with an extraordinary array of top-tier academics, religious leaders, and emeritus politicians (along […]

Interreligious Dialogue at the World Public Forum: Evangelist Apologizes for Hollywood’s “Filth and Perversion”

From a blurb on YouTube about the World Public Forum: The World Public Forum (WPF) “Dialogue of Civilizations” is a deliberative-consultative body that unites into a single network various international and national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), representatives of public and state institutions, civil society organizations and faith-based groups, academics, representatives of cultural, spiritual, business, and media spheres […]

The World Public Forum: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

From the website of the World Public Forum: The World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” International Coordination Committee meeting was held on February 4, 2012 in Vienna, Austria. The ICC members discussed the forthcoming 10-th anniversary Rhodes Forum to be held in October 2012. The meeting included a statement on tensions between Israel and Iran, helpully […]

World Public Forum Announces “Draft Agenda” for 2011 Conference

The World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilizations” has announced the “draft agenda” for its 2011 meeting in Rhodes: plenary sessions and panels range from “The Future and Identity of Civilizations” and “Maintaining Family Values in the 21st Century” through to “Prospect and Possibilities of Dialogue in Russian-Ukrainian Economic Cooperation”, and, as in previous years, there’s […]

World Public Forum Conference Saves Mount Athos From Tourists and Women

An official English-language website of the Russian Orthodox Church has details of a recent conference on the subject of Mount Athos: A conference on ‘The Contribution of Mount Athos to Europe’s Religious and Intellectual Tradition’ was held on July 8-9, 2011, in Salzburg, Austria. It was organized by the Dialogue of Civilizations world public forum. […]

World Public Forum Dialogue of Religions Holds Conference in Berlin

Last week, the World Public Forum Dialogue of Religions held a conference in Berlin, on “Integration and Identity in the Global Society”. According to a pre-conference blurb: The President and Founder of the World Public Forum “Dialogue of Civilization” Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin, the Prime Minister of GDR (retired) Dr. Lothar de Mezier, German Bundestag (Parliament) deputy […]

The World Economic Forum Conspiracy Worldview

From the website of the World Economic Forum: This article has been intentionally misrepresented on sites that spread false information. Please read the piece for yourself before sharing or commenting. The World Economic Forum is committed to publishing a wide array of opinions. Misrepresenting content diminishes open conversations. Augmented reality technology has the ability to […]

“World Civilizations” Conflab Held in China

From China Today: The Third Nishan Forum on World Civilizations was held in Ji-nan in Shandong province over three days last week. The conference, with a theme of “common human ethics amid different beliefs,” attracted some 130 experts and academics on philosophy, theology, religious and cultural studies from different cultural backgrounds. …Xu Jialu, president of the […]

Book Published by NYU Press Bills Putin Ally as One of “The World’s Foremost Thinkers”

A new book on the way, from the NYU Press: 22 Ideas to Fix the World Conversations with the World’s Foremost Thinkers …In this unique volume from the World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations and the Social Science Research Council, some of the world’s greatest minds—from Nobel Prize winners to long-time activists—explore what the prolonged […]

Pew Forum Notes Belief in the Mahdi, Prompts Fears of Violence

Timothy Furnish of MahdiWatch casts an eye over a recent Pew Forum study on “The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity“, based on “38,000 face-to-face interviews in over 80 languages”: Of the 23 countries whose Muslim citizens were polled, nine have majorities which expect the Mahdi in their lifetimes, with the overall average percentage at 41.8%–and considering the […]