Foreword

Dear Readers,

On the occasion of the Annual Conference of Aspen Institute Central Europe, it is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to the printed version of the Aspen Review 2022 in which we selected the articles published throughout the year 2022 which resonated the most as well as reflect on our program activities. There is no need to be concerned that you might have missed something, however, as all the articles are available on our website where we publish articles on a weekly basis. I hope you will enjoy this special edition which is mainly focused on the current situation in Central Europe and the heavy load of issues that this region currently faces.

Dariusz Kałan in his article “A Hungarian pro-Moscow course?” describes how Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was reluctant to believe that Putin would attempt a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Zuzanna Lewandowska, social entrepreneur and NGO executive from Poland, is looking for answers on who shapes the Brave New World now. Should we be building artificial intelligence just because we can? Is there a master plan behind the way technological advancements shape our societies, or are we putting humanity’s future into pure chance? We are proud to say that this article was published thanks to Zuzanna’s participation in the Socrates Seminars held by Aspen Institute Central Europe this September.

In 2022, we also published an expert study The Future of the Labor Market in cooperation with the Boston Consulting Group, and in an interview for Aspen Review, Jiří Švejcar, a partner of BCG, goes deeper into the outcomes of the study. He says: “The Czech labor market will have transformed radically by 2030, some jobs will disappear entirely and approximately 330,000 people will lose their jobs,” and explains why upskilling and reskilling are so important.

In another article, Bruno Maçães shared his thoughts with Tomáš Klvaňa. They make us reflect on problems beyond this region, making a case for Europe emerging as a geopolitical Union. “The EU has been much bolder and more decisive than the average member state in this crisis,” Bruno Maçães says, and we are curious if you would agree?

Last, but not least, Benjamin Cunningham reviews “My Seven Lives: Jana Juráňová in Conversation with Agneša Kalinová”. Nearly 100 years after her birth, Agneša Kalinová’s story serves as a bridge to an entirely transformed Central Europe, and we invite you to dive into this article and the book itself to reflect on questions of survival, cultural evolution and Kalinová’s memories which bring color to what might otherwise appear as black-and-white images.

I would like to express my deep gratitude for your support and we cannot wait to connect with you at one of Aspen Institute Central Europe’s programs.

Enjoy the reading and I wish you health, positive energy, respect and courage.

Milan Vašina

Executive Director Aspen Institute CE