Niall Ferguson- From Great Degeneration to backlash against Globalization

In his talk Niall Ferguson looks into the current global political situation, and in particular, warns against confusing populism with fascism. He describes the former as stemming from “…a backlash against free trade, free migration and free capital flows…”, and the latter as seeking to overthrow constitutional order. His overall goal is to show that the global tendency to confuse the two devalues historical events.

In March 2017, the Aspen Abu Dhabi Ideas Forum welcomed some of the brightest and most interesting minds from the UAE and around the world to discuss four of the most important moonshot challenges facing our planet. The event was inspired by the world-famous Aspen Ideas Festival that has been taking place in Colorado since 2005, as a place for scientists, artists, politicians, business leaders, historians and educators to discuss some of the most fascinating ideas of our time. The 2017 Aspen Abu Dhabi Ideas Forum topics included: “System Shock: Calming the ‘politics of anger’”, “Beyond GDP: Targeting ‘all-in’ human welfare”, “Health: Extending the healthy human lifespan” and “Space: Living Sustainably beyond Earth”.