A better world requires new engaging agoras

I was lucky enough to be able to attend this year's Athens Democracy Forum held in association with The New York Times in the shadow of the Acropolis, in the "cradle of democracy." For three days I got to hear from politicians, entrepreneurs, and civil society leaders that democracy as we have come to know it is under stress. The strongman tendencies of Trump, Salvini, Erdogan and many others bear scary resemblances to tactics and practices of centuries past, the ones in which conflict and anger became the basis of human interactions. As we discussed changing models of democracy, there was a sense of urgency and longing for cross-cultural conversations that can fundamentally challenge our physical and ideological borders.

Sitting through symposia, debates, and presentations of all sorts meant receiving a constant reminder of the dangers of the road ahead, a road filled with...